Redemption

by Shey Stahl

  “He fuckin’ better.” She motioned toward the door. “Lock it.”

  Tallan sat on the edge of her bed, shirt off, but bra and shorts still on. Taking in her curves again, I knew once I had my shorts off, this wasn’t going to last long. I also knew I had to get as much of this now, while I could. I never had sex in the weeks leading up to a fight. A rule both Adam and myself were adamant about keeping.

  Twisting around, I locked the door and then faced her. With my shorts low and just above my dick, I pushed them down a touch lower giving her a view of the first inch of my cock, and then denied her the rest.

  She sneered at me, giving me an evil scowl, as if to say I’d pay for that.

  Dropping to my knees before her, I scooted her to the edge of the bed so I could remove her shorts and panties, sliding them slowly down her thighs.

  Jesus, she was fucking perfect in every way.

  Kissing her small waist that swelled into perfect hips, Tallan squirmed around, unable to move with my hands gripping her tightly. When I had her lacy white panties off, I laid my hand on her stomach, higher between her breasts and then around the back to remove her bra. Once off, her full breasts were eye-level and I had never been so thankful for my sight. Being blind to a beauty like this would be unfair.

  Pink, taut nipples called to me. My lips finding the puckered skin, Tallan’s breathing increased. Closing my lips around the tender flesh, I flicked my tongue, breathing out as I squeezed the unsupported weight in my hand.

  Tallan sighed, moaned, and tossed her head back, hands threading in my hair, knocking my baseball cap off. Moving down her body, I traced my way to her center with my tongue, needing to taste her. Spreading her legs apart, each one of my hands on her inner thighs. Waiting for her to make eye contact with me, I winked and then caught sight of her bare pussy, glistening with the sweetest juice. She knew I liked her bare. Had she kept herself this way all the time now?

  “Did you do this for me?”

  Tallan nodded, her voice lost.

  Flattening my tongue against her clit, I licked her once, her thighs attempting to close around my head. “Stay still,” I whispered, the heat of my breath on her sensitive nerve endings earning me another squeeze. Taking my thumb and forefinger, I spread her smooth folds apart to reveal her entrance begging for my cock. I couldn’t resist and made another pass with my tongue.

  Tallan cried out as I dove in, my fingers and tongue burrowing inside. My dick was so hard I could barely keep from palming it, but her first, always her. Once her need was met, then I could focus on mine.

  Working my tongue and fingers, I fucked her with my mouth, and when she screamed, I didn’t stop. Sliding two fingers inside her pussy, I found the exact spot I knew would get her off.

  Grinding into my face, Tallan’s hands threaded in my thick hair, pushing my head down. “Jesus, Destry.” A moan came from deep within. “Fuck…. Oh, God, I’m going to come….”

  That’s it, baby. Come for me.

  Tallan came for me then, her cry so beautiful and full that it made my heart soar. I felt every seizing breath, tug of my hair, jerking movements and the wild way her hips bucked.

  I was giving her this pleasure.

  Me.

  Destry.

  My name might not have meant much to anyone these days, but it did now. Maybe it was my pride, but heaven help me, I felt good about that. And I didn’t feel good about a lot of things lately.

  With her on the edge of the bed, she slid down and straddled me again, grinding her wet center into me. “You certainly know how to get that done, don’t you?”

  My breathing was hard, watching her eyes light with fire, the need satisfied, but not gone completely. She wanted more and fuck if I wasn’t going to give it to her.

  Hypnotized by her stare, I swallowed. “Get up and on the bed.” I demanded with a ragged breath. I closed my eyes, trying to deny myself what I was seeing so I could take my time with her.

  I never wanted to rush anything with Tallan ever again and now with the fight coming, I knew this would be one of the last times we could be like this.

  When I was stripped naked, I couldn’t miss the way her jaw clenched and her eyes flared when she made a sweep over my body.

  “Lick,” I said, nodding to my now painful erection. Tallan wasn’t one to deny my demands, a mess of bobbing dark hair I twisted in my grasp. Lips, teeth, tongue… fuck… all stroking me.

