Biting Cold: A Chicagoland Vampires Novel (CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES SERIES)

tatami mats that covered the floor.
    “Out,” he bellowed, and no one stopped to ask for clarification. Without a word, they gathered up their things and headed for the door.
    “Lock it,” Ethan directed, and I closed and locked the door behind us, my heart thudding in anticipation.
    When I turned around again, he beckoned me forward. “Ready when you are, Sentinel.”
    Oh, I was ready. He’d been obnoxious enough that I had no compunction about trying to hit him now, and I didn’t wait for him to make the first move. I ran toward him and executed a scissor kick, but he was fast enough to deflect it.
    I prodded the back of his knee and sent him stumbling forward. But he caught himself and managed to use his momentum to spin the stumble into a backward kick.
    I yelped in surprise but jumped over his foot. We were up and facing each other in less than a second.
    First round: a tie.
    “You aren’t trying very hard,” I said.
    “I’m not actually going to hurt you.”
    I chuckled. “That presupposes you could hurt me. You can’t. Try again.”
    Ethan halfheartedly aimed a couple of jabs at me. In response, I offered a jab, an uppercut, and a double jab again. He dodged the shots, managed a side kick that grazed my right kidney. His eyes widened, but I made a sarcastic sound.
    “It’s going to take more than that, Sullivan. As Morpheus would say, quit trying to hit me and hit me.”
    I must have pricked his ego, as he spun backward and went for a crescent kick, which was one of his better moves. He had the lean strength of a soccer player and the fluidity of a dancer. The edge of his heel just grazed the outside of my thigh, and I quickly executed a side kick that tapped his butt just as he turned around.
    But Ethan didn’t give up on the crescent kick. He spun again and caught the back of my knee with his heel. My leg bobbled and I went down, landing on my back. Before I could hop to my feet again, he pounced, flattening me to the mat and pinning down my arms.
    My eyes silvered immediately, the speed of the transition almost embarrassing. It was unnerving that he had the power to affect me so immediately—that the sensation of his body atop mine immediately turned me into a needy mess.
    “Point to me,” he said.
    I considered my options—a scissor kick that switched our positions and put him on the floor, or a surrender that would keep him exactly where he was, his body warm and long above mine.
    “Point to you,” I said, “but I’m still perfectly healthy.”
    “It might not always be so simple,” he said, his eyes still dark with worry.
    I understood his point, understood well the risk he was trying to avoid. But he’d saved my life twice. I trusted him implicitly, and not because I feared him or what he might do. “I’m not afraid of you.”
    His eyes silvered. “You should be.”
    “Never. You took a stake for me.”
    “I was a different man then.”
    “Bullshit. You are the same man now that you were before. A little ballsier maybe, and a little more moody because of Mallory’s intervention. But the same man.” I trailed a finger over the spot that bore the stake’s scar. “You took a stake for me. You bear a scar for me because of what you sacrificed. Would you do it again?”
    “In a heartbeat.”
    And that, I thought, was answer enough. He might have been afraid he’d hurt me, but he knew what he was willing to do to protect me.
    “You told me in Nebraska that you’d choose me over Mallory.” I brushed a lock of hair from his face. “That’s what I’m asking you to do now, Ethan. Choose me over Mallory. Give up some control and let me help you.”
    When he rolled over and sat up beside me, my heart sank. Tears suddenly bloomed at my lashes as I thought hope was lost.
    “I haven’t told you how Malik and I came to be on campus that night.”
    He meant that night he’d saved my life the first time and made me a vampire. My heart stuttered a bit, anticipating information that would either make me swoon—or make me furious. “No, you didn’t,” I carefully said.
    “After your father came to me and I refused him, Malik and I were nervous he might, shall we say, shop around.”
    He was quiet, watching me as I decided how to take his confession. Honestly, I wasn’t really sure how to take it. “You followed me?”
    “We weren’t privy to your discussions with your father, but Malik thought it best to keep an eye on you, and I concurred.” He cleared his throat.