Ayla: Always an Alpha

Chapter 25 - Distracted

~Killian~

"How do you intend to get in?" Ayla asked, spinning out of reach of the kick I'd aimed at her chest.

I would have really preferred her to concentrate on our sparring session rather than try to glean information from me while I was distracted, but I already knew better than to say anything. Ayla talked when she wanted to talk, and that was that.

"Like I said earlier," I paused to counter a few of her punches, "it's better if you don't know."

She scoffed and aimed a particularly forceful jab at my jaw. However, instead of my jaw taking the hit, my palm caught it. I wrapped my fingers around her fist to pause the fight for a moment.

"You'll have plausible deniability," I elaborated.

I could feel her eyes trying to extract information from mine.

She sighed when she came up short. "At least tell me this, what are the odds it goes smoothly?"

"I'd say 80/20 for smoothly. 95/5 for the end result in our favor."

Ayla squinted at me as her brain tried to determine if I was lying. "Those aren't bad."

"Exactly. I'm prepared. Now can you concentrate?"

"I was concentrating!"

"Mmhm."

"I'm not done."

"Course you aren't."

Many metaphorical daggers were thrown at me in the look she gave me next.

"I'm beginning to think he's just an ass," she stated quietly, like she was reluctant to even think about it.

"Beginning to?"

"Oh no he's for sure an ass." Her first statement was quicker than the next. "I just don't know if..."

She trailed off, and I finished her thought for her. "You're not sure if he's the one behind this anymore."

"Yeah."

"I'm not either. He has something to gain, sure, but a lot to lose."

"Exactly! And he really likes being an asshole. Hard to do that effectively from a jail cell."

When I chuckled at that, she smiled. Then, as if we weren't just discussing someone's capacity for murder, she jabbed at me with her other fist. Immediately, I let go of the hand I had caught and backed up.

We exchanged some hits back and forth for a bit, but I could still tell she wasn't fully in it, which - in turn - was making me go easy on her. I was getting soft; Sir would be very disappointed.

Just thinking of him snapped me back into reality. He was the reason we were doing these sessions in the first place. None of my other associates would go easy on her if she was distracted.

"Ayla," I growled out. "Focus!"

Annoyed, her lips pursed.

Immediately as if to prove me wrong and show me that she was focusing, she grabbed me and set up for a judo throw I could see coming from a mile away.

Sighing, I stole her momentum and threw her over my hip. Even though she managed to pull me down with her, it was still an easy pin.

"Come on," I urged, keeping a good hold on her arm. "Push me off."

"I'm trying, you fucker," she muttered, desperately trying to get her feet up to push at my thighs.

When that failed, she started trying to roll us over, and for a few seconds, we were a mess of grappling limbs, each one of us trying to get the best hold on the other. My initial advantage put me on the top, however, and knowing the loss would irritate her enough to snap her back into the session, I rubbed it in further.

"If that was you focusing," I said just above her ear, "you must be a pitiful fighter when you're distracted."

I untangled myself and stood up only to be immediately tugged back down.

"Pitiful, huh?" she whispered, leaning in so close that I could feel the last exhale on my ear.

Although her voice dripped in saccharine-laden contempt, her eyes sang a more dangerous tune.

"Ayla," I warned, trying to ignore the electric current under my skin where she had a hold of me.

"Hmm?"

The very tip of her nose brushed my jaw.

"Not a good idea."

I said one thing but did another. Instead of pushing her away, my hands gently traveled down her bare arms.

Ayla nipped at my earlobe, and my breath hitched.

She smiled victoriously. "Who's distracted now?"

Fine, I thought when I realized she'd been toying with me the whole time, we both could play that game.

"Too soon to tell," I responded, subtly pulling her closer to me.

Ayla looked confused until I gently grabbed her waist, using the tips of my fingers to caress a spot I remembered as particularly sensitive to her. Her lips parted. Flipping our positions, I took advantage of the moment and pinned her to the ground with my hips.

As soon as her hands came up, I grabbed them.

"Looks like someone's stuck," I joked as I tangled our fingers together over her head. The steady rise and fall of her chest drew my gaze downward.

"Killian."

It was just a whisper, but my eyes immediately snapped to her softened lips, where the smallest of gaps had opened between them.

"Killian."

There it was again. But this time, it was quieter, more of a beg, and I watched as her mouth formed each syllable. Each slow exhalation seemed to take a minute.

My teeth pulled at my bottom lip.

A red flush spread over her cheeks, across her jaw, and down her collar.

"Kiss me," she pleaded.

A jolt ricocheted through all my organs only to land in my stomach.

"Killian," she voiced again as if she knew she could get me to do anything for her just by using my name like that. "Please."

I'd already begun pulling away but couldn't stop myself from running the backs of my fingers down her jaw a single time. I wanted to remember the way the heat of her blush felt against my skin.

"We can't," I finally said, moving away from her.

Her look of disappointment hurled a crushing weight through my chest. "Why not?"

"It'll just make things worse, Ayla. You know that."

"But don't you want to know? You and me - what that feels like?"

"Sometimes knowing is worse than not knowing." I stood up. "See you after the meeting."

~~~

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