Page 10 of Absolution
“I’m not a virgin if you’re asking. But I’ve had enough with people fucking me over.” We caught a cab back to the west side near the club. Neither of us spoke until the cab dropped us off.
“So you like to be the fucker, not the fuckee. Okay. I’ll store that away for future use. I’m versatile.” His words invoked an image in my head of him riding me, that tight ass clenching my cock tight. I had to adjust myself just to alleviate some of the pressure. Of course, he noticed. “My offer from earlier still stands.”
“I don’t do pity sex.”
“Me neither.” He circled around me, stalking with a big smile on his face. “I’d rather fight you. Winner fucks the other.”
“You must really get off on this fighting thing. You’ll probably kick my ass.”
“Not necessarily. You’re faster than me, stronger. Odds are pretty fair. I don’t fight full vamps in the ring. Just critters.”
I was tempted. Not only to get out some aggression but to maybe win against someone I couldn’t really hurt. The idea of fucking him was more than appealing. I’d probably be dreaming about it today when I finally went to bed. “How breakable are you?”
His smile said he knew he won. “Hardly. I’m really flexible though. Can bend my legs over my head and everything.”
“God, stop! I want to fuck you okay. That’s not a secret. Just ‘cause I’m not going to doesn’t mean I don’t want to. It’s called restraint.”
He leaned in close, almost near enough to kiss. “You gotta win first.”
Chapter 4
He led me inside the building, past the room of cages and to a training area in the back. The place was empty and the room smelled like cleaner. At least it didn’t stink as bad as the main room. The floors and walls were heavily padded. A shelf near the wall was organized with a bunch of gear. Luca grabbed two sets of gloves and head gear, then threw me half and some extra padding before pulling on his own.
“This stuff isn’t going to help much.”
“Humor me,” Luca said. “It’s really not sexy if I punch you in the head and your ears bleed. The padding can stop a major injury. Shit still hurts though, I promise.”
I tugged everything on and kicked off my shoes like he did before stepping into the taped red box. “So what are the rules?”
“Stay in the box. A ten second pin is considered a win. In the ring a win would be a TKO, but I’d rather fuck you while you’re awake.”
That was not going to be happening. “Whatever. Hope your ass is ready for me pretty boy.”
He tapped his gloves together and the fight began. Luca moved like a dancer, darting around me, graceful, elegant, but fast—trying to get into my blind spot. I matched him and threw a quick jab which caught him in the shoulder. He didn’t flinch, though I knew I hit him pretty hard. His first punch landed square on my chin, sending me down to the mat. I even slid a few feet seeing stars. It hurt, but not in a bad way.
He leapt on me, trying to get in a pin already, but I kicked him off and rolled away, spinning into a jump mid-move and landed back on my feet. Kelly’s little self-defense classes were helping. I wasn’t all swinging anger anymore. In fact, Sei and I sparred often enough to be evenly matched. Which was odd because he was mostly human. He could match my speed and flexibility though, and almost seem to predict my moves. Maybe it was because he was Father Earth and I was dead. Maybe it was because he was Gabe’s Focus. All that mattered was that the practice kept the fight against Luca going.
Staying on the mat was the hard part. It was a smaller space than I was used to. Luca kept pushing in close, swinging hard enough to make me stagger and tried to get me to step outside the red box. Each time I rebounded with a harder punch or kick, sometimes missing him completely, but getting him to back off, and other times just grazing him. He was fast. Faster than any human I’d met. Neither of us connected more than two or three times.
“Stop being afraid to hurt me and fight,” Luca shouted at me. But I didn’t want to hurt him. No matter what he wanted me to think, he was still human. I missed him probably more than I should have, matched my pace to his, even landed a punch or two more than I would to anyone else. Luca growled and his fist found the side of my head hard enough to make me see stars.
I landed on my knees, shaking my head to clear the fuzzy edges from my sight and ringing from my ears. Fuck that hurt even with all the padding. He bounced away, waiting, when he could have taken me down completely with another hit. But he was sweating hard. I was making him work. His pulse raced, and the scent of his blood called to me like a fucking siren’s song. Red inched across my vision.
“That’s more like it. Let me see those red eyes of yours. Let the rage free.”
Did he want to die? I wouldn’t give him that, but I could scare him, show him it wasn’t all fun and games. My heart sped up to match his. A burst of energy flowed through me like a shot of caffeine and I jumped to my feet, ready. I let my other self out, telling him not to kill or maim. So far he heeded me, and I hoped this time was no different. Even if Max Hart wasn’t enamored of his kid, he’d probably come to settle the score if I killed Luca even by accident. If Gabe didn’t kill me first.
I zipped around Luca landing the first punch to his ribs and moved out of his reach before he could even finish his gasping exhale from the hit. Luca couldn’t hope to keep up as I landed another dozen punches. But he took each one and kept coming back. Blood poured down his chin smelling like heaven. I wanted to lap it up, feed at his mouth, and fuck him until the world flipped over.
He pivoted left and bounced back to avoid another hit, then swung and connected a hard right directly to my left eye. I landed hard on my back, sight swirling in a wash of red. This time he was on me, shoving me hard to the ground to pin me. I couldn’t see him. My head throbbed from his blow and the back of my skull where I’d hit the mat. I could feel him, smell him and the monster wanted out so badly I shook with need. But the glowing red took over, swallowing the world in the taste of his blood.
When I woke I was lying on the mat, high as a kite and breathing like I’d just run a race. The room spun in wild circles, twisting and shaping the metal beams above as they danced. The white spray foam looked like snow. My body ached in a good way. I was still hard as a rock.
“You back?” Luca asked. He sat a few feet away, bruised, lips swollen, clothes torn and disheveled, bloody, and a couple spots on his neck still bled pretty fiercely. He seemed dazed, but not upset.
I sat up slowly, still blinking away the weaving vision and took in the tattered remains of his jeans. “Shit. What did I do?”
Luca chuckled. “I think you need to stop your quest for abstinence. It’s fueling your rage.”