On The Ropes Series Box Set

by Aly Martinez

  At least I thought she did.

  Not even a full minute later, she crawled back into the ring.

  Resting my arms on the top rope, I leaned against the corner padding. “What?”

  She opened her hand to reveal the hearing aids she must have retrieved from my locker.

  Great. “I don’t feel like talking. Go home.”

  “Put them in.” she demanded.

  With a sigh, I relented. It was a worthless fight. I’d listen to anything she had to say if it got her out of there any quicker—or made her stay forever.

  When I got them situated, Liv started in.

  “What the hell is going on with you?”

  Stabbing a thumb into my chest, I argued, “Me? You’ve been avoiding me for weeks. And you show up here wanting to know what’s wrong with me?”

  “I haven’t been avoiding you.”

  “Seriously? You’re going to lie to my face?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Fine. I won’t lie. Flint called. He was worried you were still here, and I told him I’d come get you and force you to get some rest.”

  “Tell Flint to drag his own ass down here if he’s so worried next time. Babysitting is not part of your job description.”

  “Are you kidding me?” She threw her arms out to the sides in frustration. “Babysitting you is my only job description.”

  “Wow! The truth comes out.”

  “Oh, shut up. Quit whining and get your shit so we can go home,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

  A humorless laugh bellowed from my chest. “Tell Flint I wasn’t here and fucking leave. I’m not doing this with you, Nanny James.”

  Unmoving, we defiantly stared at each other.

  After several minutes, her mask finally slipped and I saw my Rocky for the first time since the Gala. A rush of relief filled my chest.

  Her body didn’t move an inch, but her face crumbled. “What’s happening to us?”

  It was a valid question, but one she had no right to ask. She held all the answers.

  I erupted. “I have no fucking idea!” Storming forward, I cornered her against the ropes. “You’ve been avoiding me for weeks! Stop with the games and just tell me what the fuck I did wrong so I can fix it,” I seethed through clenched teeth.

  Never one to back down, she pushed up on her toes and got in my face. “You can’t fix it!”

  Her mouth was only inches from mine, but frustration overrode my desires.

  “You don’t know that! Let me try. I’ve apologized a million times for that bullshit—”

  I stopped talking when she suddenly flinched. I don’t even think she realized she had done it, but it was probably the most honest answer she was ever going to give me.

  Lowering back down to her heels, she looked away. “You can stop beating yourself up about it. I’m not mad that you copped a feel.”

  “Don’t do that. Don’t make this a joke.”

  Her eyes lifted to mine. That fucking mask she’d been using to keep herself isolated from me fell right back into place. “What else would you consider this? I woke up to you asleep and tweaking my nipple. That’s funny, Q!”

  “It’s not—wait. What?” Every muscle I possessed flexed as my body roared to life.

  “What what?” she smarted, but her face paled.

  Oh, she’d fucked up. Big time.

  She knew it.

  And, now, I knew it too.

  A heady combination of anger and excitement swirled through my veins as her words filtered through me. I’d relived that night hundreds of times over the last three weeks, and as I stared into her dark-brown eyes, I finally figured out what was going on with her. It was an answer I hadn’t even considered.

  “You were awake,” I accused.

  Her eyes grew wide, but she covered it with a healthy dose of attitude. “I didn’t exactly sleepwalk out of your room.”

  A wave of heat brewed in the air between us. Her side was laced with panic—mine with feral need.

  Looping an arm around her waist, I tugged her against me. Her body stiffened as I slid my hand down to splay across the small of her back. Her palms landed on my pecs, but she didn’t push me away.

  “W-what are you doing?” she stammered.

  She sucked in a fast breath as I leaned down and whispered, “Your nipples were first. That’s when you woke up.” I softly brushed my lips across her jaw.

  I slipped my hand down to her firm ass, rocking her forward until her stomach made contact with my stiffening cock.

  She squeaked in surprise but didn’t back away.

