Brooklyn's Baddest: A Bad Boy Fighter Romance (10 page)

Lisa’s breath caught and everything in her tensed, but as Jake’s mouth moved over hers and he parted her lips, the tension gave way to the heat burning in her core and the stiffness of her body eased, almost as if she was melting into him.

He let go of her fingers beneath the towels, and slid his hand over her waist and down the side of her hip, squeezing his fingertips against her body as he went. The stack of towels she was holding fell from her grasp and landed in a pile on the floor at their feet. Her thoughts were going in a myriad of directions and it felt to her like the only thing that did make sense right at that moment, the only thing that she was sure of, was how much she wanted to feel Jake holding her, and how much she needed him to kiss her.

As the ache for each other ignited in each of them, growing stronger, their kisses became more impassioned, and her hands slid over his chest to the back of his neck where she held on to him snugly, bringing him closer to her. Holding her hip firmly, he pulled it toward him as he pressed himself against her, pinning her to the wall in the hallway. He groaned softly as she moved herself against the stiffness of his desire, and a soft sight escaped her.

With a surprised look at her as he paused in his kiss, he grinned, knowing that she was going to be all his that night. His cocky grin would normally have put her a little on edge, but at that moment, there in his arms with her heart pounding wildly and her body burning to feel his connected to it, his confidence only served to drive the deep need in her for him even further.

He spoke, his voice was deep and husky. “Do that again,” he told her thickly, staring straight into her coal dark eyes, “and I’ll take you straight to your bed.”

She couldn’t believe the words she heard herself say to him, but once they were spoken, she didn’t want to take them back. She meant them with everything in her. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. I can’t fight this anymore, Jake… I want you.” She replied in a velvet voice, staring straight back into his eyes.

It was as if there had been a bonfire suddenly lit in him. He crushed his mouth against hers, kissing her with abandon as she gripped him tightly with both hands. In one movement he picked her up and carried her to the door at the end of the hallway. The doorway she had expressly forbidden him from entering when she had first given him the tour of the house earlier that night.

Jake set her on her feet beside her bed, his hands never leaving her body. With swift movements he shed her of her clothes until she was bare before him, and his eyes and hands drifted over her with the lightness of a feather.

“You are so beautiful…” he whispered, staring at her and running his forefinger and thumb down a thick strand of the long black hair framing her face.

She felt her cheeks warming to as much as the rest of her was heated. Not knowing or caring where the boldness in her move came from, Lisa placed her open palms on his bare chest and slid them down over the hard knots of his muscles to the edge of the towel still tied at his waist. With a gentle tug, she loosened it and let it drop from her fingers and his hips.

Letting her eyes drift over him, she felt her breath catch, and he reached for her then, pulling her into his arms and closing his mouth over hers again for a lingering kiss before he laid her back into the cool sheets on her bed.

Lisa knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she had determined that what she was doing would never happen, but every other one of her senses was overwhelming her with an undeniable desire that she was compelled to give in to. She told herself silently that she would deal with the consequences of their night together later, if there even were any consequences. Bonnie’s words kept coming back to her, telling her that there was nothing at all wrong with her having a steamy fling with him, and she had to admit to herself, as his hands and hot mouth canvassed her body, turning on every part of her, there was nothing more that she wanted than to have him with her right where he was.

Jake had forgotten how sore and tired he was, and how much his body hurt. The shower he had just come from refreshed him somewhat, but the feel of Lisa’s body in his hands and beneath him made him forget everything except her and how good it was going to feel to finally have what he had wanted so badly since the first time he had seen her.

His mouth moved over hers, kissing her until she was breathless, and when he heard her heart pounding in her breath, he slowly brought his lips down her throat, kissing softly until he reached her breasts. He twisted the tip of his tongue around her hardened nipples before sucking on them and tugging gently at them with his teeth.

His fingers massaged and stroked her silken skin, caressing it as he made his way down over her belly into the fold of her legs, where he teased her for a few moments, nibbling at the sensitive flesh on her inner thighs before pressing his mouth against the core of her, tasting her fully, manipulating her body with his tongue and fingers as she began to moan softly and move herself against him.

With increasing fervor, he kissed harder and faster, drinking her in as she grabbed the pillows around her, clenching them desperately until she cried out in pleasure and shuddered as her orgasm overtook her, leaving her blissfully weakened. He moved himself up over her and pushing her thighs further apart, he moved the tip of himself against her but not into her.

