Breaking Through (Atlanta #3) (20 page)

But Saturday would be the most difficult moment yet to keep their relationship a secret. Jenna was going to Luke's match along with the whole crew to watch Marcus. None of their friends had any clue the featured match in
her
mind would be first up on the ticket: the exhibition match between Luke and another newcomer to the world of MMA.
 

Jenna had no idea how she would keep her feelings hidden. Neither Luke nor she had been able to do that yet with each other. They were both far too easy to read. Could they pull off the secrecy around the rest of them? Either way, they would have to try. Jenna hated hiding, but she respected Luke's reason for the request.
 

By the time Saturday evening rolled around, Erin picked her up for the match. Jenna tried so hard to keep her poker face on as to not give away how excited she was to see Luke fight. Erin would assume, of course, she was excited to be out and see Marcus fight, but she couldn't come off as
too
excited…that would seem strange. This night was going to be insanely difficult. She would have to try so hard not to scream like a goo-goo-eyed fan-girl while Luke was in the cage.

She and Erin got to the arena and saw Scott and Cassie already waiting there. Smiles all around made for an easy start for the night until Cassie brought up the hotness of the fighters. Jenna agreed, but clenched her entire body to keep from giving away her secret. Cassie even offered to introduce her to Luke. She couldn't help but laugh, but then had to brush off her laugher. "Not my style" was the only thing she could think to say.

The night roared back to awesome when the announcer started warming up the crowd for the fights. When he announced Luke's name, Jenna screamed at the level of the rest of the crowd, keeping herself in check. And then, holy cow, Luke walked into the cage. If she thought before that Luke had a commanding presence, those experiences were blown out of the water by Luke in the ring. Power surrounded him and his dark stare permeated the crowd. Every muscle stood taught on his thick frame and even his bare feet looked powerful. He was strangely beautiful.

The match started and the two fighters started circling and testing each others' reactions. Luke was much more of a hot-head than the other fighter, Garth, but that didn't surprise Jenna at all. Luke held the power, Garth held the strategy. Jenna didn't know much about MMA fighting, but both Luke and Garth seemed intimidating and skilled. She rooted for Luke like her companions, but none hoped as deeply he would win.
 

The match lasted all three rounds with no pin, submission, or knockout; the judges would decide who ultimately dominated the match. After a long deliberation, the judges awarded the win to Garth. Jenna's heart sank. Luke put everything he had into his training and his debut fight, and he walked away with a loss. Anger and devastation would be his companions for the rest of the night, she was sure.

Even harder to take were the reactions from her friends. They instantly tossed around comments about what a "handful" Luke is, and how Marcus was going to have to "put him in his place".

Jenna was furious they would speak that way about Luke. None of them had a single clue about the man he was. And instead of being able to come to his defense, Jenna remained silent. All she managed to say was "maybe he just needs more patience." She tried very hard not to come off as bitchy as she felt.
 

She had to remind herself none of them had a chance to know Luke yet. Marcus knew him well but wasn't a part of the conversation to defend him. When Marcus finally came out after his awesome win, he smiled warmly about dealing with Luke. Marcus understood him almost as well as Jenna did and she wanted to hug him for it.
 

Really, she wanted to run to Luke and hug
him
. She wanted to tell him she was proud and that he fought so well. Sadly, she would have to go home alone and wait for Sunday afternoon. Hopefully Luke would be ok. Thank goodness Marcus would stay with him until he worked out his issues with the fight and everything else.

When Sunday afternoon came around,
 
Jenna was ready for Luke in every possible way. She had taken a bath with the bath oil she used for their second date, the scent she now thought of as
sex and flowers
. She did everything she could to make her apartment peaceful. She drew the sheer curtains shut for a softer ambiance. She lit scented candles and had cookies fresh from her oven. Sandwiches were ready in the fridge.

Knowing he'd want her like he always did, Jenna didn't bother with choosing an outfit. She donned her fancy pink bra and panty set she bought for their night at the barn and topped the look off with matching pink nail polish and shimmering lip gloss.