  It’d been too long and, within a minute, I knew I needed her to stop if I wanted to be inside her. Yanking on her hair, I slipped out of her mouth and she stared at me with watery eyes, waiting to see what I’d demand next. She knew how bossy I usually was.

  “I need to be inside you,” I whispered, pushing her back down on her lavender-colored comforter.

  She did as I asked and I paused, admiring her beauty while I had the chance. Arching her back, her ribs protruded with the slightest peak in her chest, her breast so full and begging to be sucked.

  Supported by my hands, I dipped my head forward to kiss her for the first time. My hips made contact with hers, my dick sliding effortlessly against her slit, so goddamn wet that I sank into her with a groan. I didn’t worry about protection knowing Tallan was on the pill.

  It was sooner than I wanted, but no way was I pulling out now. No fucking way.

  My tongue swept over the seam of her lips, gliding with hers. It was a kiss that sent a wave of chills over my body, gnawing at me. My balls tightened, anticipating this ending soon when I buried myself deep inside her. I kissed her again, with more hunger, more need. Her mouth was greedy but mine was fiercer; controlling our need and dictating the pace we held.

  “Fuck, I missed you,” she told me hoarsely, never breaking our kiss, our mouths fused together. Her arms wrapped around my back and the nape of my neck, squeezing as I began to move inside of her, free from any barriers.

  When we finally broke the kiss, I leaned my forehead against hers, both of us looking down to watch me sliding in and out of her.

  “Come for me again,” I begged, my forehead still resting against hers, my eyes never breaking from the place our bodies were joined as one.

  Finally, I had to stop watching or I’d shoot my load at any second.

  Tallan’s legs tightened around my waist, drawing me in deeper, her body shuddering around me.

  I moved my mouth to her neck, kissing and biting along the curve. “You’re all I could think about in there.”

  It wasn’t entirely true. I thought a lot about that fight and why I let Lucas win. But right now, Tallan needed to know how much she consumed my thoughts.

  I loved her and not only did I want her to know it, I wanted the thoughts to take over and never entertain the idea I felt otherwise. Despite having only known her a short time, she crashed into my world and I would never be the same again. As selfish as it was, I wanted her to never be the same, too. I wanted to be an influence on her life.

  Moments like this made me feel I’d done that. I wanted her, this relationship, for so long. To feel her beneath me, making love and the warmth in her brown eyes, I knew I’d do anything and be anything for her.

  This connection, it was way deeper than sexual with her and I knew that from the beginning.

  Squirming around beneath me, my hands held her in place, rocking relentlessly into her. Knowing what I liked, Tallan hooked her hands around the back of her thighs, holding them up in the air.

  The shift in the position allowed me to drive into her deeper. The change in position squeezed my cock and took my breath. Gasping, I burrowed my head in her sweet-smelling hair that was now half-contained in that bun and the other half fisted in my hands.

  Tallan made a whimpering sound, her back arching off the mattress and into my chest, angling her hips into my thrusts.

  When my orgasm surfaced, the brutal pressure building, she watched me, mirroring my passion. I kissed her, soft and searing, parting and sucking on her lips. Closing my eyes, the last electrifying pulsat
ion rocked throughout my body. My breath, hot and heavy, pelted her damp skin. Dropping her legs from around me, I pressed my lips into her neck once more, whispering that I loved her.

  We both breathed heavily for a moment as I ran the tip of my nose along her jaw.

  “I love you, too,” she murmured.

  Still, I could barely breathe, my body relaxing, but strangely never satisfied with her, in the sense I always wanted more. She was the type of woman who could make you hard instantly, make you weaken and your self-control fail.

  I moved first, onto my back while Tallan remained staring up at the ceiling, her eyes closed with what I assumed was satisfaction. Rolling to face her, I propped myself up with one hand. “We can’t have sex anymore.”

  Tallan gasped, her eyes snapping to mine with a defiant arch to her brow. “What are you talking about?”

