“It’s like watching a Bruce Lee movie. Only, you know, way hotter.”
Natalie watched Baojia demonstrate another combination of kicks and punches for Benjamin before standing back and motioning the boy toward the wooden training dummy. She and Dez were sitting in the corner of the training studio that Beatrice, Giovanni, Tenzin, and Ben used to practice. One wall was lined with weapons, swords, spears, axes, and more weapons she could barely identify. Four fountains marked the corners of the training mats and dummies, ropes, and weights lined the other walls. It looked like a very well-equipped private gym, and currently, Baojia was giving Ben a lesson in some martial-arts technique.
His body was a subtle work of art. While he may have been average in height, there was nothing average about Baojia’s body. The skin of his torso was smooth and unmarked, though his forearms and back were marked with a few pale scars. His muscles had been defined by what Natalie guessed was a mortal life filled with manual labor. Not bulky, but incredibly strong. The loose pants he wore concealed his legs, but nothing could conceal the carefully controlled strength. His movements were sharp and almost quicker than her eyes could follow.
“What’s it called again?”
Beatrice said, “This particular style is known as Wing Chun. It’s very fast and very precise. Designed for close-range combat. I’m pretty sure he practiced it as a human, which only made him faster as an immortal. Baojia’s a bit of an anomaly. Very powerful for his age.”
“Ben seems to be picking it up fast,” Natalie said. The young man appeared to take the practice very seriously, watching Baojia at each turn with an intense focus.
“He’s been training in various martial arts since he was about thirteen. Gio and I want him prepared for… whatever.”
Baojia spun around in a blur, barely visible to the human eye.
“It’s so fast.” She leaned forward, fascinated and… well, completely turned on from watching him. She had seen him fight—the memory of his attack on the vampires at Bar El Ruso was painted in vivid color in her mind. But to watch him, really watch him, as he patiently explained each movement or stance to the boy was mesmerizing. He exhibited total efficiency of movement. There was no flourish or extravagance, only a pure economy of energy and focus.
Her mind tripped back to his kiss in her bed the night before. Focus. That was part of what made him so irresistible. As quiet and distant as he could be in front of others, when Baojia turned his focus on her, the intensity of it rocked her. He kissed her as if it was his mission in life. Just then, his eyes flicked to hers and the dark promise in them caused her face to heat.
“Oh, hello, dark and sultry look,” Beatrice murmured. “Someone likes an audience.”
Dez slapped at Beatrice before Natalie got a chance. “Be quiet. You’re embarrassing her. And he can hear every word we say, you know.”
Natalie’s blush just got brighter. “Oh, right.”
Obviously proving Dez’s point, Baojia looked over his shoulder and gave her ledt goa quiet smile. Then he turned back to Ben, adjusting the young man’s arms and pulling his elbows farther in before he practiced a punch. She could see him tell Ben something and the boy nodded, then Baojia demonstrated himself before patting Ben on the back and letting him go.
“He’s a good teacher,” she said.
Beatrice nodded. “The best. Even Tenzin says so. I was lucky to have him as my weapons instructor. You should ask him to show you a few things, Nat. I’m fairly positive it’ll come in handy at some point.”
“I’m going to hope that most of my battles are won through the whole ‘Pen is mightier than the sword’ philosophy, but I’ll keep that in mind. Dez, can I?” She held her hands out for Carina to give her something else to focus on.
“Sure. My arms could use a break.”
Carina immediately started pulling on Natalie’s hair, which caused her to laugh and wince at the same time.
“She’s so funny, Dez. Amazing. Do you love it?”
“It has its moments, but yes. Totally love being a mom.”
Beatrice smiled and reached over, tickling the baby’s tummy and eliciting a giggle. “And she’s definitely the cutest member of the family. Don’t tell Gio.”
“Or Ben,” Dez said.
Natalie watched the two women, one mortal, one immortal, tease back and forth. She watched baby Carina nibble on the vampire’s hand as both women watched Ben practice the forms Baojia was teaching him, slowly speeding up with each repetition.
“This is special,” she murmured. Beatrice and Dez stopped talking and looked at her. “What you guys have here? The family you’ve built. It’s really special.” She swallowed back the lump in her throat and kissed the top of the baby’s head. Her whole life, she’d wanted something like what they had. Did they even realize how lucky they were? For years, it had only been Natalie and her mom and dad. Then her mom was gone and her dad… Well, he was sort of gone, too. She had friends, close ones, even. But it was nothing like what her old friends had built between them.
Beatrice smiled as if she could read Natalie’s thoughts. “Human. Vampire. Family’s family.”
“Yeah, starting to get that.” Her attention shifted when the baby pulled at her hair again, tugging Natalie’s face down to her own. Carina patted her chin with one drooly hand as she grinned and babbled. At that moment, Natalie saw him from the corner of her eye, staring at her holding the baby, an odd look on his face. She looked away, suddenly realizing what had led to Baojia’s unexpected confession the night before.