Chapter 10 #3
She tried kicking again, which I blocked. I pushed her with my shoulder, putting all of my weight into it, causing her to let my hand go. I circled her and rained down combinations of punches and jabs. She blocked them all, landing a sharp uppercut on my chin, bashing my teeth into my tongue.
This time, I laughed as I tasted blood at the back of my throat. Pain lanced through my entire face, and adrenaline rushed through my veins as I finally felt alive.
Blood trickled down my chin as I met the tigress’s eyes and licked my blood-stained lips, giving her a wink.
She rolled her eyes at me, but a wide, challenging smile tugged at her lips. “Thought you were good at it.”
A laugh burst out of my chest, and my body pumped with the need to defeat the tigress.
Samaira was a fucking beast at fighting.
Any restriction and hesitation I had about hitting her evaporated with every jab she blocked and every drop of blood she drew.
With every twenty punches I threw at her, I landed one, causing her to merely stumble a little.
It didn’t even take her a second to pull herself back.
With every punch I managed to land in her ribs or stomach, she punched me ten times harder. I was sure my chest would be black and blue. My entire face was throbbing, and my abs seemed to have been kicked inside my stomach.
I’d never felt more alive and in the moment. Every kick, every punch released that ever-growing knot of guilt from my chest. My body begged for mercy, while my mind embraced the pain, begging for more.
My muscles screamed with agony as I shuffled closer to her and sent a high kick flying toward her face.
Instead of ducking, the crazy woman grabbed my calf in her hand and swiped my other leg from under me, dropping us both to the ground.
While I landed flat on my face, my breath coming out in a whoosh, she landed gracefully in a motherfucking side lunge like a ninja.
Before I could even get up, she jumped on my back and had my throat in another chokehold, her biceps and forearm crushing my windpipe.
No matter what I did, her grip on me didn’t loosen .
An inferno rushed through my body, my mind floating between pain and pleasure, all the blood rushing south.
“Tap the fuck out, Dominic,” she growled in my ear, knowing I was losing consciousness. Her breathy voice, so close to my ear, had my cock throbbing.
Realizing that the game would be over if I actually passed out, I quickly tapped out. Instantly, she let me go, and I dropped down face-first on the floor of the ring, wheezing and shaking.
“Had enough?” she asked, back up on her feet and circling me, almost looking bored. Her hair was coming out of her ponytail, her body was soaked in sweat, and I’d never seen someone more magnificent and powerful.
“Never,” I panted, beating at my chest, trying to get air in my lungs.
A wicked smile came over her face as she stood above me. In the next moment, her leg came flying at my ribs. Thanks to the adrenaline and my body’s survival instinct, I rolled away as her feet slammed right where I had been a mere second ago.
I quickly jumped up to stand and flew toward her, sending punches flying at her with all my strength.
Her blocks were solid like a wall, but instead of looking where I punched, I stared at her , the way her face was red from exertion, the way the tendons in her shoulder were taut, and the way the veins in her arms and biceps were pumping.
She instantly noticed the change in my punches.
As soon as her eyes met mine, something electric zipped through my body and straight into my heart, causing some tight knot in my chest to unravel, to soften, to yearn for more.
And I knew Samaira felt something too because her block faltered.
If only for a moment. And I grabbed that opening and swiped her legs.
Her eyes went as wide as saucers as she felt herself go down.
Being the gentleman that I was, I broke her fall by putting my hand at the back of her head and climbing on top of her, my legs on either side of her waist. She immediately had her guard up.
I grabbed both of her hands and, to her utter surprise, pushed both of her hands above her head.
I bent closer to her face, my hair falling over my eyes, my breath coming in harsh pants, sweat rolling down my chest, and pain blooming in every part of my body.
I could see the perspiration dotting her face as her breath fanned my jaw.
I focused very, very hard on not getting hard on top of the tigress.
She’d probably claw my face off. Holding her gaze, I could see small specks of light brown and gold in her eyes as I whispered, “I win.”
Two sets of heavy claps and whistling broke the moment as both of us turned to look at our audience of two very excited women with maniacal glee on their faces.
Samaira let out a growl, and I quickly anticipated her next move—rolling me down and raining hell on my face—and pushed myself off her body. “You did not win.”
I looked at our very own audience of two, then met Samaira’s eyes. “I dropped you on your ass after taking about five hundred punches and kicks. Feels like a win to me.”
“Yep, Dominic wins,” the pink-haired woman, who Samaira had called Sloane, chimed in.
“Nope,” the other woman, Lena, said, giving a wink to Samaira. “He needs to get her to tap out for him to win. He barely landed ten punches on her.”
Sloane looked at Samaira and Lena with a teasing smile. “He could’ve been holding back.”
When Samaira turned her eyes on me, I raised my hands in surrender. “I promise, I wasn’t holding back.”
She jumped back to her feet and shook her head. “Then you suck at boxing. Might want to find a better trainer.”
I looked at her and cocked my eyebrows. “Seems like I already did.”
She scoffed, and before responding to me, she turned to the two women who were staring back and forth between us, as if regretting not bringing popcorn. “Leave us alone. Now.”
“But you’re just getting to the fun part,” Sloane whined. “Lena, order them to let us stay.”
Lena rolled her eyes and dragged Sloane away from us.
Samaira let out a relieved sigh and met my eyes. “I don’t have the time to teach you how to fight.”
I didn’t think I could ever spar with anyone else. “How about I come tomorrow morning with Sophie?”
She instantly shook her head in denial. “Nope. That’s the ladies’ batch. No men allowed in this space.”
Shock traveled through my body. “Am I the first man you’ve brought here to spar?”
She rolled her eyes and turned away from me. “Don’t make a big deal out of this.”
I would not make a big deal out of this out loud .
Inside, I was doing fucking backflips and kicking my feet in the air.
Despite her warning, I couldn’t wipe the stupid, proud smile off my face.
“Fine, I won’t come with Sophie. Speaking of whom, I must mention that I am extremely glad that she gets to learn to fight from an expert like you. ”
When she turned her face to look at me, I continued, “Trust me, offering to teach Sophie to fight, giving her an outlet to deal with her emotions, I can’t thank you enough. Even if we can’t find the fuckers, just helping Sophie get back on her feet is worth everything to me.”
Every time I mentioned Sophie, Samaira’s eyes softened, and an air of warmth and protectiveness poured out of her. Her eyes were fierce and jaw sharp as granite when she said, “We will find those fuckers. No question about it.”
I nodded, my once-wavering belief solidifying with every confident word from Samaira’s mouth. I could fucking hug her right now. But I didn’t dare take a step toward her, knowing she’d punch my throat before getting hugged by me. At least that’s the energy she was projecting .
“Now, off you go,” she said, jumping down from the ring and removing her gloves. “I have work to do. See that you bring Sophie tomorrow.”
“Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow,” I shouted at her retreating form.
“Maybe,” she shouted back without turning around.
I texted Maxim to come pick me up as I went upstairs to the bar area, which was currently operating as a diner. I took up a seat at one of the corner tables and nursed a smoothie as I waited for Maxim.
The entire time that I waited for him, throughout our entire ride back to my parents’ place, all through the dinner with my family, and as I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling for hours, only one thought, only one question looped through my mind.
What did Samaira mean when she told Sophie, Believe it or not, I understand what you went through better than most?