Mother Trucking Monsters: A Cozy Urban Fantasy Series by A. L. Tippett

Author:A. L. Tippett [Tippett, A. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Firefly Books
Published: 2024-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Once again, I found myself on my back, staring at the ceiling.

Altan had easily swept my feet from beneath me for the third time since we’d arrived at the training floor in Head Office. I was going to be well acquainted with the grey tiled ceiling by the time I finished here.

“This is ridiculous,” I groaned, rubbing my buttocks as I dragged myself back to my feet. I was going to have some bruises tomorrow.

“This is necessary.” The sphinx stood still, waiting patiently for me to rise. I scowled at him. There wasn’t a hair out of place, and his clothes remained unrumpled. “Again.” He shifted back into his fighting stance, waiting for me to engage once more.

“I know I have some natural cushioning.” I was already panting while he looked cool as a cucumber. “But do you think I could get some extra padding? Like a mat? Or some sort of puffy armour?”

“Don’t be preposterous. And don’t forget to breathe,” he advised as he easily blocked my attempted punch with his forearm.

I howled when I made contact with him and clutched my poor hand to my chest. Gritting my teeth, I hissed, “I am rubbish at this.”

“Yes, you are,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“That’s not helpful.”

“Everyone starts out rubbish when they’re learning. The key is to keep trying.”

“But it hurts!”

“Life hurts.”

“You are just full of pearls of wisdom today, aren’t you?” I snarled and shook my hand out, doing my best to ignore the pain. Scowling at him, I circled, trying to find an opening as we talked. He’d given me a run-down of hand-to-hand techniques before we began the session, and corrected me as we sparred, but I continued to fail.

“Keep your hands up. No, higher. Good. Thumbs on the outside. Move your feet a little further apart to keep your centre of gravity lower.”

I obeyed. A tiny part of me was sorry for Altan for having to teach me. I was naturally clumsy, and inexperienced to boot. It had to make his job extra hard. At the same time, I was glad I was finally learning. There was no way I would let any magica threaten my girl ever again. I just needed to practise more.

In the space of one second, Altan’s tail had swung through the air and wrapped around my forearm, pulling me towards him. He spun me as I stumbled forward, until my back was held against his chest. His arms wrapped around my torso, effectively trapping me, and his foot was wedged between mine, his leg pressing lightly in between my calves.

“Don’t ever forget,” he said lightly, his breath tickling my ear, “that you are fighting magicas. We all have different abilities and bodies to you, and we will use them to our advantage.”

His tail was still wrapped around my arm, the fur like satin against my skin. One of his hands sat just below my bra-line, a hairs breadth away from touching my breasts. I gulped. It had been a long time since I’d been held like this by anyone.

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