"All that stretching doesn't seem to be making you any taller," James' voice came from behind her as she tried to focus on her downward dog pose. His smooth voice sent shivers up and down her back as she tried not to tense her muscles and show how much she reacted to his presence.

It was harder than it should have been considering how long she'd been working on perfecting her poses. Sighing, Emma slowly corrected her pose with a long exhale and moved into a standing forward bend, holding onto her ankles as she turned her eyes towards James from her mat.

The man was upside down from her current angle, leaning against the doorframe of the impromptu training room. Even upside down he was devastatingly handsome. It was kind of hard to properly see him as strands from her ponytail covered your eyes, but it was still clear to her that it wasn't the pose he was admiring as his eyes followed your legs up to your ass and back down her thighs to finally look her in the eye.

"It's not about stretching to become longer James," Emma said, feeling slightly dizzy from having to focus on the man whilst upside down. At least that was what she was telling herself. Though she knew the truth was that his eyes burning into her like that always made her a little light headed.

"Then what is it about?" James seemed to remember how to talk when Emma finally straightened up her body and turned to face him between her poses.

"I do yoga to relieve stress and relax," Emma said, getting down on all fours to go through her normal routine once more, hoping to clear any thoughts of love and possible heartache out of her mind through her yoga.

Table, cat, cow, modified cobra and then into half downward dog before repeating the two steps James had walked in on her doing. That was her routine twice a week; the other days she did the more intermediate moves. Emma wasn't lying when she said it helped her relax.

Emma's job description wasn't the most common in the world, being a girl of all things big and bad and all that. But it was definitely stressful.

"Then why don't you just have a beer instead?" James said, still leaning against the doorframe looking almost illegally handsome. Damn... That right there was another reason she needed to do yoga to help her relax. She'd been in love with the man for a few months now and yoga kept her from confessing what was always just on the tip of her tongue when he was in the room.

Emma knew James, and she knew herself. There was no way she could handle being a one-night fling with the man she loved. So yoga and massive amounts of self-restraint were a necessity now that she'd started living with her relatives.

"It's a different kind of stress relief," Emma said as she shifted from her normal routine once she noticed his eyes once more following her curves, trying out some of her more advanced moves to keep his eyes on her.

Emma knew she shouldn't, for her own heart if nothing else. But damn it felt good to know he was looking at her instead of some random chick in a bar halfway across town.

"I don't think a bottle of man's helper would help me as much as yoga does," she said, hoping James would mistake her blushing face for exhaustion from her workout as you watched the man casually wet his lower lip as he watched her stretch her body through slightly hooded eyes.

"Looks different alright," He mumbled to himself, his words holding not so hidden meanings as the hunter seemed to undress you with his eyes. Damn, too much, her heart could handle a little at a time, but that was too much. Emma quickly straightened herself again and planted both feet on the floor before her light-headedness made her tip over and make a fool of herself.

"It is," she said, busying herself with her water bottle whilst mentally berating herself. She'd been through the same train of thought several times. James was great and she loved him. He was flirty, she didn't really mind because... Well, she'd already made why clear.

But that was all; he didn't love her like she loved him. He just... Well, he probably kind of found her attractive? Or maybe yoga made him think of some other woman? Or maybe he was just completely picturing someone else doing what she did whenever his eyes got that... That look? Emma couldn't let herself get carried away.

Taking a sip of her water she composed herself enough to continue speaking without her true feelings shining through. "It keeps me grounded, gives me balance and helps me not waste energy in my movements," she said, basically quoting the book she'd bought on yoga for martial artists in the bookstore of some small town she'd once had a hunt in.

"You sound like you're saying yoga is helping make you a better hunter? A better fighter?" James couldn't completely hide his baffled laugh at the idea that a "chick training routine" could help you fight.

"I am and it does," she said, stubbornly straightening her back and turning to look at the man that had entered the small room she was using as a gym. His booted foot slightly pushed her yoga mat aside as he walked towards her, the glint of intrigue in his ocean blue eyes telling her that her words had given him an idea. Though she couldn't figure out what just yet.

-

Watching James as he walked towards her, a still unspoken challenge lighting up his eyes made her more breathless than any form of training. Just watching him move made Emma unable to think straight. Every step, every slap of boots against the floor reverberating within her very being until he was mere inches away from her. If she moved, even a little, her lips could be on his. Emma could just drop the water bottle that acted like a weight in her hands and wrap her arms around his neck pulling him closer... No, she couldn't let herself think like that, it was dangerous behaviour. It would lead to nothing but heartache and awkward moments once he realized what she'd been trying so hard to hide.

James didn't seem to even notice how close he had gotten though as he leaned forward until his nose was almost touching hers. Making Emma's heart basically beat out of her chest as she felt his heat against her quickly cooling skin. Yet he looked calm, his body tense with anticipation for whatever challenge he was serving up.

