Naked Choke (A Stepbrother MMA Romance) (9 page)

Chapter Fifteen

“Hey,” I say to Logan as I walk into the kitchen. A week
since the kiss and we’ve barely interacted. I don’t think it’s my imagination
that he’s been around the house less. “We’re just taking a break,” I add as he
looks up from his book. He nods, smiling politely, before looking down. I
almost wish he’d be rude, then I’d think that at least he cared, but he’s been
perfectly polite.

I scratch a bit of dried paint off my hand as I fill up a
glass of water from the faucet. I was planning on hanging out down here for a
few minutes to get away from the paint fumes in my room, but I feel too
awkward. It seems to be all on my end, though. Logan calmly turns a page, his
body perfectly relaxed.

I walk back toward the foyer and then slowly up the stairs.
Austen stands on a ladder, starting on the second coat of peach-colored paint,
as my mom sits on the bed pushed into the middle of the room. I set my glass of
water on the window sill and grab a paint brush, working my way around the open
window so that Austen doesn’t hit the white trim with the roller.

“So training’s going well?” my mom asks.

“Really well,” Austen says with a confident grin. “Logan’s
actually really good at imitating the style of other fighters, so it’s good
preparation.”

“That must be fun for him,” my mom remarks brightly.

“Probably not,” I murmur, a little louder than I intend to.

“No?” my mom replies, as she and Austen glance over at me.

“I just mean, he’s a fighter, too. I bet he wants to be the
one in contention, too,” I point out as nonchalantly as possible. A floorboard
creaks on the stairs and my mom turns her head.

“Oh, Logan! Speak of the devil,” she says, and I watch him
reluctantly come to stand in the doorway. “You’ve been like a ghost! I feel
like I haven’t seen you in days!” So it’s not just me.

“Actually, I meant to tell you…I won’t be able to make it to
dinner tonight.”

“Oh, no?” my mom asks, disappointment coloring her voice.
“Hanging out with friends again?”

“Ah, no.”

“A date?” my mom asks suggestively, as Austen snorts.

Logan’s eyes flick toward his older brother. “Yeah.”

“No, shit!” Austen exclaims. “Sorry, Joanne. But Logan
hasn’t been on a date in forever.”

“That you know about,” Logan murmurs with a smirk. I feel
heat rise in my cheeks. Here I’ve been feeling guilty that he might have had
feelings for me, but maybe I was just another conquest for him.

“I thought you said dating distracted you too much from
training,” Austen counters, raising his eyebrows.

“Not if I don’t get too involved,” Logan replies with a
shrug. “But I don’t know. This one could be different.”

"Anyone I know?" Austen asks.

"Sara, from high school. She was in my year. Remember
her?"

"Yeah, sure," Austen answers appreciatively.

“Why don’t you bring her over?”

“Sorry?”

“For dinner. We haven’t seen you around here for a while, so
bring this Sara to dinner tonight. You said you were going to see her anyway,
right?”

"Yeah…I guess I could ask," Logan hedges.

"I know you don't want to scare her off, but if you've
known her since high school, it's different, right?"

"You're good," Logan remarks to my mom with a
smile.

"Hey, I was young once," my mom replies.

"Well, I'll ask, but no promises," Logan says as
he walks down the hallway toward his room.

* * *

Three and a half hours later, I examine my face in the
mirror. Ugh, I look like a clown. Maybe I'm feeling a little insecure with
Logan's new girlfriend coming over, and that's why I over-applied my makeup. I
turn the faucet on and squirt some face wash into my hand. I scrub off the
pigment, telling myself that it's no business of mine who Logan dates. I pat my
face dry, reapplying some mascara with a more restrained hand.

"You've been in there for forever," I hear a
muffled voice say from outside the bathroom door. I blush.

"Be right out!" A quick swipe of lip gloss, and I
open the door to see Logan on the other side, a bored expression on his face.
"I had to scrub the paint off," I explain patiently as I slip by him
toward me room. I feel him grab my arm and turn around, surprised.

"You missed a spot," he murmurs, his eyes flicking
toward the back of my arm.

"Oh. I'll get it later," I shrug, then pause.
"We going to work on more self-defense stuff?"

