The two of them talked for a while longer as they finished their meal. Erin packed everything back on the room service cart and wheeled their dishes out in the hallway. She walked back into the room and sat on Marcus’s lap. She kissed him deeply for a moment before he pulled away from her.
“So what are these plans you have for me this afternoon? Because if it’s anything like this morning, I say we should get to it,” he said with a wicked grin.
“Not exactly like this morning…I believe you owe me a fight.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say that we were going to schedule a match? Well, it’s Saturday and I’ve been psyching myself up all week. Come on, up you go. Time to put your money where your mouth is.”
Erin grinned as she got off his lap and opened her robe. She had on a sports bra and a pair of men’s black silk boxers. They were as close to real fighter’s shorts as she could get without getting something official. She pulled weightlifting gloves out of her bag and tugged them on her hands.
“I know they aren’t official MMA gloves, but they’ll do in a pinch.”
She got herself in a fighting stance while Marcus looked at her half in shock and half laughing.
“You’re serious?”
“Hey, you’re the one who brought it up! If I remember correctly, you were going to get me in a submission hold, pin me, and keep me there for a while. Are you backing down?” Erin said in a challenging tone through her smile. “I guess I can win by forfeit, even if I am a badass now.”
“You know I never quit,” he grinned at her. She stood in the middle of their hotel room’s living area. She cleared the space during his nap so there was extra room for their bout. Erin motioned him over while he pulled his t-shirt off.
Erin shook her head at him. “Don’t try to distract me by being all sexy like that.”
“I’ll take any advantage I can get, badass.”
“Ha! Ok, so what are the rules?” she asked.
“For this match? No fingernails. Other than that, do your worst. If you tap the floor, you give up.”
“Done. You ready?” Erin smiled at the ridiculousness of the competition. But still, she loved the excuse to get Marcus’s arms around her for any reason. She had no idea what a submission hold looked like, but it couldn’t be all that bad if he wanted to keep her in one. Her imagination rolled through the possibilities.
“Ready.” He crouched down slightly and put his hands up. He waited for her to make her move. She lunged forward and threw her shoulder into his gut. She laughed when he didn’t budge and looked up to his grinning face.
“That was a warm up,” she said. Erin returned to her opening stance. “Am I allowed to step on your toes?”
“You can try.” Marcus was loving this. She raised her eyebrows at him and moved to stomp on his foot. He picked her up and held her off the floor for a second before he set her back down. “Another warm-up?”
“No, that was me testing your reflexes. I’m finding your weaknesses. These two apparent failures are actually strategy. Just you wait. I’ll own you.”
“You already do, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win. Any other questions?”
“Nope. But be careful. You never know what ninja skills I’m going to bust out.”
Marcus laughed again and readied himself for whatever attempt she would make next. She tried to duck under his arm and move behind him. Her big plan was to jump on his back and not let go. He caught her again, but this time dropped her to the floor and was over top of her in half a second.
She smiled. “Is this a submission hold?”
“Nope.”
He got up again and gave her another shot.
“Are you toying with me?” she asked with a grin.
“Yep.”
“Fine, then no more Miss Nice Guy. Prepare yourself.”
She ran straight for him and leapt up against his torso. She wrapped her legs and arms around him completely. This time, he didn’t bother stopping her. Instead, Marcus held her tight for a moment and kissed her quickly. Then he pried her away, flipped her around and caught her. Her back was now against his chest with his arms holding her solidly against him. “
Now
I’m going to show you a submission hold.”
He dropped to the floor on his back with her over top of him. He pulled her into a loose headlock and wrapped his ankles quickly around her thighs and locked her in place. “Give up?”
“No,” she smiled. “And do you always kiss your opponents?”
“No, that was a first. And if you’re not giving up, then what’s your next move?”
“I’m thinking…”
He laughed with her. “I can do this all day long. Just let me know when you realize how futile your efforts are against me.”
“Ok, I got it,” she said, still laughing. “How about you let go of my neck, and I’ll let you feel me up.”