  “You were awake when I pushed into your shorts.” I paused to capture her gaze. The corner of my mouth tipped up in a one-sided smirk. “You opened your legs for me, Liv.”

  She gasped through parted lips. Her eyes dipped to my mouth and back again, but she said not a single word.

  I continued. “You grabbed my cock. If I’d known you were awake, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.”

  She flinched again and swayed away.

  Fisting a hand into the back of her hair, I stilled her retreat. “Because, if I had known any part of you wanted me, I would have been fucking you senseless for the last three weeks.”

  Her gaze shifted from heated to dark, and then I lost view of it altogether when I crushed my mouth over hers.

  There was not one second of hesitation as her tongue snaked out, tangling with mine. Her moan vibrated in my mouth. I angled my head, taking it deeper, sealing our mouths so nothing—not even air—came between us.

  Fucking finally.

  Her hands roamed over my chest, exploring every inch, until sliding up the nape of my neck. Rolling her shoulders back, she pressed her breasts into me. A loud growl rumbled in my chest.

  It wasn’t enough.

  It was Liv.

  Palming her ass, I lifted her off the ground. Her legs immediately wrapped around my hips, and a hiss escaped my mouth as she landed directly on my cock.

  My knees didn’t buckle. Nor did I stumble. But we hit the mat all the same.

  Breaking the kiss, I settled between her thighs. My lips drifted to the soft skin at the base of her neck. Her hips surged up, grinding a relentless rhythm over my cock. I was so fucking hard that it was almost painful, but as my name tumbled from her mouth, there was nothing I wouldn’t have done to hear it again.

  Pushing up on my hands, I glanced down between us to watch her writhing against me.

  Liv.

  Fucking Liv.

  Fully clothed, riding my cock.

  Not shy. Not timid. Not embarrassed.

  Unapologetically taking, knowing there was nothing I wouldn’t give her.

  Not now. Not ever.

  When I looked back up, her head was thrown back and her eyes were screwed shut. That shit did not fly with me. She could lose herself in ecstasy with me for the next eighty years.

  But, this time, she was with me. I wanted her eyes opened until her tight pussy milked the cum from my cock. Some things were better seen than heard. And I wanted her to witness the moment I claimed her as my own.

  Then I wanted to witness the moment when she realized she didn’t need to claim me at all. I was already hers.

  After a hard kiss, I bit her bottom lip as I pulled away. “Look at me.”

  She obeyed, fluttering her lids open but not stilling her hips.

  The warmth hit me so hard it knocked the breath from my lungs.

  It also lit me ablaze.

  Shoving her dress up to her stomach, I hooked a finger in her panties and pulled them aside. Finding her drenched, I didn’t delay in filling her with two fingers.

  Her back arched off the mat as a strangled cry escaped her throat.

  “Look at me,” I ordered again, dropping my thumb to her clit.

  She didn’t.

  She sat straight up and crashed her mouth into mine. Our teeth clanked together as she rocked against my fingers. Her tongue swept my mouth, deeper each ti
me.

  Oh, fuck this.

  Pulling out, I lowered her back to the mat. Her mouth was still attached to mine when I snatched my shorts down and freed my cock. Gripping the shaft, I glided the tip up to her clit then back down, poising myself at her entrance.

  Releasing her mouth, I panted, “I don’t have a condom.”

  I knew that Liv was on birth control. She had a stupid timer on her phone that went off every day at six p.m. to remind her to take it. Still, this was our first time together. She should be the one who made that decision.

  “It’s okay. Please, Qua—” Her plea morphed into a moan as I planted myself inside her. Her hands slammed down at her sides, fisting imaginary sheets.

  I hadn’t even moved yet and my balls were already drawing up with an impending orgasm.

  That was going to wait though. No fucking way I was going to miss the sight of her coming on my cock.

