Hero by Julia Sykes Page A

promises. I don’t intend to lose.”
    “I’m sorry to disappoint you, princess, but you’re stuck with me.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll see.”
    I sighed. She lunged.
    Surprised at her sudden attack, I barely managed to dodge back in time. Her lips curved up in a self-satisfied smile when her knuckles grazed my jaw.
    I reached for her arm, aiming to pull her body against mine so she didn’t have any leverage to swing a hit at me. For a moment, I thought I’d succeeded. My hand closed around her arm, but she used the momentum of me pulling her toward me. She body-checked me hard, driving an elbow into my stomach.
    Unfortunately for her, I was accustomed to keeping my core tight when fighting, so I barely felt the impact. However, her attack did cause me to take a step back, and she pushed past me, getting behind my back.
    Shock slammed into me along with her slight body as she vaulted up and grabbed my shoulders, one arm coming up around my throat to put me in a chokehold. I brought my forearm up just in time to keep her from getting a good grip on me, then ducked and flipped her over my shoulder.
    She hit the mat, and the air was knocked from her lungs. Not missing a beat, she sucked in a breath and pushed up on her elbows, gracefully rolling back up onto her feet.
    We kept a few feet of distance between us for several seconds, sizing each other up with fresh respect.
    Then she made the mistake of attacking again. She’d caught me off-balance the first time, but I wouldn’t underestimate her again. I was ready for her.
    She moved in, lighting-fast, but I pivoted to the side and lightly kicked her ankles. She went down, and I didn’t give her a moment to recover. I dropped on top of her, straddling her hips to pin her and settling my forearm across her throat. She’d lost.
    And she wasn’t happy about it. She scowled at me and tried to shove my arm away. I grasped her writs and pinned them above her head, preventing her from clawing at me. She twisted against my hold with a little frustrated growl.
    “Calm down,” I ordered, my voice automatically dropping to my most dominant tone. “You’ll hurt yourself.”
    “I want to hurt you ,” she seethed.
    “I’m afraid that’s not an option, princess.” My fingers tightened around her wrists, warning her. “Yield.”
    “No,” she hissed.
    I shifted both her wrists into one hand and curled the other around her throat. I didn’t squeeze. I didn’t need to. It was a primal show of dominance.
    Her eyes flew wide, and she stilled beneath me.
    “That’s better,” I rumbled.
    She softened, all the fight draining out of her body. Her lips parted, and she drew in short, shallow breaths.
    “Do you yield?” I suddenly craved to hear her say it.
    She nodded.
    “Tell me,” I commanded.
    “I yield.” The words came out on a breathy whisper.
    My palm left her throat so I could trail my fingertips down the column of her neck. Her pulse jumped beneath my touch. Her skin was soft, warm. She smelled like roses and something darker I couldn’t quite identify. Her pupils dilated, and she let out a long sigh.
    “Good girl.” The praise left my lips without thought. She shuddered beneath me.
    My cock stiffened in response. She tensed.
    “Get off me,” her voice was still a whisper, but it was strained this time.
    Reacting to her fright, I instantly rolled away and pushed up to my feet, putting distance between us. I watched her carefully. She was pale, and she didn’t move for several long seconds.
    My hard-on had scared her off last night, and now the indication of my arousal had made her panic. I’d thought she simply didn’t want to submit to me, but now I recognized the truth: someone had hurt her.
    I hated the fear that was etched into her gorgeous features. I’d put it there, because I couldn’t control myself around her. I kept Topping her without realizing what I was doing.
    I took a few steps back.
    “I’m sorry,” I said softly, not wanting to