“Shiori?”

“Sorry. Just thinking about the best way to explain this.”

But you can’t explain what you suspect is happening between you and the sexy Shihan.

Shaking off that thought, she said, “This time notice the movement in my hips. When I throw you over, I can lock both of my legs around you. If I keep a tight grip on your neck, I can get you into position for a rear naked choke.” Throwing all her weight into her hip, she flipped him, managing to press his arm to the mat beneath her as she maintained her choke hold on his neck.

Knox tapped immediately.

She released him and lay there for a second to catch her breath.

“You okay?”

“Grappling with you makes me feel like a flea taking on a dog.”

He laughed. “Come on, flea. It’s my turn.”

She rolled to her stomach and pushed up to her hands and knees.

His body caged hers so completely she had a spark of panic and fought her instinct to arch into him and buck her hips.

He murmured, “Ready?”

The Mistress in her rallied with, “It’s best not to give a warning—”

And she found herself on top of Knox’s body as he tried to choke the life out of her. She tapped his arm.

“That makes so much more sense.” Knox patted her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go again.”

“Once more. That’s it.” This time she wouldn’t make it easy on him even when the man made it hard to concentrate. His solid body covered hers. His forearm pressed against her breasts. His thick biceps blocked her ear when he wrapped his arm around her neck. Surrounded by hot, hard man, she felt no panic this time. Instead she focused on the shift in his muscles when he telegraphed his intent to move.

Bingo.

At the first half rotation, she curled in, letting his momentum carry them into a full rotation, with her landing on his chest.

But Knox smoothly countered her move, and she ended up pinned beneath him with both of her arms trapped above her head.

He grinned at her. “Gotcha.”

“How’d you know?”

“You always try to best me.”

“Didn’t work this time—did it?”

“No.” Knox’s face was inches above hers. And the way he looked at her . . . tempted her to buck him off even as she was frozen to the spot.

“Knox. Get off me. You’re crushing me.”

“No, I’m not. I’m bearing my weight on my arms and legs.”

“What are you doing?”

“Thinking.” He paused, letting his gaze roam over her face. “Looking.” His focus zoomed to her mouth. “Wondering.”

“What?”

“If you’ll knock me on my ass when I say you’re a delicate beauty, but beneath that pretty outer shell is a core of steel. It’s an intriguing combination to a man like me.”

Her mouth had gone bone-dry, but she managed to croak out, “A man like you?”

“A man who finds beauty in a woman secondary to her strength. You have both in equal measure. So you tempt me beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.”

Shiori didn’t—couldn’t—move when he released one of her hands so he could trace the edge of her face with his fingers.

“So half of the time I want to rub this beautiful face into the mat.”

“And the other half of the time?” she asked, almost breathlessly.

“I want to kiss you.” His thumb outlined the shape of her mouth. “Will you let me?”

That’s when she knew what he was—even if he didn’t yet—and that knowledge sent a secret thrill straight down to her toes. “Yes.”

Knox pressed his lip to hers in an innocent kiss before he began to explore her mouth. Licking at the soft, moist flesh on the inside of her lips, nibbling with firm-lipped bites, following the edge of her teeth. Each tease of his tongue encouraged her to open wider and give him more.

Then he kissed her in a full-out blitz of passion. Pouring hunger and heat into the kiss, using bold strokes of his tongue and soft sucks to drive her wild. Even their exchange of hot, panting breath was erotic and fed the furor of need building between them.

And Shiori would’ve been content to kiss him all day, but she realized Knox’s arms were shaking from holding himself up and not crushing her beneath his weight.

As much as she wanted to feel him bearing down on her, she pressed her palms to his cheeks, slowing the kiss down. She whispered, “Give your arms a break,” against his lips.