by Riley Ashby
And then he had the advantage, pushing Jamie back against the ropes. He hollowed in on himself, blocking as much as he could, but he was all defense now. And then Alonso feigned a punch before driving his knee directly into Jamie’s solar plexus.
I gasped.
That was all it took.
Jamie dropped his hands just enough to flick his eyes over to me. And in the opening, Alonso’s fist flew through and caught him on the cheek. I watched the skin split, and blood trickled down his cheek.
“That’s it!” Coach waved his arms, and Alonso backed off immediately. No need for them to beat each other to a pulp this close to a fight. “Good work, Alonso. Jamie, I’ve got some notes for you. Go get cleaned up.”
Jamie nodded and wiped at his face, staring only briefly at the blood before looking at me again. He walked toward the ropes where I was standing, but I turned on my heel and walked away.
To anyone watching, it would have looked like I was disappointed in him for letting his guard down at such a crucial moment. It was how I presented myself, after all. Cold and hard. Unused to failure. Unaccepting of weakness.
I couldn’t forgive him for letting me get in the way. Why was he already so worried about my opinion that he had to follow every noise I made? Pop culture wanted us to believe women were the clingy ones, always trying to get in deep when all the guy wanted was some fun. But I wasn’t the one blowing my chance at fame because of a person I’d fucked once.
It would have been better for me to keep ignoring his texts. Whatever was happening between us was clearly a distraction from his career, and he couldn’t afford that at this stage.
I stalked to the locker room, needing some air, but there would be no chance for me to unwind. He grabbed my arm the moment the door closed behind me.
“This is the women’s locker room,” I growled, but I wasn’t caught off guard at all. He hadn’t taken his eyes off me since the fight ended. As I turned to face him, my breath caught at the oozing cut on his face. They’d stopped the bleeding, but it still looked raw. A bruise a few shades darker than his skin was already blooming across his cheek.
“That wasn’t your fault, you know.”
I froze. Of course, he knew what I was thinking.
What was wrenching at my heart right now was the way his eyes had rolled back in his head when Alonso’s fist crossed his cheek. Because he’d heard me gasp and was concerned. I’d thought we’d been so careful when we parted ways at the door and kept to our separate sides of the gym. But he hadn’t completely detached, and neither had I. That was unacceptable.
And still, when he was bleeding and bruised and got knocked down in front of the entire gym, he was chasing me down to ensure I wasn’t blaming myself for his loss even though it was entirely my fault.
“It’s both our faults.” I shook off his arm. “This was clearly a mistake.”
“It’s not.” Someone started to push into the locker room, but he shoved the door closed with one hand. There was a startled, “Oh!” from the other side, but whoever it was didn’t try to enter again. “We’re trying to figure out how to interact with each other in a new way. We’ll get used to it.”
“This isn’t going to work if I cause you to lose.” I shouldn’t be talking about this working. There was nothing to make work. This was a one-time thing. I only came to the gym with him today because it was convenient.
He didn’t respond. His hands encompassed my face, drawing me closer until our lips were nearly touching … and paused. He waited for me.
Whatever was happening between us was wrong for both of us. I had a job to do and people to protect. He needed to focus on his career. This was supposed to be a one-time thing for both of us, but already, it had turned into more. The moment I let him give me real aftercare, and he suffered through a movie he almost assuredly didn’t enjoy. At the very least, I should acknowledge his effort. It was the least I could do.
I leaned forward an inch to kiss him once.
He smiled at me softly as I pulled away after a second. “Let’s go back to my apartment. We need a shower.”
***
We were both quiet on the way home, and I was grateful for it. I tried to go straight to my car without returning to his apartment, but he ran around to grab my hand the moment I exited his vehicle and dragged me upstairs.
“Come here,” he said, tugging me into the bathroom. My feet moved of their own accord, pulling me across the room with him. As I stepped across the threshold to the bathroom, he reached behind me to close the door, chest flush against mine. “I don’t want to play today.” He spoke softly in my ear as he gathered my shirt in his hands, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the side before doing the same to my bra. I stiffened, expecting him to ogle me, half wanting him to. But he kept his eyes on my face. “But what’s your safeword?”
I fell back against the door. “I’m not sure I want to do this.”
“You can leave if you want.” He kissed my neck. His fingers pulled at the string of my shorts, and they fell to the ground with little prompting. He hooked his thumbs in my underwear and stared at me.
My breath was too shallow. “I don’t want that either.”
He took my face in his hands and kissed me soft and slow, different even from how he’d kissed me on the couch before we left to go rescue Harold. The tip of his tongue traced my lips. “Tell me your safeword.”
“I always used red.” Not that it mattered.
“That sounds good.” He pushed my underwear down to join the rest of my clothes on the floor. His last action was to pull out the band holding up my hair. “Go start the water, please.”
He undressed behind me as I ran the shower, feeling the water with my hand until it was the temperature I liked. I jumped a little when his hand landed on my back.
“Ready?”
I swallowed and nodded, glad he couldn’t see my face. When did I get this jumpy about sex?