"Prove it," He said with a smirk, the challenge momentarily confusing her as she tried to sort through her muddled thoughts to understand his words. The heat of his breath on her skin only makes it harder for her to think...

Prove what? The excessive, near unhealthy beating of her heart? That the sight of him made her stumble mentally every time? Emma was so wrapped up in her own thoughts about him she couldn't even remember what she'd been talking about moments before.

"What?" Emma said, mentally berating her slow mind as she left it to him to clear up the mess he had made of her mind. James let out a low chuckle as he shifted slightly, but he didn't move away from her. Damn, he was so close the sound travelled through her body and ignited every single nerve.

"Prove that yoga helps you fight," James explained, his voice more of a whisper as she felt his eyes on her. The heat was still there, that heat she sometimes felt when the two of them were in a room together. How was she able to tell almost every time whether or not he was looking at her.

"How?" Emma asked, keeping her questions to simple one-syllable words to not show how breathless his proximity was making her. It both pained her and relaxed her when James finally took a step back. His eyes looking over her body again, slowly lifting from her legs to her bare stomach and up until he met her eyes.

Emma didn't know how he did it, but there was something magic about the way James looked at her. He touched her without using his hands; his eyes roaming her body in a way that made her feel every brush against her skin. He looked at her as if she wasn't in her workout clothes, with messy hair and basically a sweaty post-workout mess. He looked at her in a way that made her feel sexy, made her feel perfect.

She was so busy feeling the ghostly touches of James' eyes on her body; she almost missed his answer to her question. Emma's head snapping up to properly meet his eyes as his words registered in her mind.

"Fight me," The man said, his smile a boyish grin as he peeled off his coat and winked at her. His finger curled inwards as he gestured for her to come towards him... Emma however didn't move, her mouth slightly ajar, she looked dumbfounded at the man. Fight him? What had gotten into the guy's head? Usually Andrew and James would spar from time to time, but they normally wouldn't let her join in on the fun. Something about girls being fragile, hell if you knew where they'd gotten that idea from.

"I'm not gonna fight you James," she said, rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she thought she couldn't take the man. She was pretty sure she could in fact knock him to the ground easily enough. Especially since it would be a close quarters fight and she knew she was better than the boys at those. No... It was more the fact that she had never sparred with any of them. As ridiculous as it might have sounded to James if she said it out loud, she was afraid she'd hurt the man accidentally.

"Come on Emma, it's not a real fight. We're just sparring," James said, still the same devilishly handsome grin painting his features as his eyes sparkled from the latest challenge presented to him.

Giving the man a quick once over Emma rolled her shoulders, mentally pushing her infatuation with him to the back of her mind as she saw how relaxed his posture was. He really didn't take her yoga seriously. Emma loved him, she really did, but nobody messed with her martial arts and her yoga. And she has been really stressed lately, mainly because of the man standing in front of her.

Yoga wasn't the only type of stress release she could think of. Actually, she could think of two more. But only one of the two options were presenting themselves right now. Though she honestly would have preferred if it was the other one.

"Alright Douglas, you're on," she said, quickly fixing her ponytail and straightening her spine before dropping into her usual fighting position.

The man in front of her grinned as he copied her pose with a more relaxed version of his own. "Sweet, it's on,"

-

The fight didn't last long. Neither did the rematch James demanded, nor the rematch of the rematch. Emma easily dodged his attacks and messed up his attempts to knock her off her balance. Quickly striking and moving away until the perfect opportunity presented itself and she knocked him to the floor again and again. Easily wrapping her legs around his torso until he gave a breathless sign of surrender.

By the third time she found herself straddling the man after her fight, grinning down at him and out of breath as she momentarily forgot about how close she was to him in her post workout euphoria.

"Alright, so maybe I was wrong," James said breathlessly from underneath her as he finally surrendered completely. His hands weakly created the more or less international symbol for time-out as he tried to catch his breath.

"And?" Emma said, not wanting to take her hands off his shoulders and let him up until he completely vocalized his defeat.

"And yoga helps you become an awesome fighter," He said, his voice returning to normal now that he had caught his breath. "What else is it good for? I mean, I didn't even know it was possible to kick that high or bend that way," The innuendos clear in his voice though she chose to ignore it.

"I told you. Namaste, you bastard," she grinned with a laugh softening her words, motioning to get off him after pushing her palms together in a mock greeting. But before she could move James' hands were on her hips. His thumbs rubbing wonderfully tight circles into her tired hips as he looked up at her.

His eyes were no longer that fierce blue they turned when he was challenged. Instead they turned that warm turquoise blue they sometimes got when he was looking at her. The feelings she had pushed to the back of her mind whilst schooling the man in close combat fighting came rushing forward again straight away as she squirmed underneath his hands, trying half-heartedly to tell herself to move.

James didn't say anything straight away. His eyes playful as he looked at Emma above him, his back still flat against the ground. A small smile painted his features before he wet his bottom lip and bit slowly. His eyes never leave hers, Emma tried to not blush too hard under his gaze.

