Read Confined Love for Free Online Page A

to
remove his boots and socks until he wore only his black Enforcer pants.
    “Take your boots off. We’ll work on movement.”
    “I know how to do the damn kick.”
    “Then you should have done it hours ago.”
    That was all he said but the cut was deep. Mostly because he
was right. I should have been able to execute the move perfectly from the first
run-through. It made me wonder if I was Enforcer material. This was my dream.
This was everything I’d ever wanted. And I was failing.
    One swipe of his leg and Xanthus had me flat on my back, his
body looming over me. He pinned my arms over my head and softly tapped his
forehead to mine.
    “You know what the problem is, Soph?”
    “What?”
    He tapped our foreheads together again. “You’ve got
something up here holding you back. You’re overthinking. Stop. Stop thinking
about it and just do it.”
    He went back on his heels, took my hand and pulled me up to
my feet as he stood.
    “What motivates you?”
    “What?”
    “I’ve spent the last hour trying to make you angry. That’s
what motivates most Alpha Enforcers. Make us angry and we won’t come up for air
until someone is dead.”
    “Anger skews focus. I can’t work that way.”
    “So what does motivate you?”
    I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never needed motivation
before.”
    Xanthus looked at me, really looked at me as if attempting
to see into my very soul. “You weren’t an active-duty Enforcer, were you?”
    I’m sure he could see the answer in my eyes. His gaze
pierced me to my soul. I waited, waited to hear his disappointment, his disgust
at being misled.
    “So that’s what holds you back.”
    “What?”
    “I’ve seen the vids so obviously you’ve trained as an
Enforcer. It’s their stupidity for keeping you on a desk. I assume that’s where
you were?”
    I nodded.
    “I imagine that you were offered your tiger for agreeing to
join this unit.” He nodded before I could. “Of course they would do that. I’m
sorry, Soph.”
    “For what?”
    “We all jumped at the chance to form this unit.” He sighed.
“It gets lonely. The fifth is hell. You’ll see what I’m talking about when we
go over the intel later. We even have some vids to show you. Part of me wants
to wrap you up and send you back, keep you far away from there.”
    “No!”
    He smiled sadly. “I couldn’t do it now if I wanted to. You
signed the contract just as we did. There’s no going back for any of us. But,
Soph, you have to start believing that you are an Enforcer. No
reservations. No doubts. No questioning if you can do this.”
    I felt a single tear slip from my eye to slide down my cheek
and in that moment I loved Xanthus. I walked over to him.
    “Don’t cry, Soph.” He wiped the tear from my cheek and
brought the moisture to his mouth.
    I laughed. All doubt washed away. I was worried they would
feel that I wasn’t good enough, that they would sneer and think I’d earned my tiger
symbol on my back. But those thoughts were mine alone. I was the only one
doubting my ability. I was done.
    “Thank you.” I reached up and brought his lips down to mine.
Soft and warm, just as I recalled. I took from him and he let me.
    When I broke free, I turned and stepped back to the center
of the room. I began the last drill. My execution was flawless. I knew it. I
could feel it. The kick was perfect, striking exactly where I needed it to, a
swish where it struck nothing but air.
    “Again,” Xanthus commanded.
    I went back to my starting stance. I hadn’t heard the door
open but Radek and Kain took position with me. We ran the drill flawlessly.
This was the formation we would be in when on patrol. Every time Xanthus yelled
“Attack!” we executed our kicks, our hits, our turns. Xanthus joined us and we
ran it again and again and again. No one was slow. The more we ran it, the more
confidence I built. I was born for this. No matter how the opportunity had
presented itself, I was an Enforcer.
    “Enough.”