by Roma, Laurie
“Wow, this looks amazing. Thank you for all of this. But, Jared, this steak is as big as my head.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll eat whatever you don’t finish,” he said with a wink before they began to eat. “I love steak. I was on a pretty strict diet when I was in training, but now that I’m retired it’s a pleasure to eat what I like.”
She had noticed during their time together that he ate a massive amount, but he had to with all the workouts he did. “You still stay in very good shape.”
“Part of that is habit I guess, but I own a gym, so what else am I going to do? I do love working out, but I like doing it at my own pace and not having to worry about what condition I’m in or if I’m at peak fighting form.”
“Do you miss it?” she asked before she could stop herself.
He took a sip of his wine as he thought about it. “Maybe at first right after I had the surgery, but after a while I realized that fighting was just a part of my life, and now that it’s over I can focus on other things.”
“I like that you’re helping other people with your rehabilitation center.”
“I do, too. We are still setting up some programs, but we should be getting more people in soon. Evie has been great setting up places for the guys to stay when they come in town, and I reached out to some of my contacts in the Army to tell them what I’m doing here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t start sending people my way after they are finished at the military rehab centers. After you recover from an injury sometimes it’s easier to take those final steps back to normal life somewhere else.”
“There are enough former military men and women in Breakers that they can still feel comfortable, I guess,” she added.
He grinned. “Yeah, we’re all over the place here. Hey, you can’t be finished already.”
“Jared, you fed me half a cow. I can’t eat anymore!” With a laugh, she pushed her plate toward him, and he took the half of her steak she had left since he had already finished his own. She watched in awe as he began wolfing down the remaining food with ease.
“Tell me, what kind of rules are there to owning a pit bull?”
She leaned back in her chair with a sigh. “They aren’t rules exactly, but Evie said that they make sure to check if the dog gets along with any other pets in the house, and they also like to make sure there is a fenced in backyard where the dog can run and play and can’t escape from.”
“That doesn’t seem like a problem. You don’t have any other pets.”
“No, I don’t, but there isn’t exactly a lot of space for me to build a fenced in yard behind the bakery. I have the patio area…but I use that for customers when the weather is nice. Keeping him in the apartment would be okay when he’s a puppy, but when he gets bigger he’ll need someplace where he can run and play. It wouldn’t be fair to keep him locked up all the time.”
Hammer took his time thinking as he chewed his last bite. His house was large, and even though the back yard opened to the bluff, he could easily install a fenced in yard on the right side near the garage. They could make it large enough to have a little wading pool and maybe some equipment similar to what he had seen at the rescue center. It would be perfect for a dog. There was a side door through the mud room he never used that lead outside that they could even put a doggie door in for easy access. Considering it, he didn’t want to say anything…yet. He didn’t want to scare her. There would be time to convince her to move in with him later.
Instead, he focused on what he could do for her right now.
“I have that huge field we replanted when we tore up the old parking lot next to the gym. We could enclose part of it and use it for the dog while we’re at work.”
She froze with her wine glass halfway to her lips, then set it down as she stared at him in disbelief. “You…we…what?”
He shrugged, going for nonchalance. “Some of the guys have dogs. Actually, it would be nice if we could have the dogs play together while the owners are working out inside. Besides, it’s close enough that you could check on him whenever you want and I could help watch him during the day.”
“You’d really do that?”
“Sure, why not?”
Kalista blinked rapidly to keep her tears at bay. Why was he always surprising her with his kindness? She bit her lip with an effort not to blurt out how much she loved him in that moment. It never occurred to her that he would want to help her or would do something as extreme as building her a fenced in area for her to be able to adopt a puppy. Letting her emotions guide her, she got up from her seat and walked around the table. He pushed back his chair, turning towards her with a questioning glance that changed to surprise when she sat down and curled herself on his lap, putting her arms around his neck.
She pressed her lips to his, rubbing them back and forth lightly. “You are the most amazing man.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
“I do,” she whispered, pressing her lips to his again. “I really do.”
Holding on to her, he stood and strode quickly toward the house. “We need to go to bed. Now.”
“What about the dishes?” she asked with a breathless laugh.
“Later. They can wait, I can’t. Christ, Kali. What you do to me. I just had you a few hours ago. I shouldn’t need you like this.”
“I’m glad you do.” She rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her up the stairs toward his bedroom.
Hammer took her mouth in a soft kiss, taking and giving pleasure in equal measure. Moonlight filtered into the room from the wall of windows, highlighting her almost ethereal beauty as he laid her onto the bed. He stood there for a moment, simply drinking in the sight of her, and could hardly believe that she was really his.
His to take…to pleasure.
Those beautiful green eyes watched him with a mixture of desire and something deeper that almost looked like love. Could it be? Was Kali ready for all that he wanted from her?
