3 Breaths

by LK Collins

  Logan stops walking and looks between the two of us. “Almost four years.”

  We continue on as I say, “It was a great ride. I was training for the fight of my life when we last were together, but…” I trail off. “I never made the fight.”

  Logan opens the door for me and the noises invade my senses. My eyes bounce everywhere, scanning all of the faces, some I recognize, while others I don’t. Logan whistles, like he used to when I would slack off on training and my ears ring along with everyone else’s. All eyes are pulled in my direction, and when the guys I trained with for so long recognize me, I am bombarded.

  “Holy shit, Hensley’s back,” Ethan, the owner, yells, and the next hour is spent reminiscing. I never realized how much I missed this place, or these guys, but I do.

  “A hundred bucks says not one of you pussies can stand one round in the ring with Hensley,” Ethan challenges, and then looks at Ivy and apologizes for the pussy reference.

  “I’ll have him tapping in half a round,” a guy about my size says from across the gym.

  “Don’t do it, Brock,” one of the guys says.

  Ivy’s hand is still in mine and typically I’m not egged on by anyone, but this asshole has kept quiet my entire visit, like I am sand in his underwear, and every time I’ve looked at him, his eyes are on Ivy.

  I squeeze her hand once before letting go and then step forward. A low roar of cheers erupts in the room and the douchebag hops off the weight bench like he’s tough. Pulling my shirt over my head, I toss it to Ivy and step to him.

  Ethan jumps between us holding us apart. “We’re not bare knuckle fighting. Suit up.”

  “Nah, fuck that shit!” I shout and move around Ethan pushing the guy backwards.

  “You think you’re tough?” he asks.

  “Yeah, and you’re about to find out how tough I am.” I push him out of my way and hop into the makeshift ring that I have grappled and sparred in so many times. Leaning down I stretch my back and legs and then raise my fists.

  “Lock the door,” Ethan shouts and jumps into the ring, holding us apart “If I let you fight like this, when I call it, you’re done, understand?”

  I nod once and catch sight of Ivy watching me as I pound my fists together. Having her close to me again while I fight feels good. Especially because this time I know that she is safe. Ethan steps back and says, “Bring it on.”

  The ten guys in the room erupt in cheers, but through it all, Logan’s voice is loud and clear. I hear him better than anyone; hell, I trust him the most. As we size each other up and land a few jabs here and there, I get my feet in a good flow, but he wants to take me to the ground to try and end it quickly, and I’m not having that weak ass shit. I’d rather beat the shit out of him for four and a half minutes and then make him tap.

  Swinging in for a left hook, he ducks and catches me with an uppercut. Blood pools in my mouth and I smile at him, taking things up a notch. I keep him close to the ropes as I work him around the ring, landing shot after shot. He grunts from every punch, tiring out quickly, and the satisfaction of quickly having the advantage only ramps up my adrenaline.

  Stepping back, I look at him and can see the pain in his face as he heaves for air. Clearly he’s not well trained in endurance. Kicking his feet out from underneath him, I contemplate my next move, then Logan sees an opportunity that I don’t and shouts, “Arm bar.” And I grab his arm, outstretching it in my grip. Holding it back in just the right position, I strain his elbow so I put enough pressure to make him tap, but not enough to snap it, even though I want to. I lock eyes with Ivy and watch the grin spread across her face. His groans are painful as he holds out and I tweak his arm back a little harder, then feel his free hand tapping me over and over.

  Ivy claps as Ethan calls it. Jumping up and down, she raises both hands high in the air excited. Letting go of my grip, the douchebag falls off of me and I get to my feet, hugging Logan as he congratulates me along with the rest of the guys in the gym. Being back here shows me how much I’ve missed everyone. It was stupid of me to turn my back on these guys when I was in need of them most. But in doing so, it turned me towards Ivy and as she wraps her arms around me, I feel deep in my bones that everything I’ve been through has brought me to this moment. Because everything happens for a reason.

