Caged

by Lorelei James

  “I’m serious. That is a hard-core skill. Teach me.”

  “First one is free, my friend. Then you’re on your own.” Knox gave him a contemplating look. “But I could impart more advice if you agree help me out Friday night.”

  “Help you do what?” Deacon asked suspiciously.

  “Hang shelves in Nuri’s room. The kid’s toy collection is out of hand.”

  “Sure. I can do that.”

  “Cool. As long as you’re here, what’s this I heard that Terrel and Ito got into it in the training room?”

  Deacon bit back a smart-ass remark about Knox turning into a gossipy housewife—sometimes he forgot the big dude with the higher belt rank could whip his ass. “Ito’s daughter, Simone, has been fucking Terrel on the sly. And Daddy ain’t happy about the color of skin that’s been all over his baby girl.”

  Knox looked shocked. “How can that be? Ito is Japanese. He’s pissed off that his mixed-race daughter is sleeping with a mixed-race guy?”

  Deacon could see where Knox would take issue with that since his wife—and now his daughter—were both of mixed race. “I know, man. It’s fucked-up. But Ito cornered Terrel and knocked him out before Maddox could intervene. Blue wasn’t happy when Sensei only put Ito on probation.”

  “Why isn’t Shihan Beck handling it? That’s his job.”

  “He tried to handle it. I don’t gotta tell you, Ito can be a condescending prick.”

  “I don’t remember there being this much drama when I was Shihan,” Knox said.

  “There wasn’t. We were too understaffed to bitch at each other because we couldn’t afford to piss off one of the teachers and take a chance they’d quit. Now, between the dojo and the MMA program, there are a dozen new people.”

  Knox kept lightly rubbing on the baby’s back, but the kid didn’t stir. “Do you miss teaching?”

  “Kickboxing, yeah. Jujitsu?” He shrugged. “Some days. But it’s a relief to focus on just one thing.”

  “Will getting involved with Molly screw with your focus when you’re both in the dojo? You had problems with that when she was working with Fisher in the training room.”

  “I have to prove to Maddox she’s not a distraction. Besides, it’s not like she’ll be working with Fish-dick anymore. And I won’t be fucking her in the dojo either.”

  Knox didn’t say a word. But his smirk said everything.

  “It never bothered you when I caught you and Shi-Shi sneaking out of the damn supply closet? Ronin and Amery weren’t any better, slipping into the Crow’s Nest for a quickie. They couldn’t keep their clothes on until they got to the penthouse?” He shook his head. “You all are the reason it won’t happen there for us.”

  “Guess we’ll see how that plays out, huh?”

  Deacon looked at the clock and stood. “I gotta get. Uh, thanks for . . .”

  “Being a friend?” Knox supplied. Then the jackass started singing the theme song from Friends and woke up his baby.

  Served him right.

  CHAPTER SIX

  MOLLY had a dozen things on her mind when she walked into Hardwick Designs Tuesday morning.

  Presley jumped her first thing. “What the ever-lovin’ fuck, Molly? You and Deacon? Seriously? Everything you ranted about Saturday night just vanished when he showed up yesterday looking hot and horny?”

  “What? No.”

  “So you just tripped and fell onto his mouth when you were chewing his ass?” Her gaze zoomed to Molly’s neck. “You suck at hiding hickeys.”

  “Because I haven’t any practice at it.” Molly sent a quick glance to Amery’s closed office door. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  Presley leaned forward, giving Molly a close-up of her bruised and scabbed face, which was almost as interesting as her retro Betty Boop T-shirt. “I don’t think I can wait until lunch.”

  “Me either,” Chaz said from behind Presley, propping his chin on her shoulder. “I’m starved. I’m thinking about doing Five Guys for lunch.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Only you, Chaz, could make eating a burger sound dirty.”

  He smiled. “What can I say, doll? It’s a gift.”

  “While we’d love to watch you do five guys,” Presley said dryly, “aren’t you lunching with Amery today?”

  “That’s right. I am so glad you’re keeping track of my schedule, honey. Thank you.” He sauntered over to Amery’s door and knocked. Only after the door closed behind him did Presley speak again.

  “I’ll wait, but you’d better make it as juicy as the burgers I’m missing out on.”

  • • •

  DOWNTOWN Denver was chock-full of restaurants with outdoor seating. Even basking in the summer sun for only an hour rejuvenated Molly after staring at a computer screen all morning.

  Presley hadn’t chimed in about the situation with Deacon beyond saying she was happy he appeared to be making an effort. “Do you have plans with him tonight?”