  Slowly drawing out, I tugged down the top of her dress until one breast popped free. Stroking her nipple with my thumb, I drove back in, stilling when I bottomed out. Her thighs sawed at my sides, urging me to give her more, but I couldn’t move.

  She was so fucking beautiful.

  My cock inside her.

  My hand teasing her breast.

  Her eyes aimed at me taking her body.

  Needy for me.

  All fucking mine.

  Liv.

  Lowering myself to my elbows, I got my head together and gave her what she wanted.

  I worked us both to the brink, backing off before repeating the process.

  Our moans intertwined to form a harmony, guided by the melody of our bodies.

  I wasn’t rough. I definitely wasn’t gentle.

  Her core clenched, gripping me so tight that it almost sent me over the edge.

  So close.

  Angling my hips, I worked her even deeper.

  Harder.

  Faster.

  Drawing in a deep breath, I pressed up so I could see her face.

  My lungs burned for the exhale I refused them. I’d waited my entire life for this moment with Liv. Air could wait.

  Finally, her arms flew up and folded over my back. “Quarry. Oh, God, Quarry,” she cried, her nails scoring my back as she pulsed around me—ruining me in the best possible way.

  Her body slacked, but she clung to my back. I pistoned in search of my own release.

  Moments later, I buried my face in her neck and came on the life-altering exhale of her name.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Liv

  HE HADN’T EVEN PULLED OUT before the guilt slashed through me. His lips were peppering kisses up my neck—each one so reverent that it felt as though it were being tattooed on my soul.

  But hidden in my depths of soul would have to be where they stayed.

  I wasn’t giving them back.

  But they weren’t mine to keep, either.

  My chest quaked with a silent sob.

  “I need to get up,” I rushed out so he hopefully couldn’t hear the tremor in my voice.

  “Mmmm,” he purred into my neck without moving off me.

  “Quarry, please.”

  “Do you understand how long I’ve wanted you?”

  With a jolt, my entire body solidified.

  The three weeks he was about to rattle off was going to hurt like hell. Especially since the time I’d wanted him was a lot closer to, oh….my entire life.

  “Let me up.” I shimmied up, and it regrettably caused his softening dick to slide out.

  The loss severed our connection—and my heart.

  He trailed kisses down my chest. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. For months, I’ve wanted you like this.”

  Months?

  My breath caught in my throat.

  “You.” Kiss. “Naked.” Kiss. “On top of me.” Kiss. “On your knees.” Kiss. “Under me.” His tongue laved over my exposed nipple.

  My chest defied my mind and arched into him as he sucked me into his mouth. Sparks rushed to my clit, awakening my sated body all over again.

  No way could that happen again.

  I gasped as his teeth raked across the sensitive flesh of my breast.

  Well. Maybe. Just once more.

  He kissed across my chest, scooping into the top of my dress in search of my other breast. “Want to take a shower?”

  What the hell was he doing?

  And why was I just lying there, letting him do it?

  And why couldn’t I breathe?

  Or drag my eyes off him?

  Or stop my heart from racing?

  Or figure out why my hands were shaking?

  It had to stop.

  “Get off me!” I snapped.

  His head popped up, confusion etched in his beautiful face.

  “We can’t do this,” rushed from my mouth. The lie burned my throat.

  I scrambled out from under him.

  “Liv,” he called in warning—one I did not heed.

  I jumped to my feet, and he quickly followed, not even pulling up his shorts before grabbing my arm to stop my getaway.

  Although I wasn’t really going anywhere. We lived together. We worked together. He was my best friend. Our lives were braided together in every possible way. Where else would I go when the only place I ever wanted to be was with him?

  “Talk,” Quarry gritted out.

  I snatched my arm from his grip and then righted my dress. “We shouldn’t have done that.”

  Straightening his shorts, he barked a laugh. “Bullshit. We should have done that months ago.”

  That stung.

  Months ago. What a joke.

  I kept that to myself.

  “Whatever the hell this is…it has to stop.”

