Unbroken (2 page)

The water poured down his face as his body connected with hers, rinsing off the last of the shampoo.  His mouth moved from one hard nipple to the other, and he felt Amber shiver under the touch of his tongue.  His hand slipped down, starting at her flat stomach and then lower to her neatly trimmed pubic hair, and then still lower.  As he touched the folds between her legs he felt her jump, letting out a little moan of encouragement.

Pressing forward, his strong fingers slipped inside of her and she gasped as she squeezed against his head.  Urged on, he moved deeper into her enveloping warmth, curling his fingers and rubbing along her insides.  Amber spread her legs, giving him more access than he needed for just a hand, so he took that as a hint.  Joel wiggled his head to loosen her grip and then he sank to his own knees until he was low enough to face his goal.  Without waiting, he pressed his lips against her tight little nub, sucking it into his mouth and then flicking it with his tongue as his fingers pushed even deeper.

Amber took a step backwards to steady herself against the wall of the shower, causing a surge of cool water to spill down across Joel's head as the shower head now directed its flow onto him.  He didn't miss a beat, though.  His hand moved in and out, faster now, and his mouth and tongue began to paint little invisible designs against her sensitive and engorged nerve center.

"Holy... shit..." she gasped.  Amber lifted one leg, wrapping it around Joel's neck and pulling him harder against her.  He responded by rubbing faster, his mouth sucking her in harder.  "Fuuuuuuucccckkkk..." she gasped, as she began to quiver and shake.  Her leg squeezed around his neck like she was putting him in a triangle choke, but he held on as his fingers and tongue continued their assault.  Finally, she had had enough and loosed her grip, pushing his head away.

The water poured forth against face until Amber moved forward, cutting off the flow from reaching him.  She put a hand on his arm and yanked until he stood up, pulling him in for a deep kiss. 

Amber

Joel left the shower first, since he was just finishing up
when Amber had arrived.  She watched his tight wet ass step over the tub as he disappeared behind the shower curtain and bit her lip.  The pleasure from her orgasm a few minutes ago had still not completely dissipated, and just the sight of his hard body made her feel tingly all over again.  She wondered whether or not she could entice him into bending her over the bed and taking her hard before he had to get ready to leave.

The mental image of Joel behind her with his powerful hands on her hips, filling her as their bodies were pulled together made her face feel hot, so she turned the knob to reduce the water temperature even more.  If she was going to try to have sex with Joel, she wanted to cool down completely before venturing back out into the warm apartment - otherwise the heat from their bodies would make it even more uncomfortable.

She quickly finished her shower and stepped out, toweling off quickly before leaving the bathroom, still naked, in search of Joel. 

She found him in the bedroom, already half dressed.

"Hey," he said, nodding at her.  She noted his eyes roam over her body as a little smile formed on his chewable lips. 

"Hey yourself, stud," she said with a little wink.  She walked forward and slid a hand into his still open jeans, grabbing him firmly.  He was soft now, but she knew she could fix that soon enough.

Joel chuckled and then stepped back, causing her hand to fall out of his pants.  "Not now," he said.  I have to get ready and get going.

She frowned at him and quickly glanced at the clock.  "It's not even seven.  I thought you don't have to be there until nine?"

Joel zipped up his pants and fastened them, as if to lock himself away in case she tried to grab him again.  "I do, but I have to stop by the Y and get a couple things from my locker.  And I want to get there early, anyway.  First day and all."

Amber's frown deepened.  She picked up her comfy pajama pants and slipped them on now that she knew Joel wasn't interested.  "Why do you even still have a locker there?" she asked.

"What do you mean?  I need a place to store my stuff."

"You can leave it here.  Anyway, I was thinking that maybe you should just move in.  Like, officially."

Joel paused in the middle of pulling on a light short sleeved shirt, his head about to disappear underneath the cotton.  He gave her a weird look and then pulled it on.  By the time his head had emerged again, his face had darkened a bit.

"Amber, I thought you understood, I don't have money to pay for a place.  After I paid you back for the tournament, and the fact that I haven't fought in a couple of weeks, my savings-"

"I told you that entry fee was a gift, I didn't want you to pay me back unless you won."

"And I told you I don't like being in debt to people."

"Whatever.  Look, I'm not asking you to pay for rent.  I'm just saying that you might as well move in-"

"Which would put me right back into debt to you!" he said, his voice raising in frustration.

"So what?  What's the difference anyway?  You've been here every night since the tournament and you're not paying me now."

His eyes flashed in anger.  "You're right.  You're absolutely right.  I should pay you for the time I've spent here."

"That's not what I'm saying," she said, shaking her head.  He could be such a hot head, especially around money and debt.  It frustrated her.

"No, that's what I'm saying.  I've been freeloading and it's time it stopped.  That's one lesson I learned from Darryl and Linda, at least. 
There ain't nothing in this life that's yours that you haven't paid for
.  I'll go back to the shelter tonight after training."  Amber always thought it was sad that he referred to his parents by their first names on the rare occasion that he brought them up.  Fully dressed now, Joel pushed past her and left the bedroom.  Amber grabbed her own shirt and pulled it on as she followed after him.

