Cross My Tigress Face the Wrath

When Susanna was with Yvonne, things were tough. If she ever failed to meet one of Yvonne's expectations-no sleeping, no eating. Period. It was strict, borderline brutal. Sometimes Susanna would go the entire day without so much as a sandwich. Yvonne would push her so hard, Susanna had no choice but to get

it right.

But with Hull... well, that was a whole different story.

Half an hour in: "Have some water."

Another half hour: "Here, eat some fruit."

Another half hour: "The sun's too much. Let's move somewhere cooler."

If Susanna so much as rubbed her hand, Hull would say, "Let me see. We should take care of that."

If her legs started aching: "Can't stand? Go sit and have a drink."

The moment she mentioned she was hungry: "Alright, let's eat.”

Every half hour, there was a new reason to stop. Sore hands, sore feet, hungry, thirsty, too sunny, too windy... Training? This felt more like a vacation at a cozy cabin than anything else.

Susanna used to worry that Hull might be even stricter than Yvonne. Now? Not a chance. If anything, she was starting to think she'd lose every bit of hard-earned discipline Yvonne had drilled into her.

One afternoon, in the cabin's dining room, a chilly breeze swept through. "Ah, that feels so good," Susanna sighed, savoring the moment. Days like this were something she'd hardly dared hope for lately. It felt like her whole world, which had been falling apart, was finally being pieced back together.

was with Yvonne, Susanna trained with everything she had. Anything Yvonne told her to do, she did with total

down her orange juice and asked, "Why do you have to push

"Huh?" Susanna blinked.

for lobsters bare- handed or scale a

went on, "About Black Gate... you know, you could just ask me. I could take

said "take them out," and the way he said

hesitated, frowning. "You...

Hull's world, violence was kind of the norm. If he were the gentle type, now

was a good guy or a

are you confessing to me right now?" she blurted

at her,

shrugged. "I mean, usually guys only go all out like that for women they care about. No

they don't love."

was so

it was

those

split second,

and gently tipped Susanna's chin up, studying her face. The look he gave her made

Uh-oh.