Damaged Goods: A Single Dad & Nanny Romance

by Rye Hart

  “But not everyone was good enough?”

  “No, of course not. It’s one thing to be tough. Fighters...pro fighters...we’re different. We have an extra gear or cog that makes us able to do what we do. Trust me, you can’t understand it if you haven’t been in there.”

  “I believe you.”

  “Andrew wasn’t quite good enough for the pros yet,” he says. “But I agreed to train him with my coach, and to train with him, until he was ready. But he just wouldn’t wait. Every other weekend he was jumping into some underground fight--all in New York, so, illegal--for a few hundred bucks, thinking that this would prove something to us all. All he really needed was patience. If he just could have given it a couple more years he would have been thrashing every killer in the division, including me.”

  I had never heard Andrew’s name in any of the press I had read about Hugh. Where is this going? I saw the look on Hugh’s face becoming more serious. I was starting to feel a chill and the urge to wrap my arms around him returned, stronger than ever.

  “I just couldn’t get him to listen,” says Hugh. “So I had to figure out how to try and protect him. I failed. I failed him in the worst possible way.”

  I’ve never heard someone sound so miserable.

  He looks up. “You know what the worst part about being tough is? About being strong?”

  “What is it?”

  “People stop asking if you’re okay. They assume that you’re fine, no matter what’s going on. They forget that you’re human.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE: HUGH MADDOX

  Well, here I am, telling her everything. I’m glad this moment is finally here, even if it means I lose my anonymity, my hiding place, and her. I feel like I’m in a confessional booth, which makes me think that maybe I should have taken church more seriously. Or therapy.

  You’re only as sick as your secrets. Who said that? I always liked it and believed it, even though it never got me to share any of them until now.

  Sam’s concern is genuine. I can tell that she wants to say more than she is and I love her for it. But I have too much left to say before we can go...wherever we’re going to go.

  “Andrew kept showing up at the gym beat all to hell,” I say. “I knew what he was doing and I couldn’t make him stop. So I did the only thing I knew how. I offered to go with him to watch his back. He was so happy. He knew that if I just saw him fight in one of these illicit gigs I’d see that I was wrong about him. I’d see that he was ready.”

  I can still see the kid in my head. I can still hear his loud laugh, and see the awkward way he moved when he first started fighting.

  “His first fight--the first one I saw him in--was in a warehouse on the outskirts of Brooklyn. Shabby, shitty business. The kind of place where people wind up brawling for YouTube hits. I tried to get him out of there as soon as we got there, but he was determined. I couldn’t drag him out of there in front of everyone; it would have wrecked his self-image and whatever reputation he had gathered among these guys.”

  “So he fought?” says Sam.

  I nod. “Right before it started I saw the other guy tuck a roll of quarters into one of his fists. There was a lot of betting action going on. I tried to tell Andrew what I had seen but it was too late. I could have broken it up. I should have. I trusted that he’d be able to dodge, or grab the guy, get his hands open if they went to the ground, and then everyone would see that he was trying to cheat. You can really fuck someone up with even a little extra weight in your hand.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “The irony is that, as soon as the fight started, it happened just like I hoped it would. Andrew wasn’t the best striker yet, but he was a devil if he could drag you down. Grappling with Andrew on the mat was like being in the water with a shark, even if you were good. There was no margin for error. Just like I had hoped, he got wrist control, popped the guy’s hands open, and out rolled that pack of quarters.”

  “Was that the end of the fight?”

  “Ha! You didn’t know Andrew. That was just the beginning. Andrew jumped up, grabbed the quarters, handed them back to the guy, called him a little bitch, and told him to feel free to use them because he was going to need all the help he could get.”

  “Sounds like I would have liked him.”

  “Everyone liked Andrew. Except the guy he had just humiliated. And it didn’t stop there. They fought for another six rounds with only fifteen second breaks in between. It was brutal. The other guy was getting the worst of it. Totally outmatched. Andrew was punishing him for trying to cheat. That’s one thing most people don’t know about fighters. At least, people who think we’re all just dumb thugs. They think there’s no honor, no code. But most of us got into martial arts for the ethos. There’s something pure in it when you start, even if you forget it.”

  “That makes sense. I used to love Bruce Lee.”

  “Who doesn’t love Bruce Lee? But Andrew was punishing the guy. I could tell that he could have finished the fight at any time. Put the guy out of his misery. But he wanted him to suffer, so he dragged it out to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately, he created an opponent who had nothing to lose. Then he got him so blind with rage that...it went bad. Oh God.”

  I rub my face. It’s like no time has passed at all and I’m right back there in that warehouse, waiting for what I can’t stop.

  “Do you want to pick this up again later?” says Sam.

  “No. If I stop now I might never start again…Andrew finally took the guy down for the last time and got him in a rear naked choke. There was no way out but the guy was tough. He wouldn’t tap and soon he was asleep. Andrew got up and collected his money while the guy’s homies picked him up and tried to revive him. As soon as he was mobile, he came up behind Andrew and kicked him in the side of the head.”

  “Oh my God!”

