Chapter 14 #3
Luckily, the basement area was huge, because everyone came, even the kids.
As we found spots to watch from, I was told by Cheyenne that they loved to do this.
Hmm, even more about the Punishers to like.
I was used to this kind of good-natured rivalry in the Navy.
Sometimes, I’d been one of them in the ring.
Not to brag, but my hand-to-hand skills were outstanding.
More than one instructor had told me that.
The only reason I’d been captured was when the enemy surrounded us, three of them took me down, and I was knocked unconscious.
There was a discussion between the guys.
While Reaper and Undertaker would face each other, some of the other Punishers felt the need to get in some ring time.
Crusher challenged Mayhem. The ass grinned as he did and stated that it would determine once and for all who won my heart.
I couldn’t help but laugh at his ongoing antics.
I had meant what I said to him. I couldn’t wait to see some woman put him on his ass and have him by the balls.
My man readily accepted his challenge. The final duo would be Lash and Ratchet.
As they finalized their plans, Sloan, who was next to me, leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“What do you think? Should we take a turn and show these guys how it’s really done?”
Her question made me smile. “Hell yeah, I’d love that. It’s been too long since I’ve gotten to show my skills. Should we tell them or wait until the end and then spring it on them?”
“I say we spring it.” She chuckled. That made me laugh. We got a few looks, no doubt wondering what we were saying, but we didn’t bother to explain. They’d see soon enough.
Reaper and Undertaker were first. They removed everything but their pants.
Both men were impressive in the physical department, but Undertaker seemed more rugged.
I think it was due to his tattoos. He was covered in them compared to Reaper, who had a lot for sure, but not to the level of Undertaker.
Sloan moaned softly. “Goddamn, we’ve been together four and a half years and still, he takes my breath away and turns me on every time he takes his goddamn shirt off or walks into the room. I feel like a nymphomaniac because of that man.”
“Are you complaining?” I asked.
“Hell, no.”
“And does he complain?” I asked next.
“He loves it,” Sloan said.
“Then I say drool and get turned on as much as you like. And if you want to jump him after he’s done, there are plenty of empty rooms upstairs. Go use one.”
“Damn, I like you. You think like me. You’ve gotta take the job so that we can spend more time together, girl,” she said, gently bumping me with her shoulder.
Watching those two go at it was incredible.
They were pretty evenly matched and both had killer moves.
However, in the end, it was Undertaker who won, though not by much.
When they were finished and had hugged each other, Undertaker made a beeline for Sloan.
He bent down and kissed the hell out of her.
I could feel the freaking heat and sexual desire coming off them in waves.
When he ended it, I heard him mutter, “Later, upstairs, we’re taking a time-out.”
“Anything you say, honey,” Sloan answered. When he turned away to respond to someone’s remark, she smirked at me.
Lash and Ratchet went next. While both had skills, Lash edged Ratchet out the entire bout.
But I had to give kudos to Ratchet. He never stopped and kept going.
When they were done, Lash was declared the winner when he made Ratchet tap out.
The grin on Ratchet’s face showed he wasn’t upset at the outcome.
I sat up straighter as Mayhem and Crusher entered the ring.
I had to admire my man’s naked upper body thoroughly.
“Look who’s drooling and needs a private room later,” Sloan whispered in my ear. I giggled and nodded in agreement. Seeing him like this had my nipples hardening.
This bout had me holding my breath. None of the guys went easy on each other.
Blows were hard, and they grappled and fought as if their lives depended on it.
There were several times one or the other came close to getting the other in a submission hold that they couldn’t break.
After the tensest session ever, Mayhem got Crusher in a submission hold he couldn’t get out of.
As he held him there, Mayhem’s eyes met mine, and then he thundered, “Submit and declare Astrid made the right choice.”
There was laughter from around the room. I smirked. Gasping for air, Crusher glanced over at me and raggedly said, “I submit. You’re the only man for her.”
Immediately, he was released. Mayhem helped Crusher to his feet, and the two of them hugged and slapped each other on the back. As they did, I stood, and so did Sloan. When Mayhem came to me, I knew I was in for a fantastic kiss, and I was right. When we ended it, I told him the plan.
“You were incredible, baby.”
“I’m glad you liked it. How about you come help me shower?” Mayhem asked suggestively.
“Honey, I’d love to, but there’s one more bout to go.”
“Another? What do you mean?”
“You guys have shown off the male sex’s talent. It’s only fair if you see the female’s talent. Astrid and I want to see what the other has, and to show you guys some new moves,” Sloan informed him.
This statement caused those around us to break out in excited murmuring. The other ladies were cheering us on to do it. The guys weren’t against it. Some seemed very excited to see what we could do.
We had to take a short break because the clothing we had on wasn’t exactly conducive to fighting.
