She’s a quick study, no doubt about that. Eager to learn. Actually, make that desperate to learn.
But more than anything, she’s determined. Her jaw is set, her brow lowered. She’s focused. Jax may be twice her size and a thousand times as experienced, but she’s in this fight to win it.
It won’t happen, of course. Jax isn’t one of my right-hand men for nothing. But the fact that she’s even trying makes me admire her all the more.
Jax feints to the side and kicks. Willow doesn’t see it coming until it’s too late. She tries to dodge, but the kick catches her in the hip and sends her back onto the earth face-first.
The beast in me growls.
No one touches my woman.
I storm outside and onto the porch. Willow is already dusting herself off and pulling herself together, but the moment Jax catches sight of me, he pales and backs off.
“Hey, boss,” he says as I approach down the stairs. “I… I was just helping Willow train.”
“Training’s done,” I say firmly.
“Right. Gotcha. I’m out.”
“Wait, what?” Willow says, disappointment coloring her expression. “We just started. You said there was tons more you had to teach me.”
“I said training is fucking done,” I say, turning on her.
“Why?” she demands, putting her hands on her hips.
“I don’t have to have a reason.”
“Willow,” Jax says, in a low voice. “I’ve got shit to do and—”
“Bullshit!” she explodes at the both of us. “We’re training. Are you trying to protect me from your own men now, too?”
Jax hesitates, but I wave him off. He nods and slips away.
Willow plants herself in front of me and jabs me in the chest. “Why the hell are you playing the hero?” she asks. “There was nothing to save me from.”
“How about saving you from yourself?”
“Don’t give me that. You always aim the attention at me when it’s you who’s fucked up in the head. Go on then, tell me: what’s the real problem, Leo?”
I grab her hand and pull her towards me. She slams into my chest. “The problem is, no one touches what is mine,” I snarl.
“I’ve got news for you,” she spits back. “I. Am. Not. Yours.”
She breaks my hold, flips me off, and stalks away down the same path that Jax disappeared into. I take another route into the forest and cut her off at the pass.
She tries to reroute around me, but I slide over and cut her off. Her eyes gleam with irritation.
“You are infuriating, you know that?”
“I do,” I say. Then I duck down and kick her legs out from under her, just like she did to Jax.
She’s too shocked to even cry out before she hits the pillowy snowdrift piled up at the side of the path. Before she can get back up to her feet, I jump on top of her and pin her in place.
“And you are mine, you know that?”
Before she can protest, I cover her mouth with mine. She doesn’t even attempt to struggle. She sinks into the kiss as though she’s been waiting for it this whole time.
Her nails dig into my neck as she pulls me in a little deeper. I tease my tongue into her mouth, and she moans.
When my hand slips down to the waistband of her sweats, she breaks away long enough to ask, “What are you doing?”
“Stealing your wallet,” I mutter sarcastically, kissing a line down her jaw.
“Your fingers are freezing.”
I nip at her collarbone. “Should I take them away, then?”
She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss how she lifts her hips ever so slightly so I can work my way into her pants.
I grab a hold of her and roll onto my back, taking her with me. She sits up, straddling me, and grinds her hips against my throbbing erection. I hiss, but it has nothing to do with the snow soaking through my shirt or the chill in the air—because inside, I’m on fire. Ablaze with need for her, with passion, with a desperate, furious love.
One look in her eyes says she feels the same.
Willow runs her fingers down my chest. Then she jumps up and sheds her clothes quickly. As soon as she’s done, she moves to my pants. The moment my cock jumps free, she straddles me again. She rubs herself against me, circling her hips sensuously.
“Are you trying to tease me?” I grit out.
“Depends. Is it working?”
Fuck yes, I think. Out loud, I say, “You’ll cave before I do.”
She frowns in concentration and slides herself along my length. Before she can retreat, I grab her hips and press myself where I know she wants me most. Where she’s been avoiding.