She hoped the minute he walked through her door he'd forget about everything in the world except for the two of them. He undoubtedly had a rough night. She wanted to erase it, and wearing nothing but lingerie would probably do the trick.
 

Right at two as promised, she heard Luke's Harley come down the street and stop in front of her duplex. Only moments later she greeted him at the door wearing nothing but pink lace and a smile. "Hey, babe," she purred as she tried to pose herself enticingly.
 

"Holy fuck," he groaned as he pushed himself into the room and directly against her body. She managed to push the door shut as he gripped her neck and her ass. He kissed her desperately. "Baby, you are exactly what I need."

Jenna smiled victoriously as he moved his lips to her neck. Like he so often did, he picked her up and carried her to bed where he took her hard and hot. Every touch of his hand gripped her body desperately; every brush of his lips included a graze from his teeth. He gritted words of need and desire, proclaiming her as his cure. He put every ounce of his frustration and anger into their passionate love-making, mixing his strong angst with their deep, loving connection. The result was a beautiful, erotic, all-consuming physical expression of core-level Luke Baylor.
 

God, how she loved him.
 

When he finally collapsed over her, exhausted and satisfied, he held her gently again. As always after he took her body, he held her very heart in his hands and cared for her tenderly. In his sedated voice, Luke breathed into her neck.
 

"Baby, you heal me," he whispered. He inhaled her scent deeply again and gave the tiniest hint of a chuckle. "Sex and flowers."

He remembered. Every time she was with him, she experienced his depth on another level. "Sex and Flowers," she confirmed as she snuggled deeper into his embrace. They rested for a long while, enjoying each other in the peaceful silence of the Sunday afternoon. Luke kissed her gently and Jenna traced the lines of his muscled torso. Intimacy surrounded their time together.
 

Finally, and only when she heard his stomach grumble, she pulled him out of bed and tossed his boxers to him. She pulled her navy robe around herself and led him to her living room.
 

"Stay there," she said with a sweet smile as she pushed him down to the couch. He laughed at her taking charge.
 

"Yes ma'am," he smiled.
 

Jenna giggled and went to the kitchen. She came back with the cookies and sandwiches.
 

"See, you're
everything
I need," he said with a genuine smile for her.
 

"So, can I tell you how much I liked watching you fight and still have you keep that smile?"

Luke shrugged as his smile faded a bit. "Yeah, I guess. I'm still pissed, but Marcus knocked me around enough last night to get me over the worst of it."

"You don't look too bruised up," Jenna noticed now that she had a chance to study his face.
 

"Nah, that guy was more about defense than offense. He didn't do much damage, which is still why I think I should have gotten the decision. But whatever," he said flatly.

"Well I loved watching you fight. You were seriously intimidating up there. I couldn't believe how strong your legs were with those kicks. It took everything I had not to throw myself at you when you left the cage," she smiled.
 

Luke smiled back. "You did a fine job of throwing yourself at me this afternoon instead."

Jenna gave a shy smile. "Yeah, I thought you might like that."

"I fucking loved it," he grinned.
 

"Can I admit something?"

His smile turned curious. "Yeah…"

"Well, I always think of you as a sweetheart. But you've always been so strong and intimidating, too. When you were so powerful in that match, I knew everyone at the arena only saw the fighter in you, but I knew about both."

"Ok, so what are you admitting here?"

"In my mind…I call you a badass teddy bear," she said with a shy, almost-ornery grin.

Luke laughed out loud at her description of him. "Badass teddy bear," he chuckled with amusement as he shook his head.
 

"Hey, if I can be sex and flowers, you can be a badass teddy bear."

He pulled her in for a hot, loving kiss. "I can't argue with that."

Jenna's confidence continued to grow over the next few months. She spent every evening texting or talking with Luke, or sometimes seeing him for weekday sleepovers, typically only when he didn't have to be at work at four a.m. Every weekend was spent together with the exception of his time with Sophie. She desperately wanted to spend time with Luke and his daughter together, but there was no way. Not yet.