Troian was around Sloan’s height, so she loaned her yoga pants.
Mine would be too long for her. She also gave her a tank top to wear.
I’d changed at the house into the same getup.
We braided our hair so it was out of the way.
Only an idiot went in to grapple with their hair hanging loose.
When we returned to the basement, the place was buzzing. I felt the zing of eagerness firing throughout my body. Right before I entered the ring, Mayhem stopped me to kiss me.
When he pulled away, he grinned. “Have fun, Fury. Show us what you got. And later, I’ll give you a thank you for it.”
“I can’t wait. Prepare to be dazzled,” I told him. He walked away chuckling. Undertaker had been across the ring, speaking to Sloan. He kissed her as well.
There were no rules other than don’t try to maim or kill each other. Just like the guys were, our hands were taped to help protect them when we punched. They had gloves we could use, but I hated wearing them, and Sloan indicated she did too. Reaper served as the referee and got the bout started.
At first, we circled and tested each other, trying to draw the other out to see what their moves were. Eventually, we got tired of playing around, and Sloan made the first move. She charged me, swinging her fist. I barely got away from it. From there, we got down to a real workout.
I’d often fought like this while in the Navy.
Most of the time, there, I had to go up against my male peers.
I knew it had to be the same for her in the Marines.
That taught us to fight hard and never let them beat us if at all possible.
I believed it sharpened my skills when my opponents were men bigger and stronger than I was.
It was an exhilarating match. Sure, I was punched, kicked, thrown, and subdued several times, but I gave as good as I got.
Sloan was sweating and panting like I was.
We both demonstrated a variety of skills in different forms of martial arts.
Deciding to end this if possible, I attempted a move that was extremely hard to do.
I had to get my legs basically up around Sloan’s torso and then use my strength to roll her body to the ground, so I was on top of her and able to put her in a submission hold.
I heard the gasps as I did it. She hit the mat hard.
Without waiting, while she was still stunned and probably had the wind knocked out of her, I got my arms around her neck and placed her in a sleeper hold.
I wouldn’t put her out, unless she refused to submit.
I had to give her kudos. She struggled and tried to get away even as I applied more pressure.
“Submit. I don’t want to put you out,” I told her.
“I’ll never submit,” she informed me hoarsely.
Hearing the resolve in her voice, I applied a little more pressure.
I saw that both our men were still glued to the side of the ring.
They anxiously watched. I let go the moment her body went lax.
I lowered her head gently and then rolled her onto her side in the recovery position.
I stayed beside her even as our men rushed into the ring.
Mayhem crouched down and wrapped his arms around me. “Great match, babe. Are you okay? You took some heavy punches and kicks.”
Undertaker was speaking softly to Sloan, trying to bring her around. Before answering Mayhem, I told Undertaker, “I tried not to put her to sleep, but she refused to submit.”
“That doesn’t surprise me a bit. Don’t worry, she’s coming around. That was an excellent match.”
“Thank you. She’s an incredible opponent. I haven’t had a workout this good in a long time.”
I then turned my attention back to my man. “I’m fine. I’ll ache and have some bruises, but that’s it. This was so much fun. I can’t wait to do it again. Next time, you and I can give it a go.”
“You expect me to fight my woman?”
“It’s you or I’ll ask your brothers until one of them caves. No disrespect to the other old ladies, but none of them has the training I do. I wouldn’t want to hurt them. Though if anyone wants to learn, I’ll happily do it.”
“They’ll like that. And, yeah, if you like, we can spar. If I don’t do it, that damn Crusher will just lord it over me,” he grumbled.
I was chuckling in agreement when Sloan opened her eyes.
“Hey, wonderful match, girl. Though I hated putting you out,” I told her after Undertaker reassured himself she was okay and kissed her.
“It was a great one. And you know you wouldn’t have submitted either.”
“True,” I said, as we grinned at each other.
It wasn’t long after that that we were up and out of the ring, and everyone was making their way back upstairs.
I was sweaty and would have loved a shower, but I refused to miss any of their visit.
Since the others weren’t showering, I planted my ass in a chair and asked for a beer.
The rest of the club and the Patriots exclaimed over Sloan and me.
We were sucked into a conversation about our training by the other ladies. The afternoon ended up flying by.
Before the Patriots left to board their plane, Reaper insisted that we eat.
I felt sorry for the delivery person who had to bring out a ton of pizza boxes here.
However, based on the smile on his face, he’d been tipped very well.
We all pigged out on pizza and breadsticks before it was time to tell them goodbye.
As I hugged the last one, I made sure to inform the guys that I’d have an answer for them by the end of the week.
When they left, I hated to see them go. Next, I’d have to speak with Mayhem and determine whether I should accept their offer or not.