Dean
I'm partly disappointed to see Zoe return not wearing my shirt, but I know it wouldn't have been easy to spar in. She's wearing these tight athletic shorts she has worn before. They are made of this black skin tight material that hugs her so closely they look like they are painted on. The hems around her legs squeeze just enough to make the fleshy parts of her upper inner thigh puff out a little around them. It's a part of her body that I always catch myself thinking about sinking my teeth into. She paired the shorts with a matching sports bra, that luckily isn't showing all too much of her breasts, a saving grace for me not to get too distracted. She walked in barefoot as she began wrapping her knuckles.
"Zoe." I greet her, and she almost looks surprised to hear me acknowledge her.
It's not that I mean to keep my distance, well maybe it is. I've been drawn to her and wanted to protect her since the first day she came down for breakfast. But then I got wary around her, because I was worried she'd affect my brothers in a more negative way, distract them. And she has affected them and admittedly she has distracted them as well, but not in bad ways. Brandon seems more focused than ever, Teddy is still feral but completely tame when she calls for it, and Max is finally sleeping at night. Before Zoe came along, Max was so high strung about different leaks and finding The Sparrow, and taking down the Cambions, but now it's like having her around has made him feel more confident. She rattles him when she gets defiant, but I think it was good for him to be around someone that takes some of the control off of his shoulders.
Like he has found peace in her chaos, and she has found her own sense of peace surrounded by our chaos. As much as I don't want to admit it, she's an asset. I'm still worried that if we get too close she may blow like an unsteady grenade, but I've relaxed in her presence.
"Dean. Are these the troops?" She asks, pointing her chin to the forty men gathered near the sparring mats.
"Yep. Only half of them today, we let the others keep their schedules so we still have eyes out there. I didn't warn them about your attendance, and obviously they haven't met you yet." I step closer to her and keep my voice low so that only she could hear it, "Max told me to remind you that we aren't telling them that you're The Sparrow, so we will only introduce you as Z for the time being." She hums in agreement as she finishes her knuckle wraps.
I don't step away, I stay in the same close proximity so I can continue to breathe in her scent. Like lilacs and vanilla, but also citrus and mint. It's such an odd, but addicting, combination that it's intoxicating. I want to bottle it up, and wear it myself. After she slept in my sheets last night, I'm not sure I can wash them anytime soon. I could die a happy man if I were just surrounded by her scent.
"Let's start with pairing them to do one on one's, that way I can evaluate how they are in hand to hand against someone with the same strength." She says.
"Sounds good to me. We can level them up as they go if you'd like, I've also given them numbers so you don't need to remember names."
"Great. Should we give them a demonstration for what we are looking for?" She winks and places her hands on her hips.
I remember back when we were at the warehouse, she said she wanted to take it out on the mat. I was still passing harsh judgment on her until I saw her shoot that thief point blank. I still think it'd be good to vent out that aggression, and I can tell she can hold her own, I'm just not sure if she can hold her own against me. I have at more than a foot in height on her, and I'm at least double her body weight.
"Dean," Zoe derails my thoughts, "I can handle myself. I can tap if I can't." She assures me, but I have this inkling feeling that she wouldn't tap no matter the cost. She's too proud.
"Promise me you'll tap if I go too hard?" I ask.
"Dean, don't you dare pull your punches. And don't you ever fucking underestimate me." She glares. And the fire that ignites in the gold flecks of her irises does something to set my nerves on edge.
"I'm not underestimating you, Zoe." I whisper, "I've had issues in the past that can prevent me from stopping. If we get on those mats, you need to promise me, you'll tap."
She huffs a breath and shakes her head, the tight bun on the top of her head staying in place. "Only if you promise to tap too." This makes me chuckle, and I accept the challenge by extending my hand to her for a shake.
We turn back to face the large collection of men, and it seems Zoe and I have caught their attention. I notice a large handful of them eyeing her just a little too hard, I don't like that one bit. I clap my hands to bring their attention to me, "Alright, men!" I step forward so Zoe is slightly hidden behind me, "This is Z. She is one of the Karma's, and she is here to evaluate your hand to hand, as well as your instincts."
They eye her, some of them just keep blank expressions, but I remember the names of the ones that scoff or shake their heads in dismissal. It's like they are completely oblivious to the absolute hurricane that stands before them.
Zoe walks around me, totally unafraid of the not the least bit threatened by the herd of hired defenses that are crowding the room.
"I'm Z," She starts, with a small wave. "I will be going hand to hand here with Dean to give an example of what we are looking for. We will be going until someone taps or until we get tired. Once you are paired on the mat, you will be going until..." She trails off and turns to me. "What do you say, Dean? Tap out, first blood, or death?"
When the last word leaves her mouth the room visibly stiffens, and I swear I can hear a collective shift of their feet. "Until they can't physically go anymore. We'll decide who needs to be taken care of after that." As if on queue Max enters the room already armed. He won't be staying the entire evaluation, but he is here to drive a point home. He approaches Zoe with a secret smirk on his face, "Z, may I?" He asks and she waves her hands in front of her to give him the floor.
