“Oh yeah, now you wanna fight like a real man? I’ll show you what a real man looks like.”
The finishing move happened so fast. To Molly it seemed like a series of limbs clashing together and ending with Mr. Pain laid out flat on the floor, motionless. The referee held Xander’s hand in the air, making him the official winner.
What did I just watch? That poor guy was obliterated. I know I should be cheering but somehow it just feels wrong.
The girls waited until the massive line of fans died down before getting out of their seats.
“Wow. I really thought Xander was going to get the shit beat out of him tonight. As much as I wanted him to hurt for what he did to you, it was cool to see those two just go at it! Don’t you think?”
Molly nodded her head and started making her way down the aisle.
On the cab ride home, Molly was quiet, while Elodie was still hyped up from the fight.
By the time they arrived home, Molly was exhausted.
“Sorry, El, I wish I could stay up with you to watch the videos you recorded of the fight. I’m sure I’d be able to make better sense of everything the second time around. I’m pooped though and I gotta work the mid-shift tomorrow.”
Molly hugged Elodie goodnight and headed off to her bedroom.
An hour passed and Molly still couldn’t sleep. Flashbacks of Xander ruthlessly beating his competitor had been playing in her mind since she first put her head to the pillow, making it hard to feel relaxed enough to close her eyes.
Just think of your happy place.
When Molly was a child she suffered from night terrors. Almost every night by ten o’clock, Molly would be rapping on the door of her parent’s room, talking nonsensically about monsters under her bed or the ‘bad man’ who was going to steal her from her bed. Molly’s mother had tried everything from sleeping with her in her own bed, to giving Molly bright and colorful night lights. Nothing seemed to work, until her mother came up with the ingenious idea of telling Molly to imagine her ‘happy place.’ Somewhere real or made up, that set Molly at ease. Somewhere Molly could envision herself smiling and without fear. It had been instrumental in helping Molly cope with her night terrors, eventually getting rid of them entirely.
Molly closed her eyes and thought of her happy place. Over the years the images of where Molly would be most happy changed. When she was younger, it was a land full of candy and unicorns. Now that she was older, this place was a serene and lush forest. Gushing waterfalls cascading down glimmering rocks, gathering at the bottom into an almost transparent pool. Butterflies fluttered past her eyelids and birds could be heard chirping from the tops of the arbutus trees surrounding her. Molly began to drift off into her dreamscape. Sinking further into her mattress, she imagined floating naked down a river on her back, looking up at the clear blue sky and seeing monkeys jumping across the tree canopy overhead.
It was usually around this time that Molly fell into a deep sleep, awaking in the morning unable to remember the rest of her dream. Tonight would be different.
As Molly was floating, she heard a rustling in the bushes beside her. The birds had all flocked to the other side of the river, and the monkeys disturbed by whatever was lurking in the foliage, had taken to the trees and swung away to follow the birds. Curiosity was not an obstacle for ‘Dream Molly.’ Unafraid, she turned from her back and swam to the shore. Lifting herself onto the river bank, she looked in the direction that the noise had come from.
A loud grunt resonated through the valley. Hiding behind a bush, Molly parted the leaves in front of her to get a better look. Standing in the middle of the clearing was an enormous creature covered in thick, dark brown fur. From its head protruded two large horns, curling from the base and coming to a sharp point. The creature was thrashing about, swinging its gigantic body ferociously from one side of the clearing to the other.
Crack! Molly stepped on a branch lying on the ground. The creature paused, turning its head to look her way, its eyes refusing to blink, Molly sensed the wild animal was staring straight at her. Stepping through the bushes, she entered the clearing.
Running full speed in her direction, the animal came to a dead stop just three feet in front of her—a false charge. She watched as the beast reared onto its hind legs and let out a deafening cry. As it called out, she stood in awe as the once feral animal transformed into a man, towering over her with eyes like crystal clear water and hair as dark as the night sky.
