Page 17 of Igniting Her

Cassie’s hands remained where they were for one beat. “So can you.” Ellie looked down. Sometime during the correction, her own hands had settled against Cassie’s forearms. Neither of them moved. Then Cassie released her and sat again, every line of her body restored to command. Ellie widened her stance exactly as she was instructed. She fitted her forearm across Cassie’s upper chest and secured the grip. The captain’s body settled against her. Solid. Warm. Trusting her with its weight because the drill required it and for no other reason Ellie was allowed to invent.

“Bring me closer before you lift,” Cassie said. Ellie drew her in. Cassie’s head tipped slightly, her temple near Ellie’s jaw. Ellie’s grip tightened before she meant it to. She widened her stance and lifted through her legs. Cassie rose cleanly. Ellie moved backward, counting each step because numbers were safer than the line of Cassie’s spine against her. At the end of the mat, she lowered her. “Better,” Cassie said.

Ellie’s arms remained around her. One second passed. Then another. Cassie turned her head. Not far. Enough that Ellie could see the angle of her cheek and the gray edge of one eye. The drill had ended. Neither of them behaved as though it had.

“A patient may fight the hold,” Ellie said.

“An injured firefighter usually knows better.”

“Civilians don’t.”

“Then you control the near shoulder and keep your weight behind theirs,” Cassie explained.

“What if they turn into you?”

Ellie shifted before Cassie could answer. She loosened the grip, planted one hand, and rolled across Cassie’s right side. Cassie caught her wrist. Ellie used the hold to come to her knees, pivoted, and slipped free. For the first time since she had entered the gym, the captain looked surprised.

Ellie sat back on her heels. “Like that.”

“You weren’t disoriented.”

“I’m very disoriented.” The words landed between them with more truth than Ellie intended. Cassie’s expression changed so slightly another person might have missed it. Her gaze dropped to Ellie’s mouth and returned.

“Again,” she said.

Ellie’s breath caught. Cassie came at her without hurry. Ellie let her secure the first hold, then turned against it. Cassie followed the movement, redirected her at the shoulder, and blocked the escape with one knee. Ellie ducked under her arm. They separated, circled, and came together again. The drill stopped resembling a rescue drag. Ellie was faster. Cassie was stronger and refused to spend an ounce of it unnecessarily. Every time Ellie found space, Cassie took away the angle that had created it. A hand closed over Ellie’s wrist. Ellie twisted free and caught Cassie at the waist, trying to use momentum instead of force. Her fingers bunched the back of Cassie’s shirt. The hem lifted beneath one hand, and Ellie’s knuckles grazed a narrow strip of warm skin.

Cassie inhaled. Ellie felt the sound more than she heard it.

Cassie turned, trapping Ellie’s arm between them. Ellie should have backed out and reset. Instead, she drove closer, shoulder to shoulder, one thigh braced against Cassie’s. Their balance shifted together. For several breathless seconds, the contest depended less on strength than on which of them was willing to create distance first.

Cassie stayed close. Ellie did too.

Cassie’s breath broke on something that might have been a laugh. The sound went through Ellie more cleanly than the word on the cliff. She looked up. Cassie used the distraction. Ellie’s shoulder met the mat. She rolled before Cassie could settle her weight, hooked a leg behind Cassie’s knee, and reversed them. For half a second, she was above her, one palm planted beside Cassie’s shoulder, their faces close enough that victory became difficult to remember.

Cassie’s hair had started to come down. A dark strand lay across her mouth. Ellie wanted to move it. That mistake cost her. Cassie caught her arm, turned beneath her, and used Ellie’s forward weight to carry her over. The mat struck between Ellie’s shoulder blades. Air left her in a short rush. Then Cassie was above her. One knee braced outside Ellie’s hip, the other controlling her thigh. Cassie trapped Ellie’s right wrist against the mat and laid her left forearm across Ellie’s collarbone, not crushing her throat, not hurting, only making the fact of the pin absolute.

Both of them were breathing hard.

Ellie tested the hold once. Cassie adjusted before the movement had fully begun. Her weight settled closer, enough that Ellie felt the heat of her through two thin shirts.

“Efficient,” Ellie managed.

“You looked away.”

“There was something distracting in my line of sight.”

Cassie’s mouth parted. Her forearm remained steady, but the pulse at her throat jumped. Ellie could have fought again. She knew two ways out if Cassie’s balance shifted and one that might work even if it didn’t. Instead, she let her body go still beneath the captain’s. Cassie’s breath stalled. The hand around Ellie’s wrist stopped feeling like technique. Recognition moved across her face before she could hide it.

Ellie tapped the mat once with her free hand.

The pin was over.

Cassie did not release her.

One second.

Two.