"Yeah, you told me," He finally said. His words did not match with the heated look he was sending her. Confusing her mind even more as both the survivalist in her, telling her to flee the room before her heart broke, and the woman in her who wanted to stay tried to make sense of his words.

But before Emma had time to try and figure out his words he caught her. His arms wrapped around her and held her tight against his body as he sat up. One hand holding onto her ponytail as his lips found hers in a desperate, hungry kiss.

For a split second she did nothing as surprise saturated every part of her. But soon enough she melted into the kiss she had been denying herself for so long. Emma's tired muscles feeling as good as new as she wrapped her arms around him, surrendering momentarily to the quickly deepening kiss before she came to her senses.

"No," she gasped breathlessly as she gently pushed at James' chest, pulling his lips from hers. "We can't... I can't," Emma said, feeling his warm fingers burning patterns into her nearly bare back only covered by her sports bra. Patterns that would stay with her forever, even as she helped speed along the breaking of her own heart...

As her words left her James' hands fell away from her. "Of course," He sighed, though his words were not that of a practical man who knew not to mix business with pleasure. Instead they were sad, coated in something that sounded suspiciously like self-hatred and made her face the man again. "Sorry," He said, scooting slightly backwards as he tried to give her space.

Emma's heart hurt as she looked into his pained eyes. There was more than just sadness there. There was anger, but not directed towards her, no... It was directed inwards at himself. And that pained her more than if he'd directed it at her, hell it hurt more than that one good punch he'd gotten in during the sparring session. Looking at his pain she said to hell with any promises she'd made to herself about never coming clear about her feelings. She needed to explain her response to him, if it could lighten his pain she needed to do it.

"James..." she started, unsure how to confess to the man she'd loved for so many years... Her hesitation evidently cleared as James shook his head to stop her.

"No, you don't need to, Emma... I understand," he sighed, holding a hand up to stop her from saying anything more. "I know I shouldn't. I mean, you're so god damned perfect no matter what you do or where you are and I'm just..." James sighed, somehow unable to finish his sentence.

"What..." she started your mind reeling with contradictory thoughts as she realized the words coming out of James' mouth were the same that had been haunting her for years, just that her places were switched when he spoke them. "James I..." she tried to speak again, but James wouldn't let her.

"I know you'd rather not have me around like this, looking at you constantly and... Loving you," James' words were no more than a whisper when he finally spoke words she never thought she would hear. Her heart was rising and falling at the same time like a twisted roller coaster breaking both the laws of physics and the sound barrier. "I know what you're gonna say but..." James continued, but this time it was her turn to interrupt him.

"You clearly don't listen to me damn it!" Emma said, her voice weaker than she wanted it to be, but the words were still strong enough to shut James up as his eyes widened looking at her. "I love you James, you idiot. That's why I said no... I couldn't just have something small. I couldn't deal with a fling," her words came out a jumbled mess as she felt her eyes watering. The dam of emotions she'd been keeping in for years threatening to burst now that she finally spoke the words out loud.

"You love me?" James seemed perplexed with the whole idea of her actually caring for him, his blue eyes wide as he looked up at her from the floor.

Emma just nodded, unable to repeat the words again without straining her heart too much. She let her head fall during the nod, not lifting it after confirming his words and simultaneously noticing that she was still straddling him. Great, perfect confession Emma, she thought to herself. Groaning inwardly at her idiocy before moving to move to the side of him on her knees instead.

This time James didn't stop her, his arms not reaching out for her until she was sitting next to her. But no reprise of the desperate kiss from earlier followed. Instead the space between her was replaced with feather light touches. Fingers ghosting over her collarbone and her jaw, in the same way his eyes had done countless times. As if he was ensuring himself she was really there.

"You love me," He whispered, this time his words were not a question. No, they were more like a confirmation. As if he was just re-confirming your feelings with himself as he felt her below his fingertips.

"I do," Emma said, her voice shaky as she finally dared to meet his eyes properly again. James had sat up half way, leaning on the elbow of his free hand as his fingertips on the other traced the shape of her jaw. The smile on his lips was so warm and bright she'd bet he could have outshined the sun if he wanted to.

"I love you too," He said, carefully sitting up and cupping her chin in between his thumb and index finger before slowly leaning in to kiss her. "I really do," His lips were soft against hers as he carefully kissed her, the kiss slowly growing deeper as she answered it.

Now Emma had one more reason to love yoga, it had gotten her the man she loved. Then again... she also had one less reason to train now that the stress of unrequited love had been proven obsolete. Hell, make that two... There was another form of stress release she'd rather do than yoga she thought to herself as James' fingers created patterns on her back with strong hands.

Smiling as he easily lifted her up without breaking his kiss other than to make a quick comment about flexibility that earned him a playful punch to his bicep before she wrapped her legs around in and made him shut up with a new round of deep, desperately hot kisses.