The kick I didn’t even see coming cracked a rib as I went flying back. My back hit first, then my head slammed back into the wall, and I collapsed to the mat in the dojo that I thought should be softer. It looked soft, and had give, but not that much give. And I’d fallen on it far too many times already that morning. My side felt like it was on fire, and I was really pissed off.

  It wasn’t training at all, not like a human would think of it, where they were taught martial arts moves. No, there was no instruction, no advice, she was just kicking my ass. I felt whiny in my head, just a little bit, but at the same time what the fuck? That wasn’t training, and I growled as I felt a slap of hard wood on the back of my head.

  “Get up,” Janice said in a cool neutral voice, as if she was bored with kicking my ass. She also had two Escrima sticks in her hands, which hurt like a son of a bitch when they hit. They were made from Rattan, a lightweight but very flexible and durable wood, and were about two feet long and relatively thin. It made the weapons incredibly sturdy and lighting fast.

  I’d had my own pair at some point, but it hadn’t helped me defend from hers very well. The woman was graceful, fast, and strong, and she was a master of the martial arts. She was also obviously a cruel bitch. I wasn’t sure where Ginny was at the moment. She’d gone out to buy me a wardrobe two hours ago, but I wasn’t too worried yet. It’d take time to find and buy weeks of clothes.

  My side burned as I moved to my feet, and my heart pounded like a snare drum in my chest. I felt anger, impotence, and was just generally pissed off. I knew she was really trying to trigger me under pressure of pain and punishment. That was what this so-called training was really about, trying to force my power to come out to save my life, or something. I felt like warmed over shit, and my body was like one big bruise, and my side was throbbing in pain and that was only between the sharp stabs of pain.

  Whatever my power was, pain and anger wasn’t the trigger, because this wasn’t working at all. My mind was also clouded by that buzzing, which was extremely annoying. Apparently when I got pissed, I started popping brain capillaries or something. Which was new, but I’d never been quite as angry before, as last night and this morning. There was a certain level of emasculation in it, how could I protect Ginny or even pretend to promise to protect Janice too, if I was weak and worthless.

  It was frustrating. It was all self-inflicted mentally as well. Janice was a strong and powerful woman who had mastered several martial arts. I didn’t feel less like a man because she was kicking my ass. I felt like less of a man because if my enemy attacked then I’d be helpless to protect myself and them.

  Janice frowned, “I can see your power reacting, but it isn’t doing anything. It sure as hell isn’t giving you strength or speed. It might be on the magic side of things. How do you feel?”

  I laughed, then winced and grabbed my side, “My head is buzzing, is that my power? I felt it last night too. I also feel like I’m going to pass out, the edges of my vision are blurry.”

  Janice said, “Use it, strike me with it. With your mind. Much like you’re starting to control the blessing, imagine that buzzing like a stream running downhill to me. Don’t grab it or push it, just Imagine it flows from you like you’re the crystal-clear lake on a mountaintop feeding that stream.”

  My whole being shrank back from that concept, like I’d rather die before ever doing that, and I didn’t fully understand why in the moment, but I could never do as she’d asked.

  She started to curse vociferously and quite creatively, then she glowed with a white light tinged by greens and blues, and then it was shoved into me. She looked at me like I was the monster as she took two steps back and turned her back to me.

  I flinched at first not knowing what to expect, but as the pain in my body faded quickly, my mind reminded me of what Ginny had said last night. Janice could heal with her mystical energy. It was energizing, and my heart stopped racing as the pain fled, and even my broken rib stopped hurting. It must’ve been what made her such a good trainer, she could trigger someone by beating them half to death with her martial arts skills, then restore their body afterwards. I hadn’t put that together until that moment, call me slow but there was a lot going on and I was probably missing a lot of subtle truths.

  As for Janice, she was still cursing stridently as she stomped out of the dojo, and she didn’t look back. It was the first time I’d ever seen her not move elegantly with flowing and deadly grace.

  What the fuck was that about?