Hammer’s hands reached up to gently cup her face as he lowered his large body over her. Her full lips parted slightly, making him groan as he took her lips in another kiss. They opened for him, inviting him to plunge his tongue deep. Blood roared in his ears, making it almost impossible to think as his cock hardened to the point of pain.
He needed her…desperately.
Endlessly.
Unable to stand any barriers between them, he levered up, pulling her with him so he could unzip her hoodie and remove her shirt, leaving her bare to his gaze. He looked down at the perfection of her soft skin splayed out before him, and his hands moved up her body to cup her breasts.
“Fuck, you are so beautiful.” His voice was a low rumble of sound in his chest. “Just look at these pretty little nipples.” He leaned down to drink in her moan as he pinched the taut peaks, rolling the tight buds between his fingers.
“You…I want you naked, too,” she demanded as she tugged at his sweatshirt. He didn’t hesitate as he sat back up and yanked his sweatshirt off for her, pulling his shirt off with it in the process.
Kalista hummed in pleasure as she ran her hands up his naked torso. She loved his body. Loved running her hands over the strong contours of his muscles, feeling them straining beneath her hands. He started to kiss her again, pushing her back down on the bed, and she felt the steel-hard spike of his desire pressing against her thigh. He was so thick and hot against her that her core clenched as she remembered how he felt inside her.
But right now she wanted to see him…all of him.
“Pants, too,” she said breathlessly, making him grin.
“You first.” He got off the bed slowly, pulling her sweatpants down her legs as he did. His dark eyes sparkled as he stood at the foot of the bed. He held up her pants, swinging them from his finger before letting them drop on the floor.
Excited by his playful mood, she stared back into his eyes as she parted her legs, baring herself to his gaze. She watched the smile disappear from his face and felt the heat of his gaze on her, so fi
lled with dark hunger it made her clit throb with need. She could feel the proof of her desire for him spilling from her pussy and knew he could see it by the way his jaw clenched.
Hammer shoved his pants down his legs, stripping quickly so his hard cock sprang free. He reached down to grip his erection in his hand, standing still so she could drink in her fill. He knew that he was in good shape even though he was nothing compared to when he had been at top fighting form. Still, he took pride in his body and knew his cock was bigger than average, but the stark appreciation in her eyes as she looked at him made him feel like a god.
He stroking himself, spreading the drops of pre-cum over his length. “You want this? You want my cock, Kali?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Show me then. Show me how much you want me.”
Kalista hesitated a moment, unsure what he meant. It was difficult to think when the sight of him naked was like something out of her wildest fantasy. Courage, she told herself. Keeping her gaze on him she moved one of her hands to her stomach, tracing a finger around her belly button before moving it lower. Watching the hunger flare in his dark eyes made it clear he liked what she was doing, and it encouraged her to go further. She sucked in a harsh breath as her fingers made contact with her clit, and she watched his muscles ripple as his body tensed.
“Wider. Spread your legs wider for me, Kali. Yeah, just like that.”
Her breathing sped up until she was panting as her fingers slid into the slick proof of her desire for him. Her body clenched around her finger as she pushed it inside herself, and she moaned at the feeling. She could feel the pleasure building inside her, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted more … she needed him. She pulled her finger out of herself, wanting the ecstasy only he could give her.
She beckoned him forward. “Come here, Jared. I need you.”
Hammer went to her without hesitation, both of them pushed past their limits. His mouth slammed down on hers again as he covered her small body with his own again. He was careful not to press his full weight on her, not wanting to crush her as he worshiped her mouth with his tongue and lips. He ravaged her, unable to get enough of her sweet taste.
His hand moved between them, trailing over her bare mound that was slick with her juices. Pushing inside her, he scissored two of his fingers in her tight channel, leaning up a little so he could look down at her. “I love your bare pussy, baby. It makes me so hot I just want to lick it.”
He saw her cheeks flush with heat at his words, and it just made him want her more. He moved down her body, drawing both of her nipples into his mouth in turn before shifting lower. Pressing her knees further apart, he buried his head into her pussy like a man starved, lapping and sucking at the juices spilling from her pussy. He listened to the sound of her strangled cries of passion and felt his cock throb in response.
“Jared! Oh God, Jared!”
Hearing her cry out his name made Hammer want to drink down her juices until she begged him to stop, and even then he wanted to keep going. He wanted to claim her, put his brand on her so she belonged to him, completely. Latching onto her clit, he sucked lightly, using his tongue to flick over the tight little nub as he reached up to shove two fingers inside her tight pussy. He felt her release tear through her and had to press a large hand down onto her stomach to keep her in place as her entire body shook.
“Oh God, oh God!”
“That’s it, Kali. Come apart for me.”
Before she had come down from her orgasm, he moved over her and thrust his hips hard, driving his cock deep within her. Kalista cried out as his huge cock invaded her, her body desperately trying to adjust to the thick length of his shaft like it always did on his initial penetration. She had come to love that little bite of pain that mixed with the pleasure he gave her each time his first pushed inside of her, and she wrapped her legs around him, hooking her ankles around the back of his knees.