  They gathered their stuff and started walking back to the office. “Deacon knows I have kickboxing class. I wish he were still teaching. Shihan Beck is all right, but he doesn’t have Deacon’s mean streak, which made me mad but also made me work harder.”

  “Will you continue taking private boxing lessons with Fisher now that you and Deacon are happening?”

  “I don’t know. Why?”

  “If Deacon hated you spending time with Fisher before you two got together, he’ll really hate it now. I just worry he’ll dictate stuff like that to you.”

  “He can try. But I’m not the pushover I used to be.” And it was a moot point since Fisher had been too busy to work with her one on one in the last month.

  “Good.” Presley looped her arm through Molly’s. “Speaking of dicks . . . Any idea what size he’s packing?”

  Molly groaned. “That’s your segue way into discussing his penis? From dictate to dick?”

  “Hey, I’m an artist, not a wordsmith. As a woman who’s been around that fine fucking specimen of manhood, I’m curious, Mol. And maybe a little jealous.”

  She stopped walking and faced Presley.

  “What? Now that you’ve got Deacon in the bag, I can admit he’s the one guy at Black Arts that I’d consider bagging.”

  “And you’re telling me this . . . why?”

  “Full disclosure. Deacon is a five-alarm-fire kind of man. The body, the tats, the chiseled face, the shaved head, the facial scruff, those blue eyes, the pissy attitude. You think it’s escaped anyone’s notice that he could be Daniel Craig’s younger, better-built brother? No. As far as looks and physique, he’s the total package. But he’s always been kind of a dick, so that lowers his stock value.”

  She snorted at the phrase stock value.

  “But in class he had eyes only for you. It never made sense why he stood you up after he finally asked you out. So after the shit went down in the strip club, I assumed he’d walk away when you didn’t just drop your panties for him. But he came after you. That he apologized? Hot. The way he looked at you in the gym last night? Hotter yet. I don’t have to tell you Deacon defines intense, and that’s scary.” Presley reached for Molly’s hand. “I have to ask if you can handle that about him.”

  Presley had been her friend for long enough that relaying the issues from her past probably wouldn’t earn her pity. “The truth?”

  “Between us? Always, Mol. You know that.”

  “I grew up believing no one wanted me. After my mother died, my grandma did her duty and took me in. As I grew up, I was shy, overweight, bookish. I never rocked the boat, never shared my opinions. That made me a ready target for my bitchy cousins and everyone else. I survived. In college I became . . . me. The me I’d always wanted to be. My life is better than I’d ever imagined. But the one thing I’ve never had?” Molly met Presley’s concerned face. “I’ve never had a man look at me the way Deacon McConnell does. So no. It doesn’t scare me; it thrills me. Can I handle it? You bet your ass I can.”

  “If I haven’t said it
enough, I’ll say it now. You amaze me.” Then she yanked Molly against her in a fierce hug.

  Molly squeezed her back. “I doubt this thing with Deacon will be long-term. And guess what? I don’t care. I will be well versed in covering up hickeys all over my body by the time this ride ends.”

  “Good attitude.” Presley hooked her arm through Molly’s again as they started down the sidewalk. “And not to make this about me, but you being with him is a bonus for me.”

  “How?”

  “Because you’ll be so distracted by thoughts of going all ‘hi-ho, Silver,’ riding Deacon’s naked bod all the time, that I’ll sneak in some funky design concepts, rope in new clients, and become Amery’s new favorite.”

  “Don’t bet on it.”

  • • •

  AN hour of kickboxing coated her entire body with sweat.

  Despite the heat burning her face, the pulse pounding in her throat, in her head, and in her hands, she stayed focused.

  Somehow Molly had ended up sparring with Shihan Beck at the end of class. It surprised him when she didn’t fall for his abrupt switcheroos and could adapt on the fly. She gave herself a mental high five.

  “All right. That’s it. Wrap it up and return to the mat.”

  They gathered around Shihan.

  “Starting next week we’ll rotate instructors. I’ll be gone from teaching this class for a month.”

  Grumbles sounded. Mostly from Liv, who had a massive hard-on for Beck. And Molly suspected it was an actual hard-on. Although Liv dressed like a woman, her body was ripped like a man’s, and no woman had an Adam’s apple that prominent.

  Molly wiped her face with a towel and started for the door. It might make her a masochist, but she loved the rubbery legs and tingling arms she got from working out, followed by the gradual cooling of her skin.

  Shihan fell into step with her. “Impressive as always, Molly.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I won’t give up on getting you into our jujitsu program.”

  In the hallway, Molly saw Deacon propped against the wall, waiting for her, giving her a hell of an eye fuck.

