Chapter 59
Fifty-Nine
B oxing turns out to be the most empowering activity I’ve ever experienced.
In a month’s time, I’ve learned the basics.
The correct stance, how to stay on the balls of my feet, turn my hips.
Essential punches like the jab, cross, and hook—plus combining them.
The importance of breath work, exhaling on every strike. And how to hit a heavy punching bag.
Today Butch watches me practice straight punches on the bag, just jabs and crosses. I’ve done them slowly so far, focusing on my footwork and relaxing my fist until I land each punch. I pick up the pace incrementally, ready to speed it up.
“That’s it, Sundance,” Butch praises from where he sits on a workbench. “Your form’s looking good.”
My lips tug up slightly. Bap bap, bapbap, bapbap . I love hitting this dense, stuffed cylinder. The sweat coating my skin is proof of my effort and exertion—and this demonstration of power makes my cells crackle with energy and blood hum.
I don’t kid myself about my boxing skills. It’s only been weeks, so they’re fledgling at best, but the entire act fuels me. Strength over weakness. Confidence over fear. Badass over coward.
Another month of shit assignments. Bapbapbap.
Leering and winks from Don. Bap bap bapbapbapbap.
Bitchy, smug looks from Tanya. Bapbapbapbapbapbap.
Being trapped, stuck, scared. Bap bap bapbapbap.
I drop my hands, leaving the bag swaying from where its bolted to the rafter. Strands of hair loosened from my ponytail cling to my face. I grin at Mr. Handsome Trainer, whose eyes scan me top to bottom with a satisfied smile on his lips.
He crooks his finger and coaxes me to stand between his legs, which dangle from the sturdy wooden table he’s sitting on.
Butch grips my waist. “You look so goddamn sexy right now. If I wasn’t worried about snooping young eyes, I’d bend you over this workbench.”
His words hit the intended spot and a little bomb of pleasure spreads through my system as a whimper leaves my mouth.
Boxing may empower me, but I’m putty in Butch’s hands.
There’s something extra filthy about the idea of getting it on in here with grease, dirt, cars, and tools. Perhaps on the hood of a car…
Our mouths collide hungrily, and I don’t even care about the sweat. Just this. Just now.
We part, sharing a moment of mutual understanding. My heart leans fully toward his now with zero reservations. Maybe it’s caution-to-the-wind stupidity, or blind faith, but it seems bigger than that.
I used to think we were like two halves of a broken glass. Once glued together, we formed a whole, but the cracks were still visible. Now I see our broken shards were melded in hot fire and blown together to create something original, strong, and colorful.
Butch unlaces my gloves. “You’re improving with every session. I’m proud of the work you’re putting in. ”
“I didn’t expect to like it so much.”
“Yeah? Why’d you want to learn so badly?”
“Everything you said about why you were teaching Emmy? That all applies to me. I wish I’d had a father who understood what kind of protection women need in the world.”
He assesses me as he pulls off the second glove. “Have you dealt with some assholes?”
I nod. “I’ve fought off several.” Still am.
He grimaces. “Fuckers.”
“And when I worked at a gas station one summer, some jerk robbed me at gunpoint.”
“Jesus.” His stare turns steely. “Did he hurt you?”
“He tied me up and shoved his nasty tongue into my mouth before leaving. But that was the scariest night of my life…and I’ve never felt more powerless.” Butch strokes the top of my hand with his thumb as I fight the unease ramping up in my chest.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I can only imagine how terrifying it was.”
“I don’t want to be helpless, and living in the city multiplies my risks exponentially. But this,” my head dips toward the leather gloves, “is helping.”
His gaze turns calculating. “We should work on how to defend yourself barehanded.”
Those words only fuel the emerging strength I desperately seek…and am beginning to experience. “That would be amazing.”
He wraps me in a tight hug. “I will do whatever it takes to help you stay safe, Jacqui.”
As I lean into the surety of this man, not one shred of doubt exists. His formidable size isn’t even the main reason. It’s his lionheart, the protective instinct that’s bred into his blood, and his innate moral compass pointing him the only logical direction .
“Or you could just move in with me, and I’ll beat the crap out of any fucker who tries messing with you.”