  Clearly, I should have expanded upon those words a little quicker. “I… well, I’m in training for the fight. And I have to focus.”

  I could literally see the wheels turning in her head, trying to make sense of my reasoning. She licked her lips before speaking, drawing my attention to her mouth where I would miss getting any action from. Maybe she did that on purpose. “Did you and Stella have sex before the fight?”

  I nodded. “The night before, my final attempt to show her it meant nothing.”

  “So, you think that’s why you lost?”

  “No, that’s not why,” I admitted, it was more technical than that. I kissed the top of her head and rolled onto my back. “I gave up fighting and let my guard down.”

  “He got a hit on you?”

  “Yeah.”

  She was staring at me, trying to find a way to make sense of it and make me feel less guilty, I knew that much. Nothing would work. “You didn’t throw that fight, Destry. He got a shot on you that you weren’t expecting.”

  I wanted to let myself believe that but I couldn’t because deep down, I knew the truth. I didn’t fight as hard as I could have. Therefore, I let him win.

  I did that.

  “I don’t want you to think this is some kind of silly rule I made up. It’s a way of controlling your body and keeping it focused on the goal. When you’re training, there’s a hunger there, a desire to win. It’s more mental than anything.”

  “I know.”

  Did she? By the way she stared at the ceiling, I couldn’t tell if she did, or if she was trying to appease me by agreeing.

  “What are we doing, Destry?” she asked in a small voice. “What does this mean?”

  “You mean together?”

  “Yeah, I mean…did we rush into this? With the fight and everything else, I guess I need to know you want me with you.”

  Wrapping my arms around her, I moved so she was lying on my chest, able to hear the thudding of my heart that beat for her. “I want you, T. Love doesn’t wait around. It finds you and it’s up to you to take a hold of it.”

  I knew I needed to warn her about what training for a title bout meant.

  She smiled, the gesture touching her lips subtly. “You always know what to say.”

  I wanted Tallan to understand what she’d be getting into once I really started to train. I wasn’t talking about the workouts we did. I was meaning the four a.m. runs and the twice a day sessions in the gym. “I’m a very different man inside of the ring,” I warned. “Just know that.”

  Was I trying to scare her? I guess, in a way, I was trying to prepare her. You could go to any fight out there and the loved ones sitting ringside feared for their fighter’s safety. Every one of them. The fighter, they were nowhere near the man they were with their girlfriend or wife, or even their mother, as they were inside the ring. Training for a fight was never easy. It took a lot of sacrifice. More than most were willing to give, or take. And until you’d been around someone as they trained and pushed themselves to the edge of sanity, you didn’t really know them.

  Tallan kissed my lips once and then drew back. “I’ll be here for you no matter what.”

  I hoped that statement was true. I was going to need someone like her, so hopeful that I would make it through this.

  Professional boxing matches cannot be scheduled for more than twelve rounds for males or ten rounds for females. Each round lasts three minutes for males and two minutes for females, with one minute rests between the rounds.

  On Wednesday, the week after the charges were dropped, Ray Lucas and I met for a press conference at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas to announce the fight. Rematches between top fighters could take a year, at times. Usually, whoever won the original bout would fight a few times and show they could defend it. I was at Lucas’ mercy, a perk he secured when he won the first fight. Like it or not, he called the shots.

  I didn’t say a whole lot. I mean, this was the man who’d basically stolen my girl the night he took my title away from me too. Talk about knocking a man down. Lucas was seated to my right, Stella next to him, when I thanked him for giving me a shot at a rematch. Lucas said nothing, as if I wasn’t even in the room. Fine by me. He was going to see me in the ring whether he wanted to or not.

  My interactions with Ray Lucas had been brief, even before our fight in December. Sure, he talked a lot of shit but there was an underlying mutual respect between us.

  After our last fight, he was quoted saying: “If he wants a rematch, I’ll give him one. He’s a respectable guy and lands a mean punch. He’s also hittable. Going into the fight everyone said I wouldn’t get a hit on him. I did. I knocked him out too. He’s not invincible.”

