Stripped

by A. G. Khaliq

  “Yeah…Lazarus was kinda mad. You’re lucky you never told me your name,” I mumbled.

  If only he knew what mad meant…

  “Well, I’m glad I didn’t carry on speaking to you,” Damon replied, furrowing his eyebrows. “Lazarus is one of my closest friends, I wouldn’t want to cross him.”

  I scratched my arm awkwardly, because what he’d just said stung me, and hurt me more than it should have. I swallowed a lump that had caught in my throat, doing my best to push my thoughts away.

  “Anyway, let’s get started,” said Damon, smiling. “First, we need to get your posture right. Curl your hands into loose fists, and raise them in front of your face.”

  “Ahm…okay,” I obeyed.

  “Make sure your dominant arm is close to your body,” Damon explained, “and your non-dominant arm is slightly in front of your body. So, what’s your dominant arm?”

  “Erm, my right…”

  Damon nodded in approval. “Now you need to extend your non-dominant arm forward—so your left arm—but make sure it’s not too far forward. This is so you don’t hurt your shoulder and pull a muscle.”

  “Okay…”

  I did what he asked, and he clapped his hands in encouragement. I could feel myself burn with embarrassment.

  “Well done!” he exclaimed. “You’ve learnt your posture for fighting. You’re a fast learner.”

  He grinned at me again, and I couldn’t help but giggle back. I felt comfortable around him, and felt like I could be myself without having to put up a fake exterior.

  “Now, let’s put it into practice.” He smiled. “Don’t worry, I won’t punch hard enough to hurt you.”

  We began fighting each other, one jab after the other, although it didn’t really hurt me at all. It felt more like fucking play-fighting, and I couldn’t stop myself from giggling.

  “Come on, you weakling!” Damon exclaimed. “Put some effort in!”

  I rattled my fists angrily, punching his chest repeatedly, doing my best to show him what I was capable of. I punched him harder and harder, but it was like his chest was made of steel, and he was unfazed by what I was doing. Nevertheless, I found this to be a massive stress reliever. It helped me let out all of the pent-up frustration I had inside of me after putting up with Lazarus’s bullshit for so long, day in and day out.

  The corners of Damon’s mouth curled up into a smirk, appearing amused by my attempt at fighting. I took a few steps backwards, before chuckling as I stared at him.

  “Take that, sucker.” I giggled.

  “You’re really good for a beginner!” Damon laughed, encouraging me further. “You’ll be ready to fight in no time.” He gave me another soft punch, which caught me off guard.

  “Hey! What was that for?” I retorted.

  “What, you thought we were done training after five minutes?” He grinned. “Keep going!”

  I rolled my eyes before getting back into my stance, and we carried on practicing for hours. We were laughing together and working up a real sweat, and I couldn’t help but find myself getting more and more comfortable with the idea of Damon being my teacher.

  “Right, now we can just work on general fitness, and getting those muscles into shape.” Damon smiled after we finished our fighting practice. “Let’s go to the gym.”

  I nodded happily, following him to the gym.

  “Now, you can start off with some light jogging in place.” He grinned.

  I nodded, and began doing what he asked, jogging and working up a sweat. My hoodie clung to my body the more I sweated, and I found myself getting too warm with it on. I allowed myself to take it off because I was wearing a vest underneath, anyway. I would just put it back on later.

  I could almost see Damon’s eyes darken as he watched me take my hoodie off, but I did my best to shrug it off and play it cool, even though his gaze was leaving me burning and making my skin feel like it was on fire. I continued to jog on the spot until I was breathless and needed a break.

  “You’re so weak and unfit!” He laughed. “How are you tired after a little bit of jogging?”

  I folded my arms huffily, not happy with what he’d just said.

  “Stop picking on me,” I retorted. “It’s not my fault I love steak more than I love myself.”

  Damon continued to roar with laughter, like everything that came out of my damn mouth was just funny to him.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get you fit in no time,” he reassured me, smiling. “Right, get started on some star jumps.”

