Flame (4 page)

He
wipes his mouth with his left forearm and looks down at the blood. Then he
looks up at me and smiles.

That
felt good. Fucker isn’t going to get the best of me. He gets off the ropes, his
shoulders and chest puffed out. A sheen of sweat has formed in the crevices. I
get a flash of all that muscle on top of me. Inside me. Thrusting a stream of
data into my USB ports.

Stop that now, Sofia!

He gets
back into stance.

“Now
I’m impressed,” he says.

“Ready
to quit?” I say.

“No way.”

We begin
again. We’re both covered in sweat now.

He’s
got something behind his look now. An intensity.

Fuck,
it’s messing with me. I’m off my track now, a little disoriented. Tingles all up
and down my sides. God, I wish he would just throw me down on the mat and fuck the
living shit out of me.

Who said
that?

Focus, Sofia! Focus!

He gets
more aggressive, throwing some good combinations at me. One left jab taps me in
the side of my head but I slip and block it with my right.

“So what’s
this about a blue Buick?” I say.

“Oh,
Sofia, you disappoint me. You know about the blue Buick that follows me every morning.”

He bum
rushes toward me with speed. I feint to my left and then to my right, staying out
of his reach.

That
punch I landed helped me to better figure him out. He’s got long arms and good power
behind his strikes. But the uppercut I landed on his chin taught me that my best
strategy against him is to get on his inside. Then land a few jabs into his gut
and another uppercut to his chin.

Then
bite his chest.

I launch
a jab-jab-cross-uppercut at him. He slips it, sending his right fist into my left
eye.

The world
tilts on its side as I hit the mat. I hear a loud sound like a waterfall in my ears.
Multi-colored lights dance around in my vision.

Colton
Stark is down on his knees with an outstretched hand. I slap it away and turn on
my side, getting my elbow up under me.

“Are
you all right?” he says.

“I’m
fucking fine!”

I get
up far enough to grab the lowest rope and pull myself up, smashing Colton’s hand
away again. I’m back on my feet, even though the world is still not right.

“
Ohmigod
, are you okay?” says Britney, appearing below the ring.
“Should I call the doctor, Mr. Stark?”

“I’m
fucking fine!” I say. “Nothing wrong with me.”

The room
wobbles a little as I push off the ropes, but I’m okay. I go back into stance.

“C’mon,”
I say, “let’s go.”

But something
is wrong. My vision is off. Left eye all blurred.

Fuck, what’s going on?

Colton
moves toward me with his gloves up. Then he grabs my head and looks me in the eye.

“You’re
fine,” he says. “Britney, could you get a cold pack please?”

“Oh yeah,”
says Britney, “Be right back.”

“What?”
I say.

He
spins me toward the wall, which is all mirrors. The soft tissue around my left
eye is swelling up.

Damn, this fucker gave me a shiner!

Britney
arrives with the cold pack.

“I’m
fine!” I say, raising my fists again. “Let’s go.”

“No,”
says Colton.

“I’m
fine.”

He
rips the
velcro
on his right glove off with his
teeth, removes it, and then takes the left off. He moves toward me and undoes
my head gear.

As he
steps into my space, I feel bright zaps coming from the space between us. Like a
magnetic field charged with particles.

Or maybe
I’m passing out. Somehow my hands find his sides and rest themselves there.

He gets
my head gear off, then takes the cold pack, shakes it to break the pack inside,
and places it gently on my eye.

My right
hand, all on its own, rests itself on his forearm. Our eyes meet.

Well,
eye.

Everything
changes. All my anger and frustration melts into a flowing waterfall of warmth that
wraps itself around me.

God.

We stay
like that for about a thousand years, just looking into each other, his right hand
holding the cold pack while mine touches his forearm.

“So,
are you sure you’re okay?” says Britney.

Is she still here?

“Yes,”
I say, snapping myself out of it. “I’m fine. I’ve had worse than this.”

I put
my left hand up to the cold pack and step out of the magnetic field.

I’ve
got to get the fuck out of here. Something is happening to me. I’m losing control
again.

Time
to face it. I’m useless around this man. Fucking pisses me off. But whatever.
I’ve got to get away from him. Regroup. Rethink.

I
climb out of the ring and over to the wall, where I remove the cold pack and
look at myself up close. Yep, big, puffy, red knob under my half-closed eye.

Britney
goes back to the desk while Colton appears next to me.

He grabs
me and turns me to him.

And,
there it is again. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It goes beyond
attraction, like a pulsing steady beat of intensity.

He kisses
me. I want to struggle. I want to push him way. But I can’t seem to do it. It’s
like he controls me completely.

We’re
both bloody and covered in sweat. I inhale the pungent aroma of human bodies swirling
around us.

But I
don’t care.

The kiss
is glorious.

They got a thing for criminals. They like bad boys.
All of them.

My dad’s
words are exactly the message I needed. I push him away.

I
try to speak words, but nothing comes out. I just back up and walk away,
shaking my head. I’m afraid to look into his eyes. Too dangerous. His eyes will
win me. I can’t let them.

I just
keep backing up, head down, and stumble into the ladies’ locker room.

God, I’m pathetic! How did I lose control?

I stare
at myself in the mirror.

I don’t
recognize me.

I examine
my eye a little closer. Damn, he got me good.

