Page 43

SYDNEY

FOUR MONTHS LATER

“Is that the best you got, AJ?” I teased as I circled him.

He’d just landed a wicked jab to my side, but I was able to slide away from him before another hit landed.

We were sparring in my dojo—a habit of ours most weekends after everything had happened.

Life after Kaito looming over us had been peaceful.

It was a time of healing, of mending relationships, and of growth.

My sister started a new semester of college.

Touma had healed and was my partner at the dojo.

We’d recruited over ten new students so far, and we’d left the world of illegal underground fighting behind to work toward doing things legitimately.

It had been a time where we were able to mourn Raven properly. We had a picnic under the shade of the trees on our property for a celebration-of-life ceremony for her. Sitting under those trees was something she had loved doing when she was growing up.

Life was about as perfect as it could be, except for the fact that I had yet to beat AJ in a spar, and I was determined that tonight was that night.

“Why don’t you quit dancing around and swing, Syd?” AJ said with the most cockiest smirk on his face as he rolled his shoulders back, watching my every move.

Because I’ve tried that when you were paying attention and ended up regretting it. I’m not so stupid as to charge a second time for the same result, you big dummy.

“Why don’t you show me what you got instead of just standing around? Unless you’re actually afraid of getting your ass kicked by a woman,” I said as I taunted him with a little flip of my hair.

His eyebrow rose, and his smirk twitched. Good. I could work with that.

I feinted a jab at him, and he moved in. I went to hit him with a quick snap to his thigh and he shifted sideways, barely enough to dodge it. Screw him for always moving so damn smooth. It was like trying to fight water.

Show-off.

He swept a low kick at my ankle, and I jumped over it. I fired a sharp front kick at his gut, and for a split second, I thought I might land it. But his hand shot out, grabbing my ankle midair like it was nothing.

“Try again,” he said, a low growl in his throat as he winked at me.

I twisted hard, using the momentum to spin and lash out with a back fist. My knuckle collided with his jaw, enough to make him stagger back a step.

He rubbed his chin and laughed.

I grinned at him. Got you there, tough guy.

“All right, all right. Time to get serious then,” he said as he went to get into an attack pose.

But there was no way I was going to let him jump on the aggressive and push me back that easily.

I rushed forward, throwing a quick combo toward his stomach—jab, jab, hook.

He deflected every move like he was reading my mind, blocking my throws with ease. It always pissed me off when he did this. I threw another jab. This time, he caught my forearm.

The next second, he spun, hooked my ankle with his foot, and yanked.

I squeezed my eyes shut as the floor rushed up to meet me. I hit the mat hard with a grunt, the breath knocked slightly out of me.

“Shit,” I gasped, pushing to roll onto my side to recover.

But of course, AJ was faster. He straddled my hips, pinning me beneath him effortlessly, his hands wrapping around my wrists and pressing them to the mat.

My chest heaved as I lay under him, heart racing. God, he was sexy—all his muscles shone with a light sweat, his eyes practically daring me to try to move.

“You done yet, tough girl?” he rasped, his mouth inches from mine, so close that I could feel his warm breath on my skin.

I wriggled, mostly just to feel him get harder on top of me. Fighting me always turned him on, but when we got in a situation like this, he couldn’t hide how turned on he actually was.

“Not even close,” I muttered.

His smirk deepened.

“You’re gonna be,” he promised, his voice low and sensual.

Then he crashed his lips against mine, and my back arched, pressing my chest into his.

This sparring match was about to become something much better. I couldn’t wait for it.

His mouth was everywhere. Trailing my lips, along my jaw, down the side of my neck to my exposed collarbone. Every kiss sent a jolt of pleasure down my spine, and a fire was building inside of me.

“You wanted this, didn’t you? You’ve been begging for it since the second you took that swing at me,” AJ growled as he nipped my neck lightly.

“I do,” I moaned.

AJ was claiming every inch of me, and I loved every second. I pulled my hands against his grasp, and he chuckled against my neck.

“What? You want me to let go of your hands, baby?” he muttered against my skin.

“Yes,” I panted as I shifted against him again.

He loosened his grip just enough, and within seconds, I hooked my leg around his and shoved him sideways, rolling until I was the one on top.

I straddled him, grinding my hips up and down his erection as I gripped my top and tugged it over my head. I tossed it beside us before bending back down.

AJ leaned up on his elbows, meeting my kiss halfway.

I moaned into him. He reached a hand up and cupped the back of my neck, pulling us deeper into the kiss in response.

Our tongues clashed against each other, tangled up in their own battle for dominance as I circled my hips on top of him once more. I pushed him back down onto the floor as I felt his other arm circle around me and hold me close.

He rolled us again, shifting until my legs were over his hips as he knelt between them, his hard cock threatening to bust out of his pants. He roughly palmed my tits, and my eyes rolled back as I felt my pussy throb.

“Feel that?” he asked as he ground against me. “That’s what you do to me, baby.”

“I need you,” I moaned.

I tried to grind back against him, but at this angle, I couldn’t get the friction I desired.

“I know, Syd,” he growled as he gripped the side of my pants and tugged them down to my knees.

I was completely at his mercy like this, and judging by his smirk, he knew damn well what he was doing.

My heart fluttered in my chest as I watched him yank his sleeveless hoodie over his head. Then his hands wandered down to his joggers, pushing them down enough to free his hard cock.

I held my breath as he pressed forward, feeling his tip slide against my pussy. AJ brought his hand to his mouth and licked his fingers, bringing them down to his cock and stroking it a few times. Then he slid his cock against me again. This time, he easily slid past my pussy lips and into me.