Gazing down into her eyes he brought his lips close to hers. “Are you sure this is what you want?” he teased her, rubbing the head of his shaft back and forth over her tender folds. She grasped his shoulders tightly and pushed herself against him hungrily.

“Yes! Yes… Jake… this is what I want… please!” she gasped. The smile faded from his face and she could see the flames of intense desire in his eyes. “This is exactly what I want too,” he barely managed to whisper as he pushed himself slowly into her depths.

Her breath was gone and her heart was nearly beating itself out of her chest as she wrapped herself around him and they began to move in unison, a perfect rhythmic cadence in the dance of love. Lisa opened herself fully to him, and he moved in her with all of himself, strongly, completely, holding her tightly against him as he thrust himself into her over and over, until at last they both cried out in tremulous release, their orgasms shared, their bodies slick with sweat and their wills both totally surrendered to the ecstasy that bound them together as one.

He rested beside her afterward, kissing her softly and running his fingers over her face and her hair as she looked back at him, completely sated. They said no words, but as the night grew longer, their touching and gentle kisses grew more fervent and hunger overtook them again, driving them to take each other once more until a long while later, when she, riding atop him, cried out, and he felt himself flood her again with every ounce of passion in him.

It wasn’t until the wee hours of the morning that they finally fell asleep in each other’s arms, and when they sun rose, so did both of them, pleased that their desires had been satisfied so fully.

Chapter6

They vowed to each other as they drove to the dojo that morning that what had happened between them would not change anything with their work environment at the dojo, and that all would be as it had been. Lisa wasn’t entirely sure that could happen, but she was determined to make it work out.

When they arrived, she smiled and said goodbye to him, and he grinned back and went to the water garden, where he began his day of training. He hadn’t been in the water for long before he realized that he was filled with a tremendous peace, and that his movements were much more fluid than they had been when he started. He noticed it most when he realized that he wasn’t hearing the splashing he had heard since he had begun his training.

With great focus, he concentrated on his breathing, his form, and his technique, and before the middle of the day, he heard Koichi’s voice from the side of the water.

“Jake… you may stop.” The voice was solemn and kind.

He turned and looked at Koichi in surprise. Koichi was standing before him in a gi with his hands folded behind his back.

“You want me to stop?” he asked in surprise, hoping he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Yes, you may stop. You have accomplished what you set out to do. I have been watching you practice your kata for an hour, and you have not splashed a single drop of water once. You are ready for the next phase of your training. Come out.” He smiled and nodded, and Jake’s heart nearly stopped in his chest.

Slowly, and with a feeling of uncertainty, he walked from the water to the walkway where Koichi was waiting for him. Koichi handed him a towel, and he dried himself off from the knees down. It was only then that he saw Masahiro watching him from a doorway that was only open enough to frame him. He could not look away from Masahiro, once his eyes met the old man’s, and he stood there with the towel in his hands and his heart in his throat as the older man came to him.

Masahiro looked at him intently. “I have seen great improvement from you, Jake Allen, and I think it is time to show you the world into which you are about to live. Please, get your shoes and meet Master Koichi and I at the front gate.”

Jake nodded and bowed, and minutes later he was at the gate where he found Koichi, Masahiro, and Lisa all three waiting for him. His heart quickened at the aspect of what was to come, and at the sight of Lisa, who took his breath away as she looked up at him with pride and happiness in her eyes. He tried not to let his eyes move over her body, remembering exactly how she had felt making love with him, but the only way he could keep it from his mind was to look away, and looking away from her was nearly impossible for him.

They all got into Lisa’s car, and Jake sat in the backseat with Koichi, while Masahiro rode in the front and Lisa drove them. He looked out of the window as they traveled along, wondering where they were going and what new changes were coming to his life.

A short while later she pulled into a parking space at a different dojo. Masahiro turned and looked over his shoulder at Jake.

“This is the Momose Dojo. This is our biggest rival dojo in the eastern United States. We will take you inside for a look at the competition that you will be facing. It is always wise to know who your competitor is and where they come from. It gives you an edge, because knowledge is power.” He nodded once and then stepped from the car, and the other three followed him.

