Intellectually, I’m surprised Nick is going this route. He’s always been a take his opponent down and out kind of fighter, but the glimpse of Reece’s stats the other day makes me understand why. Nick is trying to get the kid to have a more well-rounded fight strategy, and if it took me all of twelve seconds to recognize his weakness, it will take a professional camp less than that. It takes him a few, and a good elbow, but Nick finally takes him to the mat.
As they grapple, I grip the back of the chair in front of me, unable to stand on my own. My breath is coming out in short pants as Nick taunts the younger man with slaps, not really hurting him even though he could. He’s trying to find the fire, the passion within him.
God knows he’s found it within me.
I’m trembling as Nick lands shot after shot, before the man next to me lets out a piercing whistle. “Okay. Reece, he’d have crushed you if he was trying. Let’s work on your ground game.”
Nick immediately sits back and slaps the other man on his shoulder. Then his eyes meet mine, and time freezes. “Ollie, you didn’t mention we had an audience.”
“And as I was about to say.” I can hear the eye roll in Oliver’s voice. “Nick, you have company.”
Even before Oliver can finish the sentence, Nick is slipping through the ropes. “Sunshine, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
I shake my head.
Nick lifts a hand to push a strand of hair back. “What is it?”
I open and close my mouth, but no words come out.
Cursing, Nick grabs my hand. “Come with me.” Turning he drags me past the ring, past the free weights, through a set of doors. Pulling me in, Nick slams the door shut before throwing the lock behind us. “This is as much privacy as I can guarantee us right now.”
“Okay.” But beyond that, I have no idea of what I’m supposed to say or why I came in the first place. The only thing I can focus on are the layers upon layers of sweaty muscles that are within reach. Involuntarily, my fingers twitch. Somehow, I manage to not touch him. I don’t know how, but I do.
He steps closer. I step back. We perform this little dance until my head causes metal to rattle. Lockers. Gym. Right. That somehow jars the reason I’m here. “Rainey sent me.”
“Did she?” He braces an arm above my head. I inhale the scent of sweat. My eyes track the hair from under his arm across his pecs as it bisects the muscles of his stomach down into the close-fitting workout shorts.
I barely manage a nod. “Yeah. Said you’re on duty or something.”
“Uh-huh. Did she mention why?” His voice is so deep it’s caressing all of my nerve endings.
“Sex” is what comes out of my mouth. I reach between us and slap a hand over my mouth as his lips curve upward. “Not with her.”
“Of course not.” The hand that isn’t braced over my head trails up my side until it reaches my hair. A single finger twirls in my hair over and over. “There’s only one woman I want that way.”
“Oh yeah? Anyone I know?”
Instead of answering me, Nick leans closer until his lips are brushing against mine. “What did Rainey want?”
“Rainey who?” is what I manage to get out.
“Good answer.” Just before his lips capture mine. Releasing my hair, he slides both hands under my ass and boosts me up for me to wrap my legs around his waist.
And in this moment when I want him so badly, I capitulate to the desire and do just that.
Nicholas
I have coveted nothing like I do Maris in this moment.
No title, no wealth, no security means more than the thrumming of her pulse beneath my fingers. My lips savor hers when the animalistic part of me wants nothing more than to strip her of every stitch of clothing she’s wearing before I press her back against the metal locker pressed at her back and do nothing but take her the way I’ve yearned for. But even as her low moans devolve my tolerance to next to nothing, I hold myself back. Maris deserves… I lose all train of thought when her lips pull away and begin to trail down the column of my neck. “Christ, your mouth makes me cross-eyed.”
Threading her fingers into my hair, she tips my head back to meet my gaze head-on. “Nice to know I have a few moves of my own.” Her hand skims over my sweat-slickened chest. “I haven’t seen you fight in so long, I forgot what it does to me…” Maris stiffens in my arms to such a degree I almost drop her.
Is there an expression worse than devastation? I didn’t think so until Jed died and sitting behind Maris in a church packed with people not far from here to witness her agony over the loss of the person she loved beyond all reason. I brush a finger over her translucent cheekbone, and not a single expression crosses her magnificent face. It’s as blank as a doll’s. The electricity arcing between us seconds earlier has flicked off like a switch.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Put me down.”
I immediately do so. She slides out from between the locker and my body. I immediately hate whatever went through her mind almost as much as the phony smile she plasters on her face. That’s not my Maris, I think fiercely. And when she starts talking, I want to throw something. We’ve broken through so many things; what put this look on her face?
Maris backs toward the door. “I’ve got things to do. I just came by to let you know Rainey’s losing her mind. You need to speak with her about how long you plan on staying.”
“I will. But please, talk to me, Maris. Don’t go.” But it’s too late. Maris’s hand is on the lock. I suck in a breath as she whirls around, disbelief on her face.
“About what, Nick?” she lashes out. But in contrast to that devastation, I’ll take whatever she has to throw at me. She stomps forward until her nail jabs me in the chest so hard I’m certain I’ll feel the press of the half-moons long after she leaves. “We agreed to friends, Nick. Friends. I’m not suddenly about to become one of Nick Cain’s temporary toys. I am not disposable.”
“I am well aware of that.” God, am I ever.
Nonplussed, she jerks back as she realizes she’s still touching me. “Good.”
“I care about you more than you will ever know, Maris.” I bare a part of my soul to her.
Maris scoffs. “Right. And I just became a virgin all over again.” My fists clench and release at my side. I have absolutely no room for fury, but something inside of me quivers in rage with her cavalier statement. Narrowing her eyes, Maris continues. “I will have nothing jeopardizing my chances with this adoption. This little boy is my future, Nick. Certainly not a man who changes women as frequently as he changes his boxers.”
Leaning in a bit, I just have to antagonize her. “When I choose to wear them at all, Sunshine.”
Maris opens her mouth, and a small scream erupts. Quirking my lips, I ask, “I have the perfect solution to dealing with Rainey.”
“What do you mean?” she snaps.
“Before you came I was making plans on staying in Juneau for a while. I was hoping my new buddy Maris might allow me to stay with her.”
Enunciating clearly, Maris declares, “Fuck you, Nick,” before spinning on her boot heel and out of the locker room.