Every since you let him choke you half to death, and he didn’t take you any further.
“What the fuck?!” He screamed as he stepped into the water, backpedaling away from the stream. I couldn’t help but laugh as I stepped in after him, still careful to keep my eyes away from his body.
“I like it hot.”
“This isn’t hot; it’s the seventh circle of hell.”
I bit my lip to hide my smile as I turned the water to a more bearable temperature. He joined me under the stream tentatively before wrapping his arms around me. I felt him poking into my belly and tried to focus instead on not getting water in my eyes.
The cut on his cheek was still oozing a bit; it must be smarting from the water. I reached up to prod it gently, and he flinched.
“Sorry,” I said. “Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?”
“It’s fine. I’m just glad it’s not on my mouth.” As if to prove his point, he kissed me again, a little firmer this time. “Since when do you give a shit about my injuries?”
“Since never.” I gasped. I was breathless with his hands on me, his cock growing longer, and despite my best efforts, an irresistible tingle rose between my legs. “I don’t want you to get blood all over me.”
“Good thing we’re in the shower, then.” He kissed me so gently as though he was afraid to scare me.
“This is different.” I couldn’t breathe, but it had nothing to do with fear or dominance. No one had ever treated me so gently. I put on the tough exterior for a reason, and men treat me accordingly. Not Jamie. He’d seen the toughest part of me, and he was still touching me like this.
“You need different right now.” With one hand on my back holding me against him, he reached behind me to grab something off the shelf. A moment later, his hands were in my hair, lathering shampoo into soapy bubbles.
“Why do you even have shampoo?” I sounded a little drugged. His fingertips worked magic against my scalp as they washed away the sweat and salt from my workout.
“Scalps need to be cleaned too.” I opened my e
yes to find him grinning at me. “Eyes closed. We’re going to rinse.”
I shut my eyes obediently and let my head fall back, water pattering over my face and down my hair. His hands moved down my neck and shoulders, stopping on my breasts.
“I don’t have conditioner,” he muttered as I brought my head out of the stream. I gripped his hips as he tweaked my nipples, rolling them between his fingers until they stood at firm points.
“I’ll survive.”
He bit my collarbone softly. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”
“Stop talking.”
“As you wish.”
His hands fell lower until his fingers met the apex of my legs. He spread me apart as his other hand gripped my ass, pushing my back against the shower wall. His middle finger touched my clit gently. I moaned.
“That’s a good girl,” he whispered.
“I thought you were going to shut up.”
“I changed my mind. You’re too delicious, and I’m going to tell you all about it.” His index finger had been stroking the skin between my clit and my entrance, and after a pause for me to nod, he slipped inside me. “Like how you’re so wet for me right now.”
“We’re in the shower.”
“Your pussy isn’t. I can feel how slick you are, as deep as my finger can go.” To emphasize, he pushed all the way to the knuckle and rubbed harder with his thumb. My knees shook, but he pushed me against the wall harder to keep me standing. “Spread your legs wider for me.”
He slipped another finger in when I obliged, and I had to grab his shoulders to keep from slipping. “How are you so good at this?”
“It’s not me, Tori. It’s us.” He sucked gently on the skin of my neck, not hard enough to leave a bruise, but it still sent the tingling in my core straight up my spine. My fingernails cut into the back of his neck. “You belong here with me.”
I forced my eyes open to find him staring at me with the same intensity I saw the night at Harold’s house. When he knew he had his opponent beat and was waiting to deliver the final blow. But I wasn’t going down so easy.
“I’m not committing to anything.”
“We’ll get there.”
I was seconds away from my orgasm when he pulled his hands away. He sucked my juices off his fingers before grabbing one of my legs and hooking it over his hip, supporting against the wall.
“I’m going to fuck you now.”
I had no words. I simply nodded. He pushed in.
The groan deep in my throat fought to fly free from my lips; I bit it back as long as I could. But when it finally emerged, it wasn’t low or sexy like I’d hoped. It was high and pathetic and … pleading.
“Feel good?” His voice was a low rumble I felt all the way in my pussy. One of his hands was back between my legs, rubbing my clit as he crashed me against the wall.
“Bite me,” I said.
“No.” He licked my collarbone instead. “We both need gentle, don’t you think?”
I pulled him into a kiss instead of responding. I didn’t want to tell him he was right. All week, I had been batting down my strange feelings. Not only the result of the rough sex but also the pull I felt toward this man, someone I barely knew and had no intention of getting to know any better unless it meant getting off.
“Come for me now, Tori.” His fingers moved swiftly; he thrust his hips with new vigor. “I want us to come together like we did the first time. I want to feel you clench around me while I blow inside you.” He bit my ear despite his earlier refusal. So he couldn’t quite keep it put away. But I didn’t care because as he breathed hot air against my cheek, he pinched my clit between two fingers, and I flew apart in his arms.
