had been waiting for. In a fraction of a second, the quiet woman transformed.
She stepped deep inside his stance, her hips dropping below his center of gravity. With a
horrifyingly crisp pop of her hips and a sweeping motion of her leg—a flawless *Uchi Mata*—
Derek's feet left the ground. He was airborne before his brain even registered the throw.
He didn't just fall; he was driven into the mat. His back struck the padded floor with a
thunderous smack. The air rushed out of his lungs in a violent whoosh. The world spun. He
opened his eyes to see the ceiling lights.
And there was Claire, kneeling comfortably beside him in knee-on-belly position, her weight
perfectly distributed to pin him to the floor. One hand rested calmly on his shoulder. She wasn't
punching. She wasn't celebrating. She wasn't even breathing hard.
The gym was dead silent. Brandon had slowly lowered his phone. Nobody spoke. Twenty
minutes earlier, Derek had been laughing, ruling the gym with an iron ego. Now, he was pinned to