Full Body Contact Read Free Page B

student’s neck. Unable to get enough air into his lungs to speak, Bull just nodded. Dekker released his hold.
    As Bull slumped to the ground, clutching his throat, Dekker resumed his pacing.
    “Once you’ve taken the offensive, never let up.” Dekker stopped in front of a heavily tattooed Hispanic youth. “What is the second golden rule, Miguel?”
    Miguel hesitated before stepping forward, his Adam’s apple bobbing nervously. “Um. Once you have him down, keep him there?”
    “Exactly.” Dekker faked a lunge, sending Miguel reeling backward. These punks thought that they were street hardened until they walked into his studio. Like he said. Pussies.
    He chuckled as he turned from the group, catching the woman’s eye. Her mouth was slightly parted, her eyes focused so intently on him that he felt he could feel the heat of her breath on his cheek. Was it reflex that caused him to nod in her direction? Whatever it was, he could not get distracted from his lesson.
    He spun hard on his heel, back to his students. “If your opponent can still get up and walk away, you haven’t learned jackshit from me. Once you have him, finish him.”
    As the woman made her way to his side of the gym, Dekker had to keep his eyes forward. What was his problem tonight? The chick wasn’t even an eight.
    “Now get back to sparring,” he instructed. “And I want to hear grunts of pain. If I don’t, then I’m coming back out here to make sure that I create some of my own. Remember, no mercy. Got it?”
    “Yes sir!” The group shouted in unison.
    Dekker basked in their ferocity.
    Maybe, just maybe, one day each man would know what it felt like to hold another man’s life in his hands.
    * * *
    Alexis felt the room shake as the students repeated their answers. Well, if nothing else, Dekker inspired loyalty.
    “Well then, get to it!” Dekker ordered.
    As the students broke rank and found their sparring partners, Dekker headed to the back of the gym. She had hoped to strike up a casual conversation out here on the floor, but she wasn’t so lucky. Her eyes followed him as he headed to his office and firmly closed the door behind him.
    She struck for the back wall and followed it, skirting half a dozen intense matches. Clearly, his students took his words literally . Groans, moans, and grunts filled the gym as they all wailed on one another. Perhaps she really didn’t need a private lesson. At least not tonight.
    But with Dekker’s girlfriend on the slab, Alexis didn’t have the luxury of waiting … or be intimidated. Making certain that everyone was too engrossed in their matches to care what she did, Alexis knocked on Dekker’s door.
    No answer. He was in there, right? She couldn’t recall a separate exit from his studio. Damn it, she should have read the file that Beck had given her more thoroughly. But how much more could she have crammed in with just four hours of study time?
    She knocked again, this time more assertively. Again. No answer.
    Alexis glanced over her shoulder. No one knew her here. She could turn around and walk away. Tell the lieutenant that Dekker wasn’t here. No one would know the difference.
    Except her.
    You didn’t get very far in the department without pushing yourself. If there was ever a time to step up, it was now.
    Gingerly, she reached out and laid her hand on the doorknob. Almost wishing it didn’t open, she turned the knob. The door opened to reveal Dekker sitting at his desk, reading over some papers. He didn’t even acknowledge her entrance.
    “Hi,” she said, but he still didn’t respond. “Um, the receptionist isn’t at her desk.”
    Dekker looked up, showing off a hundred little scars that riddled his face. You would think it would make him unattractive. Instead, the uneven tissue highlighted his blue eyes and strong jaw.
    “So you thought, hey, why don’t I go bother the owner of the place?”
    “Sorry,” she said, and then stopped herself. “Actually, no. I’m not sorry.”