  “Okay!” I exclaimed.

  damon

  As I watched Raven do star jumps, I couldn’t help but feel my eyes darken with desire as I watched her body move. She was Lazarus’s girlfriend…but I would be lying if I didn’t admit she was gorgeous.

  I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her ever since I met her at the mall. Those beautiful, delicious curves of hers, and her pretty face, with her big brown eyes, her plump lips, her button fucking nose.

  I was finding it so hard to fucking control myself. It was hard to, when she was here looking like a million fucking dollars. And she enjoyed my company just as much as I enjoyed hers. The way we were play fighting earlier, the way she giggled at every word that came out of my mouth, the way she hung off my every word and made flirtatious remarks.

  If she was so into Lazarus…

  Then why would she have a wandering eye? Why would she reciprocate my energy?

  Why would she make me feel like she wanted me just as much as I wanted her?

  My gut instinct was telling me something wasn’t right. That maybe she didn’t like Lazarus so much anymore.

  But my brain was screaming different. Yelling at me to take my eyes off my best friend’s fucking girlfriend. Yelling at me that she was probably just being friendly, and I was mistaking everything she was doing for flirting.

  Either way, I knew she needed to stop shaking her ass in front of me before I ended up switching my brain off and losing all sense of my damn self-control. I just wanted to grab her and kiss the shit out of her. I needed to snap out of my delicious fucking thoughts before I ended up doing something I would regret.

  “Okay, that’s enough star jumps now,” I coughed, because I couldn’t fucking bear to look at her ass any longer.

  “Why?” Raven asked, rubbing her chin. “I haven’t even done that many.”

  “We’re moving on to a different exercise,” I mumbled.

  “Okay,” she agreed, smiling and shrugging. “I know! I’ll do some squats! They’re great for muscle!”

  God no, not squats…her ass was going to be poking out again!

  I coughed loudly, begging myself to reel in my self-control as Raven started squatting in front of me. I begged my brain to avert my fucking eyes. To look at something else. Anything but her.

  But my eyes were fixated on her. She was a fucking work of art. A goddess.

  And the crazy thing was, she didn’t even realise how sexy she really was. She had no idea the effect she fucking had on me.

  “Fuck this shit!” I growled, and spun her around, smashing my lips down on hers before I had time to process what I was doing.

  raven

  It was all happening so fast.

  Out of nowhere, Damon stopped me from squatting, and smashed his lips down on mine. It was so unexpected.

  But I didn’t stop him.

  I should have stopped him. I shouldn’t be doing this behind Lazarus’s back. I shouldn’t be kissing his best friend.

  After all, it was Lazarus I was supposed to love…wasn’t it?

  The kiss was full of passion and desire. Like he’d wanted to do it for a long time. I tried so hard to pull back, but I couldn’t.

  This was Damon, one of the hottest men I’d seen. The man who just had to look at me, and my skin would set on fire. The man who made me lose all sense of self-control, who made my insides twist into knots whenever his eyes burned into mine.

  The man who made me feel what L
azarus used to make me feel before he started hitting me.

  I enjoyed Damon’s embrace. It felt nice and comforting.

  I didn’t know that something could feel so wrong but so right at the same time.

  Damon kissed me with urgency, like I was the oxygen he needed to breathe. He slipped his tongue inside my mouth, his tongue playing with mine in a fury. Butterflies were fluttering against my chest, and his hand reached the small of my back to pull me even closer, closing the gap between us.

  He traced small circles on my bare skin, causing me to quiver against him as I moaned uncontrollably against his mouth. He let out a satisfied growl against my lips before his hands moved down to my ass, squeezing and slapping it as he picked me up and slammed me against the wall.

  My thighs wrapped around his tight, sculpted body, feeling his length rub against my leg, which caused another moan to escape my lips. I could barely breathe as I tangled my fingers into his hair, and he continued to work magic with his mouth and hands.