I pull back, eyes flitting to his. Is he joking?
He laughs—nervously? “I’m showing you all my cards.”
“Are you serious?”
The phone trills and Butch’s head swings toward it, debating before he ignores it. “I’m dead serious about fucking up anyone who touches one hair on your head. And you know I want us living in the same zip code…but you probably want an apartment nearby as a next step.”
“I know the distance is a drag, but is it a becoming a dealbreaker?”
He holds my face in his hands. “Baby, there are no dealbreakers with you. I’m in love with you.”
Emmy runs into the garage, breathless. “Can I go to Mimi’s and help bake brownies?”
“That’s who called?”
She nods, frenetically.
“Sure. Have fun.” Emmy starts to scurry off. “Call when you get there!” he hollers after her.
She waves in acknowledgment.
My mind hits overdrive. Game on.
Five minutes later, Butch hangs up the phone with confirmation Emmy made it to his parents’ house.
I lick my upper lip, then playfully bite the lower one.
Butch’s eyes track it. “That mouth,” he mutters.
My hand travels up my torso and coasts across one breast. Again, his eyes stay glued.
“Are you baiting me?”
I offer a slow, alluring shrug, like I don’t know what he’s talking about. But my gaze stays boldly fixed on his, silently begging him to take charge, possess me, make each nerve ending crackle.
“You’re being a very…bad…girl.” Every word is measured, a menacing caress as he stalks closer .
I turn around and walk a few steps, pausing to leisurely bend at the waist and massage my ankle, teasing him with a view of the ass I know he craves.
His growl hits me right between the thighs. “Very bad.” His footsteps draw nearer. “And bad girls get what’s coming to them.”
Victory.
Butch hauls me upright and propels me toward a 1969 Dodge Charger he’s restoring in one of the bays. When my knees bump the metal grill, he yanks my ponytail. “Give me that fucking mouth,” he says, kissing me hard.
The fire sears from my lips to my groin. The slight pinch from where he grabs my hair to the invasion of his tongue, slicking with mine, floods my center. He’s possessed—and so am I.
He forces me flat against the sanded hood, ass up, my pussy tingling with anticipation. “Teasing me with those big, luscious tits of yours, your nipples poking through your fucking top.” He spreads my arms like eagle wings as my cheek flattens upon the smooth surface.
He yanks down my shorts and underwear in one go, exposing me to him. “Shaking this perfect peach ass everywhere you go.”
I want him to spank me and silently plead for it.
“Now it’s mine to do with as I fucking want.”
“Yes, please.”
He lets out a satisfied groan…then his hand slaps my right ass cheek. The sting lifts me onto my toes—and unleashes a small flood from between my thighs.
I moan my approval. Yessssss.
“This ass,” he says, spanking me on the other side, harder this time, testing to see what I can take.
My garbled ahhs meet his triumphant grunt.
“This pussy.” Smack . “These tits.” Smack . “And that fucking mouth.” Smack . “Are mine. ”
I’m arching, writhing, bucking—and I’m embarrassingly drenched in that sacred space I hope he plows very soon.
This is other-fucking-worldly. I’m acutely present, fully in my body.
Aware of everything…from the contour of the hood beneath me to the bite of his palm against my skin to the ache Butch creates that only he can fill.
He takes me places I’ve never imagined, and I trust him more than I’ve ever trusted another human being…
especially when I’m this vulnerable, this defenseless.
“Say it,” he demands.
“All yours,” I rasp.
“What am I going to find if I reach between your legs, huh, Sundance? You getting off on this, my naughty, dirty girl?”
I whimper, desperate to widen my stance, but they’re trapped by my shorts. And god, those words. I’ve never wanted anything more than to be his plaything.
“You are a stone fox,” he murmurs. One hand skates up my thigh and explores my throbbing vagina, discovering it’s flooded.
He plunges two thick fingers inside me, groaning out a long “Fuuuuuuuuck” as I wail from the delicious intrusion.
His erection is a steel rod, pressing against my tingling ass with a promise for what’s to come.
He pumps his fingers deep and stars fleck my vision.
I’m so wet, the squelch fills the air. It’s raunchy, depraved, obscene.
