by Shey Stahl
Only it was Stella, still in that bright red dress she wore to the fight. Walking slowly toward me with that familiar strut she had, I held up my hand, as if to stop her. “Are you lost?”
Stella pressed her lips together, her face falling ever so slightly. “You don’t want me?”
“Nope.” I had to laugh, a low chuckle from deep within. Stella had always been extremely confident. That hadn’t changed.
“Come on, Destry.” She stood before me now, her hands on my shoulders. “You know we were good together.”
“Oh, yeah?” Now I really laughed. “Good enough you left me for another man?”
Her brow arched, blonde curls falling over her shoulders. “You were as much to blame for that and you know it. There’s no reason we can’t start over.” My eyes snapped to hers. Was she fucking serious? “Let’s go away for a while, get to know each other again and give it another shot.”
My smile was condescending, my eyes an obliterating mess of resentment. My stomach and heart burned, muscles jumping as adrenaline pulsed through me.
How could she possibly think I would ever take her back?
Raising my hands, I took hers from my shoulders and then dropped them. “Get out.”
“What?”
Apparently, she thought I wasn’t serious.
The door opened again, this time Tallan and my dad walking inside. “I brought—” Tallan’s voice cut off, her face one of shock and well, I didn’t know. I had never seen her that white before.
Stella turned, slowly, and fucking smiled at her like there was something going on in here. “You could have knocked.”
Tallan snorted, staying beside my dad, who was looking at Stella curiously. “I don’t need to knock. I’m his girlfriend.”
Stella said nothing, unsure probably as no one ever stood up to a woman like her.
Taking a few steps in my direction, Tallan was within reach of me sitting on the bench so I grabbed her hips and tugged her toward me. “You’re everything to me. Stella means nothing.”
I knew Stella heard that, I meant for her to. I kissed her then, until she understood our souls were one, that I loved her and despite tonight being something I needed to do for myself, it was just as much about her. She’d stayed by my side throughout it all.
When Tallan pulled back, breathless, she smiled and I looked at Stella. Maybe this wasn’t right of me, but I did it anyways.
I smiled at Stella. “Game over,” I whispered, keeping my hands on her.
Stella and I didn’t say another word; instead, she left without so much as a look.
“Damn, boy.” My dad watched her leave, and then turned to me. “You got women everywhere.”
Tallan and I both chuckled. At least he didn’t remember Stella. “Why was she here?” Tallan whispered when my dad was staring at the title belt in my dressing room.
I knew she would want to know. She had every right to. “I won the title back.”
She exhaled slowly, full pink lips parting, her eyes dropping to the bloody towels scattered around the floor. “So that meant she wanted you?”
“She goes for money and fame,” I said in a low voice, my eyes weighing down on hers.
Adam, who’d made his way into the room, cleared his throat. “I kept the press out. I’ll give you another ten minutes, and then it’s their turn.”
I had been avoiding that part of the night for good reason.
Tallan understood and took a step back, giving a nod to my dad who was waiting to talk to me, Kathy standing beside him too.
Adam’s eyes met Tallan’s and he smiled. “He’s worth it.”
Was I?
I guess, yeah, I was.
Dad approached me, reaching out, his hands on my shoulders. “I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said, his voice full of pride.
Of everything that happened tonight, those words would forever stand out in my mind.
AN HOUR LATER, we met with the press and discussed the fight.
“What did Ray Lucas say to you in the ring that had you so angry?”
I chuckled softly. “Nasty things.”
It was none of their business what he said, nor did I want it repeated.
Lucas, on the other side of me, separated by the podium, smiled. “He’s a good fighter with a mean hook.” He rubbed down the side of his jaw, shaking his head as if that sting would never leave. “He gave it his all. He should be proud of himself.”
With my head down, I thought to myself how different this press conference was last year and how bitter I was. It had nothing to do with Ray Lucas; it was all Stella. His words hit home, earning my respect. I couldn’t have done the same to him last year.