Xander stood before her, still breathing heavily. The fur that once covered his body had vanished, leaving nothing but his bare skin dripping with sweat.
“I knew you were here, Molly Tompkins. I smelled you somewhere in the forest. It drove me mad, knowing you were so close.”
Xander picked her up from around her waist with both of his hands and pushed her back against a tree. Sitting her on a branch, he parted her legs and began kissing her thighs. She was overwhelmed by the suddenness of what was happening but the pleasure overcame her, and soon tempted her to spread her legs open.
“Oh god,” she moaned.
His mouth met the lips of her pussy and forced them open with his tongue. She squirmed on the branch, the pleasure growing and growing inside her. He licked her pussy lips and made out with them, stretching his tongue into her opening and sucking on her clit. She squirmed from the pleasure and wrapped her legs tightly around his head. It was as if she wanted to keep him where he was. His tongue continued to work its magic on her as his hands reach around her and held her firmly in position, protecting her from the danger of falling off the tree branch.
“This is the scent I smelled,” he grunted from between her legs, then continued making out with her pussy as if it was her mouth and he was in the hottest make out session of his life.
She felt the pressure building in her body, the pleasure growing, the sensation increasing with each flick of his tongue. His tongue was so strong and it was so far inside her that it was practically fucking her. The force of his head pushing into her was making her rock and thrust as if she was being fucked.
“Oh God,” she moaned and at that moment, the pleasure overwhelmed her and the most sensational wave of orgasms of her life rushed through her entire body.
She cried out and grabbed his hair, pulling his face into her pussy, forcing him to keep fucking her with his tongue until her ecstasy subsided.
“Xander,” she panted, breathlessly.
“I’m not done with you yet, my little prey,” he said, his voice deep and powerful.
He lifted her from the branch and placed her gently on her feet in front of him. He stripped her naked, throwing her clothes into the bushes. Molly didn’t care what he did with them.
They were face to face and he leaned in and crushed his lips against her open mouth. The same tongue that had just fucked her pussy so satisfyingly, was now pleasuring her mouth, massaging her tongue with his, sending thrills of pleasure and desire through her entire body. She was already soaking wet from what he’d done to her and she could feel herself dripping with pleasure as his hands reached down toward her sex.
One hand found her pussy and the other found her ass. Wetting both hands with the juices on her pussy and thighs, he began sliding his fingers all over her. They were on her clit. On her anus. On her pussy mouth. The sensation drove her absolutely insane.
One second there was a finger in her pussy, then it was playing with her clit, rubbing it back and forth in a rapid motion. The other hand was sliding a finger over her anus, and then pressing it inside her ass, very gently, very carefully. The pleasure made Molly want to scream.
“I want to feel you inside me,” she cried, clawing at his back, begging him to fill her with his powerful cock.
He was stark naked and his cock was the most beautiful, sexual thing Molly had ever set eyes on. It was long and firm, rigid as a bat with the slight hint of a curve that seemed designed to penetrate her at a better angle. She grabbed it in her hand and it was so big she instantly let go.<
br />
“Oh God,” she cried, terrified that he was about to impale her with that massive weapon.
He lifted her up in his powerful arms and pressed her against the tree. She wrapped her legs around his muscular torso and he thrust forward, sliding smoothly into her soaking pussy. She cried out as he thrust violently into her, thrusting so powerfully that it scared her.
But the pleasure was so good. With each thrust, she came closer to another tidal wave of orgasms. She clenched her muscles to tighter herself around him, her pussy gripping his cock and forcing it to cum.
She felt like an animal under Xander’s control. He bit on her neck as he thrust deeper and deeper. She let out a cry when he pushed one last time, squeezing hard as he throbbed inside of her.
Xander exploded inside her, his cum jetting up into her body in powerful streams that drove her wild with pleasure.
“Holy fuck,” he grunted, his voice deep and guttural.
