It took about ten minutes to adjust to the smaller court, racquet, and three walls. I had two distinct bruises on my left arm from taking solid hits that stung. Brack had several more than I did. He finally figured out I was aiming at his balls and protected them. He was smarter than his muscle-bound jock looks indicated.I was down by four, dripping sweat, and trying to keep my frustration under control. He was good and had obviously played for a while. I was better than this, though. No one had a backhand like I did. It didn't matter that this wasn't my game. I owned every court I walked onto.I made a perfect serve and Brack missed. Another serve and the battle was on. I scored again. Two down. Brack took my next point away and it was his serve. I jumped to the right and backhanded the ball. He missed. My serve.I shut him down after that and won the game.We both breathed heavily with him bent double. I wasn't a wimp. He had bulky muscle and probably didn't run as much as he sh
Brack took me through a series of takedowns. Each one different and I couldn't defend against anything he did. I was frustrated, tired, and had the beginnings of another headache."That's enough for today," he said as he helped me to my feet once more."I haven't learned a damn thing." Hell, I almost lifted my foot and brought it down. Why was foot stomping something I constantly wanted to do around him?"Not much anyway." His eyes narrowed. "You never screamed, bit, or scratched. For some reason you think this guy has rules. Or maybe you're too good to cause a commotion. Truthfully, in public, the best thing you have going is your voice. Women tend to allow embarrassment to guide them. They don't cause a commotion when it's the one thing that can save their life."I seethed. I was seconds from causing a commotion he'd never forget. The bastard never mentioned what he wanted or what I should be doing. What kind of coaching was this anyway? "We wasted all that time accomplishing not
A slight breeze came off the ocean and even in the sun, grilling the steaks wasn't bad. No sign of Brack, though. For a few minutes it had me worried. Then I saw him walking along the shore coming toward the hut while holding his shoes in one hand and talking into his cell phone with the other.I wore a bikini top and my only halfway clean shorts. I really needed to wash my things later and hang them up. I'd ignored his dictate about washing out my clothes that morning. Brack stuck his phone in his pocket and headed my way. If I read his scowl correctly, he wasn't happy. He glanced at the steaks before heading into the hut and going straight to the bathroom. He never said a word. Of course, neither did I. The door shut behind him and the sound of the shower running came next.When he came out, I had everything set up on the table. I'd cut up some fruit because it was better than nothing. The steaks were big and with the fruit, it should be enough. Brack strolled over dressed in his j
Brack took a long shower before bed. I knew exactly what he was doing in there. It was extremely sad that I was so dependent on my vibrator. There had to be something seriously wrong with me because I couldn't get myself off without it. It was so damn simple for men. I thought about telling Brack to sleep on the floor if sex wasn't on the menu. It truly sucked that I wanted the comfort of having him in bed beside me. He didn't think I allowed fear to rule me, but he was wrong. I was scared to death to be alone right now.He wore a pair of boxers when he came out of the bathroom. He climbed onto his side of the bed without a word. His breathing deepened within minutes and I knew he was asleep. I'm sure his soapy hand during his shower helped. And why did I go there? My fantasies kept me awake for hours. Brack woke up with the sunrise. I rolled over with a grumble and closed my eyes until the scent of bacon had my stomach growling. I went into the bathroom and put on a swimsuit. I wal
After pulling a t-shirt over my swimsuit, I placed a bottle of water on the table for each of us. We sat down.Mack barely glanced at me before turning to Brack. "There's been no change. I've run extensive computer searches on all her friends. Nothing out of the ordinary pops up. We know he's close to someone connected to her inner circle and-"I cut him off. "I'm right here, you know? I'm a person and you're talking about me."His eyes flashed to mine and his cheeks went pink. "Sorry.""Go on," Brack said to Mack as he cast an irritated look my way."The senator-" Mack looked at me. "Your father is not making things easy." His gaze returned to Brack. "I need you to call and talk him down."Brack didn't blink. "Sure. What else?"Sure. What the fuck? No one talked my father down when he was on a roll. I couldn't believe Mack and Brack thought it would be so easy. I held back a giggle over their rhyming names. I'd save that for a time I needed a good insult."We're monitoring her
"Hey," Brack's warm hand rubbed my shoulder.I cried harder. "You don't understand.""I think I do."I was too upset to respond. He let me cry for several minutes, making slow circles on my back. When he spoke, his voice was low and soothing, "When we're faced with death, it's a normal reaction to reaffirm life. Sex is the best way to do that. There isn't a Marine out there who will tell you differently."He had my full attention now. "You were a Marine?" I sniffed."Yes, and then a cop," he said as he pulled a few strands of hair from my face."You're too young.""And you're too young to be the reigning world singles champion. I joined the Marines at eighteen and went to the police academy at twenty-two."I sniffed again. "Why did you quit?"He hesitated a moment and I thought he wouldn't answer. "I spent my military enlistment in the Middle East and saw some very bad things. My Marine brothers died. Women and children died and I never suffered an injury. Three years after jo
With Brack's new glasses, I was back to not seeing his eyes again. I'm not sure why he wanted them covered all the time. I wondered if children teased him when he was young. Kids could be awful. I'm sure they didn't appreciate the beauty and only noticed his eyes were different.I kicked his ass in racquetball and he kicked mine on the mat. This was not self-defense. Brack truly wanted me to kill this guy. I'm not sure why it was so important to him. I also understood on a deeper level that I was scared shitless. The thought of going toe to toe with a killer froze my insides.Fight or flight, Brack called it. I didn't tell him how terrified I was, but he knew. Brack was trying to train the flight instinct out of me."There's a time to run and there's a time to kill this motherfucker. That's what you're training for."I grumbled as Brack continued to pummel me with his tough-love techniques. I swam, ran, played racquetball, and picked myself up off the mat more times than I could co
There's always another crazy motherfucker out there. That thought ran repeatedly through my mind. Brack said not to allow fear to rule me, but it was hard. My stalker made me afraid of everything. I was not the same person I was a year ago. Back then, my middle name was, "Take on the world." Today it was, "Just survive until tomorrow."Later that morning, Brack played two racquetball games against me and I felt a great deal of satisfaction when his frustration finally showed. "Do you ever lose?" he asked while fighting for breath.I used Brack's favorite comebackkeep it frustratingly simple. "No.""You know I didn't think you had a chance of beating me that first day."I could only shake my head. "Even knowing what I could do on a tennis court?"Brack, who had bent double because he still wouldn't listen to me about opening his lungs, stood up. "The YouTube videos didn't do you justice."I laughed. "So which match did you watch?""Several, but my favorite was you and that Crosby