Fight For Her Heart: Tattooed Seduction (Rock Hard Doms) (4 page)

William's arms went around me. I pushed my tank top into
his thin shirt, feeling his hard muscles beneath the hard tips of my
nipples.

My breathing grew more ragged. Running and throwing
punches for more than an hour was nothing compared to the exertion
touching him demanded.

I leaned in on my tip toes. William didn't need any
further invitation.

His strong neck bent, lowering his lips to my level,
moving them fast!

Our first kiss sent fireworks screaming in my skull. Big
rockets blasted up high, exploded, showering my nerves with their
fiery sparks and diving like hawks to my sex.

I was wet and uncomfortable before. Now, I absolutely
gushed, slick with napalm yearning to be turned into an inferno at
his earliest chance.

My thighs quivered. William's lips marauded over mine,
firm and deliciously suffocating. His tongue slipped out between his
teeth, forced its way through my lips, searching for a partner to
mingle.

My submissive tongue touched his, shy and unsure. He
quickly licked it to life, teasing and twining it with his.

He kissed like he fought, determined and strong. I
shouldn't have been surprised. But elegant shock buried me as his
sultry kisses kept coming, savory and wet, so hot their heat pumped
into my belly like Greek fire.

I moaned into his mouth. I had to blow off some steam,
to feed my deeper urges before they devoured me whole.

I quickly pushed off my gloves and let them fall to the
floor behind him.

Slowly, my fingers skated across his smooth back,
searching for the edge of his shirt. I pushed past it, pressing my
fingertips to his bare skin. I wanted to tear it away, and finally
feel those wild tattoos rippling beneath my hands.

“
Mm!” He groaned, plucking at my bottom lip
with his teeth, sending his prickly growl through my flesh. “You're
really hungry for this, aren't you?”

I moaned my reply, lifting my hands higher. My fingers
crawled up his muscles.

His back was hard, just as chiseled as his front,
reminding me he was masculine rock through and through. I wanted to
sink my nails into it like a lioness testing a piece of prime meat.

William grabbed me and lifted me into the air. I kicked
my feet as they left the ground, calves clasping his legs for
support.

Anything to push me closer to the magnificence he had
between his legs.

Just thinking about it turned my embers blood red,
churning my fires a little higher. Fuck, if anything stopped me from
having this man now...

He carried me across the gym, hands pinched around my
hips like warm slings. When we reached the nearest wall, he pinned me
to it, sandwiching me on the cool brick with his own body.

His hips rolled forward. I gasped and pinched at his
broad shoulders, clenched my jaw, desperately trying to weather the
sharp sensation of his bulge probing between my legs.

It was swollen, eager, hungry. Just like me.

I watched to reach down and grab it. But before I could,
his kisses came in a new wave, peppering my lips with more lust
candy.

Bite after bite of him slid down my tongue, and it still
wasn't enough. I wanted more. I wanted all of him, sweaty and bare
and deep inside me. He needed to shove his cock in as deep as he
filled my mouth with his tongue.

His face peeled away and buried itself on my neck. His
body pressed tighter, kissing and licking at my sensitive flesh. The
sneaky bastard found one of my worst erogenous zones – that
plush nook between my right ear and my shoulder – and he wasn't
going to let up until I collapsed in a burbling puddle at his feet.

Tighter, tighter, tighter his body pressed. It was
starting to get a little claustrophobic, but the heat roared inside
me, demanding more. My body knew exactly what it wanted.

Harder. Tighter. Thicker.

He raised himself up from my badly teased spot, leaving
only a wet tingling sensation in his wake. His hands landed on my
breasts, pushing through my tank top.

My nipples went between his fingers, and he squeezed his
hands shut. Hard.

I moaned, threw my head back at the wall, hair flying.
He moved in for another kiss.

Adrenaline, depraved lust, and a strange stuffy terror
surged through me all at once. My eyes snapped open. My head jerked
and I pushed against him with all my might.

“
William! No.”

He stepped back. His grip softened, leaving me to fall
against him, my hand on his receding shoulder for support.

Oh, no. What the hell have I done?

“
Shit. My brain must've been in my ass,” he
mused, giving me all the space I needed, staring at the brick he'd
slammed me into. “I'm sorry, Rosie. Should've paid attention to
how you were getting driven up the wall there – and how you
were reacting.”

The heat simmered down to a lower ache, disappointed and
unsatisfied. If I could've punched myself with the same force I used
sparring with him, I would have.

Fuck. That creep in the alley left his mark after
all, didn't he?

I was still trembling as I moved away from the wall. I
threw up my hands, wiping the slick sweat from my forehead,
vigorously massaging my temples as I collected my words.

“
Don't think this is your fault. I wanted you so
bad, William. I
still
want you! It's just that getting pinned
down like that brought back bad memories. It's been a few weeks, but
I guess my body isn't ready to let it go.” I smiled like a
phantom.

“
It's a reflex, Rosie. It'll pass in time.”
He increased the distance between us, stopping a solid three feet
away and pacing in a narrow range.

“
Don't know what I was thinking either. I'm
usually training other dudes or going toe-to-toe with men. It's easy
to forget what fighting with a beautiful woman can do. I don't fuck
all my clients, but you...you were irresistible.”

My heart swelled a
little. My head felt faint, and new sweat pushed its way onto my
brow. Hearing him call me
beautiful
was almost as lovely as sampling his flesh the way I'd originally
intended.

Almost.