  “I’m proud of you for today,” Ivy says. I look at her a little confused, not sure what she could be proud of me for. I completely bitched out on even going into my old apartment. “Don’t look at me like that.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t understand why you would say that.”

  “Uhh, you kicked that guy’s ass in the ring. You know, I really love watching you fight. I can see how happy it makes you. It’s in your blood and to see you reconnect with those guys was really awesome. I’m glad that we went.”

  “That’s nice of you to say, but we didn’t get done what we needed to.”

  She walks over to me and wraps her arms around my waist. “And that’s okay, we can do it another time. You really can’t put so many expectations on yourself. Sometimes you have to just be in the moment and let what happens happen. Today wasn’t meant for us to go through the apartment. We had no boxes, or a storage unit lined up, so it would have been a waste.”

  Looking down, I nod, agreeing with her. She is right, she always is, and I need to remember that more often. Listening to her words and staying in this moment, I press my lips against hers. The sensation immediately calms me. Holding her head so tenderly, I kiss her, allowing our bodies to take us where they want.

  She puts so much passion into her kisses. The way her hands roam my body and her pussy brushes against my cock, mixed with the moans of her pleasure, it all turns me on. Grabbing the hem of her shirt, I lift it over her head, breaking our kiss for just a brief moment. Then I unclasp her bra freeing her perfect tits.

  “I. Need. You,” I whisper in between kisses.

  She weaves her hand into the front of my shorts and says, “Then fuck me.” Wrapping those five delicate fingers around my shaft, she strokes me, and I push my shorts down and out of the way. I fumble with her pants to get them unzipped and once I do, she steps out of them. Then I swoop her up, carrying her to the couch, where I lay her down. Tearing my shirt above my head, I look into her eyes and remind myself to just take my time. As I lean down and inundate her body with kisses, I press my lips on every grain of her sensitive skin causing her to twitch beneath me.

  Pulling back, I adore her beauty. I’ll never get enough of it, or her. My dick has waited long enough. As I clench the base, I ease my way inside of her. She accepts me, like we’ve fucked a million times. The inside of her cunt sends a shiver down my body. Tucking my chin to my chest, I take a moment to compose myself.

  She grips my ass, urging me to move, so I begin to fuck her, working every inch of myself in and out of her. With every pull and push, I groan. The feeling is un-fucking-believable. She lets out a loud whine and I look down as Ivy has her chin pointed to the ceiling and is gripping my biceps. My tattoos look dirty against the perfection that is her porcelain skin.

  Her breathing is harsh, her skin blotchy, and it’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever fucking seen. “Yes, Krane, like that.”

  “You like to take my cock, don’t you?” I ask her, picking up speed and grabbing both of her tits. I play with her nipples getting lost in this great world that we create together. My shaft pummels in and out of her, and I’m lost in the solace that is the connection I feel with her.

  Finally, she looks at me. Her wide eyes are so hot and I cannot control myself. Letting go of her tits, I lift her hips, and slowly push into her as deep as I can. As she moans underneath me, we both freeze and I hold my dick deep inside her, rocking my hips a little, stroking that sweet spot. “Fuck!” she shouts, trembling, reaching, and gripping for anything she can.

  “That’s it, take my cock.”

  “YESSS!” Her word switches to a scream followed by her letting go and I make her come hard. Watching
her like this sets me off, and I wait as long as I can, holding and savoring my orgasm. Rubbing myself inside of her wet and tight pussy is the best feeling ever.

  She is still coming when it hits me, as a fiery blast of cum ignites from my balls and drenches her insides. I remind myself to keep control, to savor her and this moment. Slowing my movements I get lost in her kisses and when we finally break with my dick still inside of her she says, “I love when you make me come.”

  I give her one more kiss before I ease my way out of her and respond, “I love making you come. And fucking you and seeing you naked.” My cock starts to grow and she looks down, giggling at me. “I can see that.”

  Hopping off of the bed, I walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I look over my shoulder and see Ivy strutting towards me. Stepping aside I gesture her in ahead of me. The warm water surrounds our bodies as I close the door behind us.