She willed her body to relax so she could take him and the sting quickly faded, replaced by pleasure as she felt his cock slide deeper. He moved back, only to repeat the process, thrusting further inside her each time until his cock hit the entrance to her womb. He flexed his hips, pulling back, then thrust forward. He repeated the motion over and over again, wringing moan after moan from her.
“So good…you feel so damn perfect around me, Kali.”
“More. Give me more.” She pulled his back down to her, biting his lower lip before sucking it into her mouth. With a groan, he took control of the kiss, plunged his tongue back into her mouth, stroking against hers.
“My sweet fairy…”
Hammer cradled her face between his hands as he looked down at her. God, how he loved to watch her expressive face as he thrust inside her. Looking into her passion-glazed eyes, he could see himself reflected clearly in them and he felt his heart stutter. He loved her. He knew it without a doubt now. With Kali, he knew he had found the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and he never wanted to lose her.
Just the thought of it had him fucking her harder, pushing through her clenching muscles to bring them both closer to release. He filled her completely as he stroked furiously into her tight pussy with rhythmic thrusts.
“You’re mine, Kali. Say it, tell me you’re mine.”
“Yes! Yes, Jared!” she cried out as her body clamped down around his thrusting shaft. Kalista’s orgasm tore through her, stealing her breath. Lost in the acute pleasure flooding her body, she barely heard him curse as he sped up the pace, pounding himself into her so the bed shook with the force of each thrust.
Hammer groaned as he thrust once, twice, then cried out her name as he exploded inside her, filling her with pulse after pulse of his hot, thick cream. Shudders wracked his body as he buried his face in her neck.
Panting for breath, he turned over on his back and took her with them so she was lying over him. His hands stroked the soft, smooth skin of her back, unable to stop touching her. For a moment he felt lost as his emotions spun out of control. He knew he’d wanted Kali since the moment he met her, but the depth of his feelings for her was something that shook him to his very soul.
Maybe he had closed off his heart to keep himself from being hurt after what had happened to him when he was young. In the past he had told a few girlfriends that he had loved them after they had said it to him, and at the time he had thought he had. But now he knew what he’d felt for them was simply a shadow of what real love was. He felt panicked and a little light-headed as he struggled to come to terms with what it meant to really love for the first time.
Hell, the truth was he felt like he’d been kicked in the nuts.
Kali was the only person in the world that could really hurt him now, and knowing that left him unbalanced and unsure of his next move. Did he tell her now, or would it be too cliché to say right after they just finished having sex? And why the hell was he even worried about shit like that?
What the fuck is wrong with me? Man up, Caufield.
“Kali…”
He leaned down, ready to tell her he loved her but paused when he noticed her eyes were closed and a small contented smile graced her lips. Her breathing was deep and even, telling him that she had fallen asleep as he had been busy trying to get his shit together. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched her sleep. Unable to help himself, he leaned his head down to softly stroke his lips against her forehead.
He loved how she always curled up against his chest and snuggled in when they lay like this, with their legs tangled together. It somehow made him proud that she didn’t automatically jump out of bed to clean their combined releases from her body right after they finished making love. Maybe it made him a throwback to the cavemen, but he liked knowing she was filled with his cum.
Relaxed, he was content just to hold her for a while and wrapped his arms around her tighter. He turned his head to look out the window at the stars. In a few minutes he would get up and clean her so she wasn’t uncomfortable while she slept, but for no
w he would try to figure out how the hell a man decided what to say to the woman who had captured his heart without sounding like a rambling, lovesick idiot.
Chapter Eight
“Your wood just arrived.”
Hammer glanced over at Dante Fox as his friend walked into his office at Fight Hard just as he ended a call on his cell phone. Dante threw himself in the chair in front of the desk, propping his feet up on the corner of the desk.
“And let me tell you, that isn’t a statement I ever thought I’d be saying to another dude after I entered a room. What the hell are you gonna do with all those boards?”
Scoffing, Hammer leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head to ease the tension that had settled in his shoulders from the phone conversation he just finished. “We are going to build a fence in the yard.”
“What the hell for?”
“Kali wants to adopt one of the puppies from the rescue shelter. It’s a pit bull, so Evie said having a safe environment for him to run and play is essential for the dog as well as the people around here. Kali doesn’t have a backyard to build one over by her place, so I said we could build one here.”
Dante shook his head. “Man, are you pussy whipped or what? First, it was that girl fight class, and now you’re adopting a dog with her? That little girl has you running in circles.”
“Kali isn’t like that,” Hammer growled. “And quit being such an asshole.”
“I’m just saying,” Dante said with a chuckle, loving that he could rile his friend up so easily. “If you start doing yoga and shit here I may have to take you out back and beat some fucking sense back into you.”
