“Locked up in some loony bin,” Gavin returned smoothly. “I’d be careful with the kind of company you keep.”
Elijah arched an elegant brow at the subtle challenge in Gavin's tone. “Truthfully,” he sighed, “d’Antonio isn’t first on my speed dial, but he’s a close second. Always going on about your brothers and how wrong it was their mother, Amirah, ended up in Portugal in an arranged marriage to Ambrosio. How did that story go, Binyamin? Sounds pretty shady to me!”
Gavin just glared at Elijah and kept his temper under control. Barely.
“Oh! Not what you came here to chat about? I guess you’ll have to fill me in on the actual reason you came here then,” Elijah said with venom.
The rest of the meeting passed by steadily, but for most of it, Gavin remained distracted. His thoughts were of a certain brunette. Elijah didn’t mention it, but Gavin could tell it was a contention. For one thing, Elijah Melissinos had a reputation as a dangerous man, and he didn’t seem like the kind of person to take certain things in stride. Gavin weighed the cons of trading in one family’s drama for another.
As he stood up to leave, their negotiations at an impasse, Elijah had said to him, “Please kiss my sister goodnight for me, Binyamin.”
Gavin had stared at Elijah, who winked again, much to his irritation, before leaving.
Now, hours later, as Gavin swung a wooden pole in a martial form all around Reina’s small gym, it was all he could think about. Kissing Reina. The woman had lips made for…The image of chocolate lingering on those plump lips were enough to send him into overdrive.
“Someone you knew?”
Gavin ceased his combat routine abruptly as his eyes focused on Reina, who stood watching him in the doorway. Her hair was down, she was dressed in form-fitting athleisure wear, and Gavin thought that she was the most enticing woman he’d ever laid eyes on.
He blinked the sweat from his eyes. “What?”
“You looked like you had someone in mind.” Reina came into the gym.
“No, it’s a…” He rolled his shoulders. “I’m just clearing my head. I’ll let you have the room.” He needed to get away from her quickly.
“Gavin, wait!” Reina called after him. He paused, waiting. “Could you teach me some of those moves?” she all but blurted out.
Gavin frowned, and she went on, “I’ve always wanted to take self-defense classes, but with Roy and running the Inn, I never found time. Could you teach me how to fight?”
I should just walk away right now, Gavin thought wryly. Even if she didn’t use the name, Reina was a Melissinos, and he had no intention of getting entangled with Elijah Melissinos if he could help it.
Reina’s hazel eyes bored into his own, and his inhibitions slowly melted away. Reina wasn’t her shady brother…
“Alright.” He nodded once. “I can do that.” Gavin tapped the staff once on the wooden floors before tossing it across to Reina.
Reina’s hands shot out, and she caught it against her body, shocked. “It’s a bit heavy,” she remarked as she stood straighter.
“I was half Roy’s age when my father first gave me that staff.” Gavin strolled to pick up a second staff from the corner, before facing her. “I would have torn every muscle in my body rather than let him hear me complain. And had I”—Gavin swung the staff in a wild arc near Reina’s face, causing her to duck and weave in a swift motion—“he would have corrected me.”
Reina narrowed her eyes. “No offense, but your dad sounds like an asshole.”
“Mothers love their boys, fathers make them strong,” Gavin said coolly. “Now, fighting is all about angles, motions, and anticipating. Misinterpret the situation”—Gavin used his staff to nudge her shoulder, and not gently—“and you’re done. Now, come at me.”
Reina ferociously attacked him in a manner that he would never have expected. Gavin dodged her first attack and swung her around in a circle before tripping her up. “That’s one,” he counted.
She advanced a second time, swinging wildly. Gavin blocked, parried, and lunged, stopping the blow just before it contacted her skin. “That’s two.”
Reina smirked, and he arched a brow at her silent challenge.
This time, when she launched her next attack, Gavin showed no restraint and avoided her otherwise ill-timed swing and swept her leg in one fluid motion, which sent her to the floor. Gavin’s arms shot out to break her fall, and he rolled them over until she was caged in by his arms on either side of her head. He grinned at the stunned, hyperaware look on her face.
“And that’s three. Looks like I win.”
“No fair.” Reina pouted. “You’ve had training, so you’re miles ahead of me.”
“Another lesson; do you want to win fair and square, or do you want to win, period?”
Reina stared up into Gavin’s grey-blue eyes and felt her heart rate pick up. They were so close together with nothing but a few layers of sweaty clothing between them. He had to be able to judge how fast her heart was pumping, and if that wasn’t a dead giveaway, the way her nipples hardened underneath her top ought to be. Gavin was watching her, studying her face, probably trying to anticipate her next move. She decided to throw caution to the wind and give in to her mad desires.
Reina cupped his cheeks and pulled his face down to her in a tentative kiss. Gavin gasped softly when their lips met, then pulled away swiftly, frowning.
“Reina, what are you doing?”
“Do you really want me to explain?” she laughed, nervous.
“Reina, this isn’t a good idea,” he started to say. “I’m not…good…”
Reina placed a hand over his lips, halting him. She didn’t need any fairy-tale promises from Gavin. “I’m not a little girl, Gavin,” she told him. “I don’t need you to promise me castles and rainbows. I know what I want, and I want this right now.”
“Reina…”
“Just shut up and kiss me!”
So he lowered his head and did just that, swallowing her moans into his open mouth as his tongue teased and played with her own in an erotic dance. Gavin wasted no time doing away with her top, and firmly enveloped her breasts, tweaking the nipples with his thumb and forefinger, before drawing the hard nubs into his mouth for a prolonged taste.
Reina felt her head fall back as she basked in the sensation of his mouth on her, but as quickly as it started, it was over. Gavin got off her body, pulling her to her feet. He read her disgruntled face and pacified her with a kiss.
“You don’t want Roy walking in on us, do you?” he reminded her, and she blushed hotly. Roy! How could she have been so mindless!
Gavin caught her up in his arms and made his way up to his room, where he shut the door and locked it behind them.
His eyes raked over her topless body, sending a flush through her, before settling on her sweatpants. “Take those off,” he said after a moment. She obeyed instantly but was mortified when she realized that she had on the plainest pair of panties she owned—a modest cotton white pair. Compared to the other women he had been with, he must think her dull!