Chapter 29

(Santiago’s POV)

Bella and Ariana have been training with our pack. I like seeing that they want to take part and help. Bella is arguably an excellent fighter; however, I’ve noticed a few areas where she can stand to improve.

So, I invite her to join me for a sparring session.

She arrives ten minutes early. Her long hair is pulled back into a ponytail, out of her way.

She wears loose black athletic pants that sit perfectly on her hips and a long-sleeved, cropped shirt that shows only the tiniest sliver of her flat stomach. She's barefoot and steps up on the mat.

“You’re impressively strong,” I say. “There are just a few areas in your fighting style where I feel like you leave yourself more vulnerable. Are you ready?”

She gives a curt nod. I let her rush me first.

I easily evade her attempt. “Never attack first. Let them come to you.”

Next, I reach for her, allowing her to evade me, then grab her ponytail and pull her in, with her back against my body. My fingers splay across her belly, just barely grazing flesh.

Electricity jolts through me. My wolf howls in my head. I tell him to shut up.

“You should consider wearing your hair braided when out in the field. The moment you find yourself in a hand-to-hand fight, have a stocking cap at the ready, keeps your enemy from using your gorgeous hair as a weapon against you,” I tell her.

As far as weapons go, she prefers the smaller daggers. This works well for her stature, but she leaves herself wide open to fatal blows in the chest, thigh, gut, and back.

She delivers a nice roundhouse kick to my face, but then doesn’t block when I go for the undercut. This allows me to easily flip her over on her back and pin her arms above her head.

I keep my hand on the underside of her upper thigh, holding her leg above my head for longer than I should.

Her muscle is tight, stronger than I thought. She flexes it in an attempt to reverse us. I let go and hold her down at the wrists.

Her eyes widen as her back hits the mat. Her chest rises and falls with heavy, slow breathing. My gaze can’t help but take her in.

Lilac fills my being. Her skin is soft and smooth like satin. I straddle her petite frame. Her body fits beneath mine like a glove.

I look down to find her staring at me. Our eyes lock for just a moment. My gaze falls to her full, soft, kissable lips. She’s fucking perfect.

I lean down and whisper in her ear, “From this position you can leverage your weight against mine and flip…”

She jolts her hips forward, taking me by surprise, and flips our positions. She holds me in place with her hips.

I shouldn’t look at her this way. It shouldn’t feel so good to feel her body on top of mine. She’s wet. I feel it through our clothes. My cock throbs at the heat coming off her. It aches to be inside her body.

“Take her to bed…now,” my wolf says.

“We are just a contract.”

(Isabella’s POV)

I’ve never been the best fighter, to be honest. I can handle my own if I need to, but until all this crap with Jesse, my pack was peaceful.

Santiago comes to the gym in black track pants and no shirt whatsoever. “As far as I’m concerned, he should never wear a shirt…ever,” my wolf says.

“You’re drooling,” I tell her.

“So are you, close your mouth.”

I realize in that moment that my mouth is indeed agape. Moon Goddess, he’s gorgeous.

When he grabs my hair and pulls my body to his, I feel his hot breath on the back of my neck, which instantly sends butterflies to my stomach and dampens my panties.

Gooseflesh spreads from the point of contact and down my spine.

“Tell him to take you, Bella,” my wolf says.

“No, I can’t.

“His wolf wants us. I sense it.”

“We are in a contract. That’s all.”

“You want him too!”

“Moon Goddess knows I do, but I can’t have him.”

He flips me onto my back and holds my wrists. He uses a perfect amount of pressure to keep me still. I find myself becoming breathless and not wanting him to move.

I decide to deflect from my disinterest in him being anywhere but on top of me by countering our weight. I flip him over easily and land straddling his waist.

My hips spread apart, opening me up to him. I find myself wondering what he’d feel like inside me.

His hands reach up and hold my hips. He pulls my hips down harder and through our clothes I feel his heat and arousal for me.

That’s enough. I need to concentrate. Take a deep breath.

I lean down and whisper in his ear, “Pinned ya.”

I smirk as his sandalwood aroma intoxicates my senses.

He lifts an eyebrow. “I see that. What do you intend to do with me now?”

My hands run down his bare chest. I trace the lines of his tattoos. His skin is smooth and soft. The muscles beneath them are rock fucking hard.

I smile back at his cute smirk and opt to roll off him. I hop up and extend my hand to help him up.

He smirks again, accepts my hand, and yanks me down to the mat, rolling me over and lying on top of me. I’m sure he doesn’t use his full weight. He presses his lips to mine.

“Never trust your opponent, Bella. They can and will betray you.”

I nod.

We hop up at the same time.

He nods curtly in my direction. “Good, quick learner. So, would you like to have dinner together? We can go out to eat if you’d like?”

“Sure,” I say.

“Great, how about we get cleaned up and I’ll pick ya up in about an hour?”

We take turns taking showers, and I opt to wear the dress I wore when we first met. The black floor-length dress with a corset-style strapless bodice and slits on both sides that stop at my hips.

Santiago knocks on the door, right on time. I step into my stiletto heels and holler for him to come in.

I turn my back to him. “Do you mind zipping me up?” I ask.

I gather my hair and pull it all over my shoulder.

I feel his breath on my neck. I ache to feel his hands on me again.

He traces my spine with his finger, then follows the line by pulling up the zipper. He takes my hair and lets it go over my back.

His touch on my skin quickens my pulse and sends a surge of electricity through to my core.

He snakes both arms around me from behind. His hands stay open against my stomach. He gently moves my curls away from my ear and leans forward to whisper.

“I spoke to Singer. He has several new leads. He’ll be in touch when he has more.”

His lips graze my earlobe, and my stomach feels like it flips within my being.

His hands run down either side of my back to my hips. He turns me to face him.

“You look beautiful.”