  Looking into her eyes, she is so beautiful. I feel very lucky to be in this moment – she is unlike anyone else in this world. And for me to have found such a connection with her, especially after losing Zoë, is unreal.

  “What’s that?” Ivy asks as I hold Zoë’s favorite college sweatshirt out in front of me.

  Turning, I show her the faded navy blue hoody and it brings a smile to her face. “Oh that’s definitely a keeper. I can picture her wearing it.”

  “Me too,” I say and pass it to Ivy, so she can pack it in one of the boxes of stuff that we are keeping in storage. This is all a lot to mentally process. But after struggling for days regarding when we would get back over here, we decided to schedule it, rented a moving truck, and are just getting it done…or trying to, at least. Even though it’s hurting like hell right now, we have to – Zoë wouldn’t want me struggling to pay for an empty place to keep a bunch of materialistic stuff.

  “It was nice of the guys to help,” Ivy says from the bathroom. She’s been talking a lot. I think to keep her mind busy and me too. It’s a nice distraction, as I often find myself off in a daze of nonsense.

  “Yeah, it was.” Logan and a couple of buddies from the gym came by earlier today, they moved all the big stuff out of here for us and into the storage unit. Finishing up the last of the bedroom, I head into the bathroom to check on Ivy. She is sitting on the floor, surrounded by a mess of stuff.

  “How’s it going?”

  “It’s okay. You have a lot of hair products.”

  I smirk running my fingers over my shaved head and she smiles at me. “I’m gonna run these boxes down and check the meter.”

  “Okay.” She looks back down going through the rest of the stuff from under the sink. Grabbing two boxes from the kitchen, I take the elevator down and let out a breath of air that I seem to have been holding.

  The sun has set and today has exhausted me, probably more than I’ve realized. Loading the boxes into the back of the U-Haul, I’m spent. To think of unloading everything into storage and then making the trip home is unbearable, so I’m grateful I booked a hotel in the city.

  I haven’t had a lot of extra money lately after the underground fights have slowed, but a night to decompress after a hard day is just what we both need. Plus, it will be a good surprise for her. I pop a few more quarters into the meter and check the tires to make sure the meter man hasn’t marked them. Heading back upstairs, Ivy has the bathroom all cleared out. “You want me to take these?” I ask.

  “Yeah,” she responds, gathering the rest of the trash leaving the floor bare.

  After a few trips, the U-Haul is loaded and as I stand in the middle of what was once my home, I look around at all of the nail holes in the walls from Zoë’s paintings. She was an amazing artist and had covered these walls with so many colorful pictures that had her personality shining through them.

  “We did good,” Ivy says intertwining her fingers with mine.

  Bringing her hand to my lips, I respond, “Yeah…yeah, we did.”

  “Are you gonna miss it here?”

  I think about all of the memories that were created in this place and am so glad that those are forever mine and locked in my head. With an honest expression on my face, I look at Ivy and respond, “No, I won’t.”

  She tilts her head, perplexed by my comment and I let go of her hand removing the door key from my key ring. As the silver key spins around and around, I say to Ivy, “This hasn’t been my home for quite a while. I’m ready to let it go.”

  “Where are you going?” Ivy asks, as I miss the exit for the turnpike and continue towards the hotel.

  “You’ll see.”

  I can see her looking at me out of the corner of my eye. She yawns and I ask, “You tired?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “Did you ever talk to your mom about helping with the apartment?” I ask her a little too late, but the thought that she wasn’t involved just popped into my mind. She doesn’t answer and I look at her. “Ivy?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Every time I talk about you, she…she clams up.”

  “I don’t give a shit, don’t you think she would have liked to have been given the chance to be there? Besides, I told you she hates me.”

  She chuckles. “Well, it’s a little too late now.”

  I glare at her, turning deeper into the city and she asks again, “Where are we going?”

  “Be patient.”

