Free Sweet Revenge by Christy Reece Page A

threw her hand up, but it was caught and twisted behind her back. Panting and close to panic, she found herself slammed up against a rock-solid chest. A chest that held a heart that was thudding almost as hard as hers.
    She jerked to pull away and couldn’t. She spoke against his chest, her voice muffled: “Okay, you made your point. Let me go.”
    “Like hell I’ll let you go,” Dylan growled above her. “Get out of the hold.”
    She jerked again. His hold was just as firm as before. “Dammit, how am I—”
    “Calm down, Jamie, and think.”
    Determined to stop panicking and prove that she could do this, Jamie took a steadying breath. The DVDs she’d been watching for the last few nights … they’d showed step-by-step how to get out of these kinds of holds. Do it, Jamie!
    With her arms locked at her sides, her only recourse was to use her legs. Lifting one leg, she kneed toward Dylan’s groin, but he quickly blocked her. Grunting her frustration, fury lending her skills she didn’t yet have, she stomped her foot on top of his, kicked his shin, and then, when he shifted back, she kneed him hard in the groin.
    Hissing a curse, Dylan dropped his arms and backed into the chair he’d just left.
    Horrified at the pain on his face, Jamie went to her knees in front of him. “Oh my gosh, are you okay?”
    Instead of growling at her or retaliating, Dylan did something she’d never thought would happen. He burst out laughing as he pulled her into his arms and then did the most astonishing thing of all—he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. And though he released her before she could even consider responding, she felt the touch throughout her body.
    Scooting away slightly, she said again, “So you’re okay?”
    The twist of his mouth was more of a grimace than a smile. “Not the first time I got kicked in the balls … won’t be the last. Gotta say, though, you surprised me.”
    Delighted, she said, “I did?”
    “Yeah, I thought you’d stomp on my other foot or try to use your head against my throat.” He blew out a breath, and then he did that amazing thing with his mouth again … he smiled. “I’m proud of you, Jamie.”
    The thudding of her heart had little to do with the physical exertion and everything to do with that beautiful smile and the most wonderful words she’d ever heard from him … Dylan was proud of her!
    “Does that mean we can start some self-defense training?”
    “We’ll start a few things, but you’ll still have to do all the other workout stuff, too.”
    She nodded, understanding suddenly that if they’d started training right away, not only would she have been too weak, she would have been even more panicked than she had been today. But now she was more than ready to move forward.
    “The sooner I can get trained, the sooner I can put Reddington behind bars.”
    She saw immediately that she’d said the wrong thing. The smile disappeared, and that cold, ominous expression she’d thought was a permanent look returned.
    “Why are you so dead set against me doing this?”
    His good mood gone, Dylan stood, causing her to have to back completely away from him. He could deal with sore balls. Even handle the self-castigation of doing something so out of character as kissing her. However, her reminder that she still planned to go after Reddington surpassed everything else. Especially when he still planned to make sure she did nothing of the kind.
    “Because no matter how much you train or how hard you try, you will never be ready to do what needs to be done. That’s why.”
    She rose gracefully, a cloak of dignity wrapped around her in obvious self-protection. Yeah, he knew he’d hurt her feelings again. Her expression clearly revealed her thoughts. Another reason she didn’t need to get involved with Reddington and his shit. The woman couldn’t hide an emotion for more than a few seconds. How the hell did she think she was going to go undercover with the sleaze and not