  Concerned, I picked up the Escrima sticks she’d dropped, mine as well which were halfway across the room, and I put them up on the weapons rack. Then I walked outside and looked around. She was kneeling at the garden with her back turned to me, her shoulders stiff, and I headed her way to figure out what was wrong.

  I was only halfway there when she turned her head, and there was rage in her eyes, which were also filled with moisture as tears streaked down her face. My mind considered the wisdom of approaching a crying woman in a rage, and the concern in my heart won and I kept on walking.

  “What’s wrong, Janice?”

  Janice cursed, “Fuck. I’m such an idiot, a blind fool. I assume you didn’t try to get Hazel with it either?”

  I frowned, “I thought I was having a brain aneurism or something, it never occurred to me it was my power, and even if it had I wouldn’t have been able to use it without knowing how. I still don’t know what it is, but I can try using it on the next asshole now that you told me how. Why are you an idiot? Not that I’m agreeing.”

  The power would be a lot easier to use, it already had a sense of surrounding me, it was a part of me. That magic was mine, so I didn’t have to focus to get it inside me, or to sink myself into it. Those parts were already done. All I had to do was focus on moving it, and the water simile worked well for me because of my experience with the blessing, and it would take a whole lot less focus being only one step.

  She shook her head, “It wasn’t until the look of flat and horrified denial on your face at my order that I realized how stupid I was. I almost beat you to death, for nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  She bit her lip and looked up into my eyes, “I should’ve known, last night. I felt her blessing on you reach out to me with longing and need, to protect and cherish, to claim. I know what that means, but I disregarded it. I also didn’t think it would interfere with the training, but I was wrong. Your power is active now. You won’t have a problem feeling it and wielding it with the advice I gave when you’re in danger again. It would help to know what it is, and train a little beforehand, but that doesn’t seem possible now.”

  “How did it interfere?” I asked, already having a good idea, but I wasn’t positive.

  Her eyes softened slightly, and her usually cool crisp voice sounded awed, “Because you long to cherish me, protect me. The whole point of the training is to trigger your power and make you strike out. You… You let me beat you to a pulp, and you still got horrified by the idea of hurting me back. Even though I was a bitch, you still wanted to protect me. Your power didn’t come out because you were protecting me from it. I’m sorry. I didn’t think, I didn’t know. I didn’t think a man like you could exist, one I could trust under any circumstance. Fuck.”

  She was crying again, and I felt out of my depth. It was also clear all that cursing earlier as well as the rage in her crying eyes had been aimed at herself.

  I got on my knees next to her, and I took a chance and put my hand on her shoulder. To my surprise, she turned to me and moved into me, burying her face in my neck and I felt tears fall there, as I cradled her against me.

  “You didn’t know. I didn’t think of it either, and I was the one not wanting to hurt you the whole time you kicked my ass.”

  She giggled, but it came out more like a sob.

  I caressed her back and crooned into her hair, and her brightly rich reddish-brown hair was even softer and more luxurious than I’d imagined against my lips and cheek. I wasn’t an ass, and sex wasn’t on my mind in that moment, but my cock did get rather stiff holding her supple body against mine, as her generous tits pressed against me and her warm face was in my neck. It didn’t help that she was dressed in skintight Lycra shorts and a sport’s bra, all that deliciously supple and toned nubile skin on display, including half her cleavage.

  No big deal, hitting on a crying woman was a dick move, and I really wasn’t in the mood besides. But my body’s reaction and libido from the blessing was out of my control, and of course she noticed since I wasn’t exactly small, and our bodies were pressing together. That was only my visible reaction of course, I also felt a deeply potent need to protect her rise up powerfully in my chest, in that moment of her vulnerability.

  She stiffened for a long moment, as she felt me grow against her, but then all at once her body relaxed against me. I guessed she’d decided she didn’t mind.

  She nuzzled my neck, which was now as wet with her tears as her face had been. She’d also stopped shaking like a leaf against me, so I hoped those tears were done.