There was always going to be another rematch, somewhere, someday where I would be asked to defend the title again.
And I’d grant anyone a chance to take it.
This fight wasn’t about gaining my title back.
It was me, going after something I believed in and giving myself the sense of pride to know, I did that on my own.
A position that is close to the ring.
The celebration was sure to last days, maybe even weeks, but I had one thing on my mind as the press and everyone else began to simmer down.
Tallan.
And, in bed. I imagined I would be worked up and want to get to the good stuff right away. It wasn’t like that at all. I wanted to cherish her, take my time and let her know her patience and understanding through all this had been appreciated.
I didn’t want to talk, or have foreplay, none of that. I wanted to be buried deep inside her pussy and nowhere else for the next week.
Fuck that. The next month.
As sore as I was, it didn’t matter. I was going to spend as much time as needed, showing her it was worth the wait. We were with the wait.
After returning to our room, and taking some pain killers, I took Tallan in my arms. Carrying her over to the bed, I pressed my lips on the softest skin imaginable.
I poured everything I had into those kisses, trying to make her feel she was everything to me. And she was, a beauty that brought me to my knees and made it hard to breath.
Laying her on the mattress, I gently kissed her lips again. She sighed, her arms wrapping around me and bringing our bodies together. I wanted her to feel me right then, and not my arousal, my love for her. Only I couldn’t slow myself down.
There were moments when I began to rush, my kiss frantic and never enough. And then I’d realize what I was doing and pull back.
“Sorry,” I mumbled when she laughed, gasping to breathe around my kiss. My muscles screamed with exertion, protesting my every move and begging me to rest.
With my arms shaking as I hovered over her, Tallan smiled. “You got any rounds left in you?”
“Mmhmm.” I didn’t want to stop kissing her.
Pressing my weight forward so she could feel my erection, I gave her a smile, my face burning with the action, blood seeping from the cut on my lip.
Tallan seemed as one-tracked as me, thankfully and gave back with as much intensity, bloody kisses and all.
With my elbows now bent, I gave her more of my weight, my focus now entirely on her and showing her I did, in fact, have one more round in me.
Still surged with adrenaline, I explored her body, roughly, one hand splayed over her stomach like an animal pinning down their prey. If it hurt, or she was uncomfortable, she said nothing to stop me.
When I was looking at her again, our clothes being pushed aside, I knew right then, our eyes locked, this was how you loved someone. This girl was someone who loved me unconditionally through the sacrifices. Falling for anyone was the easy part. When your smile and theirs unconsciously turned to a laugh, and before you knew it, it didn’t matter if you’d been with them a week or years, time no longer mattered.
All you knew was every day with them would be like nothing you’d ever experienced before.
That was exactly how I felt now.
I had
to be careful, my muscles and body burning so badly, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to lay on her without giving her my full weight. Using my elbows for most of my support, her arms were around my neck when I snaked mine around her waist, wanting to feel every inch of her against me.
Tallan responded to the heat of my body, her back arching and chest protruding into mine.
My mouth went to her breasts, lapping at her nipples, the right, and then the left, never wanting to part my mouth from her heated skin again.
Thankfully, Tallan took over, placing her hands on my chest and nodding beside her with a wink. “Why don’t you let me take care of you tonight, champ?”
“Oh, thank God,” I mumbled, my breath coming out in a gasp against her skin. Kissing her once more—because I couldn’t stop—I chucked softly. “I was afraid if I were on top, my body would give out.”
How I was able to get an erection with the way I felt was a miracle in itself.
“It probably would.” She laughed, allowing me to lay flat on the mattress. “You were amazing out there.”
With a grunt, I was on my back with her straddling my waist. While I drank in the sight of her curves, I wanted to ask if it scared her, but then again, did I want the answer?
Probably not.
“I bet you can’t wait to eat sweets and have a beer, but we’ll start with this.”