Even without knowledge of their relationship, Miranda was getting worse. She could see how much Luke's life was improving and she got nervous. Miranda turned into the queen of all control freaks over Sophie's time, and tried to play that card to get Luke to spend time with her, too. Luke had no interest, of course, which upset her even more. Luke's external social life was getting tense.

But when Jenna and Luke were alone together, they shut out the rest of the world. Nothing but beauty and magic happened. With her new confidence, their sex life burned even hotter than before.
Both
of them brought passion to their time together. Once Jenna even had the nerve to text him right after his shift at George's shop. She keyed in one line:
I'm naked and ready to scream your name
. Exactly eight minutes later he was at her door, getting naked right along with her. What a night it was. Turned out she really enjoyed wall-sex.

Jenna smiled every time she remembered that night. The two of them were so hot, so playful, and so intense. He even took her to the gym one night after the place was closed. He gave her a tour of the equipment and even demonstrated some of his strongest moves on the sparring dummy. He was like such a little kid excited about his favorite toys. And as she predicted he would, he used the private time together to take her again, this time on the sparring mat and then again sitting up on a weight bench. They even showered together in the locker room. He was so much fun to be with. She never knew a relationship could be so physically hot while so tender and soul-deep at the same time.
 

Her other favorite part of their relationship remained being out on his Harley. They rode everywhere on his bike, and he even bought her a thicker, all-leather riding jacket for the occasional chilly air when riding at night. With fall coming, she would most likely need her new jacket more and more often. She laughed because she was actually starting to feel like a motorcycle mama. The guy at the Harley shop even remembered her name when Luke took her in again for a t-shirt. Luke tried more than once to talk her into lessons so she could get her own license and maybe even her own Harley.

"No way," she said one final time. "My blueberry is just right for me. Besides, if I were on a different bike, how could I get all up on you while we were out?"

"Good point," he smiled. "I just thought it would be hot to see you on a bike by yourself."

Jenna, with her new bold confidence, grinned at him wickedly. "Find us a private spot nearby, and I'll get on the bike however you want me."

"Holy shit…" he almost moaned with a hot smile. "I'll find a place tomorrow."
 

And he did. The garage he used to work at had a bay in the back Where used to stay. He still knew where the key was hidden. Around two a.m. the next night, he woke her up. "I got us a spot, baby, and I want you naked on my Harley. Come on."

Jenna giggled, pulled on her jeans, boots, and wore nothing on top but her riding jacket. She followed him straight down to his bike and had a wilder romp than she ever thought she would have.
 
She'd never heard his words so nasty as they were that night. Never in her life would she have believed she'd have a semi-public, hot fuck. That was the only way to describe it. It was a raw, gritty, multi-orgasmic, ass-smacking, bent-over-a-Harley, unbelievable
fuck
. And she liked it.
 

As always after an insanely-intense-sex-fest, Luke was so sweet with her. He laid her down, keeping himself between her body and an old tarp in the corner so she wouldn't get dusty. He held her gently and sweetly whispered, "Damn, Jen. You are something-fucking-else."

She laughed because only Luke could make those words sound like a declaration of love. Luke Baylor was the best thing to ever happen to her.

He chuckled again when they got ready to leave that night. He pulled her in with a smirk and said, "They say it's always the quiet ones you have to watch for…now I get it."

Jenna smacked him on the shoulder with a smile and got on his bike with a sexy wink. "No one will ever believe you," she said innocently.

"Then it's a good thing I don't fuck and tell," he replied with a genuine smile.
 

The biggest downfall to their otherwise passionate relationship was Luke's nightmares. Nearly every night they were together he woke up in varying degrees of awfulness. Jenna's heart broke every time she saw him so…
destroyed
. He was terrified, angry, sad, broken, and sometimes he showed emotions she couldn't identify. Regardless of his state upon awaking from his terrors, the difficulty of his issues weighed heavily on both of them.