"I'm pretty busy with training," he replies
quickly, releasing my arm.

"OK," I nod, brushing off my disappointment with a
shrug, and head back toward my bedroom.

"But I…I could probably make some time," he adds
as I reach my bedroom door.

"Oh, great. I'll find you around the gym," I
respond with a smile. He nods, then shuts the bathroom door behind him.

In my room, I pull on a cotton summer dress. The white
fabric looks dramatic with my dark hair, and it hugs my body without being
overtly sexy. I study myself in the mirror for a minute, fussing with my hair,
until I hear the doorbell ring. Logan leaves the bathroom, his footsteps
crossing my doorway as he heads for the stairs. A moment later, the sound of
voices carries upstairs, and I can hear my mom and Duke joining them.

I take a deep breath and then open my bedroom door, walking
quietly down the stairs so that I can get a look at this Sara before she sees
me. She's pretty. A redhead, with a nose piercing and subtly winged eyeliner.
I'm intimidated immediately, and watch as Logan's hand rests comfortingly on
the small of her back. I sigh, realizing my jealousy isn't just about Logan's
new relationship. I also envy the fact that he can have it in the open, while
Austen and I have to sneak around.

I reach the hardwood floor of the foyer and smile as Sara
turns to me. "Hi, I'm Caitlyn," I say, reaching my hand out. She
looks surprised about something for a second, but shakes it off.

"Sara," she replies as she shakes my hand.

"And I'm Austen," I hear from behind me, and turn
to see Austen walking down the hallway toward us. My stomach clenches at the
sight of him in a white collared shirt and jeans, the top couple buttons of his
shirt casually undone. Why am I worrying about who Logan's seeing when I get to
share a bed with this gorgeous man?

"Cat, could you help me put dinner on the table?"
my mom asks, interrupting my train of thought. I nod and follow her into the
kitchen, where I help her fill up plates of spaghetti and meatballs before
bringing them out to the dining room.

"And then, once Austen gets into the AFF—" Duke is
telling Sara as I walk in, giving her his standard rundown of his son's future
accomplishments.

"
If
, Dad,
if
," Austen interrupts
him. I set the plates down quietly in front of Logan and Sara, who smiles at
me. I keep my ears open as I head back into the kitchen to grab two more
plates.

"If!" Duke scoffs. "You can't allow yourself
to think like that. I never did. Negative thinking will destroy you."

"I'm not being negative, I'm being realistic,"
Austen argues. "There are going to be a lot of great fighters at this
tournament."

Duke leans back in his chair and crosses his arms as he
examines his favorite son. "I've never heard you talk like this. Your
training couldn't be going any better, so—"

"Forget it," Austen says shortly as my mom walks
in carrying the final plates. Duke frowns and opens his mouth to reply, but
Austen smiles up at my mom. "This looks great, Joanne."

  "Thanks, Austen," my mom replies, patting
his shoulder affectionately. "Well, let's dig in, everyone."

Chapter Sixteen

I slip down the basement stairs after my mom and Duke close
their bedroom door. I hear the shower running and head for the slightly open
bathroom door. I peer inside the steamy room and find Austen dropping his jeans
to the floor. He looks up at me and smiles.

"Trying to catch a glimpse?"

"Always. You OK?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seemed a little off or something at dinner."

"No, I'm great," he responds, flashing me a grin,
though I can catch some tension at the corners of his mouth.

"You're full of it."

"Wow."

"Come on. You're not perfect. Your dad might treat you like
the golden boy, but that's not actually who you are, you told me so
yourself."

"You're really not pulling any punches, huh?"

"Well, someone told me recently I should try to be a
little more…bold."

He sighs. "Fine. Maybe it would be nice if my dad put a
little less pressure on me, OK?"

"Do you think he'd be upset if you don't win the
tournament?"

A short bark of laughter bursts out of his mouth. "I
think his head would explode. I don't think he's ever considered that could
happen. I mean, look, I know I'm a great fighter, just based on my record I can
see that. But there are always unknowns."

"Sure."

