Fighting Conviction by Greer Rivers

Chapter Twenty

“Look alive, Ellie.”

Ellie blocked the blow at the last second but Dev still clipped her in the ear with the mitt, making it sting. They’d been training for a month and he still got the drop on her ninety-nine point nine percent of the time.

“Ugh.” She backed away and rubbed at her ear, but Dev closed the gap, coming at her with the pads again. “Dev, stop, I need a break.”

“No breaks, El. We don’t have much time left in this session. Try to finish strong. If you’re up against somebody, they won’t stop and wait for you to lick your wounds before they stab you again.”

“Blech.” Ellie grimaced and stuck her tongue out in disgust. “God, how morbid.”

“You’re stalling.” He slapped the pads together and turned them to her again. “Now get back in here.”

“Come on, Dev, I didn’t sleep well. A survivor came into Sasha Saves last night right before the store and clinic closed. She agreed to do a rape kit at the hospital so I stayed with her half the night.”

Because Ellie hadn’t slept, she’d had to rush out of the dorm when Dev picked her up. And because she had to rush, she hadn’t had a chance to eat anything but one of Virginia’s weight loss energy bars. Even her skin felt tired.

Dev tilted his head. “I thought you weren’t on call last night.”

Ellie blushed, knowing she was about to get caught. “That’s beside the point.”

“No, no, no.” Dev turned the mitt in a way that let him swipe his hand down his face, pausing to massage his eyes before pointing at Ellie. “We all created schedules to make sure this type of thing didn’t happen because you were spreading yourself too thin. You’re not on call when you have early mornings. That’s the deal. How did you even get to the hospital? Your bike got stolen at the park.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Ellie groaned for what felt like the umpteenth time that training session. She hadn’t even thought about her bike after all the chaos of that night. By the time she remembered and Virginia drove her by to look for it, the bike was gone.

Dev gave her a pointed look, obviously still waiting on her answer. She refrained from groaning one more time and looked away, drinking some water before mumbling, “Don’t get mad at her, but Naomi picked me up.”

“Naomi? If she was available, why didn’t she take care of the call?”

Ellie shook her head as she answered. “Not yet. Naomi’s doing a really great job, but she’s still a brand-new volunteer. I couldn’t leave her there by herself. Besides, she doesn’t work the late shifts and had to leave to pick Thea up. It was just me the rest of the time until the survivor was ready to leave and Nora came to drive me back to my dorm.”

“Well…” His shoulders rose and fell on a deep sigh. “Since you’re not listening to anyone else telling you to slow down, I guess I’ll be the asshole and tell you that you brought this exhaustion” —he scanned her body with the mitt— “on yourself. You guys could’ve called Nora from the start, and you know that. You need to think about what’s best for you sometimes, at least for the fact that an attacker won’t care if you’re tired. He’ll use it against you.”

Ellie grumbled. “This morning I would’ve chosen an attacker over you picking me up and making me work out. This is dang torture.”

When she saw Dev’s smirk grow on his face, she realized it was no use. She’d tried every complaint and excuse in her arsenal over the past month and he never gave her an ounce of leeway. It would’ve been a nice change of pace from how everyone else treated her if she wasn’t so exhausted.

She huffed before finally putting her hands up in a blocking stance. “Fine, let’s do this, then.”

When she pulled her whole focus back on Dev, she bounced lightly on her toes to get her mind back in the zone. Sure, she was struggling from lack of food and sleep. Unfortunately, there was also the added complication that Dev was shirtless. With his abs and pecs staring right back at her, Ellie had almost no chance of paying attention.

God he’s so hot.

“Hell yeah he is.”

Sasha’s voice purred in her mind and she giggled until she noticed Dev narrowing his eyes at her. When he smirked, she bit back an embarrassed groan, knowing what was about to come next.

“Whatcha thinking, there, angel?”

Ellie felt her blush flood her all the way down to her toes. “Leave me alone, Dev.” She’d gotten better at keeping her emotions in check, but with how tired she was, and how Dev already seemed to always know what she was thinking, Ellie wasn’t surprised every lust-filled thought was written all over her face.

A low rumble from Dev erupted into a roar of laughter, making Ellie chuckle too. It’d been a long time since she’d seen him laugh like that. If ever, now that she thought about it. His deep bellow echoed across the gym and Ellie’s grew, too.