Raising my hands from the bed, I framed her face securely. Though everything in my body wanted to relax, I couldn’t, not with her looking like this.
The intensity of my stare marked her, had her blinking, cheeks warming. “What?”
My jaw clenched with a bit of anger that somehow, I’d failed to make her see how important she was to me. If I had made her see it, she wouldn’t be thinking I would want a meaningless indulgence like food, or beer. I wanted her, damn it. All of her and any fucking thing she’d give me for the rest of my life. “How can you not see it? You are what I’ve been waiting for, you,” I muttered, my hand swept around the back of her neck to grab a handful of hair. I rocked her hips into mine. My erection sliding against her folds and her most sensitive nerve endings.
That got her. Maybe she’d understand now.
As her head tipped back, I couldn’t help but obsess over what she said. “It’s you, honey, all you.”
Did she understand my words? Did she feel the meaning behind them and how badly I craved this, the connection, the pleasures?
“Destry….” Her gasp echoed throughout the suite, breathless and reckless as she felt, clawing at my chest and shoulders until I gave her what we needed as she slid down on my erection, allowing me to enter her.
Fuck. Heaven. Pure fucking heaven.
If I had been in better shape, I would have rolled over and fucked her so hard we would have broken this goddamn bed. I wasn’t though. Every movement brought pain with it.
Gently, Tallan began to move, riding me, taking control, but keeping in mind every inch of my skin she touched, was red and tender.
Despite the pain, I couldn’t help but move with her, touch more, love more.
More. That was what I wanted.
More.
Her.
I wanted this forever.
My gaze held hers, as difficult as that was. “T, look at me.” She did, leaning forward. “You know how much this fight was about me, but you too?”
I wanted her to understand that.
It took her a moment to reply, lost in the motions of our love making. “I know.” Her sweet breath hit my face, her tearful eyes on my face and the battle wounds. I could no longer see out of my left eye, as it was swollen shut, the throbbing felt deep in my head. Tears slipped past her cheeks when she blinked. “I hate seeing you like this. Your face….” Her words broke.
“I’m fine.”
The fuck you are. You’re a fucking mess.
I was a mess. I could only imagine what I actually looked like. Probably like someone who went twelve rounds in a boxing match. “Shhhh….” I made her kiss me again, rocking her hips into me.
No matter how hard I tried, at some point, my muscles giving out, much like in the fight. My mind wanted to push it, but I was spent.
Tallan pressed her chest to mine, our bodies curving as one, clinging to one another, neither one of us rushing, savoring the moment we had denied ourselves of for so long. “Let me take care of you.”
My orgasm surfaced many times and I’d slow my pace, kissing her more passionately, pouring more of myself into the kiss. Between her breathy moans that filled the suite, I whispered how pretty she was, how in love with her I was and ensured my touches made it clear all of this hadn’t been for nothing. It’d been for this, the moment she realized that I loved everything about her. I loved her beauty, her soul, and the way she pushed me forward, fought for me and never let me get away with giving anything less than all of myself.
For that, I fought for us. I gave our love as much fight.
Thrusting forward, my mouth on hers sometime after her third orgasm, I couldn’t fight it any longer. I needed to come. “Tallan….” My voice shook with my panting breaths, struggling to remain still.
“Let go, baby,” she cooed in my ear, sucking on my earlobe, closing her teeth around me and giving me the okay. “Come for me.”
I did and it was unlike anything I’d experienced before. Pleasure shot through me, albeit pain too, as my muscles jerked with my release, my mind went blank for what seemed like forever. A strange emotion swelled and gnawed at me, one I didn’t quite understand, but knew it had everything to do with what I’d been through, what I’d overcome.
Tallan sighed and I couldn’t help but smile as her lips parted over mine. “You’re so beautiful when you come.”