I’ve
got to get out of here! The magnetic electricity that draws us together seems to
have expanded. He isn’t even here and yet, I feel it pulling me into its
promise of bliss.

I splash
cold water on my face. Then I walk over to the lockers.

I’m about
to strip to shower when I feel a presence. I turn around.

There
he is, leaning on the white cinderblock wall.

“What
are you doing in here?” I say.

Well,
no. Actually I don’t say that. Those are the words I’m supposed to say. They’re
on my lips. I’m supposed to act all shocked and dismayed and girly that he’s in
here.

But I
don’t do any of that.

No, I
don’t.

I just
don’t.

Instead
I stare.

He’s
shirtless. Just shorts and athletic shoes.

Smirking.

Oh,
God, that’s a deadly smirk.

It
says
I know you want me
.

It doesn’t
lie.

He steps
toward me.

His
chest is amazing. I want to probe it, to explore it, to feel its strength on
top of me. Slabs of stony power with sharp ridges that lead down to carved abs.

Fuck,
am I imagining this? No man is
this
perfect.

The magnetic
field is at full permeation now. There is no escape. It locks me in place, unable
to move.

My breathing
is heavy. My nipples are erect. My clit is on fire. I can feel my pulse throbbing
through it.

Then
he moves.

Toward
me.

Run, Sofia, run! Get out of here! This is wrong!
He’s a criminal! You’re investigating him! You can’t do this!

Somehow...
God knows how... he’s standing close to me. Don’t know how it happened. I don’t
think either of us moved. Time and space seemed to move, warping us to within an
inch of each other.

Next
thing I know, he’s grabbing my upper arms.

Hard.

Fierce.

Staring
me down.

Moving
in closer.

I can’t
stop him.

I don’t
want to stop him.

God, I want this so much!

I’ve
wanted it since the first time I saw those eyes glaring up at me from
LaTashia’s
goddamned
iPad
.

There’s no way a man like this can get to me! No
fucking way! I’m in charge here!

He kisses
me, canceling out that thought and proving me completely wrong.

I let
go.

The world
diffuses into a steamy mass of hot sweaty flesh. Hard muscle pressing into me,
around me, enfolding me in its rough warmth.

A wet,
fierce tongue in my mouth. Hands on my breasts. The dam bursts down blow,
sending a flood into my panties.

He smashes
into me, slamming me up against the row of lockers. I gasp, eyes open wide as he
pulls back and stares into me again.

We’re
both breathing heavily now, the scent of our bodies permeating the air. Dirty,
musky man. Flooded twat. Sweat. Grit. Power.

My knees
are shaking. He kisses me again, even harder. He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth.
My knees shake, my calves wrapping themselves behind his all, on their own,
like they are trying to meld with him.

My arms
take off too, pressing up and behind me against the cold steel of the lockers. Like
they’re giving him the surrender signal while at the same time trying to press me
further into him.

God,
I’m gushing! I can feel it.

Like
he heard me, his palm slides down my stomach under my shorts and panties, and right
onto my drenched clit.

Dios
mio
!

With
his two forefingers, he pinches my mound, sliding deep into both sides. Then
strokes upward, letting his palm graze my clit again. Then down again, then up
again.

My
hands find the sides of his head. Sweaty hair. Firm ears. Tough jawbone. I
press upwards, exploring the solid structure of this perfectly constructed face
I’ve studied so well. I know its lines, its crevices, its valleys. And it’s
right here, in my hands.

He
continues to kiss me feverishly, devouring my mouth while sandwiching my now
exposed nub in between his stroking fingers. I feel it rubbing against both
sides of my hood which expands and contracts with each stroke.

Puta
madre
!

I think
I’m moaning.

He stops
kissing me and sinks his teeth down into my neck. My head snaps back, hitting the
locker. Kind of a hard hit, but I really don’t give a shit.

My hands
probe his neck muscles as they flex while he licks my neck. He stops stroking, pressing
his palm firmly on the head of my clit as his fingers begin teasing my inner lips.

I’m shaking
now. I’m no longer human. Nothing exists except for this feeling of trapped joyous
intensity that is unwavering.

Then
he stops.

And stares
into my eyes again, perfectly still.

I hear
my breathing. A new sheen of sweat has formed all over me.

Then
he laughs, his hand just cupped over my mound.

I
want to say
what the fuck?,
but again
I can’t form words.

“You’re
such a control freak,” he says. “But I know you. I saw it in your eyes that night
at the club.” He moves closer to my ear and speaks in a whisper. “You long to be
controlled. To be owned. Commanded. Dominated.”

“Fuck
you,” I say.

There you go, Sofia! You found your words!

“First
things first,” he says. “I’m going to tease you into complete submission, you dangerous,
dirty girl. I’m going to eat your sweet pussy until it’s a smoldering mass of
orgasm just waiting to explode. I’m going to lap up your delicious juice until
you can’t take it anymore. And then...” he slams me up against the locker again
as his eyes drill into mine... “Only then... will you come... at my command...”

No man
has ever talked to me like this, saying such delightfully dirty things with such
sincere belief that they will happen.

“Then,
once I’m done pleasuring your pussy with my tongue and you come at my command, you
know what I’m going to do to you, Ms. Badass Cop?”