“Xander,” she moaned, as the orgasms overwhelming her body slowly calmed.
“Mol, wake up. I need a tampon,” Elodie said as she shook Molly’s arm.
Molly snapped out of her dream, opening her eyes to a worried looking Elodie sitting on the bed beside her.
“You what?”
“I need a tampon. I’m totally out and it’s like the red sea flowing out of me right now. Do you have any?”
Molly rolled out of bed and walked over to her dresser.
“I think I just used the last of mine.”
Molly opened up her top drawer and saw a half empty box of tampons.
That’s weird, I thought I just used the last of these during my period.
“El, are you early for your period or something? We always have ours on the same week.”
Elodie looked at the calendar on her phone.
“I always write it down, let me check. Nope, we’re supposed to be starting today.”
Molly felt her heart sink. She dropped the box of tampons onto the floor and clutched her stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Elodie said, rushing to Molly’s side.
“I’m late.”
Chapter 27
Xander had won every fight since his accident. He made himself into something of a local celebrity, even having a difficult time going to the grocery store without being recognized and bombarded with questions about his next fight. Women had been flocking to him, asking questions about his love life. Xander was well aware of what they were after, and remained indifferent—his mind preoccupied by someone else.
In Xander’s imagination, Molly had been at every single fight. Any woman in the crowd slightly resembling Molly was enough to motivate Xander to put on his best show. In the gym, he daydreamed of her, sometimes zoning out for minutes at a time. During sparring sessions he would have thoughts of her racing through his mind and frequently had to remind himself to focus on the task at hand—or he might be the one face down.
Tommy had scheduled a ‘talk’ with Xander today, not specifying what it was about. Tommy wasn’t known for being subtle.
“Xan, come on in. Alright let me cut right to the chase. You’ve been kicking ass all over town, but something’s been up with you when you’re here in the gym. I’ve seen you stare out that window for more than three minutes at a time, and this isn’t a single occasion I’m talkin’ about here. You’re in la-la land and I wanna know what’s gotta happen to bring you back to reality.”
Xander felt his face getting hot.
“What does it matter if I’m staring out of windows in here if I’m winning the fights out there, Tommy? Isn’t that the part that actually matters? The reason I’m here to begin with? I’m sacrificing everything to win fights. For God’s sake, I can’t even be with the girl I’m in—”
Love. The girl I’m in love with.
Tommy walked around his desk to where Xander was sitting. Picking up a framed photograph from his desk, Tommy turned it around to show Xander. In the picture, a younger Tommy was holding a slender, blonde-haired woman. They were in an orchard, and Xander could see that Tommy was helping her to grab an apple, smiling up at her while she threw her head back laughing.
“That very thing is what almost ruined my career, Xan. She made me choose, and it almost tore me apart. In the end, I chose to fight and if I hadn’t made that decision, I wouldn’t have had the gym, the cars, the money ... any of it. You can’t allow yourself to lose sight of your goals. Don’t get yourself to the point where you have to choose. Focus on the fight. Trust me.”
He’s right. Even if he isn’t, I already promised him a second time that I would focus on the fights and only the fights. I can’t let him down again.
“Nothing will happen. With her, or with anyone else. Just the fight, Tommy. Just the fight.”
Tommy placed the photo face down on his desk, put a hand on Xander’s shoulder and squeezed.
“That’s my boy. Now get back to training.”
Xander left Tommy’s office with only a few minutes left before it was his turn in the ring.
I won’t look for too long. I just want to see her.
Taking his phone from his locker, Xander opened his browser and clicked on Molly’s profile. He had been following her on social media for a few weeks, occasionally feeling like a stalker for how often he checked her updates. Usually her page was full of photos of her and Elodie at the beach, or grabbing coffee at her favorite barista’s café, but as Xander scrolled today, he noticed that she had tagged herself in a new location.
Two hours earlier, Molly had posted a photo of her holding a bouquet of flowers beside a scraggly, middle-aged man.