He choked out a strangled sound of pleasure as he twitched inside me. He thrust harder as he came, slamming my spine against the wall. The sting was the most exquisite sensation. My free foot started to slip, but he was there to catch me with a hand on my thigh, keeping me upright against the shower wall while I slid down the other side of my climax. His breathing was heavier than mine as he released my leg so I could stand on my own. When he pulled out of me, the hot gush of his pleasure slipped down my thighs.
“Good?” He kissed my cheeks.
I couldn’t respond. My heart was hammering. The water was suddenly too hot, the shower too small. When I didn’t say anything, he pulled back to look me in the face.
“Don’t go away on me now, Tori. Hold still while I wash you.”
I obliged as he moved me to the center of the shower once more, then lathered my body with gentle hands. There was no more lust or exploration hidden in his touch; he sought to cleanse me and nothing more. Still, my breath caught when he slipped a hand between my thighs to wash away the remnants of his cum.
“Easy, girl. We’re done for now.”
“That’s not it.” I want you to keep going.
“Are you going to tell me what it is?”
I shook my head. Beneath the pattern of falling water, I heard him sigh.
It was too much. I didn’t know how to cope with what he made me feel. That I enjoyed being used, being taken roughly more than anything, but with him, even the gentle touches set me off like wildfire. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be a one-night stand, a way to get both of us off without hurting anyone’s feelings or leaving frayed ends behind. But he’d dragged me back here twice, eased me into sleep, bathed me like a child. I’d been away from my bedroom at the King home for the longest period of time since I moved in two months ago, and I had no desire to get back anytime soon.
He flipped off the water and wrapped me fully in a towel before helping me out of the shower and drying himself. He dressed me in his clothes, then made me sit at his feet while he dried my hair, then combed through the tangles with his fingers. At some point, I fell asleep with my head against his knee. He jostled me awake briefly when he pulled me up to the couch, but I slipped back under as his arms crossed in front of me and clasped my shoulders.
“Just a nap,” he said. “You still need to eat and go home tonight.”
“Whatever you say.” I yawned. I wasn’t particularly concerned about doing anything other than staying right where I was.
I thought it was hunger that woke us simultaneously. A quick glance at my phone showed we had only been asleep for just under an hour, but as we shook ourselves awake, we could hear the incessant buzzing of a second phone.
“Shit,” Tori muttered, rolling out of my grasp and rushing to grab her phone off the table. “Ellery called me six times. Hello?”
She turned away from me as she held the phone to her ear. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but she couldn’t utter more than a syllable before being cut off again. I pulled on a sweater over my bare chest, my skin a little clammy where her wet hair had pressed against me.
“I’ll be home in twenty.” Her voice was clipped, and she didn’t wait for a reply before hanging up. “I have to go,” she said without looking at me. “Where are my clothes?”
I pointed at the pile on the floor where she had left them earlier. I would have folded them and put them in my room, but she would have definitely run from that. She changed in the bathroom while I whipped up a couple of protein shakes, the one for her in a tumbler she could take with her. She looked surprised when I pressed it into her hand but took it without protest. She muttered thanks so quietly I could barely hear her.
“Is he pissed?”
“I think more concerned since I was gone so long. I told him this morning I’d be home by lunch. He’s had enough of people going missing.”
No doubt. After his sister was kidnapped, he nearly lost Sophie when she volunteered to act as bait for a plan to get her back. I’d wanted to murder him when I found out, but the entire scheme had been her idea because she was selfless to the last. After the most recent incident with the girl from New York being kidnapped by her family, as Tori had informed me on the drive to the gym, he’d gone through enough missing person scenarios to l
ast him a lifetime.
“When I call you this week, answer the phone.”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes, but she nodded. “I’m not doing anything long term.”
“I’m not asking you to.”
“Good.” Pausing at the doorway, keys in hand, she turned to look at me one last time. “You don’t understand how hard this is for me.”
“Then you’ll tell me. Eventually.” I held up a hand to quiet her as she started to argue. She snapped her mouth shut. “It’ll be fine, Tori. I’ll call you.”
With a final brief nod, she was out the door.
***
I forced myself not to contact her until the next day. I sent her a text before I left for the gym, and when I arrived, she had replied. It was short, but it was a reply. And she kept replying. She showed up at the gym on her regular days again and even let me spar with her like we had a few times. She was intent on improving her floor game, pissed for letting herself get pinned by the guy at Harold’s house.
And when we left the gym, if there was no one in the parking lot, I grabbed her ass and kissed her before letting her get into her car to leave. She blushed every time.
It was odd to see her like that, and I supposed that was at least part of the reason she was so reticent to be seen with me. She had a reputation to maintain and not just with her clients. The people in the industry knew her as a hardass, and that couldn’t change because she was seeing someone on a regular basis. I didn’t feel like I was getting the short end of the stick. It wasn’t in my nature to be too public with my relationships, either.
I liked the thrill of sneaking touches and finding ways to show affection when no one was looking. Touching her when no one else was looking, or when she herself least expected it. We’d leave through separate doors and meet around back to make out against the wall, hard concrete scraping our skin as we fought one another for control. Then back in the gym, on the floor with a crowd around us, practicing takedowns and armbars on each other until one of us cried out for mercy.