Blood in the Water: A Why Choose Mafia Romance (The Shadows Syndicate Book 1) by RE May

Author:RE May [May, RE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-08T00:00:00+00:00

Thirty minutes later, we were still lightly sparring, focusing on the fundamentals. I’d fallen on my ass another ten times, but each time Wynn had corrected what I’d done wrong, showing me how to maintain balance, how to swing a punch, how to watch for openings in his movements. I’d gotten within an inch of actually hitting him, but he dodged out of the way at the last second. Still, it was progress. My body would be dead after this, but I could learn. I could get better.

It wasn’t the first time I’d been put through the wringer. I took gymnastics from the age of eight to eighteen, the only physical activity my father allowed me to participate in. It made me strong before I gave it up. That muscle memory was slowly coming back. It wasn’t a one-to-one application of knowledge, but it helped with balance and muscle control, two things that Wynn deemed critical for hand-to-hand combat.

I circled him, my eyes on the movement of his feet.

In the last round, he told me to always anticipate your opponent’s moves. To think ahead about what they would do. Which got me thinking.

What if Wynn had no idea what I was going to do?

In the next breath, I charged at him—which I’d done three matches before this one—and he moved precisely as I expected, leaning on his back foot in a semi-crouch and dropping his center of gravity. But this time, instead of swinging at him, I jumped, planting one foot on his thigh and using the momentum to swing my other leg around his shoulder, grab his neck, and use my weight to pull him down to the ground.

It was a messy, completely unhinged, and incorrect attempt at a move I saw in a movie once that had no business actually working, but somehow, I got him! I surprised him enough that my weight threw him off balance, and we collapsed into a jumbled mess, my leg pinned behind his back and his body sprawled atop mine. With a grace that should be impossible at such speed, he detangled our limbs and flipped us both to land above me, with one hand on each side of my head.

“That move would never work in a real fight.” His eyes flared hot and bright, his breath heavy. “You’d be more injured than your opponent. Not only that, but you opened up your entire midsection and torso for gunshots or knife attacks.”

I grinned. Then I slammed my fists on the crooks of his elbows, made him momentarily collapse, and used my legs to twist around his so that I rolled on top. I might be small, but my hips and thighs were stronger than I previously gave them credit.

“I know, but it worked now, didn’t it?” I straddled his body, with one hand on his chest and the other on the mat beside his head.

The corner of his mouth pulled up into a smile. “I guess it did.”

“I got you. I knocked you down,” I laughed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.