could establish control.
One minute in, Derek was breathing heavily—not from exhaustion, but from sheer rage. He
couldn't touch her. Every time he committed to a grab or a sweep, she shifted her weight, making
him grab empty air. She wasn't fighting him; she was surfing his aggression, letting him tire
himself out with his own explosive movements.
He abandoned technique for brute force. He lunged with a heavy collar tie, aiming to snap her
head down. But Claire slipped inside his reach, her forearm blocking his bicep. For a split second,
they were tied up in the clinch. Derek smiled, thinking his superior strength had finally trapped
her.
But Claire felt entirely different up close. She felt like solid iron anchored to the earth. She
wasn't resisting his strength; she was redirecting it into the mat.
Furious, Derek tried to muscle a judo throw, completely off-balance. It was the mistake Claire