Until she realized she had an opening.

She dove in with a left hook, skimming the top of Dev’s mitt as he reflexively brought it up to his head.

“Shit!”

“Look alive, Dev.” Ellie did a little shimmy and started to back away as Dev’s eyes darkened. A mischievous smile widened across his face and sent shocks of anticipation right to her clit.

“Oh, so it’s like that, huh?” He tore off his pads and stepped toward her, an odd determination in his eyes. “Okay, we can play that way.”

“Wh-what’re you doing?” Ellie’s voice wavered, unable to hide the thrill of excitement shooting in every nerve.

“We’ve only practiced with protective gear up until now. Let’s graduate you to some actual hand-to-hand combat. Don’t worry, I’ll go easy at first.” Dev’s slow, lazy steps made her stomach flip and she matched him step for step in the opposite direction.

“Combat? Like actual fighting? So, um, I’m not watching myself in the mirror this time?”

“We’ll be doing more than that, baby.” Dev’s low voice made her core throb. But his slow pursuit hadn’t stopped, and instinct told her she didn’t have time to squeeze her thighs together to ease the ache.

“As much as I get off watching you learn the way your body moves,” his eyes drifted down her body before he licked his lips, like he’d just drank in every drop of the arousal pooling in her panties. “I want to see what your body does when I’m against it.”

“For the love of GAWD, and all that is motherfuckin’ holy, if you don’t fuck him, I will.”

Ellie’s back hit something solid as Sasha yelled at her, and she realized she’d bumped into the mirror. She was trapped. Her pulse beat all the way down to her core while her confused mind played catch-up.

Half of her wanted to run out of BlackStone and never come back, afraid of what Dev would do to her. The other half couldn’t wait to find out.

He was feet away from her, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the forest green orbs mesmerizing her in their hold.

“You remember, angel? Fighting is the last resort. What’s before that?”

“H-hide.” She darted her glance around the room, automatically trying to find safety.

“That’s right. But you have to be smarter than your attacker.” He tapped his head as he closed the space between them. “And if I were your attacker, you’d do well to remember that I would turn over every—” His fingers grazed down her throat, but she couldn’t stop watching his eyes. “—inch… of this facility looking for you.” Dev trailed his fingers back up her neck and his thumb pulled her lip from between her teeth as he leaned in. “So, Ellie… if you can’t hide. And you can’t possibly beat me in a fight…” His breathy chuckle puffed against her hair and his lips lingered over her ear. His words rang in her mind like a challenge, so she closed her eyes to try to block out the heat consuming her from his touch. “What… should… you… do?”

There was no way out and as much as she wanted to be beneath him, something inside her desperately wanted to escape. So she did what she had to do. She thrust her knee up into Dev’s crotch and ran like hell.

Dev growled out a yelp and reached for her, but she was able to scoot around him thanks to his agility training and new injury. She didn’t know where she was going and she didn’t fully understand why she was running, but every instinct told her she needed to make him chase her. That she wanted him to chase her.

The gym wasn’t that big and the door was only a few strides away. She turned around to see if Dev was following and—huge mistake. The six-foot-four monster of a man was recovering way too quickly and already almost right behind her. And she’d just given him the advantage.

Ellie faced the door again and dug her feet into the ground to pick up speed. She rounded a power squat machine and lifted her legs to hop a bench… only to be captured mid-flight.

Muscular arms wrapped around her in a bear hug and turned her around. A strong hand circled her throat. She began to hyperventilate and her stomach flipped, whether from the adrenaline or the desire pooling in her core, she wasn’t sure. He turned them around and there in the mirror she was captivated by seeing Dev holding her against his hard body.

Watching the Dev and Ellie in front of her was surreal. The man’s hungry gaze down on the woman made Ellie squeeze her legs to ease the ache throbbing between. He looked at her with a mixture of awe and desire, like he’d been starving his entire life, and he’d finally found the sustenance he craved right there in his arms. Like he needed her.

His lips hovered over the shell of her ear. “Come on, angel. Push past the fear. Breathe for me.”

Had she quit breathing? The edges of the world were turning black and panic shocked down her spine. She hadn’t noticed before, but the gentle command accompanied by the soft stroke down the column of her throat reminded her to suck in a breath. The air invaded her lungs, too much at once.