Together they entered the dojo and were greeted by the manager with a respectful bow and a polite welcome. Masahiro smiled and said that he and his group were interested in a tour of the place, and the manager obliged them and walked them through the public parts of it, stopping at last in a studio where a class was in session.

All four watched the class silently for a few moments, and Jake noticed that one man in particular kept looking over at him. He was a bigger man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He looked from Jake to Lisa, and then to Koichi and Masahiro. With a glance and a subtle nod to the teacher of the class, he stepped out of the line formation and headed over to the group of four, and the manager of Momose Dojo.

“Well, Masters Masahiro and Koichi, what a surprise to see you here.” He said with a hint of insincerity and a bow. Then he gave Lisa and hungry and lingering gaze. “Lisa… it’s always good to see you here. You should come visit me more often. I think you’d like it.” She clamped her jaw down tight and narrowed her eyes at him.

It was then that the man turned his eyes to Jake. “And who is this?” he asked with a half laugh as he shot a glance back to Koichi and Masahiro.

Koichi looked at Jake. “Jake Allen, this is Mike Corbin. When you are entered into the regional competition, this man will be your opponent.”

Jake, who was already irritated with the cocky man in front of him for the way he had spoken to his two Masters and to Lisa, drilled his eyes into Mike Corbin’s gaze. He searched, immediately, looking for the weakness; looking for the thing that would bring Corbin down.

Corbin watched him for a long moment and then laughed coldly. “This? This is your new champion?” he gave his head a subtle shake. “Well, it will be my pleasure to bring you down to the mat… Jake.” He said with a darkening tone.

Jake lifted his chin defiantly. “You can try.” He stated flatly.

The manager of the dojo cleared his throat and Corbin threw him a withering glare before he turned to go. He shot a hungry grin at Lisa. “I like you coming here to see me. You should come back soon so I can show you how a real man fights, and…” he laughed, “I’ll show you anything else you want as well.”

He strutted back into the studio to rejoin the class session he had left. Lisa shot daggers at his back with her eyes, wishing she could have taken him on in a fight right there, but well aware that doing so was impossible. She shared a quick glance with Jake and saw that he was thinking the same thing. She shook her head almost imperceptibly and he gave her a nod of acknowledgement.

Masahiro and Koichi thanked the manager and the four of them left to return to Hayashi Dojo. They were all silent in the car on the way back to the dojo, and when they got there, Masahiro and Lisa left for her office and Koichi took Jake into one of the smaller studios toward the back of the complex.

“What did you think of Corbin?” Koichi asked Jake as he faced him in the studio.

Jake’s jaw tensed as dark thoughts swirled in his head. “I think he’s a jackass and I can’t wait to defeat him.”

Koichi watched his reaction silently and then nodded. “Alright. In that case, you better focus with everything in you while we train for the next two weeks, because you’re going to need all of the training you can get in between now and then if you expect to beat him. He is a jackass, but he’s well trained and he has won several competitions already. It’s going to take everything you have to bring him down.”

Jake rolled his shoulders in wide circles and gave his neck a twist to loosen it. “Then let’s do this. I’m going to take him down.”

Koichi began Jake’s training in earnest then, and for the entire rest of the day, they trained hard.

Lisa sat in her office that afternoon, wondering what she had been thinking the night before, and telling herself that it might have been a mistake she was willing to make but she could only let herself do it once. She knew that if Jake went back to her house with her that night, it would happen again. There was no way he was going to listen to her when she would tell him that he would be sleeping in the guest room and not in her bed.

Her mind flitted back to scenes from the night before; moments they had shared when his mouth was on her lips, her body, when he drove her far past the edge of passion into blissful oblivion, and her body warmed at the memory of how he felt inside of her, but she struggled with her desires and pushed the thoughts from her mind completely.

Feeling a little weak, she picked up her cell phone and called her best friend. She felt awash in gratitude and relief when Bonnie answered right away. “It’s the middle of the day, are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes I’m… uh… well… no. I guess I’m not.” Lisa answered, sinking down into the chair behind her desk.

“Why not? What’s wrong?” Bonnie’s tone took on a note of concern.

Sighing, Lisa rolled her eyes and knew that she was going to have to come clean about the entire thing. “I made a big mistake, I think.”

Bonnie hesitated a moment. “A big… what did you do? Did you… Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh, you did! Didn’t you? You slept with Jake! Did you?” she asked in a rush of words, certain and simultaneously uncertain of the suspected reason for the phone call in the middle of the workday.

