Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) (24 page)

Or to Clara.

Ella tightened her jaw and kicked out; her bare foot hit Charlie squarely in the shin. He groaned, and she pushed her hands out at him, knocking him in the chest with her palms.

Charlie met her eyes as a tiny corner of his mouth lifted. The first few minutes of their workouts were to gauge their moods. Now that Charlie knew she was all in, the fight was on.

For the next ten minutes, the (mostly) harmless blows continued. The upper hand would switch between her and Charlie, with both of them ending up flat on their butts a few times.

As she was helping Charlie up and breathing hard, Lucian pushed away from the wall. “Okay, enough of that. It’s my turn.”

Ella looked Lucian up and down as he took off his jacket. “I, um, I really don’t think that’s a good idea.”

He bent down to unlace his shoes. “Is that right?”

Charlie looked between the two of them. “Probably wouldn’t hurt. It’s always good to train in a variety of styles.”

Ella shot daggers with her eyes. “I said no.”

Lucian stood up to his full height. “You want to fight the supernatural. I’m supernatural. I’m missing the problem.”

Even though Lucian hadn’t moved any closer, Ella still stumbled away from him. “I just don’t feel like it.”

“Don’t be a baby. I’ll be
gentle
, promise.”

The condescending words sent a fresh wave of annoyance through her. “What the hell? It’ll feel nice to punch you a few times.”

Lucian smiled, and she cursed herself for playing right into his hands.

Of course he wanted to train with her. He was fifty times as strong and could kick her ass without breaking a sweat. She just hoped she didn’t embarrass herself too much.

––––––––

––––––––

L
ucian closed his eyes for a second and tried to erase any memory of Charlie’s hands on Ella’s body.

Every blocked blow felt as if he was being punched, and every gentle pat on the back or helping hand up would send a new wave of jealousy through him.

If he had to spend ten more seconds watching Charlie touch her, he was going to kill the human. Not exactly the best way to convince Ella he was safe enough to be around Clara.

In all honesty, if it weren’t for Charlie, he could watch Ella train all day. With every duck and swing, her tight tank top would hug her generous breasts even tighter, and every step showed off her toned ass to its best advantage.

He had to clench his fists and his jaw to keep from running to her. From pulling her away from the arms of another man and touching her in all the ways he’d imagined over the years.

The memory of her mouth under his rushed back. Just last night, she’d kissed him. He hadn’t forced that reaction. She’d pulled him closer and didn’t scream or fight his touch.

Okay, she’d eventually stopped him, but he was convinced that was her misguided attempts to hide Clara.

But now that the cat was out of the bag, there was nothing truly keeping her from him. Just remnants of her fear. Fear of him. Fear of his world.

But she wasn’t the same Ella he’d met three years ago. This was a fighter. A mother. She was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen when she appeared in his woods three years ago, and somehow she’d only gotten sexier.

She moved to stand in front of him, holding her arms in front of her, fists tightly clenched and ready to throw punches.

His mouth tilted up at her enthusiasm. He held a hand out and curled his fingers up, signaling his readiness.

Her gaze scanned his body, but she didn’t strike out. He wasn’t about to make the first move, though. This was to see how she fought. How she handled these situations.

He moved to the left as he started to slowly circle her.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m throwing you off balance. Is it working?”

She snorted. “If by off balance you mean dizzy.”

“Then hit me, Ella.”

She pivoted on her heel to follow his progression. “What’s your game, Montclair?”

“No game. Stop stalling and just do it.”

Her chest rose and fell as she took a steadying breath. Then a fist swung at his face. He easily knelt to avoid the blow, one hand against her sternum, just an inch above her beautiful breasts, to push her back.

She coughed with the impact and looked at him with renewed determination. She stepped forward and threw a left hook. He ducked it easily, but she was ready and kicking out at his leg as he ducked.

The blow threw him off balance, but he caught himself just as her other fist came at his face. One hand shot up to grab her wrist before it connected. He scanned for other flailing limbs, but was taken completely off guard when her lips connected with his.

What the hell?

He hadn’t read any signs of interest from her. Not in the last thirty seconds at least.
Where was this kiss coming from?
Not that he fought it.

She opened her mouth and his tongue slid in, the sleek warmth of her mouth teasing other parts of her that would be just as hot and welcoming. His tight grip on her arm softened; his hand ran down her arm and skimmed down her back.

He tilted his head for better access when the flat of her palm slammed into his bicep and her sharp knuckles connected with his nose just as she pulled her head back. A trickle of blood immediately poured down. He reared away and covered his face. “What the fuck?” he shouted.

Her eyes widened in mock innocence. “Someone once told me that when dealing with myotis, I should never pull punches.”

He wiped the blood from his face, the nose already healing. “If you wanted to play dirty, all you had to do was say so.”

And then he was on her. He charged, full speed. She swung at his throat, but he caught her arm, twisting her around and pulling her against him, her back to his chest. He only had a short second to enjoy the feel of her ass, covered in just those thin yoga pants, rubbing against his cock before her bare foot hit his shin with enough force to make him grunt.

Her head smashed back, aiming for his already injured nose. He let go of her and crouched low; her head butt hit only air and threw her off balance. He kicked out her ankles and she fell hard on her back.