"Joel, don't be an idiot."

He stood by the door, pulling on his shoes and not looking up at her.  She could see he was fuming.

"This is silly.  I don't want your money, I just want you.  I can pay for the rent.  I've been doing that since I started living on my own."

"Well congratulations on being so together with your life," he spat.  "Not everyone got such a positive head start in life."  He stood up and spun around without looking at her, yanking the door open.

"Joel, wait!  Don't leave like this.  Come back after training and let's talk."

"I have nothing more to say."  With that he stepped out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind him with a bang.

Amber let out a shuddering breath, her eyes starting to sting a bit. 
What the fuck was that all about?

Joel

Joel stomped through the city towards the YMCA, his shirt already wet with sweat.  He had originally planned on taking a bus, but after the fight with Amber he decided to walk off his frustrations.  He had plenty of time before he needed to be at Rock House anyway.

He kicked a loose piece of concrete hard, sending it skittering into the road.  An oncoming car swerved to miss it and honked at him angrily.  He threw up his middle finger and kept walking.  The one feeling he hated more than any other was
that he owed someone something.  His parents had kicked him out with only the clothes on his back, and from then on he learned to rely only on himself. 
If you rely on other people for things, you're in for disappointment.
 

He owed Amber more than anyone.  She was the one that helped him that night he was injured.  She was the one that found the tournament and sought him out to convince him to try it.  She was the one that paid for his membership - although at least he had been able to pay her back for that.  There wasn't a lot he could do about the others; it was harder to pay back gestures. 

But she was right.  He was basically living with her rent free, which was just racking up his debt to her.  The fact that they were... what?  Seeing each other?  Boyfriend and girlfriend?  They had never defined it - but anyway, it didn't matter.  It was still freeloading and it had to stop.  Unfortunately, he was just about broke.  Paying her back the $300 to join Golden Dragon had taken most of his savings, and he had used the rest to buy some of the training equipment that Shawn had told him he would need before starting at Rock House. 

The equipment was what he needed from his locker.  He hadn't brought it back to the apartment because he didn't want Amber to ask questions about it.  He knew she would offer to pay for them or something, which would have just ended them up in the same fight they just had.  The whole argument was unavoidable, with no money it was bound to come up sometime. 

He could see the YMCA in the distance now, it would only be another 20 minutes or so before he got there.  He considered having another quick shower to clean off the sweat and then change into another shirt, but there was no point.  He'd just get sweaty again once he started training.

Was this relationship with Amber really going to work?  They were so different.  She may live in a crappy apartment, but at least it was a stable roof over her head and her own bed at night.  And at the end of the day, if things went bad she could always go back home to her parents.  She had a safety net, and she couldn't comprehend what life was like without one.

And yet, he wanted things to work.  Even though deep down he knew he didn't deserve someone like Amber, not by a long shot, he still wanted her.  She was kind hearted.  More so than anyone he'd ever met.  And when she turned that kindness towards him, it made the bleakness of his existence just a little bit brighter. 

It didn't hurt that she also gorgeous.  Especially naked.  A smile crept across his face as he pictured her.  It had been a long time since a girl had offered herself to him the way Amber did - exposed and vulnerable.  Even in bed she was giving, always putting his pleasure above her own. 

It made him feel guilty sometimes, adding to an internal debt tally that just grew and grew with no hope that he could ever repay it.  Adding money to that list as well, something he
could
repay if he was more successful, just made him feel even worse.  Maybe if life had given him a few more breaks instead of just constantly finding new ways to remind him of his failures.

That was what had made him so angry at the apartment.  He hadn't even considered the fact that he was freeloading, living with her this past week while she continued to pay the rent, the bills, even buy all the food.  She may not have been accusing him of it, but bringing it up made him realize he was just digging himself in deeper with her, and he really had no plan to even things out.

Shawn Rock had offered to train him, but that wasn't going to earn Joel any money.  And even if he could find a job, there was no time for it now since he'd be training during the days and needing his sleep at night.  There was only one thing he was qualified to do anyway.  Joel squeezed his fists.

He'd promised Amber that now that he was going to train at Rock House he would give up fighting at nights.  But if he did, he'd have no money at all.  Yet he really did want to live with her - he just wasn't willing to do it for free.  He needed to pay his own way.  If he couldn't, then he didn't see a lot of hope for a future between them. 

Surely breaking that promise was better than breaking their relationship.  That rationalization solidified the decision in his mind, although he knew he had to keep it to himself, at least for now. 

First thing he had to do was track down Randy, the organizer of the underground fight club.  He had an idea of how to do that, but it would have to wait until after today's training session. 

Amber

Amber spent most of the rest of the morning angry and confused.  How did a morning that started off with a sexy shower end up in a fight like that?  It had all happened so fast, she was confused about what exactly it was even about.  Joel was quick to anger, she knew that about him, but she thought they had been getting to a good place and he was
really starting to trust her.  Now he was painting her as a gold digger looking to dip her hands into his pockets.  That wasn't what she meant at all.