“Hmm…no. I promised to keep you here a while. I don’t want you to think I’d ever go back on my word. Plus, I’m pretty sure I could feel you up right now if I wanted to anyway. Let me see.”
He got one arm out of the headlock hold, but was strong enough to hold her light frame with the other and not lose position. He used his free hand to roam across her stomach and breasts, then finally snaked down to run his hands across the silk boxers she was wearing.
“These are nice.”
“I bought them for you. I’m just borrowing them. I had to pin them to keep them up. Now stop it. We’re in a match, remember?”
Erin was outright laughing at that point. He smirked and brought his arm back up to re-grip around her neck and head. She squirmed and wriggled and tried to slide her way out of his grasp. He never hurt her, but there was no breaking away from his strong grip. He barely made any effort at all.
“Give up yet?” he asked her through his grin.
“No. I’ll get out of this,” she smiled. She tried to pry his arms away and didn’t manage even a millimeter of movement.
The suddenly, in one swift move he released the hold, flipped himself over as he pushed her down to the carpet. Her arms were instantly pinned to the floor; his face was less than an inch from hers. He took the opportunity to kiss her again and then got up off the floor and let her have another chance.
“You really are toying with me, aren’t you?” She smiled as she paced around him.
“Yeah, but that’s about to stop.”
She looked at him questioningly and then squealed when he lunged at her, picked her up and body-slammed her as gently as he could onto the bed. He gripped around her again and locked her into another hold she couldn’t budge from.
“Now this is more comfortable,” he said. “Even easier to stay all day.”
Erin struggled just a few times more through her laughter and his grin before she finally let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine.” She tapped the bed to call the match. “You win.”
“Good effort, baby,” he smiled. He eased his grip. “And now I’ll take my prize.”
He rolled over top of her and took his prize like a champion.
Marcus watched Erin work on filling up the hot tub from his vantage point on the bed. She kept checking the water temperature with her delicate fingers, still tipped in that sexy shade of blue. The same blue shimmered on the butterfly still resting beside her navel. That temporary tattoo spoke volumes about her life now.
She changed so much — she evolved into the beautiful creature she was meant to be. The fact that she was showing off her colors so deliberately demonstrated exactly how comfortable and confident she had become in her new place in life. Erin spread her proverbial wings and was more beautiful than ever.
“Tub’s about ready,” she said sweetly. “Come on.”
She stepped into the still-rising water and sank down and closed her eyes and hummed at the sensation. He walked over and joined her, holding the edge for balance while he got in beside her. He pulled her over to his lap to cradle her while they let the water rise. When the water level cleared the jets, Erin flipped the switch to the “on” position.
“This feels so good,” she purred. “I was tempted to get in here last night, but I didn’t want to be all by myself.”
Marcus smiled and pulled her close. He let his hands roam along her body and showered her with many sweet, small kisses on her cheek and ear. “And now?”
“Definitely worth the wait,” she whispered, leaning her head back to give him easier access to her neck. He played for a long while along her neck and shoulder with his tongue. His hands never ceased exploring the rest of her.
“Erin,” Marcus breathed. “Tell me what you want, baby.”
“Your hand,” she whispered back. “Slow.”
Marcus kept his lips against her neck as he moved his hand right where she wanted it. And just like she asked — and how hot that she did — he pushed his fingers tantalizingly slowly across her sex. He worked his fingers millimeter by millimeter down farther between her legs until he was just at the edge of her tight opening.
She let out a sweet sound of pleasure and anticipation and tried to get herself down over his fingers. The water swirled around them, adding more heat to the moment.
“No, baby, you said slow,” he whispered. “Now it’s time for
you
to lay back and take it.”
In a sound of both frustration and delight, she moved to rest her back against his chest. Marcus let one arm encircle her ribs and the other opened her legs even more. He stroked her breast and her thigh as she relaxed back into him. Erin let him play as slowly as she had asked.