  “It’s all about showing up for class,” Shihan said, oblivious to Deacon advancing on them. “Consistency assures you won’t develop bad training habits. You could be an instructor in no time, if you put in the time. Isn’t that—”

  Deacon grabbed the ends of the towel draped around her neck, pulled her against his body, and laid a possessive kiss on her. After he staked his claim, he murmured, “Sweet and salty. My favorite combination, babe.” Deacon tucked her against his side and looked at Beck. “Shihan.”

  “Yondan.”

  “Just so you know? My woman is skilled enough to move up the jujitsu belt ranks at a rapid pace, but she’s never gonna slip on a gi.”

  Molly gaped at him when he planted another kiss on her lips to forestall her argument.

  Beck folded his arms over his chest. “I think the lady has something to say about that.”

  Had the tension always been this thick between the new Shihan and the former Shihan’s best friend?

  “Over the last year Molly has lightened Amery’s load at Hardwick Designs, which allows Amery to spend more time with Ronin. I’d guess if anyone has objections to Molly enrolling in extra classes to become a jujitsu instructor, it’d be Sensei. I doubt he’d be happy if his wife had to start working those crazy hours again.” Deacon shrugged. “But it’s your neck.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Sucks when your plans are foiled, huh?” Deacon drawled.

  “You don’t know the half of it.” Shihan Beck’s gaze winged between Deacon and Molly. “Guess you’re not coming out for a beer with us?”

  “Sorry. Got a better offer.”

  “I’ll say, you lucky bastard.” Beck sent Molly a quick smile. “See ya.” He walked off, leaving them alone.

  Without a word, Deacon towed her down the hallway into the conference room. He didn’t bother to turn on the lights. He just wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck.

  Okay. This was . . . unexpected. And sort of weird, because Deacon had trapped her arms so she couldn’t hug him back.

  He held her like that for several long moments. “How do you smell like goddamn flowers after you’ve been sweating your ass off for an hour?”

  “I am sticky and sweaty. I reek.” She sniffed his breath. “You don’t smell like you’ve been drinking.”

  Keeping their gazes connected, he brushed his mouth across hers once. Twice. Three times. “You always gonna babble before I kiss you for real?”

  “For real? So the kiss in the hallway was what? Fake?”

  He slowly shook his head, movement dragging his lips across hers again. “That was a preview.”

  “That was a show of machismo.”

  “Needed to happen. Put your hands on me.”

  Molly curled one hand around the back of his neck and pressed her palm over his heart.

  Deacon’s tongue parted her lips and he took ownership of her mouth.

  Talk about a breath-stealing kiss. She had no choice but to hold on tightly.

  Once he’d finally relinquished her, she murmured, “Sorry for the nail gouges.”

  He scraped his teeth over the hickey on her neck. “I’ll wear your marks with pride, babe, same as you wear mine.”

  Could this man be any sexier? “I didn’t expect to see you tonight.”

  “I hadn’t planned on bein’ here, but tomorrow Maddox is driving to Cheyenne to watch a guy he’s interested in signing. I told him I’d go along. We’re staying over, so I won’t be back until Thursday.”

  “That sucks. Presley and I are headed to Boulder on Thursday for a photo shoot. The Divas have a bout there, so it’ll be late when we get back.” She paused. “What about Friday night?”

  “Knox asked me to help him put up shelves in the baby’s room as a surprise for Shiori. Don’t know how long that’ll take.”

  “Are you training Saturday?”

  “Only until noon.” He hesitated, and she swore she felt the man blush in the dark. “Then we’re going hiking.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep. Pick a trail or two you wanna try.”

  Thrilled that Deacon had actually listened to her, she peppered his face with kisses. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

  “Babe,” he growled. “You missed my mouth.”

  “Oh yeah?” Molly teased him like he’d teased her. A whisper-soft lash of her tongue across the seam of his mouth. Sinking her teeth into his plump lower lip. She wanted him as desperate for her kiss as she’d been for his. By the time they finally took a breath, her lips were kiss-swollen.

  “Damn. It’s gonna be a long four days.”

  “We could text.”

  “Nope.”

  “Why not?”

  “I text slowly and I suck at spelling.”

  “That’s a shame. I’ve always wanted to try sexting.”

  His deep voice rumbled in her ear. “No words can describe how fucking hot it’ll be when I have the wet kiss of your pussy around my cock. Or how hard your heart will pound against mine when our bodies are slamming together.”

  “You’re pretty good with words.”

  “I’m even better with the real thing.” He stepped back, keeping