“Oh!” I gasped as I felt myself stretch around him.

AJ gently thrusted, each time going deeper until I could hardly take it. I clenched my calves around his hips as he bent me in half, thrusting harder now. His pace was maddeningly perfect, and at this angle, each stroke hit my G-spot, and the sensitive spot was building my orgasm quickly.

I cried out his name, and he covered my mouth. Shushing me with a chuckle as he pounded into me.

He was looking out for me. I didn’t want Regan to know we were hooking up. She’d already been told enough about Raven and AJ’s relationship after everything settled down. She didn’t need to know I was also getting with him.

My muffled moans filled the room as I could feel myself reach the point of no return. My pussy clenched around him as wave after wave of pleasure flooded my body.

“Oh fuck, baby. I love it when you come on my dick,” AJ said as he continued to fuck me through my first orgasm of the night.

He moved his hand from my mouth as I panted, my body shaking in the aftermath. But I wanted more.

“Another,” I breathed.

AJ smirked as he pulled his cock out to the tip and tapped my clit with it. “Feeling greedy tonight?”

I nodded, already missing his cock inside me. “Don’t stop.”

His smirk was lethal. “Didn’t plan on it.”

He leaned over me, caging me tighter with his body. “You want me to fuck you harder, baby?”

I whimpered and yanked him down to me, kissing him. It was the kind of kiss that was messy, aching, my hands tangled up in his hair. I wanted to feel everything—the weight of him, the way he tasted against my lips, the sounds of his moans as he came.

When his hand wrapped around my throat, barely hard enough to make me feel my pulse flutter, everything in me buckled. My hips rolled up on instinct, and he groaned deep in his chest, low and guttural. Then he pushed me back down, showing he was in command.

“You like that?” he rasped.

I could barely get the word out. “Yes.”

His grip shifted to hold me still, lips brushing my ear as he whispered, “Hold on tight, baby.”

AJ dragged me up from the floor like I weighed nothing, his strong arm holding me firmly against him as he stood up, and I lowered my feet to the floor.

I kicked my pants off the rest of the way, finally free of their restraint. But before I could catch my breath, he spun me toward one of the benches along the dojo’s wall and bent me over it, my hands slapping down on the cold wood to catch myself.

My heart pounded wildly in my chest as he dragged his hand up the inside of my thigh. He moved slowly, leaving a trail of goose bumps in his wake—a silent threat and a promise, all in one.

Every part of me burned for him, desperate for anything he was willing to give.

AJ’s chest rumbled behind me, low and dangerous.

“Damn, baby. Look at you, practically dripping down on the floor,” he groaned as he spanked my ass cheek.

My pussy clenched from the sting. It was a feeling I loved. Just like sore muscles after an amazing workout.

I shivered. The heat of his words flooded through my body, and I propped my ass higher.

He wasted no time knowing exactly what I needed.

I moaned as he shoved his cock back inside me, his tip twitching. No doubt he was leaking pre-cum by now.

He rubbed his hand up my spine, sliding his fingers through my hair before he gripped it tightly, tugging my head back.

I arched under him, my body responding to his every demand.

He fucked me hard against the bench until I had another orgasm before he also finished.

Tonight, I saw a side of AJ that he rarely showed. As rough as he had been, I knew there wouldn’t be a single bruise on my body afterward. He had shown a delicate balance of control with his movements very few could do.

Afterward, we lay next to each other on the cool wood floor, silence settling between us in the afterglow. AJ’s fingers traced lazy shapes along my ribs as I glanced up at him, my head resting on his shoulder.

That was when I knew this wasn’t like any of the other after-sparring hookups. I had been saying goodbye to him, and I didn’t realize it until right now.

“You were thinking about her, weren’t you?” I whispered.

He frowned, but he didn’t deny it.

I knew in my heart that I was right.

He was putting himself through a slow hell. I’d caught him checking his phone here and there over the past months, always looking at the same profile. The woman he’d left behind. Rosalie Wells.

A small part of me wondered what would have happened if AJ and I had actually fallen for each other, but I knew deep down, his heart would never be mine to take.

Sex with him was never like sleeping with a great love.

He always kept his walls up, but it was always a damn good time.

If anything, after all these months, we’d developed a friends-with-benefits relationship, and I never thought about us in a way beyond that.

But I knew, deep down, we couldn’t keep doing this. I felt it in my soul when I looked at him. He didn’t belong here.

I let out a long, sad breath. Then I leaned away from him. Reaching over, I grabbed my top and pulled it on. I got up and continued until I was dressed again.

I picked up AJ’s clothes and held them out to him. He took them from me and stood up.

“Damn, trying to get rid of me already?” he joked with a chuckle, no doubt attempting to lighten the tension that hung between us. But he still got dressed.

I said nothing and watched as he picked up the rest of his things. I walked with him over to the dojo’s doors.

“Hey, walk with me for a minute?” I said as I pointed over toward the path that led around our garden and pond.

He looked over at me. I could tell he was confused about my question because I never offered for him to do stuff like this. It was always sparring, or sparring and then sex, or sparring and going to have something to eat. We didn’t do late walks with the moon shining down on us.

But it was time to have this talk.

For both of our sakes.

He followed me down the path as it wound to the back of our property, where a decent-sized koi pond was. I took a seat on the bench we had by the water, and AJ sat down next to me.

“I want to talk to you about Rosalie,” I said.

AJ’s eyes snapped to mine, and as the smirk left his face, I knew he could tell this would not be a simple conversation.