They both crouched into defensive positions and circled each other. He made no move toward her. For right now, he wanted her to be the aggressor, to see how good she was at initiating a takedown. Kelsey slapped out at him first a few times, trying to spur him into a reaction, but he held strong.
Finally, she lunged forward. Lance immediately locked arms with her. She was stronger than he expected, but no match for someone like him. He could have easily shifted to become the aggressor. Still he allowed her the control. She slipped her arm around his neck, using her strength to bend him forward. Knowing she’d swipe for his leg, he countered by jumping back, and she lost her grip around his head.
She straightened, ran a hand across her face, then moved back into defense position, immediately lunging to lock arms again. Still on their feet, they wrestled for a second. She really was good, but he wanted to see what she’d do if she actually brought him down. Kelsey worked her grip down his body then circled his knee with her arms and lifted—a move he could’ve easily maneuvered out of, but he allowed her to take him down.
Fury etched every groove in her face. She shoved away from him. “What the hell? I’m not paying for some pansy-ass training. Give it all to me.”
If he gave her his all, she wouldn’t like the outcome.
“There’s no point.” Lance jumped to his feet. “I’ll have you pinned in seconds. You’re not ready.”
Color crept into her cheeks as her jaw clenched. “I’ll say what I am or am not ready for. I’m paying you. I’m telling you to go at me with everything you have.”
“You don’t fight, right?” he asked.
A sharp shake of her head gave away her shock at the change in subject. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just trying to understand your motivation.”
“You’re not my shrink. You don’t need to understand my motivation.”
“You know you’re a woman, right?”
Eyes bulging, she threw her shoulders back in an impressive display of indignation. “Are you calling me weak?”
“No. You’re actually pretty fucking strong. But there’s always someone stronger, faster, and more experienced. I outweigh you by at least seventy-five pounds. My weight alone is an advantage over you.”
“Don’t you think I know that? It’s why I asked to train with someone of your weight class.”
“Why?” He should just drop it, but for the life of him he couldn’t. He wanted to know.
“Why do you care?”
He continued to stare at her expectedly.
She heaved a long sigh. “Fine. There’s no reason other than I’ve been doing this for years. I’m just trying to take it to the next level. Now, can we drop this and get back to what I’m paying you for?”
That was a bullshit answer, but he wasn’t going to get any more out of her. “We have ten more minutes. You have my all.”
“Thank you.”
This time she didn’t hesitate in meeting him back in the middle of the cage. They locked arms, wrestling for dominance. She swept her leg at his, trying to knock him off his feet. Countering, he stepped forward, grabbed her in a headlock, and rolled both of them until she was flat on her back and he was straddling her waist. “Match over.”
Frustration darkened her features as they both rose to their feet and moved to face each other again.
“Told you,” he couldn’t stop himself from saying. “You’re not ready.”
Kelsey ground her teeth in irritation. “I am ready. Again.”
While he could respect her tenacity, he still wasn’t giving her everything he had. But maybe she needed to feel the full force of his strength to understand that she was nowhere near ready to take him on.
They circled each other. Lance studied her position, searching for his opening. He respected the way her gaze was doing the same to him. The woman had a shitload of fighting knowledge in that beautiful head. Too bad he was going to have to give her a serious reality check.
As she made a slight motion that indicated she was about to lunge, he charged her, grabbed her around the waist, and brought her down on the canvas with a thud. The body beneath him froze. He used the shock to his advantage and locked in an arm bar. “Match over…again.”
Then he released her and shoved to his feet. When she didn’t move to do the same, he glanced down at her. Her eyes were closed, and her skin was a shade paler than before as she took a long shaky breath.
“No,” she whispered, then hopped to her feet. She paced the opposite side of the ring for a few seconds then stopped with her back to him, hands on her hips.
What in the hell? “Hey. You okay?”
She stood like that a second longer then faced him. A tension resided on her face that hadn’t been there before, making the smile she sent him almost brittle. “Totally fine. The last ten minutes were awesome. Thank you.”