  “Uhhhh!” She rests her tired head back in frustration. “Well, the bag of stuff that I’m keeping of Zoë’s has a lot of things in it for my mom. I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  “Will you just make sure she knows I wanted her there and that we didn’t not ask her intentionally. Say we did it on a whim or something?”

  “I’ll handle her, Krane.”

  Her mom already has a bad taste in her mouth where I’m concerned and now that we did this without consulting her, although it was my apartment, it will elevate things if she doesn’t take it well. Pulling up to the hotel, I put my truck in park and am greeted right away by a valet guy.

  Ivy looks at me surprised.

  “Come on, let’s go decompress.”

  “And shower,” she adds, looking down at her jeans insinuating they are dirty. I sling an arm over her shoulder and kiss the top of her hair on the way inside. “You do stink a little.”

  She tries to pull away from me, but I hold her close.

  “Thank you for doing this for us.”

  “Anything for you,” I tell her.

  Check in is a breeze and come to find out I went to school with the guy that works the counter. As we enter the hotel room, I can see that he hooked it up for us tonight. This place is massive, everything is open and lit up. There is an expansive wall of windows that overlooks Central Park. Flipping on the fireplace as I enter the bedroom, Ivy says, “Did you book this room? I thought you told the guy at the counter you wanted a king room?”

  I flop back on the bed, looking at the ceiling and respond, “This is a king’s room.” She lies on top of me nuzzling close, and even though today was unbearable at times, we did it. “Thank you for everything,” I tell her, kissing the top of her shoulder.

  “I can’t believe we got it all done.”

  Going though the apartment and leaving it empty was a lot of work, especially to do it all in one day. But it also let me release a part of my past. Looking down at Ivy resting so peacefully across my body, it’s all worth it. Her breathing is even and I hate to get up, but we need to shower.

  “Stay here,” I tell her and slip away. Walking into the bathroom, which is mainly made up of granite, I turn the water on to the huge soaking tub, knowing she’ll love to relax for a bit. Going back out, I lift her off of the bed. “Come on, baby, up you go.”

  The endearment slips out of my mouth and we both look at each other. I’ve never said it before, and she grins as I cradle her tired body against my chest. Walking her into the bathroom, I set her next to the tub. The room is starting to fill with steam and I adjust the water before I remov
e her clothes, taking extra time to pay attention to all her sensitive places.

  “Aren’t we going to rinse off first?” she asks.

  “Probably smart,” I respond and turn the shower water on before I undress. Quickly we wash off and then as I hold her hand, we carefully walk on the slippery floor and she asks, “Will you just hold me?”

  We both step foot into the tub and I slide down first, sitting in the hot water, which stings my skin. She stands in front of me and leans down cupping a handful of water that she picks up and runs down her body. As she bends forward, her ass and pussy are spread directly in front of my face.

  “Do that again and you’ll be riding my cock in here.”

  She looks back at me, bracing her weight on the sides of the high walls of the tub and sits in front of me. My cock is stiff and wants her, but I respect her wishes and fold my arms around her, pulling her close to me.

  “Do you think you’ll ever tell your mom about us?” I ask, thinking about our conversation from earlier.

  “Sure, when the time’s right.”

  “You should give your mom the picture Zoë painted of Long Beach.”

  She turns in my hold and blinks a few times before turning back around.

  “Why?”

  “Because it would make her happy.”

  I cannot change the animosity that Brenda has for me, or make her understand what Zoë meant to me, especially once she finds out about Ivy and I, but what I can do is follow my gut and do what I think would make Zoë happy. I remember hearing her on the phone with her mom after she painted it, she was so excited and proud. She couldn’t wait to share it with her. It might be a small gesture, but right now, I’ll take it. Anything I can do to show the woman who hates me most that I am not a monster after all.

  Looking out at the view of Central Park while I sip my coffee, the noises of honking and sirens in the distance are familiar. This moment takes me back to when I first moved here. I loved New York City, still do honestly. But being here is hard; my mind can’t rest because the noises in my head are loud.