Wickers Manor

--8--

It didn't take long for Saturday to roll around, and for the past few days I have been making Wickers Manor feel more like my home. I had added some Aloe Vera's and some Orchids to different rooms, as well as hanging up some photos from the local art gallery. I was staring at the latest piece of art I had purchased. At first sight it was just an old tree, but the closer you look the more faces of pain you could see engraved into its bark. It was truly mesmerising.

A knock at the door pulled me away from the stunning painting. Tristan stood in the doorway with a smirk on his face. He was wearing dark jeans and a tight white top which showed off his defined chest and stomach. His hair was swept off of his face and his eye shined with excitement.

"Morning Essie. Ready to learn how to shoot?" 

"Essie? Since when did we get onto nickname biases? And hell yeah I am!" I Slipped on my trainers and followed a chuckling Tristan.

"Well we are going to be spending a lot of time together so best get used to it Essie."

He led the way to the weapons room and grabbed two guns, handing one to me and keeping the other one for himself. We walked over to the shooting range and he gestured me to put the gun on the bench in front of us. 

"Right Essie, that gun you have there is a Glock 20, it has 10mm shells and has minimal kickback. What I want you to do is load the gun how I do, and point it at the target. Once you have your aim on the target remove the safety switch and pull the trigger. As soon as you have mastered that we can move onto either a bigger gun or a different weapon." 

He demonstrated how to load the gun and the proper stance. Then he pointed and the target and a loud bang went off.  The bullet had gone through the second inside ring. Not bad. He continued to pull the trigger and each bullet landed in the second inside ring. He nodded towards me and I loaded my gun the exact way he did.

The gun felt like it was part of me, as I pointed it towards the target. My breathing became even and my eyes focused on the bullseye. I let my fingers wrap around the trigger as I flicked the safety switch off. I applied pressure to the trigger and the first bullet barrelled out of the gun. It almost happened in slow motion as the bullet flew straight through the bullseye. I sent a smirk in Tristan's direction as I continued to pull the trigger. Every bullet hit the bullseye perfectly. 

I turned to look at Tristan who was just staring at the target with his mouth slightly open.

"Umm I think I win." Tristan looked at me. Pride filling his eyes.

"Damn Essie, since when could you shoot like that?"

"I have never shot before. It just felt so natural." I placed the Glock down and perched on the edge of the table.

"That's because you're a hunter. It is natural. Now lets try some hand-to-hand combat."

"I have no idea how to fight." A small smile appeared on Tristan's face as he guided me towards a ring the was burned into the grass.

"Don't worry. Just like how you can shoot you will also be able to fight just as well. Now I am just going to go straight into it. let your instincts take over."

He lunged at me and I skipped to the side. He stood upright and he sent a foot flying in my direction and I allowed my instincts to take over. My hand reached up and wrapped around his ankle. I pulled it towards me and allowed my fist to connect with his jaw. I dropped his ankle and he stumbled back, hunger filling his eyes. He gestured for me to make the first move and I went for a right hook. He easily blocked my punch and retaliated by tackling me to the floor. His larger body hovered above me as a cheeky grin cross his face.

" I think I quite like this position Essie." He winked at me and pulled me to my feet. 

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead and watched as Tristan gulped down some water and hand the bottle to me. I took a swig from the bottle and waited to see what he had planned next.

"Right well. I think we've done enough for today. How about we go and get lunch, my treat?"

"Sounds wonderful. Just let me shower and change. You are welcome to shower in one of the spare rooms if you like, but I don't know if we have any clothes of your size lying around."

"I think I will take you up on that offer, and I have some spare clothes in my car. I will meet you in the foyer in 10 minutes." I nodded and headed to my room as Tristan ran towards his car to grab some clothes.

I had a quick shower and changed into a white vest top and a yellow floral skirt with a pair of brown sandals. I decided to let me hair airdry as I made my way to the foyer where Tristan was already waiting. He smiled in my direction and held his hand out for me.

"Milady. You look truly stunning." He sent me a suggestive look as I giggled.

"Why thank you your Grace." We climbed into his car and he pulled away, heading into town.