Butch stops, and my breath hitches. Nooooooo. Don’t stop.
“Grind that pussy and fuck my fingers.”
Ahhhh. My body obliges, overriding any hesitant inner voice as I do exactly as I’m told.
“That’s it, baby. God, you’re a horny fucking broad. Keep moving that beautiful ass.”
Between the way I’m driving my hips, forcing his fingers deeper, and how those key nerve endings press against the car, I’m gone in sixty seconds. My orgasm rips out of left field, without the usual buildup, and my scream echoes in the space.
Butch keeps penetrating me as shudders of release rock through me. “Such a good, bad girl…my hot, slutty girl.” His praise in that resonant low tone sends fresh chill bumps rippling across my skin.
My vision turns black, and my brain is thoroughly blown as I come down. Butch’s hand disappears, and my lips open in protest. Before I utter one syllable, his cock thrusts into my pulsating center and more waves of pleasure erupt.
“Clean up your gorgeous mess,” he commands, stuffing his wet fingers into my mouth.
I groan around him, sucking my essence eagerly off his hand as he invades me in two places.
“Good fucking girl,” he says in reward.
He unmercifully takes what’s his, driving into me possessively and holding me hostage with my shorts tethering me in place. Each thrust claims and dominates, and when he removes his hand, I nearly cry from how much I need this, want this.
Not this… him .
“You drive me fucking insane,” he grits out. “I want you every second of every day. Your body. Your mind. Your heart.” He grips both of my hips as his impaling strokes pound into me.
I’m too full of sensations to respond, my breaths coming hard and fast. All I can do is take it, give in to it, and enjoy the ride.
My release, still undulating through me in slow waves, starts shifting into something…different. In this position, my man’s big dick spins new magic in combination with my pussy rubbing against the angled hood. My cries grow louder and faster.
Butch knows. “That’s it, baby. Give it to me. Give it all to me. ”
A second orgasm rips through me as Butch growls his approval. I’m delirious as he continues his assault, hands digging into my hips. He holds me in place and drives into me with delicious force—my center spasming around him where we’re joined.
“I love how…we fit…baby.” His words come out strained. “How…perfect you…are. I will…never get enough…of you…of this.”
All I can do is whimper, his words swimming in my soul. We are perfection.
Butch quickens, roaring out his own release as he spills into me. We both gasp for air, our chests heaving as his body cocoons around mine.
It’s minutes before we speak.
“You okay, baby?” he murmurs.
“I loved every second.”
“You’re turning me into an animal.”
“I don’t even recognize myself, in a good way. And…I trust you.” Something I wasn’t sure I could do again.
His lips brush my shoulder. “You’ll always be safe with me, Jacqui.”
The following week when Tanya and I cross paths in the ladies’ room, her appearance is again slightly disheveled. A hundred barbs linger on my tongue about how she’s screwed her way to the top and effectively fucked me too, but I’m not a shrew.
She senses my heavy stare and glares at me in the mirror. “What?” she snaps.
“You don’t have to…” I pause, lathering my hands. How do I word this?
“Spit it out, Barbie.” She’s two sinks down, pumping soap into her palm .
God, she’s a bitch. “You don’t have to do what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing ?”
She knows exactly what I mean. “With Don.”
“Mind your own damn business.” She shuts off the water, leans toward the towel dispenser, and yanks a few out.
“It is my business when your actions affect me. Assignments are being distributed based on something other than merit. You think I don’t know it was you who complained?”
“I deserve everything I get.”
On that we can agree. “Do you know Don has tried getting in my pants? And likely many others before us?” I dry my hands more roughly than needed.
She shrugs, applying a new coat of lipstick. “Guess you were too stupid to see a good thing when you had the chance.”
A dumbfounded scoff leaves my lips. “Yeah…no thanks.”
“Grow up, Jacqui. This is how the world works.” Her tone drips condescension. “And keep your fucking mouth shut if you know what’s good for you.” She exits the restroom, her threat still hanging in the air.
If this is how the world works, I quit. I’m not rising to the top on my back or my knees. I’m getting there on ability and performance. And Tanya may be keeping Don occupied, but I know it’s only a matter of time before he corners me again.