  There was a lot of truth in that statement, but I never truly believed he knocked me out.

  He caught me off guard. He didn’t knock me out.

  Stella watched me carefully wanting to say something, but didn’t. Part of me wanted to ask her if she was happy. All fighters were the same. We’re trained to hide fear and hurt, and outwardly show our calm and confident side. We were a different breed all together, so that bullshit excuse she fed me that I neglected her was useless.

  She turned to him and there was no reason for that as far as I was concerned.

  As the promoters talked up the fight, I glanced over at Stella. She wore a fitted black dress, her hair curled to perfection, make-up flawless. She’d certainly kept up her appearances, a change from the fourteen-year-old girl I met on the streets of Seattle who was hanging around the bar for a place to sleep. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find her attractive anymore, because she was. Her personality and the way she left me made her the ugliest person on earth though. I gave her everything I had and she walked out on me. I was faithful at a time when pussy was thrown my way, and not once did I act on it.

  It still pissed me off. Her heart was made of diamonds and beat gold, the finest of everything and never satisfied with anything less. I used to think that was pretty, an unspeakable pure beauty gods worshiped. That was until I loved a heart made of the moon’s rays and truth, shining bright, a shimmer of natural hope in a dark night. Until I fell in love with a heart like an autumn day scattered with leaves and vibrant dreams she kept from resting.

  I caught Stella staring back at me, sweeping glances she tried to go unnoticed with.

  Wanting to tease her, I winked, a slight smirk toying at my lips.

  She’d always hated that.

  Biting her lip, she flipped her hair and turned away.

  That’s right, baby. You know you fucked up.

  The fight was set twelve weeks from now and would take place at Caesar’s Palace, eight months after the first bout. Honestly, I don’t think Lucas wanted to fight me again. He knew he wouldn’t win the next bout.

  Before signing the agreement, Stella approached me. I hadn’t spoken to her since that day in the basement when she returned the key to my apartment. I had no intention of doing so either. As far as I was concerned, I never needed to talk to Stella Summers again.

  “Are you seeing anyone?” she asked, as if disinterested but she asked.

  I l
eaned in, my breath on her face. “That’s personal, and last time I checked, you lost the ability to know anything personal about me.”

  Stella reacted, pressing herself to my side, her hand placed on my shoulder. “Don’t be like that. You know you still want me. I saw you checking me out.”

  I laughed in her face. “I wasn’t checking you out.” It was then I realized what an effect Tallan had on me these days because before I met Tallan, I would have still fucked Stella. As awful as that sounded, it was the truth.

  There was a reason why from the age of sixteen to twenty-four, I loved only one girl. Times had definitely changed now, and I felt nothing toward Stella, even with her tits pressed into my side.

  Stella and I were completely different people. She was like the Pacific Ocean, cold, rocky and pulled you under when you least expected it, caught in her riptide.

  I was like a desert, always dry, cracked with ridges, intense heat and never knew when to let up. Not just any desert. I was fucking Death Valley. Even in the darkest of nights, void of the sun’s rays, I never let up. Together, we clashed like two storm fronts coming together, neither one refusing to give.

  You couldn’t work that way.

  I wanted someone like Tallan, a fresh fallen snow, quiet, serene, despite the bitter cold that froze your lungs. She made me smile gently and look up, blinking rapidly into crisp white diamond flakes falling over me. I needed her to calm me, relax the edge of my hostility, not make it worse and pull me under, beat me against a rocky shore.

  Lucas caught sight of Stella and her hand on my shoulder.

  He saw fire.

  Made me smile. It was worth having to tolerate Stella this close to me.

  “Get your hand off my girl,” he barked, clenching his fists at his sides.

  My girl? That’s funny. I found myself, as ridiculous as it sounded, feeling bad for him. No way would Stella stick around. And here he believed a woman like her belonged to him. Stupid fuck had been knocked in the head too many times. “Last time I checked, she was touching me.” I gave him an arrogant nod. “But hey, man, don’t be mad. She likes slummin’.”