  “It was a hard shot, but nothing that we hadn’t seen before. But it knocked him sideways. Just one of those freak things. Andrew fell and hit his head on the side of the table that people were using for their drinks. One of the corners hit his temple and that was it. He died minutes later of a massive brain hemorrhage.”

  There it is. Out in the open. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more Andrew.

  Sam wipes a tear from her eye. “So that’s why you quit?”

  “Not entirely. First of all I wanted revenge. Of course. But that kind of thinking isn’t sustainable. The guy who killed Andrew was plugged into a couple of gangs. That was a fight I eventually would have got the worst of. I wasn’t going to start carrying a gun and getting in shootouts every day. But the other part of that was that cops raided the warehouse right then. They rounded us all up. Medics saw what happened to Andrew. One of them, a fan, recognized me and took me over to talk to a couple of detectives.”

  “Did they help you get the guy?”

  “No, that guy was done either way. He wound up going to prison. The whole thing was illegal. None of us were clean, guilty by association just by being there, including me. My agent would have gone berserk if he’d known I was there. Sponsors would have dropped me in a flash unless they put some gross ‘bad boy in underground pit fighting scandal’ spin on it, but that’s not what I wanted my championship reign to be about. Not that that’s what mattered. Andrew was what mattered and he was gone.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” she says.

  “I should have stopped him.” There’s nothing she can say to change what I know, but it’s nice to hear. I want to believe her, but she’s wrong. “And I could have.”

  “We make our own choices. It’s not our friend’s job to drag us away from things. He would have resented you.”

  “But he would have lived.”

  Sam turns off the recorder. “Look at me.”

  I look at her. She’s staring back with all the conviction a person can have. “I want you to say “It’s not my fault,” she says.

  “I can’t, Sam. And even if I could, I let those detectives let me off. I should have taken my lumps
for being there in the first place. Everyone else had to. I had always sworn that I would never play the ‘I’m an important guy’ card to get out of trouble. But I did and I’m fucking ashamed of it.”

  “Does being out here help?” She gestures at the basement walls. “Do you feel like you actually escaped?”

  “Of course not. But I don’t have to deal with the memory of him everywhere I go.”

  “It doesn’t sound like that’s true. You’ve got a picture of him on the wall. You can’t atone forever, Hugh. What do you want from your life now? There’s got to be more than this. You’re more than a beard and an ax and a cabin. That sounded dumb, I know, but you’ve reduced yourself to less than you should be. You’re a special person and I don’t need to know you any better than I do to know that. So I’m going to ask you again, what do you want from your life?” Her fiery speech has lit up her cheeks with a sexy flush. Her rapid movements make her body sway and bounce in all the right ways.

  “You really want to know what I want?” I say. Because I can suddenly think of something.

  “Tell me.”

  I stand up. “Come here.”

  She stands up and walks over to me. “Now what?”

  “I believe in fair play and I think you got some of my best earlier. Now I want you to get on your knees. And you’re going to take more than a minute.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: SAM WASHINGTON

  I can’t argue with his logic. Fair is fair.

  I drop to my knees. He’s already hard and bulging against his jeans. I unzip him, and slowly take his hard cock out of his pants. That’s when I realize that maybe this isn’t as fair as I thought. He’s working with a lot more than I am.

  But I can do it. After hearing him bare his soul, knowing how vulnerable he has made himself to me—and only to me—I would do anything to make him feel better. I lightly trace my nails on the underside of the shaft, enjoying his low groan. It feels like power, a revving motor, and I’m causing it. He looks down at me and we hold one another’s gaze as I stroke his massive cock.

  After I work him with my nails for a while I can tell he’s needing more. I take my time running my tongue along it. He moans. I run my tongue up and down it a few more times. He puts one hand in my hair. Then the other. His hips rock gently and I take more of him in.

  Feeling him get harder in my mouth makes every nerve in my body catch on fire. There is a release and a liberation in being so uninhibited that I have never known. I go a little faster and he pushes me back. He wants it slow. And I give it to him. Again, he moans and rocks, his hands in my hair as he shows me what he wants.

  I reach under the stroke the rest of him. He quivers. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. He guides me with his hands in my hair.

  Soon I sit up taller on my knees, stroking him with both hands, and sucking him aggressively. I suck him like I’m the one who needs it. And maybe I am.

  He sounds like he can’t take it anymore. He lets out a cry and pushes me back again.

  Hugh stands over me staring, his chest heaving, his eyes wild. I can’t wait to see what he’ll do to me next.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: HUGH MADDOX

  This woman is driving me insane. I can’t handle Sam’s precious mouth one moment longer. I need the rest of her.

  I pull out of her mouth and she looks up at me pleadingly. I know exactly what she needs. But she’s still wearing far too many clothes.

  Now I’m the one on my knees.

  I reach down and tear off the tiny panties she’s wearing. She gasps. I push her back onto the floor and pull her body to me with both of her legs over my shoulders. She looks frightened as I go in for my first taste.

  Her body starts to tremble as I begin my work. She moans and grabs onto my hair. The taste of her is exquisite. Her body begins to rock against my face in perfect rhythm. It’s as though we’re making music.