Lucian jumped on top of her, straddling her stomach, and looked down at his prey.
God, he wanted this woman.

Only the knowledge that Charlie stood a few feet away stopped him. The things racing through his mind didn’t call for an audience. Just him and Ella and a bed.

She gasped for breath underneath him. The bottoms of her breasts hit the top of his thighs, just inches away from his now completely erect cock that strained uncomfortably against the jeans stretched tight from the position he sat in.

“It’s good advice,” he whispered from above her.

Her big brown eyes looked up, and he could hear the catch in her breath the exact second she realized what he was thinking.

God help him, were her nipples hardening?

Her palms hit him in the chest, albeit much more gently than the last time she’d hit him. “Get off me, you big lug.”

Yep. Her nipples were hard as rocks.
His mouth watered as he pushed himself up. He held a hand out to her, but she ignored it as she stood up without his assistance.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine. Pride is a bit bruised though.”

Charlie walked up from behind Ella and laid a hand on her shoulder. “From where I was standing, you held your own. Never tried that kiss move before, though. Maybe I should work that into my training.”

Lucian’s lip curled into a snarl.
He would show the human a few of his choice moves if he didn’t move his fucking hand.

“Let’s pack up, Ella. I’m sure Clara wants to get home and I need to be out of public before dark.”

“I can drive Clara. You don’t have to wait around,” said Ella.

He started to lace up his shoes. “I had a good day with her. I’d like to tell her who I am tonight.”

Ella chewed at her bottom lip. “Do you really want to do that when you’ll only have an hour before you change?”

“I’ll hold it back if I need to. We need to do this.”

She closed her eyes and tilted her face to the ground. “I’ll grab her and then we can go.”

She walked to the door, finally causing Charlie’s hand to fall away.

The human turned to stare down Lucian. “What the fuck are you doing with her?”

Lucian straightened. “It’s my daughter. I have a right to know her.”

Charlie shook his head. “Not her. Ella. You’re messing with her mind. I can see it.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t talk about Ella to me.”

“Are you threatened?”

“Maybe you missed the subtle undertones of this conversation, but you’re the one being threatened.” Lucian walked over to Charlie. “And I follow through on my threats. Believe me when I say Ella is mine and I protect what’s mine.”

Lucian tried his best to loom over the human but it was hard when they were the same height. Still, they both knew Lucian was a lot stronger.

Charlie laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. “If you think it’s possible to own Ella, you’re more deluded than I ever thought.”

Lucian frowned. “It’s not about owning anyone. Can you honestly say she ever looked at you for even one second the same way she looked at me when we were sparring?”

“You mean with pure and utter hatred? No. She’s never looked at me like that.”

“With passion. That’s what her passion looks like. I would know.”

Charlie uncrossed his arms and his fists clenched at his sides. “You don’t know shit. If she weren’t so terrified of you, she’d have run off with
her
daughter the second she realized you were in town.

“She told me about what your people did to her. Bought her from some bitch of a mother and did some funky experiments on her when she was just a baby. Tell me, did you look at that squishy little kid and just count down the days until you could fuck her?”

Lucian’s fist slammed into Charlie’s face and the human collapsed to the ground. “You ever talk like that to me again and I’ll rip out your fucking throat with my fangs. I didn’t do that to her. I had no control over it. I would never hurt her.”

Charlie looked up at him from the ground, cheek already starting to swell up. “You already have, jackass. You’re just too self-centered to notice.”

Lucian struggled to breathe as he turned away from Charlie, unable to contain his rage. He couldn’t hurt the human. Ella would kill him, and he needed Clara to like him. The punch was already too much.

If Clara liked Charlie, he’d have to play nice. But he didn’t have to listen to any more of his shit.

He strode into the main room of the gym. “I’d talk more, but I need to see my daughter home.”

––––––––

E
lla looked deeply into Clara’s eyes. “Baby, did you hear me?”

She nodded. Her gaze shifted between Ella and Lucian, but she didn’t say anything.

“Are you mad?” he asked.

Clara shook her head. “It makes sense. That lady thought I was your daughter today. I didn’t correct her, though.”

Ella knelt on the carpet next to where Clara sat on the couch. “I know this is a lot to take in. Lucian was fighting in a very dangerous war when we met. We didn’t think it was safe to have him around.”

Lucian didn’t correct her use of the word “we” and Ella breathed a silent sigh of relief. It was already a big enough bombshell that he was her father. The revelation of the circumstances of their meeting would be enough to drive anyone to therapy.

“Is it safe now?”

Ella turned to Lucian, silently asking him the same question.

“I’m going to make it safe. I have lots of friends. You met Dean last night, and you have your mother and Charlie. We are all going to make sure you’re safe.”

Clara looked away from the both of them, instead focusing on Reno, who was perched next to her on the couch. She covered one of his paws with her hand and played with his short fur and claws. The dog tolerantly allowed the attention.

Ella put a hand on Clara’s pajama-covered knee. “Did you have any questions for us?”

Clara moved on to playing with one of Reno’s floppy ears. “Maybe. Do you want me to be your daughter?”