"Gentlemen," He begins as he checks his pocket watch. "I'm going to let her show her talent for herself, but know this. She is an equal among the Karma's. Her word is law. If she so much as gets a disrespectful breath from you, you will die." His voice is cold, and lethal. Max never shows his cards to a crowd, but the lethal energy he exudes is thick enough you can taste it. When Max enters a room, all hackles rise. I have never feared someone's power as much as his, not fear for my own being, but for all who are not part of our family.
"Is she your whore or something?" A dumb ass from the left end snorts, but nobody dares to laugh at his distasteful joke. Both Zoe and I stiffen, knowing what will happen next. Without another word, Max lifts his gun and pops two rounds into the idiot, and he's dead before he hits the ground. The crowd just barely flinches, but they square their shoulders and refrain from looking at either the body, Max, and especially Zoe.
"Any further questions?" Max asks as he lowers his gun. The room thankfully stays silent, and Max exits the room without another word.
The crowd parts and backs away so both Zoe and I can stand in the center of the mat. "Someone needs to keep the time, starting at the first advance." I commanded, but never took my eyes off of Zoe. I have an advantage because I've seen what kind of fighter she is, but she hasn't seen how I fight. I know she's fast, and she works on surprises; at least that was the take away I had after seeing her take down Rico.
"Are you scared of me, Dean?" She taunts as she starts to circle with me, arms at the ready.
"Should I be?" I answer with a question, looking her up and down to land the dig.
"Absolutely." She advances first, jumping in the air and wrapping her legs around my shoulder. I was right, she is fast. She moved like a monkey, climbing around my body and locking her ankles around my throat. She surprises me when she throws her body weight back and drags me to the mat with her.
She holds me in a tight grip, but leans towards me to whisper in my ear, "All those muscles will do you know good if you can't move fast enough."
I use her angle to my advantage, I snake my hands around the back of her head, lacing my fingers together. I use the momentum to pull her back forward, and over me. Her legs unravel when she lands on her back with a hard thud, taking some wind out of her. I use the hiccup of time to get on top of her, I settle myself between her legs, but I use my knees to keep her legs planted to the ground.
I pin her arms above her head to hold her steady, "All that speed will do you no good, if you're caught under someone with all these muscles."
"No?" She asks, with a sickly sweet tone in her voice. Catching me off guard, she raises her pelvis, grinding her sex into my cock, and my body reacts on its own accord and loosens its grip on her. Of course, she takes advantage of the reprieve.
Zoe slips her arms out from my hands and lands a hard punch to my left temple.
Okay, much stronger than anticipated. Adapt.
I shake it off and we are both back on our feet, back to circling each other. "You've been warned not to underestimate me." She says in a cold voice, and I think she is taking on the numb she told Brandon about. A shadow crosses her eyes and it's like they glaze over, turning into the weapon that Kahl worked so hard to make her.
She has detached herself, and I know she will no longer feel as much pain with the adrenaline coursing through her body, so I advance to her this time. I land a punch into her gut, knocking air from her making her release an oomph sound. She recovers quickly and lands a swing at that same temple, hard enough to make me stumble to the side.
I adjusted to her movements quickly, the next hit she tried to land I dodged, but she followed suit and jumped out of the way of my next hit as well.
It seems I have met my match.
Instead of going for another hit, she jumps to the air again and spins to land a kick directly into my diaphragm and the momentum puts me on my ass. She's quick, and manages to get me on my stomach and holds me in a tight headlock within the crook of her elbow.
"Weren't you ever taught not to hit a lady?" She chuckles.
"You're... No lady." I choke out as I move to my knees and throw her over my shoulder again, but to my surprise she lands on her feet. "You're a natural disaster. A hurricane."
We went on like this for almost thirty minutes, we were matched hit for hit, kick for kick, and there was no end in sight. It's like she would never tire, and I refused to back down. We both refused to tap.
Until she got one final kick in, she planted a swift but brutal kick to my jaw, making me double over. The taste of iron filled my mouth and I spit the blood onto the mat. And I gave in, I tapped. I fucking tapped to this little firecracker of a woman who is so volatile and brutal that she has accomplished what no man has ever been capable of.
A devious smile spread across her face, and the numb was gone just as fast as it had appeared. I matched her smile, a movement I usually don't make unconsciously.
"You're a violent little thing, aren't you?" I clapped her shoulder.
"Always."
I looked to the gathering of guards, bursting the little bubble of existence that Zoe and I have been in for over a half hour. "Everyone understand the assignment?" I asked the crowd. They don't answer, but they all have the dumbfounded looks staring at Zoe as if she is a creature created by the devil himself. What they don't understand is that she is the devil.
"Great." Zoe clapped her hands. "Let's begin."