For Her Protection: 1 (Personal Protection) by Amber A Bardan Page A

may as well have dished it up in a serving platter. He
scooped up a forkful of steaming beans.
    “I’m resourceful. Don’t be shy—you’re going to need your
energy for what I have planned.”
    Her cheeks warmed. Why was it everything he said sounded
dirty? Obviously they were going to work out again. Charlize picked up her
knife and fork and cut a chunk of bacon. “More kick-boxing?”
    Connor chewed then gulped coffee. “Not today, just
self-defense training.” He set down his cup and gazed at her. “It’ll be intense
but by the end you’ll be surprised at what you can do.”
    Charlize nodded. About freaking time . She was looking
forward to learning to kick some ass. She took a small scoop of baked beans,
not really her thing but hey, he’d bothered to make them and they had to be
better than anything she could make.
    Flavor exploded across her tongue. Garlic with smoky
undertones and a hint of sweetness. Scratch that—she freaking loved baked
beans. Her eyes shut and she chewed slowly.
    “But it’s the fucking you’re going to need your energy for.”
    Her eyes flew open and she coughed up a bean. She grabbed a
napkin and wiped her mouth, her fingers shaking. “What?”
    He held his fork in front of him and it kind of looked as if
maybe he was going to scoop her up with it. “If you’re going to eat my food
like that, I’ll be forced to feed you something else. So behave or the fucking
will come first.”
    Her clothes seemed to shrink around her. Either that or her
accelerating blood flow was expanding her skin. “I hope you’re joking. Is that
supposed to be some kind of caveman sweet-talk?”
    Connor’s stormy blue eyes shifted across her
face—lips—eyes—lips. She had to fight the urge to touch her mouth.
    “Have you forgotten what you asked me to do last night?” He
leaned closer. “I haven’t.”
    She leaned into the warmth of him, drawn to the way his
bottom lip glistened. He straightened and returned to his breakfast.
    “Now eat.”
    Charlize studied her plate. How in the heck was she supposed
to eat another bite? She’d seen this coming—hell, she’d asked for it the night
before. But in the clarity of morning the idea made her heart want to crash its
way out of her body.
    Why should what she wanted be so completely damn terrifying?
    * * * * *
    They finished breakfast and did the dishes like a real
couple. He washed and she dried and put away. They made use of her mostly empty
living room for training, standing barefoot in the middle of the room. Charlize
glanced at the hardwood floor.
    “Wouldn’t this be safer on the rug?”
    “We won’t be doing throws today,” he said and circled her,
walked around her three times.
    She refused to turn her head and follow him.
    “Here’s how it’s going to work. I’m going to show you a
dozen simple techniques. At the end I’m going to test you.”
    She frowned. “Like a quiz?”
    “No, like a challenge. We see what you’ve remembered. Get
you to think on your feet, force you to think quickly and react fast.” He
stopped in front of her. “If you pass the challenge, you win—and trust me, you
want to win.”
    Charlize folded her arms and tried not to look as if she
caught the suggestion in his tone. “We’ve played this game before. If you want
to prove you’re bigger, stronger and better at this Karate crap than I am, then
I concede—you’re better.”
    He grinned a devilish smile that reminded her just how
quickly he could make her heart race. “This is a new game. All you have to do
is prove you were paying attention. It’s not a contest, it’s a challenge—and
the stakes are higher.”
    She uncrossed her arms. “How high?”
    “At the end of this I’m going to fuck you.” He slinked
closer in his prowling-panther way of moving. “How I do that is up to you.
Either you get to fight me off, put up your best resistance, or I own you and
you do exactly as I say. If you win, you get to choose how it