Hooked (The Submission Fighter Book 1) (7 page)

With their faces only inches from one another, their breathing matched, with both unable to control the deep moans and gasps. Alice began to quiver, holding on tighter, her mouth finding his just in time for her to whip back as the electric current of her body took hold. Micah followed soon after, his own pulsations too much for him to handle, as he fell forward onto her.

Micah looked down at Alice, as her lips, pale from the loss of lipstick, turned from serious to an innocent, almost girlish smile. Her face blushed, as she used a free hand to cover her sweating forehead. He laughed, kissing her once again, as he buried his head into the side of her face.

The two lingered there, center mat, alternating kisses and laughs. No words were exchanged — not that there was much to be said. After the work the two had done, what was unsaid was more meaningful than any words either could think to say. Under the dim light, Alice curled into span of his muscular arms as Micah fell into a soft satisfied slumber. Alice followed soon after, as she nodded off to the rhythmic sound of his slowing heart beat

Alice! Where in the hell are you? You were supposed to call me hours ago, and you’re not home yet. Call me back within an hour or I’m calling the police. That asshole better not have hurt you!

…

Come one Alice! Pick up your damn phone. I’m not playing with you.

…

Okay. No more. I’m done. Jace, Pete, and I are going out looking for you. If we find him first, we’re going to kill him. I swear.

“Did you hear that?” Alice was awoken by a strange, piercing sound.

“Hmmm
…
” Micah was still in a half daze, wiping his eyes with the palm of his hands.

The sound appeared again, this time to the right of where she lay on Micah’s chest. Alice sat up, still naked and a mess from the evening’s workout. Looking out from the ring, she spotted the source: her pursue. It was her cell phone urgently buzzing against the contents of her handbag.

Slowly, she moved fully off Micah, but not without taking in the view once more. He was a sight, for sure. The way his muscles rippled slightly in his tight, darkened skin, how his jaw angled out like a knife ready to cut, and his thighs splayed just so. Whatever she had done in the last few hours, she had certainly not regretted it.

Every inch of her body felt renewed and refreshed after sleeping with him. And in the moments where she lay in silent sleep with Micah, she didn’t dream of robberies or mysterious muggers. She hadn’t even thought of the ring that was still missing. Instead, she felt something completely new: protected.

But now, someone was trying to get ahold of her, and she had a good guess of who it could be. Micah watched as she crawled, hands and knees, towards her fallen dress. She slipped it on along with her white lace panties and then swept her tangled hair to the side. Easing herself down the side of the ring, she walked to her purse and retrieved the still buzzing phone. It lit up the gym and illuminated her face as she clicked the on button.

“Oh shit! Micah! It’s three in the morning!” Alice rummaged through her purse, grabbing a discarded hair tie, pulling her hair into a bun that sat sloppily on the crown of her head.

“So what if it’s three a.m.? The gym doesn’t open for another four hours. We still have time for another lesson, if you’d like.” He leered at her, seductively. He could go at least three or four more rounds with her and really never be fully satisfied.

“No, Micah. I go to work in three hours, and my roommate’s been trying to get ahold me since midnight. I promised I’d call.” She scanned the texts for the first time as a smile crept up on her face.

“What? What’s so funny?” He was a bit suspicious of her complete change from panic to humor.

“I’m not the one in trouble… you are.” She walked to the ring and pushed the phone to him. He read through the texts out loud, mimicking a high pitched, valley girl voice. 

Micah stopped on the last one. “Who are Jace and Pete?” 

“Oh
.
Um
...well…
Jace is Caroline’s sort-of boyfriend. She has a lot of them. And Pete…” she trailed off and sighed, looking for the right way to approach it. “Pete is the guy I was with
. H
e’s actually my boss.” Alice prayed he wouldn’t go further with the questioning.

“The guy who forced himself as your date to the match?” Alice nodded her head as a response to his question as she lifted her dress and slipped on her bra. “He’s your boss? Jesus, what a fucking tool.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it. Last week, he tried to sleep with me, pinned me down and everything on the couch. And when I didn’t give in, he changed my hours to the morning shift as punishment
,
which is why I have to get going.”

Micah sat straight up, grabbing his jeans and t-shirt from a pile underneath his head. “Wait-wait-wait,
what
?!” he exploded. “He tried to force himself on to you? Shit, Allie. Screw Pace or Trace or whatever his name is. If I see this Pete, I am going to beat the shit out of him for you.” His anger startled her, knocking her back down to reality. He was moving quickly now, almost as if his purpose meant more to him than getting her to work on time.

She moved towards the ring’s outer edge where he was slipping on his shoes. From even a distance, she could feel the heat of his madness build. It was dangerous and mysterious, and she wasn’t sure if what she felt was intrigue or terror. Yet, she still reached out to touch his back and used her fingertips to spin him around. And in the moment, she did something she wasn’t really familiar with: she embraced him in a warm hug, burying her head and her mess of hair into the crook of his arm and abdomen.

Micah wasn’t sure where to go with this. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been hugged or even embraced by a woman in such a non-sexual way. This was comfort and calm, and he was not brought up or taught to feel this kind of pleasure. Yet, the way she tamed him was almost like a remedy for a sickness he had never known he had.

He kneeled down towards her, making contact with her mouth. The sweet sensation of her lips collided with his own mouth in a burst. She wrapped her arms around his neck, as he picked her off of her feet. She dangled in the air, not letting go of him or his lips.

The phone buzzed again. Both stopped, looking at each other with knowing eyes, as he placed her down on the ground. She finished slipping on her borrowed heels, and the two exited the gym from the back.

