Chapter 101: Neo
*Fear is just like fire; it can be helpful if you know how to use it. If not, you’ll get burned. – Mike Tyson*
Neo had taken Jolene to her therapy session and doctor’s appointment. There were two reasons for this.
He wanted to drive the Tesla.
He needed to know if she was cleared to start training.
He’d gotten the specific limitations and verified that she could do certain activities. She did not look thrilled when he had asked about jump ropes. On the way back to his compound, he stopped at the sports store. Two hours later, they left with a trunk full of bags and bags. Shelby was arranging for the other items to be picked up and delivered.
Once back at the big house, Neo took her to the recently finished gym. Back in the heyday of the old mansion, this had been the ballroom. The hardwood floors have been carefully removed and are currently upstairs waiting to be installed in the new conference room. The floor had been replaced with two layers of gym padding. The back wall was floor to ceiling windows and double doors. The opposite wall had elaborate wood lockers and cubbies.
One half of the gym had free weights and machines. She recognized the elliptical, treadmill and bikes. One of the things being delivered from the store was a rowing machine. Along with several heavy bags and other boxing equipment.
Jolene assumed that the empty half of the gym was for that.
“Pick a locker.” Neo told her and handed her the bag with her unfamiliar equipment.
Opening the one closest to her, she sat the bag inside. “Now what?”
“Go change. When we train, until you’re more comfortable, it will only be me and you.” He told her. “Yoga pants, sports bra and your shoes. Please wear socks. A shirt is optional. Five minutes.”
She had already learned that when he gave her a specific time, he expected her to be ready before that time. If he gave her an allotted time, he expected her to be where he said by the time it was up.
There was something about it that made her want to do as he asked. To hear him tell her that she was a good girl. The way his voice caressed her when he said those words, did things to her that no other man had ever done.
There was another part of her that wanted to know what would happen if she disobeyed him.
But that part always got overruled by fear. Hank had been a great guy. Until he wasn’t. it started small. And ended with her nearly losing her life. No, she would never submit to a man like that ever again.
Four and a half minutes later, she stepped back into the gym. Her eyes widened and her mouth went dry as she looked at Neo. He sat on a bench in front of the lockers opening packages from the store. He wore workout shorts and trainers.
She could see the majority of Betty and the snake was much bigger than she had expected. It wrapped around his right leg and crossed his left hip before wrapping around his lower back and then his abdomen. It slithered between his shoulder blades before coming over his shoulder and wrapping around his left arm, ending with her open mouth on his left hand.
“Can you jump rope?” Neo asked without looking at her.
“Not,” she cleared her throat, “not well.”
“We’ll get there.” He said standing up and she almost swooned at the sight of his sculptured body.
There were so many abs that she thought he had to have at least two six packs. He wasn’t as bulky as Reese was, but she was certain that he could give the other man a run for his money.
“Elliptical, treadmill or bike?” he asked.
She pulled her eyes away from his chest and found him grinning at her. “What do you want?”
“Pet, you don’t want to know what I want.” He answered softly. “But for a workout, I prefer the treadmill.”
Once again, his voice was doing things to her. And by things, she meant the tingling feeling between her legs. “Elliptical.” She finally said, afraid that if she sat down, she would leave a wet spot.
He nodded at her. “Ten minutes at an easy pace. You like music?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too. What do you like?” he asked turning on the smart TV on the wall that she had not noticed before.
She was looking away from him, remembering how Hank had always demeaned her choice of music. A light touch on her chin had her turning and finding him next to her.
“Talk to me.” He commanded softly as he brushed a tear away.
“He always said that what I liked was nothing but noise and screaming.”
Neo cocked an eyebrow. “Tell me, pet, what do you like?”
She closed her eyes and sighed before answering in a soft whisper. “Powerwolf.”
Grinning, he pulled up his own work out playlist and picked *We Drink Your Blood* to start and then put it on shuffle. With the first tinkling sounds of the song, her eyes flew open.
“Have you ever seen them in concert?” Neo asked as he turned the volume up.
“No.” she said shaking her head.
“We’ll have to go.” He returned the remote to the holder and she glanced at the screen to see *Neo’s Ass Kicking Playlist* playing. “Do you like Sabaton?”
“Yeah.” She replied with a grin.
“They are awesome in concert.” He told her as they walked over to do their warmups.
“Motorhead?” she asked, getting on the machine.
“Hell, yeah.” He agreed as he started to run.
They continued to talk about various rock bands and discovered that they shared a love of heavy metal. Especially the Germanic and Viking bands.
When his timer went off, he had her do some jump roping. Although she was uncomfortable doing it, she was having fun. If she got tripped up, he never laughed. He simply encouraged her to start again.
“We’re going to do some shadow boxing today. We’ll build up to using the heavy bag and then trading hits.”
“I don’t know…”
“Listen to me, pet.” Neo said, gently placing a knuckle under her chin. “This is for you, for your safety. You can’t live the rest of your life with bodyguards. Nor should you want to.”
He ran his thumb over her bottom lip, fighting the urge to kiss her.
“Neo…”
“No, pet. You need to heal all of you before you get involved with anyone else.”
“I don’t want to be involved; I just want to feel.”
“I know.” He smiled. “But I don’t want to be just a rebound.”
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