Page 8 of Fighter

“Get what out?” I ask.

This is crazy. I thought I was going to work tonight and now I’m here. For ten thousand dollars I’m in a fighter’s basement while he looks at me like I’m a piece of meat he’d like to devour.

“Nothing.” He reaches to a water bottle on the floor and lifts it to his lips. I watch his abs move as he takes a sip. I’ve never seen a man in such incredible shape before and feel suddenly self-conscious.

“You just…came down here for a quick training session?” I ask. I move slowly toward him without thinking. It’s like my body is just sort of doing it. I know Tressa’s upstairs, but I’m hardly even thinking about her now. It’s like we’re alone together down here. Not the most romantic place in the world – an unfinished basement – but as I look at Maximus, I suddenly feel like I’m on my first date.

Well, not my first date, but our first date. I’ve been out with Richard before, but then again, it was with Richard and Tyler and Tressa…so maybe I haven’t been on an actual first date with just me and a guy before. But then again, a guy paying ten grand for your company doesn’t really qualify as a date, does it?

“I

have a fight coming up,” he says.

“And…that’s it?”

Maximus cocks his head to the side and gives me an inquisitive look. “You know what’s funny?”

“What?” I ask, not sure I want to know the answer. He has a way of making me feel very small and vulnerable, and it has nothing to do with his muscles.

“I think you look ten times sexier in those clothes than the ones you can here in.”

I do a little half-laugh and cover my mouth. I was not expecting that. “Are you serious? This ratty old T-shirt and shorts—?”

“Hey, that’s my ratty old T-shirt,” he replies. He steps in and brushes a piece of hair from my face, causing a fresh twist of heat to turn its way through my torso like a snake coiling around my heart.

“Would you like it back?” I ask, grasping the hem. I don’t even know where that came from! I start to panic as I realize I’m flirting with him – this rude man who just basically bought me for an evening.

But as I look at him, I realize the flirting isn’t even the worst of it. Things are about to get even more intense as Maximus slides his hands under the shirt and grabs me by the waist.

“No,” he growls. “I don’t ever want you to take it off.”

6

Maximus

I can’t take it anymore. I came down here to vent – to take out my anger on the bag so I wouldn’t roar at Roxy about this boyfriend of hers. Of course she had to follow me down. She couldn’t just leave well enough alone.

So annoying. But at the same time, maybe that’s one of the reasons I’m so goddamn captivated by her.

It’s not just her beauty, which is off the charts; it’s the way she is. I may have met her at a strip club, but this girl hasn’t been around the block. Not yet. She doesn’t even know where the block is to go around. I can see it in her eyes, the way she didn’t know how to stand in that lingerie or move in those heels. I can hear it in her voice when she talks to me, and now, with my hands around her, I can feel it in her body.

I feel that spark inside me blaze as I move right in and kiss her. Her eyes flash with excitement and surprise, and then our lips meet and my whole world rocks. I’ve been hit hard in my life – many times – but I’ve never felt anything like this.

She moves into me, pressing her soft body against mine. I can feel her breasts through my shirt and tighten my grip on her waist. A growl rises up inside me as I press my tongue into her mouth.

I reach down and grab two handfuls of her young ass and squeeze. The urge to breed her swells through me without warning. Christ…I can feel the heat from her pussy pressing against my bulge, which is throbbing with desire.

This all came over me so suddenly. One minute I’m sitting at the bar wishing I was anywhere else, and the next I’m possessed – smitten by a girl I barely know.

I go even hotter for her as she moans against my lips and starts grinding her hips against mine. It’s subtle – not the way an experienced girl would do it – and that turns me on even more.

She’s innocent. How much has she done with a guy?

I’ll be damned if she ever sets foot in that club again.

My cock is burning for her. If I don’t find relief soon, I don’t know what I’ll do. And Roxy’s grinding on it like she wants it.

Roxy…

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