Chapter 9 Liam #3
I let go of one of her wrists and lowered my hands until I was cupping her ass. I pulled her against me, breathing heavily.
“Try again.”
She paused, and I thought she’d tell me to stop.
I was clearly crossing lines; I was being unprofessional.
All she had to do was tell me no and I’d stop, but instead, she rotated her hips again, slow and measured until she was brushing against my cock.
This time, I pulled her by the hips and purposely held her there as I ground back.
“Still not free,” I growled in her ear, but we both knew this was just a game at this point. She wasn’t trying to get free. Fuck, I’d give anything for a wall or a beam to press her against. But I knew if I walked us backward, it would break this spell we were under.
This time she hiked her leg up to wrap around my hip. I instantly caught her thigh and held her there. Then she rubbed herself against me, and her lips parted with a gasp.
My fingers tightened, holding her against me so she’d feel every fucking inch of what she was doing to me.
My chest heaved as my hand traveled up into her hair, and the silky strands slipped through. “Haley—” I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to say, but I didn’t get the chance.
A loud banging came from the front door.
“Yo! Liam!” I could hear Rex yell through the glass.
“Fuck.”
I let Haley go, and her eyes closed for a brief second as she seemed to catch her breath.
She walked away toward the bench and took her duffle bag with her.
I waited for a second until my dick wasn’t bulging in my shorts before going to unlock the door.
Rex made his way through, complaining about how cold it was outside.
The retired Marine was built like a brick wall, all muscle and mass, but he whined worse than my five-year-old.
Haley was at one of the heavy bags with her pink gloves fastened to her hands, pounding away in a series of punches.
“How did she make it in before me?” He grabbed a towel, canting his head toward her.
I made a grunting sound, not in the mood to answer him.
“Just get started on your warm-ups.”
Rex watched me with a dark brow raised. He glanced again over at Haley once then back at me.
He could draw whatever conclusion he wanted; I didn’t have anything to hide. Minus my still slightly erect cock.
“Can you at least play some music?”
“Yes, you miserable fuck. I will put on the music, just give me a second.”
I was behind the counter a second later, starting the music on the computer. Van Halen streamed through the overhead speakers.
I returned to the mats, expecting to see Rex warming up, but he was over talking to Haley.
She was laughing at something he was saying.
He thrust his arm out, showing her how to hit the bag at a more powerful angle.
She copied what he showed her, but she didn’t hit it with the same velocity, so he stood behind her and gripped her wrist to demonstrate.
There was something about him being near her that I didn’t like. I knew he wouldn’t hurt her, but it was just that he was standing too close, and he was touching her. It made my skin feel stretched too thin.
“Rex, I’m working with Haley. You head over here and get your warm-ups started.”
He turned toward me, lifting that brow again.
Fucker.
“Sorry boss man, just didn’t want her to break her wrist.”
Haley had enough knowledge about boxing that she wasn’t anywhere close to breaking her wrist. His smirk said as much.
“Don’t worry about her wrists, or her arms, or anything else attached to her body. Got me?”
He could barely hold back a smile as he passed by me. “Oh, I got you.”
He started whistling as he grabbed his jump rope and began warming up.
My gaze swung back to Haley, who was jabbing at the bag with her back to me. She didn’t seem to catch what just happened, but if I knew her like I thought I did, she was just letting it go for now. I walked over and hovered near her shoulder, watching as she punched.
After a few combos, she stopped and turned toward me.
“Should we pick up where we left off?”
Her eyes rounded, and I rushed to add, “Self-defense. I thought we could work through a few moves unless you want to keep working the bag.”
She eyed me suspiciously, likely trying to gauge if I was going to act like nothing happened. I had no intention of doing that, but I made a deal with her to give her lessons, and I was a man of my word.
She nodded and tugged off her gloves, walking back to where we’d been stretching.
This time I led her through a few defensive moves while Rex worked across the gym and others filtered in.
I made sure to keep enough distance between us so that I didn’t get worked up again, and for the last half of the session, I had her working a bag with a few kick combos.
Finally, after her timer had gone off and she cooled down with some stretches, she told me she was going to hit the showers.
I gave her a slight nod, keeping my eyes down. The second she was behind the wall that divided the gym from the locker doors, I shifted.
This was a bad idea, but I couldn’t seem to stop my feet from moving.