The Fighter's Fierce Temptation Read Online Free PDF

such a challenge to Tavvy. And it’s only the first day!
    He’d yet to don his shirt, too. Alice couldn’t help but notice Bryant’s chest and back were covered with a fine sheen of sweat. She watched his muscles bunch and release, and found herself having a hard time keeping her mind focused on fighting.
    Deeply tanned, his skin was free of the ink that adorned most fighters these days, something she truly appreciated as she’d never been attracted to tattoos, or the idea of needles. But as far as she could tell, that is where the differences ended. He was probably just another arrogant knucklehead.
    Yet instead of being able to concentrate and formulate some rational thoughts about his training, she found herself unable to stop the visceral reaction she was having to Bryant’s performance. She’d never experienced this in relation to a fighter before and found it disconcerting and confusing.
    Deciding Tavvy needed a break, she motioned him over and suggested he put Bryant on the wing chun dummy. The wooden structure was built so that when struck, it pivoted and turned, forcing the opponent to continuously block and counterattack.
    Her father had specifically designed this particular version of the training device, modeled after the traditional kung-fu training piece, so the two arms and the single leg projecting from the main tree-like center post would require the fighter to toughen up his forearms and legs.
    The structure was teak coated with several layers of shellac, giving it both a nice shine and longevity. Two padded surfaces were strapped around the center post, indicating where an opponent’s head and chest would be. By striking the wooden appendages, the device would spin, forcing the opponent to block or get hit.
    Tavvy nodded. Bryant hadn’t been training long enough to fully strengthen those bones, but he did have a fight coming up in three months. He would have to work carefully and strategically to reinforce what his bones could withstand, and maybe he’d learn a new method of training his body, one he could easily employ in the future.
    Tavvy hollered at him and waved Bryant over to work with the dummy. “You ever work with one of these?”
    Bryant frowned. “No. I’ve seen them in the equipment catalogs, but I’ve never seen one in action. How does it work?”
    Tavvy grimaced and looked back at Alice. He knew how the dummy worked, in theory, and in slow motion, he could do an adequate job of demonstrating its usefulness. But Bryant needed to see what the dummy could really do and for that, Tavvy needed Alice to demonstrate. When she looked back at him without moving, still keeping the dark glasses on her face, he waved her over.
    Alice knew what Tavvy wanted of her and she was trying to figure out how to demonstrate the way the wing chun dummy worked while still maintaining her secret identity. You can do this. Just a few moves to show him what it will look like when he masters it and Tavvy can take it from there.
    Squaring her shoulders, she crossed the gym and motioned for Tavvy and Bryant to step back. She took several deep breaths to center herself and applied all of her concentration to the wooden structure before her.
    As she released her third breath, she moved in and began striking and kicking the extended arms of the dummy, using her palm to deflect the opposing arm and landing a series of strikes and punches as she moved from one side of the device to the other.
    She bit her lip to keep from releasing the shouts that threatened to burst forth from her lungs. All of her life she had been trained to use her vocal energy to help focus and define her physical reactions, and now, keeping silent was extremely difficult. Not to mention vocal releases helped release tension and helping with the sting that came from striking the wooden appendages.
    One minute later, she stepped back after delivering one final blow to the dummy. She was slightly out of breath, but it was nothing she couldn’t