He held her and teased her with deliberately tiny, leisurely movements. Knowing her body so well, he made every move count. Every gentle twitch of his finger evoked a response from her, and every sound and movement from her body drove Marcus crazy. He loved watching her so desperate for his touch.
So slowly, he pushed the heal of his hand against her clit and watched her arch up in response. After more slow teasing, he finally entered her with two fingers and worked his thumb in lazy circles over her pleasure point.
She writhed and moaned and pulled at his arm to coax him into getting her there faster. Marcus, however, was enjoying the show far too much to bring her to climax anytime soon. She asked for slow, and he complied. She didn’t get to change her mind when he was having so much fun watching her move like that.
He used his tongue and lips on her neck and ear to get her even more desperate for release. But the faster she tried to move, the slower he became.
“Oh, God,” she almost whined. “Ah…”
She left her legs open for him to play, but her body was tense and in need of satisfaction. She was lost completely in the moment. All she could do was want more of him, and all he did was tease her slowly still.
She writhed and almost whimpered. She put her hands over each of his, trying to direct his movements to no avail. He kept his pace steady and watched her move wantonly. She was so hot like that.
“Tell me what you want,” he whispered in her ear.
“I want to come…”
“Yes, baby.” He pushed his fingers hard into her and worked his thumb strongly along her clit for a hot moment until she fell apart. She moaned loudly through her release and then fell limp in his arms. He held her up and pulled her close to him again.
He kissed her chin and up her cheek while she recovered. When she finally opened her eyes, he saw satisfaction and love there. “Slow enough for you?” he teased.
“Remind me never to ask for that again,” she giggled. “I thought I was going to go genuinely insane.”
Marcus laughed. “I’d never let that happen, but I liked getting you close.”
“Mean,” she said smiling.
“Come here,” he said, pulling her to straddle his legs in the hot tub. “Let me kiss my sexy butterfly.”
He pulled her up by her hips and leaned his face down to the little picture beside her navel. He kissed and teased with his tongue while he gripped her sides to hold her against him. She hummed a noise of contentment and rested her hands on his strong shoulders while he kissed her belly.
“I love this, Erin,” he said into her flat tummy. “You should think about doing this for real.”
“No way,” she giggled. “No ink for me. Besides,
you
don’t even have any tattoos.”
“Ha!” he laughed and pulled her back down into the water to sit on his knees. “Maybe we could get cute matching tattoos with each other’s names in little hearts.”
They were both laughing at the thought. “Yeah, I’m sure that would be intimidating in the ring.”
“Ok, no tats,” he smiled. “But I do love the butterfly. It suits you.”
“Yeah, I think it does,” she replied softly with a bit of pride.
They relaxed for a while longer in the tub together. Conversation was light when they spoke at all. Mostly they rested in each other’s arms and sometimes kissed sweetly. They only got out when Erin was feeling too “pruny”.
“Are you ready for dinner?” Erin asked. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Honestly?”
“Yeah. I don’t care what we get.”
“Pizza.”
“I love it,” she smiled at him. “You order and I’ll find a movie. I promise no chick flicks. Why don’t you wear those silk boxers I got you.”
He smiled again and shook his head. “Me in silk boxers? Never would have put money on that one. Doesn’t seem to fit the pizza vibe, but I’ll give it a shot.”
He reached for the black shorts and pulled them on. It was a strange sensation, but not at all unpleasant. Even better was the hot grin on Erin’s face when she looked at him. She flicked her eyebrows up at him and smiled as she grabbed the remote for the tv.
He rearranged the living room furniture for their movie while she channel surfed. The scene was sweet and quite domestic, really. Erin pulled her robe back on over her naked body and snuggled with him on the couch.
The delivery guy had to wait for Marcus to pull his sweats on. “I got this one,” he offered Erin.
“Thanks,” she said sweetly.
Marcus loved that money was never an issue. She didn’t treat him like he was poor, and he didn’t treat her as if she were rich. Their financial status, much like their social status, made no difference. He hadn’t expected that kind of connection.