Making her way inside, she inhaled deeply. The scent of fresh-cut hay assailed her nose. It tickled her senses and made her smile, but that smile quickly faded as she strolled to the far end of the structure. The area was more like a large stall, but it had obviously been set up as a gym of sorts. There were free weights as well as a bench with a bar and more weights. But that wasn’t what Jackson was doing. No, Jackson had his shirt stripped off and was pounding on a punching bag that hung from a heavy beam.
He hadn’t noticed her yet, so she was free to watch and admire him as he feinted to one side, his fist shooting out to strike the bag. She swallowed hard as she leaned against the wall. She’d seen men that were more handsome, but never one who was so elemental. Testosterone practically oozed from his pores as he continued to work the heavy bag.
A bead of sweat trickled down her spine and her breathing deepened. The muscles in his back rippled and shifted with every move he made, reminding her once again of just what a large and powerful man he was. The waistband of his jeans dipped just below his navel, exposing his bellybutton. His lightly furred chest was glistening with perspiration and she wanted to run her hands over the hard ridges of muscles in his abdomen.
She must have made some kind of noise because he dropped his hands suddenly and spun around. His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed, but he made no move to come toward her. Jackson swiped his forearm over his forehead and then sucked in a deep gulp of air. Rolling his shoulders, he stepped away from the bag.
“You come for a lesson?” He grabbed a towel that had been laid over the top rung of the stall and rubbed it over his face.
Emerald took that moment to compose herself. Or at least try to. Her heart was racing, her body all but shaking with a growing need that she could no longer deny. “Yes.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I came for a lesson.”
His head snapped up at the double entendre, but he was all business as he strode to the center of the small room. “Come here.”
The roughness in his voice made her nipples pucker and she almost groaned aloud. Now was not the time for this. But her body ignored her and she could feel her panties getting damp as she walked toward him. “What do you want me to do?” He seemed to freeze at her husky whisper, but then he shook himself.
“Stand in front of me with your back to my chest.” She did as he asked. His large frame dwarfed hers, but she didn’t feel afraid. No, what she was feeling was just as basic but totally different. Rather than wanting to get away, she wanted to lean against him. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and hold her close. She wondered if she’d spoken her thoughts aloud when his muscled forearms came around her waist and across her collarbone.
“Now,” he instructed, tightening his grip on her. “If a man grabbed you like this, what would you do?”
Emerald tugged at his arm with her hand, but it was like a steel bar across her chest. There was no way she could move it. She lifted her heel and stomped down on his foot, but ended up only hurting her own. Her sneakers didn’t make a dent in his work boots. Frustration set in and she began to struggle in earnest.
“That’s no good.” His voice was brisk. “I’m much larger than you and stronger. We have to assume that your attacker will be too. You can’t beat him or me in a battle of strength. You have to go for the weak points.” He kept up a steady commentary as he continued to hold her almost effortlessly, her puny attempts to escape him having absolutely no effect.
“What weak points?” Frustration was giving way to anger. Her life had been turned upside down by some unknown man. She had done nothing, yet he was systematically trying to destroy her life and her.
“If you can get a hand free, go straight for the eyes. Don’t hesitate or think about it, just do it. The throat is vulnerable as well.”
She gritted her teeth. “That doesn’t help me at the moment.” If she were facing him, she would have gladly taken one of his suggestions. “Let me go?”
“No. You have to get free. Use your head, Emerald. Your hands are locked down around your waist. What can you reach on a man that’s vulnerable?”
Without thinking, she fisted her hand and drove it backward. Jackson jerked away, and her hand grazed his thigh, barely missing his groin area. She spun around, panting hard with anger only to find the idiot grinning at her.
“That’s my girl.” Pride filled his face as he circled her. All her anger dissipated under the warmth of his smile and she suddenly felt inordinately pleased with herself.
“You could have head-butted me as well.” He danced from side to side like a boxer as he reached out and tagged her on the shoulder. “So, you want to try it again? I’ll grab you from the front this time and you try to get away.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
He laughed in her face and that roused her competitive spirit. How she wished she’d taken martial arts classes years ago so she could flip him onto his arrogant male butt. All those art lessons had helped her career, but they wouldn’t do a thing for her in this situation.
“Think you’re tough, do you?” he taunted as he continued to reach past her raised hands and tap her on the shoulder.
She tightened her fists and narrowed her eyes. Oh, he was going to pay for that. She swung out with one hand and as she did so her foot hooked in the floorboard and she stumbled. Jackson dropped all pretense of sparring with her and reached out to catch her. With him off guard, she put her head down and rammed him with all her strength. He yelled and started to tumble. She had a momentary flash of pleasure at tricking him but it was short-lived. As he fell, he didn’t release his hold on her and she began to fall.
Shrieking, she stuck out her arms to catch herself, but there was no need. Jackson wrapped his arms around her and took the brunt of the fall himself. He grunted as he struck the wood floor and then rolled, tucking her beneath him. When she opened her eyes, she was flat on her back on the dusty floor with Jackson looming over her. He propped himself up on his elbows, pressing his pelvis against hers. She could feel his erection against her and the anger she’d felt shifted into a different sort of heat.
“You did that on purpose,” he accused.
“You’re darn right I did.” She tried to look tough, but it was hard. She knew that she was probably covered in dust. Besides that, her hair had come down from its knot and was tangled around her face, her top was untucked from her jeans and she couldn’t suppress the grin that threatened.
Jackson looked at her, threw back his head and roared with laughter. It was so infectious that she started to giggle. She pinched his sides in an effort to get him to move off her. The man weighed a ton and breathing was getting difficult.
He didn’t let her go, but he rolled with her again so that he was on the bottom now and she was sprawled across him. He pressed his hand against her ass, pushing her mound against the hard ridge in the front of his jeans.
They both moaned. Emerald arched inward, wanting to feel more of him against her. She nuzzled his bare chest, flicking out her tongue to taste his warm flesh. The hand on her butt tightened and became more of a caress as he began to knead it through her jeans.
“I want you.” The starkness of his words stopped her cold. She shivered even though she was so hot she thought she might burst into flames any moment. There was no denying that she wanted him too.
She raised her head and lost herself in his pale blue eyes. Never in her life had a man looked at her with such lust and longing. There was only one answer she could give.