  I had to pull away…

  I had to pull away before it was too fucking late…

  My mouth parted from his, already feeling at loss of his touch. I felt the sparks and fireworks I’d been yearning for so long after kissing Damon. My eyes burned into his. It was like he was staring right into my damn soul.

  I trembled, terrified that this man had such an impact on me. Terrified of the new feelings that were beginning to surface on my skin, throb in my damn heart.

  And as I stared at Damon, while our silence deafened the room…

  I realized now that I didn’t love Lazarus anymore.

  damon

  I put Raven down on the floor, knowing she needed time to process what just happened. Knowing she needed time to get her head together.

  But one thing I could say was…

  I’d never felt anything like that in my whole damn life.

  It wasn’t just a fucking kiss. Hell, I’d kissed a lot of women in my life. But it was like she was claiming her soul with mine. And I knew from now I wouldn’t be able to shake this woman from my damn mind. I was already having a hard time trying not to think of her…and now she’d given me reason to make her all that was on my mind, every damn day.

  I wanted her. I wanted her so fucking much.

  I found myself letting out a sigh I didn’t know I was holding. I did my best to rearrange my dick so she couldn’t see I was erect. She’d left me worked up after that, to say the fucking least.

  She was beautiful. So damn fucking beautiful.

  Raven continued to stare at me, biting her lip in embarrassment before she broke the silence.

  “Erm…” she began. “So, what exercise should we do next?” She scratched her arm awkwardly, waiting patiently for me to answer.

  Was she really just going to act like that kiss didn’t happen? I couldn’t help but to wonder what her deal was. She wanted it just as much as I wanted it. I could feel it, so deep inside of me.

  She didn’t stop me, even though she’s engaged to Lazarus… And apparently madly in love with him. Something just wasn’t adding up here. I needed to ask her about it…but not right now. I didn’t want her to feel awkward or bad for kissing me. I made a promise to myself to ask her after we were done exercising for the day.

  “You can do some weightlifting, and then run on the treadmill for a while,” I said, smiling at her. “Then we’ll call it a day.”

  Raven nodded, turning towards the weights rack, my eyes burning into her back as she walked. I immersed myself in my own thoughts.

  raven

  After a long day of exercise, Damon and I finally went to the locker rooms to take a much needed shower and change into some fresh clothes, dumping our sweaty ones.

  “I’m so tired,” I admitted. “I could eat a whole buffet right now.”

  Damon chuckled. “Don’t worry, we’re done for the day.”

  “Thank God,” I replied.

  Damon’s eyes were scanning me; narrowing at the sweat dripping down my body. He looked me up and down, rubbing his chin, seeming lost in thought. I couldn’t help but feel a lump catch in my throat as he stared at me. I felt so awkward. I hoped he wouldn’t ask about the kiss.

  I let out a sigh.

  “Raven, what’s your deal?” Damon asked, folding his arms.

  “Ahm…” I stumbled, “what do you mean?”

  “Why did you let me kiss you when you’re engaged to Lazarus?” he asked flatly.

  I scratched my arm awkwardly. I knew this was coming. “Ahm…” I stumbled. “I got caught in the moment, I suppose.”

  That was a terrible excuse.

  “Raven, I can see right through you,” Damon said. “You can’t fool me. You wanted it as much as I did.” He let out a sigh, taking his head into his hands. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing’s going on…” I mumbled.

  Damon stared at me blankly, his eyes burning into mine. The locker room went eerily quiet for what felt like forever. I had to break the silence, this was too much for me.

  “Fine.” I swallowed. “I did want it. I don’t know if I love Lazarus anymore.”

  Damon jerked, startled by my revelation, but it left him even more intrigued than he already was. He furrowed his eyebrows, a concerned expression on his face.

  “Why?” he sympathized. “What happened?”