  She’s thrusting against my face and no matter how I change up my movements, she’s moaning. I ease a finger into her while sucking gently and watch her eyes roll into the back of her head. I slide my other hand under her shirt and begin working her nipple. She cries out as though no one’s ever touched her quite like this. And I’m sure they haven’t. I’ve got her right where I want her.

  I sit up, grabbing her legs and pulling her to me. She wraps her legs around my hips and her arms around my shoulders as I slide inside of her. She gasps again and I can tell she needs it slow. For now.

  I rock Sam gently as she gets used to my cock inside of her. She closes her eyes, throws her head back, and moans like a wild animal. I ease in a little deeper. She loves it. I ease her up and down, thrusting slightly into her. She grips at my shoulders as though it’s making her dizzy.

  Suddenly she’s pushing me back onto the floor and getting back on her knees. She eases my cock inside of herself. Slowly she works her body up and down on my own. She begins to ride me like a Valkyrie. I’ve never seen anything like it. She takes the reigns and thrusts herself hard onto my cock. She wants to be in control. I’ll let her have that. For now.

  I don’t know what it is about Sam, but her touch makes me feel new. Not just her touch—what she does on her knees is mighty impressive too. But it’s more than that. I feel protective of her. More than protective—at this point I know, I cannot let her go.

  Her hips start grinding and she takes all of me in. Her eyes roll into the back of her head yet again as she moans louder, wet and wild atop me. I grab her hips and buck her a little. She cries out with delight. I slide my thumb into her mouth and she sucks eagerly, now opening her eyes to stare into my own.

  This woman is my kind of wild. I love it.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN: SAM WASHINGTON

  I’ve never ridden a man like this in my life, but if I stop, I feel like I’ll die. I grind down on him harder and he meets my body by thrusting his into mine. I press my hands into his chest to get better traction as I ride him. He places both hands on my breasts and begins rubbing at my nipples. I pull my top off as he tears at my bra, both of us desperate for this. He bucks a little harder when he sees me fully naked and spread on top of him.

  I feel so free. I can feel myself getting close to climax and I think he can feel it too. He doesn’t want it like this though.

  He pushes me off and stands quickly. We’re both still for a moment panting and staring at one another. Suddenly he pulls me to my feet and turns me around. He pushes me against the wall and slides my legs apart by pushing his knee in between them. I feel him rub himself along my inner thighs. There is a stinging smack. He just spanked my ass.

  “Do it again,” I say, nearly out of my mind with desire.

  Hugh spanks me again, harder, then grips the back of my neck with one hand. He puts his chest against my back, pressing me into the wall. The weight of him makes me pant, but my breath quickens when I feel the tip of his cock slide into me from behind. I let out a cry and he slowly pulls back. He eases in again, slowly, giving me time to adjust.

  He continues to mount me as I arch my back. His grip on my neck tightens as he thrusts it in so deep that I have to rise up on my toes to take it. One of his forearms remains around my neck, holding me in place as he fucks me.

  “Are you okay?” he whispers hoarsely in my ear.

  “Yes,” I say, barely able to get the word out. “Don’t stop.”

  He takes a grip of my hair, pulls my head back slightly, and thrusts in deeper than before. Over and over, he pounds away at my backside. I am lost, oblivious to everything but the sounds and sensations of our bodies. Again and again, he slams into me, cupping my ass in one hand one moment, then reaching around to play with my clit. I’m pinned against the wall and couldn’t escape even if I wanted to.

  A low groan rises up in me as my body shakes.

  “Hugh,” I cry out. “Hugh!”

  I come hard as he pounds away, then once again before the exquisite convulsions of the first have stopped. This is all I have ever wanted to feel. Consumed. Taken away. Outsid
e of myself, yet inhabiting myself in a way that I never could have understood without Hugh inside me.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN: HUGH MADDOX

  Watching her come like that has me on the brink. I’ve got her from behind, still inside of her, still moving. But I need a change of pace.

  I give her a moment to catch her breath as I pull out. I kiss her back, running my fingertips along the backs of her thighs to see if she’s still game. I keep kissing and she starts to breath harder, becoming aroused yet again.

  Good girl.

  I turn her around and lift her up against my torso. She stares into my eyes in total disbelief. As she tightens her arms around my shoulders, I slide into her once again. We stare into each other’s eyes, her mouth hanging open, her breathing going deep just as I go deeper too.

  Her arms lock around my neck as she draws herself tight against my torso. She holds my gaze as I continue to lift her, up and down, on my cock. Her eyes are almost daring me to try and stop. I can’t. And I never will. Sam’s mine now. And this is just the beginning.

  I pause to kiss her neck and ears. She meets my mouth with her own for a lengthy kiss. She looks into my eyes and in that instant we both know what this is. And it’s far more than I ever imagined possible for myself.

  I want to kiss Sam. I want to smash her. I want to eat her alive. Instead I’ll fuck her into oblivion. I give it to her fast and hard and delight in watching her eyes roll into the back of her head yet again. The sensation is too much for her and she goes limp. She dangles in my arms as I move in and out of her. Her moans start again and her grip around me tightens once more.

  I tighten my hands on her hips and she knows what’s next.