  “You forgive me? I feel the same attraction to you. The desire to be protected and claimed. It’s something I gave up on years ago, thinking I’d never find the kind of man that you are, or at least one that would want me. Though I wondered if any could exist at all in truth. One I could depend on, but I still kicked your ass. I didn’t exactly enjoy it. I’ve never been sadistic, but there was a certain satisfaction in it for me. A dark thing I’m not proud of, fed by the men that have disappointed me in the past and colored all my relationships.”

  I didn’t want to just blow it off and say don’t worry about it. I knew she wouldn’t accept that, so I thought it through before replying.

  “There’s nothing to forgive. You didn’t do it on purpose, and people make mistakes. Even foolish ones because of preconceptions. The fact you stopped as soon as you realized the truth, and felt remorse as well for your error, is what defines you. You are breathtaking, Janice.”

  “What makes you say that, when I’ve been such a bitch to you,” she said softly with regret.

  I kissed her head softly, “You’ve been distant. I wouldn’t call that bitchy because bitchy is mean, just cautiously distant in your pain and fear of the past. Your intelligent and vigilant, but so much more than that. I see the real you in everything around us. That garden, the warmth of the guest room I slept in last night. The beautiful landscaping and the warmth of this whole property in total. The welcoming and warm house, and even the slightly more subdued welcome of the dojo where you give to other women the strength to reclaim their lives. All that warmth is you, Janice. You can hide yourself, but you can’t hide any of that. You may have been hiding behind a cool mask of expression, but it’s still clear to see for anyone that truly looks that you’re a warm, generous, and supportive woman of hearth and home, just like your mother.”

  She gasped into my neck at the last, and then pulled her head back to look up into my eyes with both shocked surprise and a deep vulnerability at my insights. Her warm green flecked gray eyes were absolutely enthralling in that moment, and she looked shocked at how I saw her, and also exposed as if she could no longer hide from me. Also, like all that terrified her and thrilled her in equal measure.

  She reached up and caressed my face with confused awe in her eyes, “No one sees that, Levi,” she accused, “Even Ginny thinks I’m a bitch. How did you see that? I’m also a pale shadow of my goddess, at best.”

  “That may be true. I haven’t met her, and I only meant that you take after her in that way, but that pale shadow still makes you breathtaking to me. To answer your question, I have no idea. I’m no more perceptive than the next guy as far as I know. It just seemed obvious to me that you put your heart and soul into this place. This place is the real reflection of you, not the mask you hide behind. I felt it welcome me, as we drove up, even before I saw you the first time.”

  She bit her lip doubtfully, “Are you sure you want me. I’m… brok…” she trailed off as I kissed her softly, just a soft lingering brush of my lips against hers. She sat back on her heels, with her lips slightly parted in shock with her fingertips touching that just short of pouty lip. The look in her eyes was both desperately hopeful and needy, while also being terrified that it couldn’t possibly be real.

  That I couldn’t possibly want her.

  “You’re magnificent, Janice. Never tell me your broken, hurt and healing, but not broken.”

  Her eyes widened further, and then she was kissing me with a desperately hot and needy ardor that took me by surprise, and that also made my cock twitch hard in its confinement. Her hands entwined with my hair and her fingernails teased the back of my neck as she melted her body against me firmly. She let out a mewl of needy desire that blew my mind and my hands held her close and caressed her back while I kissed her back with equal need and ardor. I removed all my resistance to the blessing, and the potent need that roared up from my chest was more than an equal for hers.

  When our first hot as hell kiss broke, she leaned away for a moment to strip off the sports bra revealing her perfectly supple and very proudly gravity defying heart shaped C cups. Her skin was a light tan, just short of being fair, and her delicately soft pink nipples were a hell of a contrast and mouthwateringly alluring. They tightened in the open air, and they were quite large.

