Stand Of Honor by Cathryn Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

matter of seconds, Zane was on top, forcing the guy to tap in surrender.
    “Damn , Zane, you’re so fucking fast,” the guy from the ground said in admiration.
    Zane bounced up and reached down a hand to help the guy up. All the other men were laughing; it was an opportunity to make fun of yet another one of them that couldn’t stand a chance against Zane. No one had been able to make Zane surrender. They would occasionally make bets among themselves, but so far, no one had collected.
    Zane laughed and opened his mouth to reply when he spotted Melanie watching him. As they caught each other’s eyes, the men looked towards the front door to see what had caught Zane’s attention. She heard some whistles in the background, but she was lost in Zane’s eyes, not catching anything they might have actually said.
    It was at that point that she started having second thoughts. How was she going to be able to listen to anything he told her when all she could think about was his lips on hers and his tongue down her throat?
    “Al l right, guys, enough. Shut your mouths and get back to work.” Zane walked out of the ring towards Melanie, and she saw the admiration the guys had for him as they immediately jumped to do as asked.
    She felt herself breathing heavily as he walked across the gym. She was pulled out of her daze when she heard Lincoln grunt. She glanced towards him and saw the knowing look in his eyes.
    “Shut up,” she snapped at him.
    Lincoln raised his hands in the air. “I didn’t say anything, girl.”
    Melanie started to snap again, but then realized he really never had actually said anything. She rolled her eyes and went to meet Zane.
    “Hi , Zane.” Melanie looked up into his grey eyes. His face was beautiful and hard at the same time, making her want to reach up and pull him to her. “Thanks again for agreeing to train me.” She tried to pull off a casual tone, yet damn, the man had tattoos on his bulging biceps. She was a sucker for tats.
    “Let’s see what you got .” Zane turned to walk to one of the rings in the back of the gym. It was around a corner so that the others in the gym could not easily see them. She was glad for that, feeling like she was starting over again since Tobias had screwed her moves up so much. She knew it was going take some time before she was able to regain any self-confidence.
    Zane walked onto the mat and turned back to her. “Let’s just start with some punches. Let me see your jabs.” He put on a punching mitt and waited for her to start.
    Okay, Melanie thought, no small talk . That was probably for the better.
    She turned her body slightly to the side and put herself in a position to throw a right jab at him. She was nervous and couldn’t fully focus, so her initial jabs were weak. She could see in his expression that he expected more from her, though, and that was exactly what she needed to let her nerves go and force her to execute the jab properly. She had to get her mind off his body or she was doomed to fail before she’d begun.
    “Okay, not bad. You’re holding yourself a little too tightly and can still put a little more force in the jab. With the right technique, a jab at the right time could throw your opponent off balance and will give you time to make your next move.”
    Melanie nodded her head and continued to work on the jabs. She felt proud at Zane’s comments and wanted to keep them coming.
    The rest of the session went a little slow, however she felt like she was making progress. He was able to detect some of the alterations Tobias had forced her to make. It took time for her to attempt to focus on doing it correctly. Zane was understanding; he knew it was going to take time. Melanie started to apologize for some of her mistakes, but he wouldn’t allow it. He told her that she wasn’t allowed to apologize for something that wasn’t her fault. He did warn her that it would be different when they were past the correction phase of training,