Assassin by Kodi Wolf Read Free Book Online Page B

her own inside crescent kick at the still moving Rain. But Rain continued to spin with her kick and dropped her leg as she brought the other one up to throw a back kick which neatly landed in Case's unguarded stomach. They danced away from each other and then Case moved forward to attack again.
    It was beautiful to watch. The martial art focused mostly on the use of the legs and between Rain's long ones and Case's short, but powerfully built ones, it was like watching a ballet. They jumped and spun, changed direction at the drop of a hat, and threw punches and blocks with negligent ease. Even though Case was only a first-degree black belt, her other training had made her technique more on par with a third-degree.
    After almost an hour, they both called a halt and then bowed to each other. A round of applause echoed through the gym and they noticed for the first time that they had quite an audience. Case shook her head and grinned and Rain tried not to blush.
    One of the reasons Rain hadn't gone as far in her studies as her masters would have hoped was because she refused to enter any tournaments. She hated an audience. She was very glad she hadn't known the people were there or Case would probably have found her to be a much less formidable opponent. She had a tendency to freeze up when a lot of people were watching her demonstrate. Luckily, that never happened in real life situations, her adrenaline taking over before her phobia could.
    "You're really good, Rain. Um, if you'd like, we could trade training. You could teach me more Taekwondo and I could train you in Jun Fan. I can't teach you any of the others because I'm not ranked high enough to do that, but I think one martial art at a time is enough."
    Rain was glad Case had supplied that information. It was sort of an unwritten code that one did not pass on their knowledge of their art to just anybody, though many American students of the eastern disciplines hadn't seemed to catch on to that fact. It was an honor to be allowed to study the martial forms. Unfortunately, capitalism and the loophole created by the Equal Rights laws made it difficult for masters to turn down any prospective student simply because they felt like it, if that student happened to have the money to pay for lessons.
    "Oh, I understand. I wouldn't train anyone who didn't follow the code. What is Jun Fan? I think I've heard of it, but I don't remember where."
    "Oh it's the martial art system Bruce Lee came up with before he died. It's a combination of several martial arts forms along with a healthy dose of spiritualism and Bruce Lee's own personal style. My master certified me to teach it two years ago, but you'd be my first student."
    "Well, I've taught classes before, but I've never actually had my own students, so you'd be my first, too."
    "Cool. Then it's a deal?"
    "Deal."
    They changed clothes in the locker room and Case realized they'd never gotten around to using their staves. Well, there was always next time. They left the gym and headed back to their room. The workout had felt great and Case felt a lot more relaxed.
    "You look a lot better," Rain remarked as they entered the hotel room.
    "I've been a little stressed lately. Two jobs in three days is very unusual for me, especially when they're on opposite sides of the country. I haven't been able to have a good workout in almost a week and that always makes me tense."
    "I know what you mean."
    Case leaned back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that she hadn't shared a room with anyone since the night before her eighteenth birthday. She surreptitiously glanced over at Rain, who was putting her things away and getting situated on her bed, and tried to decide how to handle the situation.
    There were certain things she was used to doing that she'd never really thought about in terms of being in another's presence. Like the fact that she slept nude because she found clothing too restrictive. Or that