  I drew out a deep breath, my breathing becoming labored as I looked back on the relationship I had with Lazarus, and it helped me put things into perspective. How blinded I was by my feelings, how I was in love with the idea of someone rather than loving them for who they really were. Lazarus was no saint. He was the fucking devil, and he ruined my goddamn life. It wasn’t love. It was never love. I was just a fucking puppet for him to use at his own disposal.

  “Actually, I don’t know if I ever really loved him in the first place…” I found myself admitting, wanting Damon to know the truth. Wanting Damon to know I wasn’t a cheater or a whore. How could I cheat on a man who was never really mine to begin with?

  “He saved me from my boss at a strip club, where I was being forced to let men do horrible things to me,” I explained timidly, and Damon’s facial expression fell, his eyes blinking with sadness. “I was blown over by the fact that someone wanted to help me. He was my knight in shining armor.” I swallowed hard.

  “But he was so possessive and controlling. At first I thought it was normal, because he didn’t want me speaking to other guys, and he wanted me to himself. It’s natural to get jealous, but he controlled the clothes I wore, he controlled when I could leave the house. The day you asked for my number at the mall, he came into my room and saw the text messages. He got so mad. He thought I was cheating on him.” I stared at the floor.

  “And he hit me.” I trembled. “He beat me up so badly.”

  By now, the tears were falling down my cheeks, and I couldn’t hold them back. I was tired of being strong when deep down I was broken. I was tired of having to battle my demons on my own. I needed to get everything out. I needed to vent, I needed to make myself feel better…

  “He hit you?” Damon shouted, unable to believe his ears.

  I guessed there were some things he didn’t know about his best friend.

  “It made me think if a man really loved me, he wouldn’t want to hurt me,” I mumbled. “I moved away with my sister Sophia, but then I discovered that I’m pregnant. That’s when I came back. I thought that maybe now I had a baby on the way, he would change. And he was nice to me for a while. He proposed to me, and I really thought he loved me.” I glanced at him briefly.

  “But then he came to my workplace and saw a man trying to flirt with me. He was so mad, he thought I was cheating on him. He keeps getting the wrong idea about me. There’s no trust. When I came home, he beat me again…” I trailed off, breaking into fresh sobs. Allowing my walls to break down. Allowing Damon to listen to every. Single. Word. To hear my cries. To hear my cries for help.

  I needed fixing.
r />   I couldn’t keep going like this…

  “I’m so sorry,” Damon breathed. “I’m so fucking sorry you had to go through that.”

  “He said I had to pay for breaking his heart,” I whispered. “He initiating me into the mafia life…that’s why I’m here. I don’t know if I love him anymore. He breaks my heart again and again. I just stayed with him all of this time and did my best to see the good in him because I knew I had no life to go back to. If it weren’t for him, I would still be working at the strip club…”

  “Just because he did you a favour, it doesn’t give him the right to be so possessive and abusive!” Damon snapped angrily. “God, I’m so mad.”

  Damon wrapped his arms around me, allowing me to sob against his chest. Allowing me to let out all of my feelings, listening to me, not making me feel like I was invalid for feeling this way. Not making me feel stupid. Not putting the blame on me for staying with Lazarus…but seeing Lazarus for who he really was.

  And I was so thankful to him for that. As I sobbed against his chest, and took in his warmth…for the first time in my life, I truly felt at home.

  damon

  She was so fucking vulnerable.

  As she sobbed against my chest, I could feel my heart break into millions of tiny pieces. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to force yourself to endure all of that abuse, day in, and day out, because of the amount of manipulation the bastard put her through.

  In this moment, I just wanted to help her. She didn’t deserve any of this. From what I’d seen so far, she was an absolute gem. She was so, so beautiful with the most amazing face and body. And that wasn’t all. She was so fucking lovely, so sweet and caring.

  I wished there were something I could do. I couldn’t turn back the clock, though. I couldn’t erase everything that had already happened to her, how much she’d endured.

  I hated seeing her like this. I had no idea Lazarus abused women. If I’d known, I’d never have been friends with that bastard. I would have buried him six feet under the fucking ground for how he treated women.