Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

“I see.” Shane took the mug and looked at her intently. “I thought for certain you’d be trying to talk me into letting you go hunting.”

“Not really.” Maya lifted one shoulder and peered at him over the edge of her mug beneath a row of thick, long lashes. “I’m feeling rather satisfied at the moment.”

“At the moment?” Shane smirked before emptying his mug in one big gulp.

“Yes. But you never know when a girl will be hungry for more,” she murmured coyly. Maya placed her mug on the table and her smile faltered when she eyed the array of weapons. “Any word from Olivia yet?”

“Yes.” Shane put his mug down next to Maya’s and paused for a moment. He didn’t want her distracted from her training and decided on a less-is-more approach. “Things are quiet, and we’re to stay down here and train for a week. Olivia feels that we can return once the summit has finished and King Heinrich is free to deal with Horace himself.”

“That’s it?” Her brows knit together and she paused for a few seconds, studying him intently. “I didn’t cause a new war?”

“No.” Shane shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. “But things are still touchy, so until the summit is over and the king is free to be directly involved, we will stay here and you will train. The war with the wolves may not be imminent, but you should know how to defend yourself. Based on what I saw in the dreamscape, you have the makings of a great warrior, Maya.”

“Me?” Maya asked with obvious disbelief. “A warrior? Like you and Olivia?”

“Bella did call you a hunter.”

“Right.” Maya rolled her eyes. “At this point, I’d just like to stop being a liability.”

“Good.” Passing her a pair of leather gloves, Shane noticed that her necklace was no longer around her neck. “Maya, where is your necklace?”

“I took it off.” Her hand went instinctively to the spot where it usually rested. “I didn’t know what to expect, and since it’s the only item I have left from whatever family I had, I didn’t want to lose it while we practiced.”

“Fine.” He watched her pull on the gloves. “Then let’s begin.”

Over the next two hours, Shane worked with Maya on her throwing skills, and to his great surprise, she had remarkably good aim. He showed her how to use her sonar-like senses to focus on disturbances in the atmosphere so she could hit a target without even looking at it. He tossed several objects in the air, and after only three or four attempts, she’d managed to hit almost every one. Her aim with the guns was equally good, and based on the way the targets were shredded, she’d do just fine in a gun battle.

Shane did wonder what would happen once the targets were live and fighting back. It was anybody’s guess how she’d handle that.

“Would you like a break before we begin the hand-to-hand combat?” Shane asked, removing the targets from the trees. Lottie was kind enough to let them train, so he didn’t want to leave any litter in her backyard. “Take a few minutes to regroup?”

“No.” Maya’s jaw set with determination, and she stood in the middle of the yard in what could only be considered a battle-ready stance. With feet shoulder-width apart and hands curled into fists at her sides, she looked prepared to take whatever he could dish out. And sexy. The woman looked dead fucking sexy. “Let’s do it.”

“As you wish.”

Shane walked past Maya to toss what was left of the targets into a large trash can by the kitchen door. Then, without any warning, he whisked back to Maya, linked one arm around her waist, pinning her arms at her sides, and brought his other hand up beneath her chin. If he were in battle, he could easily break the neck of his opponent, and though he had no intention of harming her, he wanted to see if Maya would try to defend herself. She froze.

Shane kissed her cheek tenderly and released her from his grasp.

“Why didn’t you try to defend yourself?” he asked as she turned to face him.

“I—I wasn’t ready for it,” she said quickly. “Besides, I knew it was you and not some werewolf.”

“Do you expect there to be a formal announcement before they come after you? Because I can assure you there won’t be.”

“No.” Maya’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’m not stupid.”

“I know that.” Shane’s tone softened. “You were a quick study with the weapons, Maya, but you can’t rely on that. More often than not, we are dragged into physical one-on-one fighting, especially with the wolves. We will begin with self-defense techniques.” He stepped back and made a motion for her to turn around. “We’ll do it again, but this time I’ll walk you through what to do.”

“If I just shoot them, then I won’t need to worry about this,” Maya murmured. She turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Okay, Mr. Miyagi.”

Shane paused and his brow furrowed, confusion washing over him. “Who is Mr. Miyagi?”

“Never mind.” Maya laughed loudly. “Let’s go, old man.”

“Fine.” Shane stilled and stood about two feet behind her. “You need to focus on and tune in to the changes in the air around you at all times, much as you did with the targets. When you sense the ripples in the air getting stronger, your opponent is getting closer. The more you focus on the changes, the quicker it will become second nature. If you concentrate, you can anticipate your attacker’s movements. To defend yourself, it’s best to be face-to-face.”

“Then why did you have me turn around?” she asked far too sweetly.

“Close your eyes.” Shane grinned. “Focus on the sound waves in the air. What do you hear?”

“Frogs.” Maya’s voice was quiet, barely above a whisper. “Something moving in the water. An owl to the right.” Eyes still closed, she lifted her arm and pointed to the right. “He’s in a tree about twenty feet away and maybe fifteen feet off the ground.”

Good. Shane’s voice touched her mind gently and he remained motionless. Now keep your eyes closed and tell me what you feel.

Maya’s head tilted to the left. An animal is moving along the edge of the water. It’s small, probably a possum or something.

Good. He took one step forward. What else.

You. Her body tensed. You moved closer.

How can you tell? Shane’s voice remained even and he tried to focus on their training, instead of how enticingly sexy her ass looked in the sentry catsuit. He took two more steps toward her. Tell me what you feel.

There it is again. Her voice was laced with excitement, but her body stayed tense and ready to spring into action. It reminds me of being in the ocean when the waves rise suddenly after being calm. Kind of like what happens when another person swims by.

Excellent. Shane held his ground. Now I’m going to come after you again, like I did a few minutes ago, and I want you to see if you can avoid getting caught.

Maya nodded but didn’t respond.

Shane held off and he could feel the tension rising in the air while she patiently waited for him to make his move. Then with no warning he exploded toward her, but to his great delight, Maya spun around, anticipating his move. He’d hoped she’d fly off, but instead she jumped up into his embrace and linked her arms and legs around him before placing a big kiss on his cheek. Grinning like she’d won the lottery, she clung to him while he gripped her leather-clad ass with both hands.

“How was that?” Maya asked playfully.

“That is not exactly what I had in mind,” Shane said, struggling to squelch the smile that played at his lips. No matter how charmed he was, he could not let her turn this training session into some kind of game. “You did manage to sense my approach.”