"And I'm not blind. I know I'm the, you know, favorite
son. I see that my dad expects the best of me and the worst of Logan, so maybe
it's shitty of me to complain. But sometimes I envy him. If I'm anything less
than perfect, my dad's disappointed. The weight of his expectations are too
much sometimes."

I watch his jaw muscles clench in frustration. "I'm
sorry. I didn't know it was like that for you." I walk toward him and wrap
my arms around his hard torso and kiss the skin just above his chest. I feel
the tension in his body begin to leak out as he relaxes against me.

"I'm glad you're here," he murmurs in my ear.
"When I'm with you, it's the only time I forget about everything
else." Any lingering thoughts I have about Logan are pushed aside at
Austen's words. I gasp as he kisses my ear, and then nibbles softly on my lobe.
"I hate to tell you this, but you're really smelly," he whispers.

"What?!" I gasp indignantly as I pull away.
"I am not."

He shakes his head. "You definitely are. You need a
shower."

"I don't—" I can barely suppress a shriek as he
wraps his arms around my waist and lifts me off my feet. "Austen, no!
Seriously!" But he's not listening. He walks me straight into the shower,
where he deposits me fully clothed. The hot, streaming water immediately soaks
through my white dress, making it see-through and clingy. "I can't believe
you just did that," I mutter, though I can't help the smile that's creeping
up at the corners of my lips.

"We'd better get these wet clothes off you," he
observes, grinning wildly, as he lets his hands trail gently over my breast and
down my stomach.

"I should just leave right now."

"I have ways of making you stay," he murmurs as he
pulls my dress up and slides his hand between my thighs. I gasp as his fingers
push my underwear aside and flick over my clit. I close my eyes, feeling the
water stream against the back of my head. His finger moves inside me for a
moment, but then I feel my panties being pulled down. I realize he's kneeling
and feel him press his tongue against me as my soaking dress drapes over his
head.

I raise one arm to steady myself against the slippery tile
wall as he works his tongue back and forth across me. I've never had sex in a
shower before, but I like the sensation of the hot water pouring over my head
and relaxing me, while Austen winds me up down below. He nudges my legs a
little farther apart and I feel him press two fingers inside me, slowly bringing
them up and down, and then circling them when he knows he's found my g-spot.

That telltale ache begins to throb deep within me and I
moan. I pick up the hem of my dress and pull it over my head, dropping it with
a wet
thwap
next to the drain. Austen stands up, understanding my
signal, and pulls his boxers down and nudges them away from his feet. His hands
slide over my hips and he turns me ninety degrees, pressing my back up against
the cool tile. He grabs my right leg and hooks it up and around his lower back
as his mouth finds mine. Our tongues find each other as I feel his cock pushing
inside me.

I feel a jolt of pleasure as he presses in and raise my leg
slightly, trying to find the best technique for this new position. There. He's
fully inside me, my knee bent around his waist, and our bodies pressed tightly
against one another. He pulls his hips back and thrusts inside me again. I moan
as he hits his depth against my g-spot and revel in the feeling of fullness.
Again he pulls out and then thrusts back inside me. Again, again.

My head drops forward against his shoulder and my lips find
his skin. I surprise myself by biting the muscle by his neck, but hear him
groan appreciatively in response. My hands dig into his wet hair as his slide
under my ass, pulling my leg a little wider to give him more access. The
pleasure pounding in my veins begins to centralize, building to a throbbing
peak around his cock.

I shake as I come, grabbing onto his back for support so I
don't lose my balance completely. With a groan, he releases himself inside me.
We gasp for air against each other, and he releases my leg and pulls out. I
pull away from the cold tile wall and shelter against his chest as he moves
back into the stream of the hot water. My head jerks up with a realization.

"You OK?"

"Mm," I murmur. "I just…I've never had sex
without a condom before."

He glances down at me, eyes wide. "Shit. Shit, I'm
sorry. I got caught up in the moment. What do you—"

"I went with Maya to a clinic a few weeks ago," I
stop him, trailing my fingers over his smattering of chest hair. "But
you're, um, clean?"

"Yeah, but I think we should keep using them, just in
case."

"Oh. OK," I shrug.
Just in case?
I thought
guys never liked using condoms. I push it out of my mind for now, but make a
mental note to ask Maya's opinion about it later.