In the parking lot, Micah’s black car was the only one parked there. He rushed to her side to open the door, a grand gesture she couldn’t help but blush over. She navigated, giving him directions to her place and pointing out the diner where she worked as they passed it by.

“Maybe I’ll stop in. I could use some coffee.” He turned and faced her, winking a bit mischievously.

“Don’t waste your time,” she laughed. “Worst coffee in the county by far. Plus, if you’re aiming to scare off Pete, I doubt he’ll be there. He usually doesn’t come in till mid-afternoon, which is when I normally start my shift.” She was right. There was no reason for him to visit her today. Plus, looking at his car and the expensive leather trim, the large stereo hookups, and the newest tech features, she could safely assume that her neighborhood and workplace were not exactly up to par with his own lifestyle.

As they pulled up to the run-down brick apartment building, Alice was suddenly at a loss for words. Micah interjected first. “I’m coming up.”

“What?” She was astounded, as he unbuckled his seatbelt, turned off the car, and walked around to her side to open the door. She sat there frozen, looking up at the man in the early morning dark.

He gestured for her, but she wasn’t sure what she exactly wanted from him, “Micah, you really do not have to go in. Everything’s going to be fine. Caroline is just overreacting. She’s probably in bed with Jace, sending out fake panicked messages and hoping I’d answer.”

“Then, it will be no big deal if I come in then, would it?” He was right, or, at least Alice had hoped he was right. She led him to the building, unlocking the main door and then guiding him up the three flights of stairs to her apartment. With as much effort to keep the noise of the lock from disturbing anyone inside, she slipped in the door with Micah following after.

She took five steps in when she stepped back frightened. On the couch, a strange, unknown body of a man was barely visible, masked by the dark of the room. His snores and murmurs were disturbingly peaceful. Alice crept towards him from behind, wary to step on the creaking floorboards.

A curl of red hair ran down the side of the couch, and the man rolled over. His eyes peeled open slowly and then blinked wildly as they took in the sight of six foot five Micah standing on the opposite side of him. Alice moved backwards, as Pete sprang to his feet.

“What the fuck! What the fuck, Alice!” He screamed loudly as the room next to her also woke up with movement and voices. Alice could hear Jace and Caroline argue over turning on the lamp light. The two stormed out of the room, Caroline only in her bra and panties, and Jace in a pair of boxer briefs.

The five of them looked at one another with Alice being the dead center of attention. Micah broke the tension. “Alice, go to your room so that you can get ready for work.” His command was harsh and authoritative, but she frankly found some form of comfort in someone telling her what needed to be done. She nodded, as tears formed in the corner of her eyes.

She walked towards her room with Micah and Caroline following. The other two men watched them walk away with stunned and bitter faces. From his place on the couch, Pete practically seethed with anger once more.

As the door slammed, Caroline walked quickly towards Alice, her arms crossed over her chest and a concerned look on her face. “Alice!” she exclaimed. “Where the hell have you been?” She stopped short when she saw Micah standing next to her roommate. “Oh
Christ
, Allie, what is
he
doing here?”

“Relax, Caroline,” Alice responded, putting her hand on Caroline’s shoulder. “We just got home. It’s no big deal. I didn’t mean to wake Pete up. I was just trying to get to the room so I could grab some work clothes and head to my shift. Micah came up with me to make sure everything was okay.” Her explanation was spot on, but Caroline still managed to shift her eyes in Micah’s direction.

“What did you do to her?” Caroline demanded of Micah with bared teeth. And for his part, Micah certainly didn’t look like he was going to back down to Caroline’s aggression.

“Caroline, hang on!” Alice exclaimed defensively. “He didn’t do anything!” Here her night had been almost perfect, and it was ruined by a moment of Pete and his screams. She had thought Caroline would be supportive, or at least enjoyed the fact that for once, Alice got to be
her
.

Caroline went toe to toe with the man, looking him up and down, unsure of where she stood on her opinion of him. He, too, crossed his arms and allowed her to get into his face, not breaking eye contact or claim over his new territory. She gave in first, walking out of the room and back into the living room. Alice and Micah listened to her instruct Jace to go back to bed and for Pete to go home. Doors quickly shut, and the apartment returned back to silence.

“Jesus. What a bunch of lunatics.” Micah was right. She had never seen any of them act this way. The fact that they felt like they needed to treat her this way was embarrassing, especially with her cultivated tough girl image.

Alice sat on the edge of her bed, overwhelmed and exhausted. Micah followed as the bed lurched under his weight. He took her slumped body and pushed it into his arms, leaning her head onto his chest once again, kissing her forehead and cheeks.

Alice whispered into his ear, “I’m so sorry about this, about tonight.”

“Get dressed. I’ll drive you to work, and then I will see you tonight. What time are you off?”

“Two o’clock. Don’t you have training or meetings?” She would hate for him to miss out once more because of her. She wasn’t about to ruin his life over their silly relationship, or whatever they were starting.

“Yeah, but I still want to see you. I still want another chance at dinner. It’s not like we ate much last night.” The last thing on Micah’s mind were those meetings and phone calls Dean had most likely set up for him last night. Tonight and today, he just wanted more of the woman that had seduced him, swayed him, and kept him on his toes. He wanted to learn more about her, to see what she could offer him. He wasn’t sure what was happening or why he, all of a sudden, felt the need to be so committed to something outside the ring, but it was time he tried. It was time he gave this a chance.

He could feel her break into a smile against the fabric of his t-shirt. He fell backwards onto her bed with her falling with him. Both crashed into the pillows and quilts as they wrapped themselves up again in each other’s bodies.