The Little Dove #2 ✔️

16. Giving Edmund a Run for His Money

CHAPTER 16: Giving Edmund a Run for His Money

"Edmund, it's your turn," I mutter, still keeping up my facade of indifference when his image is purely burned into my mind. He probably doesn't even know it, considering I try exemplarily hard not to show even a twitch of what I see in his frame. I swallow my watering saliva, shaking my head and attempting to snap out of it.

He steps forward, "Can you promise to dodge my every attack?" He says to me, a soft question that has me momentarily diverted from his god-like looks.

I furrow my eyebrows, "What?"

"I will start slow and gradually get faster. I believe you have the skill, but I don't even want to risk the possibility of even punching, slapping, kicking, or harming you in any way." He says to me, a stern, assuring look in his silvery eyes that mail over whether he should be doing this or perhaps wants to change his mind, conflicted on whether he can change his mind.

I merely nod, "You've proven you're observant."

"Safety is a priority." He says.

I shake my head at him, "No, it's survival." I initiate the first fisted swing. He captures it in his hand and bends my arm back, slowly, enough time for me to manoeuvre under his arm and force him in a ninety-degree bending position. Lorraine smirks against her drink, I glare over at her, using the small space I have to force him to the floor, but he forward rolls into a stand.

I raise an eyebrow, "Who trained you?"

"Scouts...and navy." He whispers, his fist scraps along the side of my abdomen with increasing speed. My eyebrows move up as I pierce the side of his abdomen, not being able to help it in the stinging move, he winces, moving away, though I have to duck his twisting punch after she twirled on his feet. I send another punch into his abdomen, and he grunts at the momentum.

He narrows his eyes at me, "I honestly thought my head of security was kidding."

I shrug, "It's Rodger. Stevens worked with him and even tried with my Mom in high school...she won." I murmured before sending a blue goose egg bruise on the back of his knee as I sent a kick there. He slides to one knee, and I use the advantage to wrap my arm around his neck.

He naturally rolls forward, with me still under him. I lose my grip, slumping down on the floor as I take deep breaths at his naked closeness. My legs were side-to-side with his torso, and he dropped his pitch black hair on his head on my abdomen. His chuckle rivets along my sides as I grunt at his weight.

He runs his fingers up and down my lower legs, "Oh, that's why? Funny, Rodgers never mentioned that." He mutters. I sit up on my elbows, looking down at him.

I shake my head, "I doubt he would want to."

"Were you going easy on me then?" He wonders with a smug grin, stopping me from getting out from under him. I huff in annoyance as he adds more weight and manages to keep me pinned. I raise an eyebrow, moving my hands towards his neck, and he jolts up. I use the time to move out from under him, unfolding into a handstand, but he grabs my waist upside down.

I'm toppled over him, so I land directly on his maliciously toned chest, only momentarily distracted. I shove the pointiest end of my elbow into his abdomen. Before he could wrap his arm around my neck, I grabbed his arm and used a martial arts move. I twist it back, position it at a butterfly angle, and bend it further until he pats the mat.

I shake my head at him, "You don't quit." I mutter.

"That was the point. I'm glad you're trained." He says, sitting up on his hind legs.