Limitless Love (Lotus House #4)(66)

Men were weird. I could hardly tell if they were kidding or being serious until Clayton finally smiled. “Touché. Now what do you want me to do?” His expression turned a bit on the serious side, his blue eyes flashing with interest, regardless of the serious nature of what I was learning. He came over to me and kneeled between my legs.

“Hi, beautiful. You working hard or hardly working?” He cocked a sexy eyebrow.

I preened and ran my hands from his wrists up his corded arms until I could caress his face. I stroked his bottom lip with my thumb. I wanted so badly to rise up and kiss that lip. Instead, I answered with a breathy, “Working hard.”

“Well, you look good doing it.” He winked.

“Blah, blah, blah, let’s get on with it. I was about to teach her how to get out of a rape situation. Rape. I’m assuming you want your woman up to speed on that?” Nick taunted.

“Fuck yes!” Clay growled, all hints of the humor he’d shown a moment ago long gone. “Let’s do this, baby.”

I nodded.

“Okay, so I’d told her not to push against her attacker but to bring him closer.”

I took the instruction and wrapped my hands around Clayton’s neck and brought his face in between my breasts. He took that moment to bite down on one through my tank.

“Ouch!” Cheeky bastard.

“An attacker might do that. I’m just keeping it real.” He smirked, and I wanted nothing more than to kiss his full lips again; instead, I narrowed my eyes.

“Pay attention!” I chastised.

Nick chuckled. “All right, Moe, so what you want to do is wrap your legs around his waist and lock your heels.”

I followed his instruction perfectly.

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Clayton joked.

“Once he’s secure, bring your hands around his head and press your thumbs into his eye sockets, doing the eye gouge.”

I moved fast, having already learned this move. Clayton veered back as I pretended and startled him, pushing his head up and back.

“Nice, Moe. Perfect. As you can see, he braced himself above you when you shoved him up. Right now, he’d probably be screaming and spitting mad about his eyes. Use that moment to lock one of your arms around his and press into the side of his face, pushing him away from you. Let go of your leg guard around his waist, bend a knee, and twist with the scissor sweep until you’re on top of him and have the upper hand.”

I used the moves he’d taught me and flipped Clayton over onto his back, where I straddled his waist. A fist pump and trophy arms was totally in order, but I didn’t think either of the men would appreciate it like a woman would. Mila would high-five me for that move alone. I couldn’t wait to show it to her using Atlas as my lackey.

“Okay, here you’d go for one of your soft targets again like the carotid or the eye gouge, or you could straight up wail on his ass with some punches.”

Wrapping my left hand around his trachea, I lightly compressed his carotid and pretended to punch him in the face with my right.

“Damn, woman! You’re a badass!” Clayton sat up and hugged me to his chest, then laid a mess of kisses all along my neck. His loving embrace soothed my soul and aching form. I wrapped my legs around his waist and sat back so I could look at his smile.

“Really great, right? Nick taught me so many cool moves, and I’m convinced I could do them if the need arose.” I positively preened for my man. What was that saying about being silly in love?

“Yes, I did teach you a lot. Still, your sweet ass is going to be in here on Thursday at least one more time. I want you to go home and practice with Clay until then,” Nick instructed.

Clay stood up, again hefting me around like I was a feather before letting me slide down his delectable body until I was standing. Yum. My skin tingled at the contact, wanting more. I always wanted more of Clayton’s touch and nearness. That’s what made our falling in love so fast not seem so ridiculous. We both felt it deep. The connection. As if when Kyle broke my heart, Clayton filled that broken half with his own, making me whole again.

My guy tipped his head down and took my mouth in a sweet, quick, but still meaningful kiss. After he’d had enough of my lips, he slid his nose along mine in a touching gesture that was somehow more lovely than the kiss.

Clay pulled away and went over to Nick, where he was gathering his things. He held out his hand. “Appreciate you doing this for her, Nick.”

Nick frowned. “No thanks necessary. We all love your girl. If I can teach her some moves to protect herself against that dirtbag, I can sleep easy tonight.”

“Still, I appreciate it, man.” He squeezed Nick’s hand and gripped him on the shoulder. Clayton turned to me as I was zipping up my white hoodie. “You ready? Want to pick up the queen and get working on our project.”

I pursed my lips and grabbed his hand. “Which would be what?” He hadn’t mentioned that we’d be doing anything handy around the house. Not since he had the window fixed and the security system installed.

“Getting Lily back in her own bed. That defense position reminded me your back is finally good to go. It is good, right?”

I twirled my hair with my free hand. “Maybe…”

He nudged my arm with his. “Don’t tease me with the prospect of heaven, beautiful. It’s just cruel.” He dipped his head close to mine and whispered in my ear. “I want you flat on your back, legs spread, showing me all your sweetness.”