Lisa covered her eyes with her free hand. “Yes, I did,” she answered with a shame-filled voice. “I just… god, he had to come stay the night with me because he was jumped outside of his house by a guy who wants to kill him, and he fought the guy and then got arrested and I had to bail him out and I didn’t want him to get jumped again… so I took him to my place to keep him safe… and… and he was standing there in a towel, and the next thing I know… ugh.”

Bonnie giggled with glee on the other end of the line. “That’s fantastic news! I’m so glad for you! You were way overdue.”

“No! It’s not good, Bonnie! Now what am I going to do? You know I can’t do that with him again!” Lisa moaned in regret and frustration.

“Well, I’m glad you did it at least once, but I do understand what you’re saying about not doing it again. He has to focus on his training, and you have to stay dedicated to your family. I get it. So… is he still staying with you?” Bonnie asked with a hint of a wicked giggle in her voice.

“I… I can’t let him keep staying with me. If he stays, oh Bonnie…” she sighed heavily, “Oh… Bonnie… he was so… wow. He can’t stay again. If he stays I don’t think he’ll stay in his room, and I don’t think I’ll have the fortitude to tell him to stay out of my room.”

“Lisa, he’s a big boy. Send him home and tell him to be careful and have the police patrol his street. Have him lock his doors. He’ll be okay. He can’t move in with you if you aren’t ready for the consequences of what you did, and what you know will continue to happen.” Bonnie was being honest, and Lisa knew it.

“You’re right. I don’t even know if the guy who attacked him will be back for him again; they both got arrested that night, and maybe Jake can get a restraining order against him or something. I don’t know. We can check it out, but he definitely can’t stay with me.” She hesitated a moment. “So he goes home, and I will just have to figure out how to work with him here. We are both in positions of professionalism; I have my work, and he has training for upcoming competitions… so… it’ll work out. We just had one hot… one very hot… night, and it was great and now we need to focus on other things and not think about it again, right?” Lisa asked, hoping for some support.

“Definitely. You had fun and now it’s time to work. Just tell him that, and tell him he can’t have you on his mind and the fighting, so he has to focus on fighting, and he has to stay at his own place. You know what you need to do, Lisa, so do it, and everything will work out alright.” Bonnie smiled through the phone with a reassuring voice.

Lisa was grateful for it. “Thank you so much, Bonnie. I love you.” She sighed in resignation and smiled for her friend.

“I love you, too. See you soon,” Bonnie answered. They said goodbye and Lisa made up her mind. Once was all there would be, and Jake was going home to his own place. Knowing that she might have a difficult time telling him to his face, she wrote him a quick and simple note, explaining that he had to go back to his own home and that nothing further could happen between them. She tucked it in with his change of clothes, and then left the dojo early, avoiding the chance of having to see him.

She made sure for the following two weeks that she was as unavailable as she could possibly be. She didn’t answer his calls, she only sent brief replies to some of his texts, and when they were both at the dojo, Koichi kept him very busy training while she concentrated on her work and on not being around before or after his training sessions with Koichi.

Jake was torn between dedicating everything in himself to getting ready for his competition, and fighting his desire to see Lisa again. He managed to keep her at the very edge of his mind during the day while he was learning everything that he could from Koichi, but every night she crept into his thoughts and then his dreams and he woke up hard for her nearly every morning. The frustration of his desire for her and her distance from him only made him want her more, and Koichi saw the distraction in him every time it surfaced.

Koichi would bring him back to the task at hand every time, but Jake’s frustration grew, and no matter how much he tried to push it away, it stayed with him.

***

The night of the competition finally arrived, and Koichi would only train with Jake for half a day before insisting on Jake meditating for the afternoon to relax himself and prepare for the fight that night.

Jake called Evan that morning and told him where it would be, and Evan promised to be there to support him. There was no one else who would be there, except Koichi, and possibly Masahiro. Jake finished his meditation and went to Lisa’s office, hoping to see her, hoping that he could talk to her for a few minutes and that she would come to the competition to watch him. She was the whole reason he was even there.

Lisa was standing at the wooden filing cabinet in her office when she heard the door open, and she turned to see Jake walking in. He looked tired and worn out, but no less attractive, and her heart skipped a beat as his eyes caught hers.