Anasini Satiym, Adam thought in his native Turkish, and quickly straightened from his attack. He strode toward their little spy and wiped sweat from his forehead. At any other time, he would have found her owl-eyed expression amusing, but he wasn’t sure how much she’d seen. How long had she been observing them? How had she gotten back inside? This could quickly become a problem if he didn’t redirect her attention.
“Good evening, Ms. Flanagan,” he said as he stopped in front of her and leaned against the door frame, blocking her view of Zach.
She looked up at him guiltily. Her brownish-red hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. Adam had a strange urge to tug it. He schooled his features and balled his fists. Fraternizing with a civilian was strictly out, no matter how cute she looked.
“Class is over for the day,” Adam said and let his gaze trail over her. She’d changed her clothes, which answered the question of how she regained entry. She’d never left. Sloppy of him and Zach. If she was an operative of the Org, they would have been dead by now. Thankfully, she wasn’t.
Keeping his voice neutral, pleasant, Adam subtly adjusted his body language. Intimidation. Threat. A sense of “don’t come back” is what he tried to say, even though the sentiment was the opposite of what he wanted. To his surprise and delight, however, she blushed but didn’t physically back down from the menace he was surely projecting.
She had courage. He liked that.
Siciym Ya.
“I know, I was just leaving,” she said. Her voice was like a canary, soft and sweet and full of bright, beautiful song. The urge to keep her talking wrecked his mind and body. He really needed her to leave, to never come back, but yet… He couldn’t bear to see her go. The thought of never hearing her speak again made his heart ache in ways he hadn’t felt since Cass told him to leave London. So instead, he said nothing.
As the silence stretched from uncomfortable to downright awkward, Adam finally found his voice. “Good job back there, for a woman, that is.” He pinched his lips together to keep from laughing aloud when her mouth dropped open in indignation.
“Will I be seeing you next week?” he asked. He needed her to say no. He hoped even harder, she’d say yes. Logically, the likelihood of her staying wasn’t high—the law of averages implied she’d drop out—along with half the class currently enrolled—but something made him wish she was different. Maybe it had been her visceral excitement when she waxed on about her aikido experience, or maybe it was her current expression which said, “I’ll show you”, or maybe it was his years of reading people and situations, but Adam wanted to believe he felt straight-to-his-gut sure, Rachel would be back.
She really needed to go.
He grinned. She had been fun to watch in class. Not only did she know the basics, she had an athlete's body. Her ass was the perfect roundness and her hips begged to be grabbed. Oh, and had he mentioned her voice? The echo of Darius’s words chastised him. Get rid of her.
Stepping forward, he forced her to back away from the training area. She gave one last curious look behind him at Zach, but she let herself be driven toward the entryway.
Adam knew what the Order would want him to do. What Darius had urged him to do and that task sure as hell wasn’t flirting with her until she slept with him.
And now she’d witnessed Zach training. Order regulations were strict about what to do with outsiders who saw them performing their... more professional activities. But Adam could still save the situation without causing her more trouble than she would be able to handle.
He hoped.
And maybe, just maybe, he could spin it right and get to see her again. “Did you enjoy the show?” he asked her.
Rachel’s expression turned curious and a little wary. “It was... interesting. Besides the parkour moves, what styles were you using? It looked a bit like everything all rolled into one.”
Her observation concerned Adam. She couldn’t find out what they really did, so what could he say that sounded plausible... Stunt double? Now was the time to lie, and mean it.
“Zach and I also do stunts for movies and TV shows. We were practicing for our next assignment. They needed something original,” he answered.
“Okay,” she said, drawing out the word and blinking at him.
She has pretty eyes, he thought. Hazel wasn’t a color he usually liked but they worked well with her button nose and freckles.
He wondered what it would feel like to have her body pressed against his. It was easy for him to envision pulling her to his room upstairs where they could test their body chemistry. Clothes optional. He bet they would fit together perfectly.
Adam mentally shook himself. Now was not the time to be daydreaming about kissing a woman he barely knew or burying his hands in her hair while he did it, or taking her upstairs to get naked, despite his body’s reaction to her.
He’d almost convinced himself to leave her alone when a lock of her hair escaped her ponytail, he couldn’t help himself. Adam reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear, making sure to brush his fingers against the soft skin of her cheek as he did. Rachel blushed beautifully, and he grinned, pausing to fix her coat collar.
Reaching around her, he opened the door and held it open. The position brought them close enough for him to smell her body wash. “Have a nice evening, Rachel.” After she walked away, he closed the door, locked it, and activated the security alarm for the building. Now, he needed to remind Zach exactly why they had to check every room at the end of the day before they locked up.
“Zach!” he barked, his tone gruff but subdued since the teen stood a mere meter away.
“That her?” Zach asked, craning his neck to look out the window. “The one you followed home.”
“Yes.” How had Zach known about that?
“She’s cute for a redhead. Nice tits.”
“Zach,” Adam growled.
“Hey,” Zack said, putting his hands up. “Any guy would notice them.”
Adam pointed at Zach. “But you don’t.”
“Fine,” Zach huffed. “But, damn, Black, if you want in her pants you should have been less condescending. Even I know that’s not the way to pick up a chick!”
Adam snorted softly. It seemed to have worked. She hadn’t run away screaming, had she? “You’re giving me girl advice now, novice? That’s a new one. When was the last time you were with a woman?”
Zach flushed and gave him an annoyed look. “You know as well as I do circumstances are...”
“Complicated?”
“Yeah. You’re the one always telling me girls aren’t a good idea,” Zach grumbled.
“And they’re not,” Adam said as innocently as possible. It was creepy hearing Darius’s words come out of his apprentice’s mouth.
“Seriously, Black, is it wise to be flirting with her?” Zach asked. “You can’t be with her. And, I’ve never seen you go in for a quick fuck—”
“I know what I’m doing,” Adam barked, cutting Zach off. Irritated to hear Zach’s words echo his earlier thoughts. “And if you are wise, novice, you’ll keep out of my personal business.” Adam’s flat tone didn’t invite more ribbing.
Zach huffed. “Don’t let Darius learn about it.”
“He won’t. Unless you tell him. Which I wouldn’t do if I were you.”
Retreating, Zach barked, “My lips are sealed, Black. I don’t have a death wish.”
Before he went far, Adam’s voice stopped him. “Get some water and meet me in the gym. We’ll resume in five.” Zach nodded and before he could take another step, Adam stopped him again, “And make sure you get a haircut tomorrow. It needs to be short.”
Zach gave Adam middle finger over his shoulder. “You know what, Black! Sometimes I really fuckin’ despise you.”
“You know the rules,” Adam responded, letting the insubordination go for the time being. He’d teach him respect on the mats.
“Like not flirting with civilians?” Zach asked as he walked away.
Yeah. Like not flirting with civilians. But instead of replying, Adam stalked off to the gym.
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