“Ellie, come on. You’ve worked so fucking hard at the physical fighting, you’ve got this.” Her breathing came in fast gulps but the world came back into focus. “The rest is all in your head, baby. You have to remain calm, logical, and be the proactive person in this situation. Whatever your next step is, you have control. You hear me? You are in control.”

You are in control.

Ellie hesitated, unable to quit staring at the image of them together. His grip adjusted and his whole hand encompassed her throat, still tender against the skin.

“Come on, Ellie. What would you do? Fight the fear.”

I have control.

A tinge of defeat tainted Dev’s words. “We have to work on this, baby. I’ll work on it with you, but in the real world… fuck, I’ve been holding you for half a minute. A lot can happen in half a minute.”

“I-I’d…” Ellie inhaled a calming breath against Dev’s forearm, but only got cinnamon. She leaned on his chest and squeezed the corded muscle with her hands.

“Ellie?” The surprise in his tone made it obvious he didn’t know what she was doing. When he released his grip on her throat, she embedded her nails into his arm.

“No,” her whisper carried a command, and feeling Dev follow it by tensing his fingertips against her made her heartbeat thrum with power. “Stay…” Ellie watched the Dev in the mirror lift his gaze to meet hers. “Please…” she begged.

They shared several breaths in tandem before she felt him swallow against the crown of her head. “Okay, then, baby… I-it’s just us. Just you and me. You still have the control here, angel. If you trust me then whatever we do, whatever I do, know you have the power to stop me.”

Dev tightened his biceps and forearms around her chest encasing her in a feeling of comfort and safety she wasn’t sure she’d ever had. His grip was firm against her throat… But she had control in this situation. If she said no—not that she wanted to—or even if she didn’t say yes, he would respect her. She could give in to this man, trust him completely, and know she was in good hands.

Ellie felt his length hardening behind her. The empowering beat in her chest pulsed in her clit as she pressed her butt farther into him. Dev closed his eyes on a stuttering exhale, giving Ellie the satisfaction of knowing she had an effect on him.

“Ellie… I can’t play games with you…” Dev’s voice was impossibly lower and made her core ache.

“Who’s playing a game?” Ellie whispered. “I want this.”

Dev shook his head, but didn’t let go. His hips pushed into her until they were in an unfamiliar dance that felt as natural as breathing.

“I… can’t.” Dev’s forehead leaned against the back of her head, making it impossible to see what he was truly thinking. “You make me lose control. Last time… I didn’t even see the signs you were about to have a panic attack. Then I lost my shit knowing I did that to you—”

Ellie tried to turn around, but he kept his hold. “Dev, none of that is your fault. I feel safer with you than anyone.”

“What if I break you, angel?”

His last words whispered over her, like that was the last thing he wanted. But Ellie blushed in the mirror at the thought of what being broken by Dev would mean. It should’ve scared her. But it didn’t. She attempted to turn to talk to him face to face, but Dev tightened around her neck until it was harder to breathe. She swallowed against his hand and couldn’t help the moan that escaped her as desire throbbed at the emptiness inside her.

Dev tilted his head and she could almost see the spark of—was it excitement or satisfaction? She couldn’t tell, but she got the overwhelming sense she’d passed some sort of test. “You like that, Ellie?”

Instead of nodding, Ellie pushed his forearms with her hands, still bound by his biceps. She was on the verge of being in pain, but God, it felt good. His fingers dug into the sides of her throat until her chest was heaving and the world felt fuzzy again. But she was pushing him further. She could stop it at any time.

“You like when I do that? You like knowing that even when I’m in charge, you’re in control?” His teeth nipped her ear. “That I’m begging you to be at my mercy?”

She nodded before moaning again at the thickness grinding between her butt cheeks.

“Say it, baby.”

“Say what?” She closed her eyes at his slow thrusts against her, but his fingers moved up to her jaw and he tapped her lower cheek until she opened them again to face the mirror.

“Tell me what you want. I’m warning you, after that, you’re mine. But I need to hear it from you first, angel. Now…” Hungry eyes caught hers in the reflection, keeping her captive just as much as his embrace. “What… do you… want?”

Ellie licked her lips and as this focused man’s control slipped to follow the pink muscle, pride rippled through her. He shook his head imperceptibly and brought his attention back to her and growled.

“What do you want, angel?”

She bit her wet lip and took the plunge.

“You.”