Traveling my hands up her back, over her curves, I tightened my grip around her, my breathing as rapid as the fight. “Not as beautiful as you.” Our foreheads came together, both of us blinking slowly. “Thank you,” I mumbled, my kisses bloody and soft. I tried to give her a look that conveyed my feelings, my gratitude she had stayed and endured the last few months with me, but my eyes were so swollen it probably looked like I was attempting to squint. Ruined the moment a little, too.
Somehow, she understood and cupped my bruised cheek. She blinked and then focused her tear-filled eyes on mine. “No, thank you.”
How I got so lucky as to have a girl like this was beyond me, but I’d take it.
“I THINK HE remembers you.”
“Why would you say that?” Twisting my head, I looked over at Tallan as the sun came up over the strip, night giving way to the heat of the day. Bloodshot and beat, I tried to make out her face, only I couldn’t. She looked fuzzy. My eyes were both nearly shut, and what I could see was blurry.
Tallan called the doctor, and he was now on his way up in an hour. He’d probably confirm my fear that my retina had a tear in it.
From what Tallan had told me, the white around my right eye was red. And I, no doubt, had a ruptured ear drum. Maybe two.
Ice packs covered my body, one on my head, another on my ribs and two more on my hands. Though the pain was there, and I was a mess, I welcomed the pain because it was a symbol of what I’d been through. Battered with bruises and gashes, I wore every single mark with pride at where I’d gotten myself now. I might be nursing wounds for the next few weeks, but every mark was a road map as to where I was now.
Tallan touched her lips to my shoulder as she spoke. “I saw the look on his face in that fight. I think he remembered, but not enough to distinguish that you’re his son. He hears the name, recognizes words and memories, but it’s not easy for him. It’s like his brain won’t let him make the final connection that this boy he loves, is his son. It’s tragic in a way. In the sense that he’s stuck.”
I processed what she said and the meaning behind it. More importantly, how it made me feel inside, the way the words pulled at my heart in ways I never imagined. For so long, I knew how it made me feel, not how he must have felt inside. “What did he
do when they said my name?”
Her fingertips ran over the muscles in my chest, tracing over the veins and ridges. “He smiled.”
It made sense and I often wondered when he stared at me if he was trying to make the connection, only he couldn’t. “For the longest time, I wanted him to remember me,” I whispered into her hair when she laid her head on my chest. “Felt like if he didn’t, I had no one left. But in a strange way, the relationship he has with me as the boy is better than the one I had with him as my father. When he remembered me as his son, he remembered the bad too. The kid who told him I never wanted to be like him when I was eighteen and frustrated that he wouldn’t put the bottle down. Now, he talks to me like I’m his friend.”
For so long, I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. Being a friend instead of his son. I was mad that I’d been denied the ability to choose myself. Now it made me feel a sense of pride that I could be something to him, besides a smart-mouthed kid. I still had him in some way. Maybe not how I envisioned it, but he was still present.
AS TALLAN AND I laid there that morning, finally nowhere to be and nothing to do for once, though the day would be full of press, I took comfort in knowing I had this morning with her.
After the doctor left, my thoughts were all over the place and I still couldn’t place where I was emotionally. I could have told the press I lost that first fight intentionally. Naturally, I didn’t do the noble thing. I rarely did.
Instead, I took pride in knowing I’d taken a hit, and came back and won.
I would be lying if I didn’t say there was a small part of me that was bothered by it. It might have been something I struggled with for the rest of my life. That was until I spoke to my father about it over breakfast the next morning.
His voice of reasoning was ultimately what made my decision to keep my mouth shut.
“There are no mistakes in life, boy. Only lessons. If you learned from it, it’s a lesson. Forgive yourself for fighting for love. Some people can’t even say they’ve done that much.”
I wasn’t sure he understood what he was saying to me that morning, or how I would take it, but it was what I needed. There was an incredible amount of truth in his words. He never fought for my mother to stay and that bothered him for years. He could have, at any time, told her that all of that was for her, and me, his family. But he didn’t. He chose boxing over her and to this day, he might never know what would have happened had he chosen otherwise.