  I was shocked for a split second, thinking we’d have gone inside, but then the rightness of that moment settled on me. Claiming her as mine outside, next to the garden and surrounded by the warmth of the property was the right place for this. The right place for our first time as I took her as mine. There was a slightly illicit thrill from the idea of claiming her in the open, but there were no other houses for at least a mile around, we were assured of privacy unless my Ginny returned.

  I tore my own shirt over my head, and then pulled her in for another aggressive as hell kiss. She had always had that cool and controlled mask, but this woman in my arms was overflowing with hot passion. Her heart was huge and filled with warmth and an equal driving and desperate need to share it. That’s why she was so cold, because she’d despaired of ever finding a man to fulfill that need. A man that she could share that endless warmth and passion with, in trust. In that moment, her wild passion, out of control desire, and heated gaze was the first time I was seeing the real Janice. The warm and passionate woman behind the mask.

  I kissed off her soft silken lips after suckling that sexy as hell bottom lip for a moment, then kissed down her neck while my hands caressed her sides and teased her breasts. There was some urgency from the powerful lustful need we both felt. The passion was explosive between us, but I tried to temper it as I kissed down and started to explore her breasts with my mouth and hands.

  Her own hands were soft and felt good on my chest, shoulders, and the back of my head, and the sweet gasp that escaped her lips as I teasingly suckled a nipple into my mouth drove me crazy with need that I wrestled to hold back a little longer. Her breasts needed a soft touch, not unlike my goddess, and they were extremely sensitive to my every lavish lick, teasing bite, and gentle suckle.

  My hands left my mouth in charge of working her up further, while they slid down the gentle slope of her waist and gently pulled down on her Lycra shorts.

  She moved up slightly to make it easier for me, even as she pulled my head firmly against her breasts.

  “Fuck, you’re so good at that. Suck my tits. Fuck, Levi.”

  I accused in a slightly muffled voice, as her breasts were delightful, “You’re so damned hot, and you have a naughty mouth.”

  She moaned sultrily in agreement, and then gasped delightfully as my hand found her moist folds that felt like a damned furnace against my teasing fingers. Her shorts were only down to her thighs, I hadn’t wanted to stop sucking her tit to get them all the way off, and I was so damned hard over her breathy and needy sighs of pleasure as I slipped in two fingers and thumbed her clit at the same time.

  Her own hands reached for me then, traveling down my body with a teasing touch until they were undoing my jeans. A moment later it was my turn to gasp into her breasts, as her soft silken fingertips wrapped around my girth and gave a playful milking tug, before loosening slightly and stroking me.

  She said breathily, “Explore later, make me yours now. I need this big fat cock in me. I do have a naughty mouth, and I can be a naughty girl. Your naughty girl.”

  I twitched so hard I thought I might actually cum right there. Who was this person, and where did my cool and poised Janice go? I pushed her onto her back, and I pulled her shorts off with authority. Then I stood up and quickly shucked my own jeans and shoes.

  She smiled at me and bit her lips while I finished undressing and feasted on her naked lissome body with my eyes. She squeezed her own nipple and returned my heated gaze with a fuck me look in hers.

  Then she winked, and she rolled her body sensuously and seductively and got up on her elbows and knees with her legs slightly parted. Her ass stuck up high in the air as she arched her back in lewd invitation. Her petite pussy mound and lovely labia were visible between her ass cheeks and legs, and her puckered star was winking up at me as she pushed her ass up even higher in libidinous invitation.

  Fuck me, she was so hot, and her supple and slightly meaty pear-shaped ass was perfect. I got on my knees behind her, and I caressed her ass softly and teasingly with my fingertips, even as I lined up my cock and slammed into her hard from behind. The first three inches split her labia and speared into her impossibly snug and hot heaven.

  She gasped, “Fuck!” and she started to convulse around me wildly and she let out a delicious little whimper of needy pleasure. She was wild, filled with passion, and I was getting the idea she was far naughtier than I’d suspected at first.

  I spanked her hard, which made her gasp again and tighten around me like a vice. Then I started to rock my body, collecting plenty of her liquid arousal on my cock on the way out to get a little deeper with every harsh drive.