‘The customers here just make my day. Thank you for the surprise flowers, Jim!’
Tiny’s Bar and Grill? Does she work there now?
Everyone in the area had been to Tiny’s, or at the very least had heard about their famous burgers and their even more famous customers.
Xander had driven by it a million times, but never thought to go inside for food. His friends had asked him before if he wanted to grab a bite to eat there, but Xander had been wary of eating at any restaurant known for their ‘artery clogging burgers.’
Driving home that night, Xander took the long route around the city.
I’ll only drive by… just to see if she’s there.
Xander slowed down as he passed the restaurant window. Molly was bussing tables, wearing a bright blue apron and balancing trays of plates and cutlery on each arm.
Okay, one minute and then you have to leave.
Parking across the street, he lowered his seat to make sure that she wouldn’t see him.
God, I’m such a creep.
An older couple walked into Tiny’s and sat down at a booth. Molly grabbed her pen and notepad and walked over to the table.
Molly could be seen saying something, making her customers laugh. She smiled, shaking her head before grabbing her pen to write down their order.
Your smile could light up an entire city, Molly Tompkins.
Xander had vivid memories of that smile. In the club the first time they met, Xander remembered how he tried hard to make her laugh, just so he could see the expression on her face once more. And again, in the back of his truck. How he wanted her to feel comfortable, like she could truly be herself around him. Underneath him, her eyes glimmering and the corners of her lips upturned. When he touched her, it was like an electric force pulsated through his body, and even now, he felt shivers going up his spine when he thought about the way she had felt in his hands.
Xander looked more closely through the window at Molly. She was tying her unruly hair into a high ponytail and as she combed her fingers through the knots, her shirt lifted slightly.
The birthmark. The one above her right hip.
While undoing her pants that night, Molly had shown him her mark. She told him he was ‘the only one who wasn’t related’ to her that had seen it, ‘aside from Elodie, of course.’ He thought of what a special privilege it was to be the first one to
have seen it, and how it must have felt for Molly to show him something so personal, so private.
A knock on Xander’s window cut his daydreaming short. A man wearing a metal band tee shirt and khaki shorts stood with his arms crossed. Moving his seat up, Xander rolled down the window and stuck his head out.
“Can I help you?”
The stranger scoffed, “Help me? Yeah you can help me. By moving your ass out of the handicapped spot. There are people that actually need them. They’re not just free spaces for pretty boys like yourself.”
Xander looked at the sign to the right of his car and shook his head.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t see it. But I’m leaving now anyway.”
He started his truck and pulled out of the space. Looking in his rearview mirror, he saw Molly grabbing the sign from outside, closing up the restaurant for the night.
Okay. That’s enough. Now you can focus on fighting.
Chapter 28
The next day, Xander awoke to his alarm at 8:00am. He had a routine that he followed every morning before a fight, starting the moment his alarm sounded. He would wake up, start a pot coffee, and while he was eating a bowl of oatmeal he’d prepared the night before, he would watch a video of his last fight. Noting all of the mistakes he could spot in his performance, Xander would write them down and rehearse in his mind what he would have done differently. Tommy had taught him the importance of rote memorization, a technique based on the idea that if you repeat something in your head enough times, it will stick. Xander would replay the scenarios in his head, trying to erase bad habits and replace them with something better, so he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Around 10:00am, Xander would head to the gym and talk things over with Tommy before warming up. After twenty minutes of skipping rope followed by a dynamic stretch, Xander would choose one of his sparring mates to practice with in the ring. The goal of training before a big fight was never to wear himself out, but to solidify motor patterns so that he could move his body without thinking too much. ‘Hesitation will put you face down on the ground.’ This was something Tommy would tell him, over and over, and he was right. Countless times during Xander’s training, he would wait too long for the perfect opening, or overthink his next move. Tommy never went easy on Xander, and took every chance he had to teach him a lesson.
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