Alpha One by Cynthia Eden Page B

spin, and her back was to him again. He’d freed her, and she stood there, her body too tense and aware.
    “I’ll be the attacker,” he said.
    Her mouth went dry.
    “If I come at you from behind...” And he did. In a rush, he had her. His arms wrapped around her body and he hauled her back against him. Juliana struggled, twisting and straining forward, but she couldn’t get free of his hold. Her struggles just strained her against him.
    He was getting turned on.
    Juliana froze.
    “Hunch your shoulders,” he told her, voice gruff. “Don’t try to lunge away. Curl in...”
    She did, hunching her shoulders.
    “Then drop.”
    She slid out of his grasp. She twisted and turned back up. Her hand fisted, ready to punch.
    “When you’re free, go for my eyes. My throat.” His lips twisted. “My groin.”
    She wasn’t going there. Not then. With an effort, she kept her eyes up.
    “Use your elbow or fist in a groin attack. Hard as you can hit...”
    She managed a slow nod.
    “But if I come at you straight on...” And he did. He advanced and those big hands came for her throat once more. His fingers wrapped around her neck. Not hurting her. Again, she felt the ghost of a caress against her skin. “Then shove your fingers into my eyes.”
    Vicious. Juliana swallowed and nodded. She would do whatever she had to do.
    He didn’t drop his hand. Just stared at her. The air seemed to thicken with the tension between them.
    “I’m not going to let them get you again.”
    His fingers were behind her ear, caressing. She shivered at the touch and the memories it stirred. In the past, he’d liked to kiss her in just that spot.
    “I’ll stand between you and any person who comes for you.”
    She believed that he would. But Logan was flesh and blood. He couldn’t stop fire or bullets.
    He could die, too.
    Then what would happen?
    I’d be without him again.
    Her gaze lifted to his. There was arousal, need, so much lust in his eyes. But he wasn’t pushing her, wasn’t trying to kiss her, and his hand was falling away from her.
    She’d told him no hours before. Told him to keep his distance. We’re done.
    He’d called her on the lie.
    She still wanted him just as much as always.
    He cleared his throat. “If we just knew where James had stashed the evidence...”
    “I’d barely spoken to him in years.” Because she’d seen what he’d become. Not the father she knew. He turned into someone cold, twisted. “He wasn’t sharing any secrets with me.”
    Logan’s head cocked to the right as he studied her. “Maybe not directly.”
    “Not indirectly, not in any way.” She hadn’t even seen him last Christmas. She’d spent the holiday alone. “Wherever he hid the evidence—I don’t know.”
    Logan squared his shoulders. “Okay, let’s try this again. I’ll come at you and you attack back, as hard as you can.”
    She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, hesitated, then said, “Aren’t you worried that I’ll hurt you?”
    He smiled. “I want you to.”
    Okay, then. If it was pain he wanted... Juliana turned her back to him. She’d give him as much as—
    His arms closed around her, tight bands that stole her breath. His last attack hadn’t been so hard and she hadn’t expected him to come at her full force. Panic hit for an instant. Panic, then—
    I won’t be weak.
    She hunched her shoulders, dropped low and slid out of his hold. She came up with her elbow, ready to hit him hard right in the groin, but Logan came at her. His body hit hers, and he pushed her back onto the rug, caging her body beneath his.
    She lost her breath at the impact. He caught her hands, trapping them on either side of her head. “Use your feet, your legs,” he gritted out. “Fight back with any part of your body that you can. Never give up.”
    No, she wouldn’t. She twisted and her leg slid between his. Her breath panted out. Juliana yanked up her leg, driving her knee right toward his groin.
    Logan twisted to the side,