“
It's gonna take you some time to get over that
attack. I've heard about this kind of trauma before. It never fades
too easy. Just don't despair,” he said, fixing his bright eyes
on me and stepping closer. “You will get over this. When you
can knock a man like me flat, there's nothing you'll ever need to
fear again.”

“
I believe it.” I said it, but I wasn't sure
I really believed it.

He nodded slowly. “I'm gonna help you through
this. And I promise you, next time I'll keep my hands to myself.”

The warmth steamed out my pores, as if someone had blown
out my inner pilot light. I raised my eyebrows and sadness filled my
eyes.

“
Oh, no. It isn't that. I want to be more than
just some dumb girl you're training, William. You realize that, don't
you?”

His face hardened with unease. He took another step
back, increasing the distance between us. Not a good signal.

“
This was all my fault.” He shook his head
lightly. “If you just came into the studio off the streets, I'd
probably give you free lessons and work my way into your pants. And
maybe into your heart too. But this is different.”

He winked. The part about getting in my pants sounded a
little like an afterthought, but I really didn't care.

I'm horny, damn it. Love can wait.

Or so my traitor brain said. In some deep cellar of my
heart, I wanted the whole package.

Everything William Gaulle had to offer – and all
to myself.

“
I can't complicate what you're going through. I
won't be responsible for derailing all the progress you've made here,
or putting you off sex for good.”

I took a deep breath and only released it when I spoke.
“What's that supposed to mean?”

“
It means...I
like to play rough, Rosie. And the kind of hard edge I put into my
love isn't what you
need
right now. I was just getting warmed up when I slammed you into the
wall.”

For a second, darkness whirled in his eyes. A shadowy,
decadent fire moving like black smoke, orbiting the bright stars on
his glowing canvasses.

I shuddered. As much as I didn't want to admit it, his
logic was bulletproof.

If it weren't for that fucking criminal who shoved me
against the wall and tried to force me, I would've been ready to
indulge anything. But now, after the way I reacted to his kisses
against the wall...I'd be lucky if I could let a man ravage me in bed
without having a panic attack.

Shit, shit, shit. And what did he mean...just getting
started?

All sorts of wicked, wonderful visions stampeded through
my brain. And in all of them, I was pinned down beneath him, his hand
driving against my ass as his hips jerked, pushing him deep inside
me.

My heart sank when I realized the grim possibility that
they were doomed to be nothing but fantasies. I lowered my head in a
half-nod, my neck suddenly too limp to hold up the heavy boulder
above my shoulders.

“
I understand,” I said meekly. “If you
don't want to keep giving me lessons...if you think it's too
risky...I'll go. I'll understand that too.”

He laughed gently. “Nonsense. We don't have to end
a great working relationship, Rosie. Besides, when I said I was gonna
make you whole again and able to fight off anyone, I meant it. I
don't half-ass things. I think you know that by now.”

He waited until I met his eyes.

Oh, the brilliance dancing there! Ice, smoke, and heat!
It was like watching some Icelandic fantasy world in miniature, where
volcanoes and glaciers spewed their fury, an eternal competition
between fire and ice.

“
You're right about that. You've earned my trust.”
I turned, and began walking toward my purse and the duffel bag where
I kept my work clothes for changing.

“
Walk you to the bus stop?” He asked, aiming
another wink in my direction.

I nodded.
Yeah, handsome. But if you're really
letting me down like this, then you're gonna have to cut that crap,
or we'll both keep doing stupid things.

I changed fast in the small locker room attached to his
studio. I tried not to focus on my reflection in the mirror too much.

It hurt to see myself. I looked perfectly normal on the
outside, flushed and glowing with the crazy adrenaline rush of
sparring, kissing, and almost doing what we'd been about to do. Deep
inside, I knew there was something else, something horrible and
bitter, like an emotional cancer creeping on my heart.

Outside, it was easy to forget the awkward disaster
William had narrowly averted. He stood next to me, twisting lightly
in the new snow.

The holidays had passed. The streets were hunkered down
for a long winter, dirtying the fresh snowflakes as they fell,
corrupting them with soot and oil on the roads.

The disgusting mix of purity and corruption was the last
thing I wanted to see right now. I turned and met William's eyes in
tense silence.

Ugh. Just where was that bus?

“
Hey! I almost forgot.” Suddenly, he came
alive, pushing one hand deep into his hoodie's pockets. “Just
to prove there are no weird feelings between us, I want you to see me
this Friday. If you can squeeze it into your busy schedule.”

I wiped a few snowflakes away that drifted onto the
smooth white paper. It looked like one of those old leaflets the
socialist activists used to hand out on campus.

Except instead of an angry worker standing inside a red
star with his fist and hammer raised, the double outline of the star
on this paper contained a muscular silhouette that could've easily
been William's.

The shadow's open gloved hands were raised high above
his head, defiant and ready for blood. An announcement.

“
It's the big fight I told you about,”
William said. “I'd like to see you there as I knock out Orange
Coal. If you can fit it into your busy schedule, of course.”

I hesitated a moment. Sure, I wanted to see him fight,
but accepting this invite before we'd even patched things over?

Wellll...

“
It's not just for my benefit. I don't need
anyone's support,” he said, gruff confidence roiling his voice.
“This is for you, Rosie. I want you to see what a body can do
at the height of its powers. Orange Coal is bigger, stronger, and
older than I am. One of those Ukrainian leathernecks who'd probably
be a hit man if he weren't into boxing. Doesn't matter, though. He's
going down.”

“
But what if Orange punches you to the floor?”
For the first time since we were in the gym, I smiled.

“
Then I guess I'll be needing a little support to
lick my wounds after all,” he admitted.