  He closed in on me, gripping my hips and lighting my betraying body. His lips dipped to mine, where he whispered, “Stop freaking out. We’re not stopping anything. This is the beginning of me and you.”

  I wanted to believe him. The idea of a me and Quarry was almost enough to drown out the voice in my head shrieking that it was never going to happen. I wanted to melt into his arms and steal the safety and comfort that only existed when I was with him. I wanted to let him hold me while we talked things out and somehow let him convince me that we were as right as it had felt only minutes before.

  But it wasn’t. No matter how it had felt wrapped in his arms with his mouth pressed to mine. He wasn’t mine to keep. He never had been.

  “This is so wrong,” I squeaked. “You’re… Mia’s.”

  His arms spasmed around me. “Excuse me?”

  “I swore this would never happen. No matter how much I wanted to.” My anxiety grew with every word spoken. My chest constricted, and my hands began to tremble. “She was my best friend. You…you were hers.”

  He rocked back on his heels and glided his hands up to frame my face. Tipping my head back, he rested his forehead on mine and very calmly said, “This has nothing to do with Mia. This is about you and me. And us finally starting something that it sounds like we’ve both been fighting for a long time.” He kissed me again.

  But, no matter what he said and no matter how much I wanted to spend a lifetime feeling his lips pressed to mine, it could never happen.

  I twisted from him before he even had a chance to react or my body had a chance to change my mind. I only made it halfway through the ropes before he was dragging me back into the ring.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Nowhere!” I screamed at him. “Nowhere, Quarry. I’m not going any-fucking-where. I can’t walk away from you no matter how many times I should have. Which is exactly why I’m still standing here right now, your cum all but dripping down my legs. It’s the biggest slap in the face I could have ever issued Mia, alive or dead.” I threw my hands out to my sides. “And, worse, I know that and still can’t seem to just walk the fuck away!”

  “Christ,” he mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  Gnawing on my thumbnail, I pace
d a circle around him and continued. “Honestly, I can’t see how you think there could ever be an us. She wanted to kill me when we were sixteen when she even thought I wanted you. God, if she only knew the half of it! Are you insane enough to think she would ever approve of me and you together?”

  “What I think right now is that you’re currently having some kind of orgasm-induced nervous breakdown.”

  I stopped and glared at him. “You think this is funny?”

  “Not at all. But I’m going to let you rant and rave for a little while to get all that shit you’re spouting out of your system before I wade into the quicksand in your head and pull you out.”

  “You can’t pull me out! It’s the truth.”

  His body went ridged, and he cracked his neck menacingly. “You done yet?”

  “Stop acting like I’m freaking out for no reason. This is wrong and you know it!”

  And that’s when he moved. Fast.

  Charging forward, he forced us both into the corner.

  “We are not wrong! We could never be wrong,” he snarled inches from my face.

  “But that doesn’t mean we’re right, either.”

  “She’s gone, Liv. Mia doesn’t get to approve of anything. Stop acting like she’s sitting at home while we screw around behind her back.”

  “But that’s just it. If she were at home, we wouldn’t be standing here at all. Would we?”

  His lips thinned as he closed his mouth. He knew the answer to that question. He just didn’t want to say it any more than I wanted to hear it.

  “That’s what I thought. You’re fooling yourself if you think I would ever be anything but a consolation prize. She’d always be in the back of your mind.” I attempted to duck under his arm, but he shifted to the side, blocking me.

  “How long?” he growled.

  “How long what?”

  “You said if Mia only knew the half of it. So tell me how long you’ve wanted me.”

  My mouth was locked and loaded to fire the scripted answer I had been telling myself for years, but that was when I realized I didn’t even have it in me to lie anymore. Quarry had admitted that he wanted something between us. I wouldn’t be able to fight him off alone. I needed all the guilt in the world to have my back in this one. Luckily for me, the overwhelming weight I’d been carrying since I was a kid was finally good for something besides threatening to break me.