Because of Kian

by Sibylla Matilde

Inertia Creeps ~ Massive Attack

  Kian

  Class was winding down, but I was gearing up. Looking at the clock, I knew it was time to get these kids out of here. Most of their mothers and fathers were waiting just outside the gym. Unfortunately, Holly McPherson tended to be one of those mothers that came inside the gym to wait.

  She always looked immaculate, but in a fabricated, big money way. She was the ex-wife of a local doctor and a society diva. Long auburn streaked hair, fake tan, fake tits. She would pose up against wall, one shapely leg out in front of the other. Or she would sit on near the gym entrance, crossing and uncrossing her legs. She’d become more and more forward with me in the time that I’d been teaching martial arts to her son, often stroking my biceps while she spoke to me.

  Honestly, she was a bit over the top.

  And I wanted her gone before Brynn showed up.

  “Okay, kids,” I called out. “Wrap it up. Time to go.”

  The thunder of seventeen eight-year-old kung fu wannabes barreling across the gym floor helped me pretend to not notice Holly subversively trying to catch my attention. I busied myself picking up mats and putting equipment away, working methodically with my back to the door until the crowd of mothers and children cleared out. Taking a deep breath, I welcomed the peaceful silence.

  Not long now.

  I left one of the mats down on the far side of the room and took a large swig of water. Brynn was likely already here, just waiting for all the parents to pull away before coming inside. Part of her quirk was that she didn’t really want people to know she was coming here, that I was showing her this. She said she didn’t want to draw any attention to herself, and, by keeping it off the tongues of gossiping mothers, she was hoping to fly under the radar.

  Along the wall across from me, I noted a rogue belt, likely lost in the fray as the kids bolted from the room. I crossed over to it, examining it for a name to indicate the owner, only to find none. No huge worry. Someone was bound to show up at their next class without one. I had just begun to fold it when I heard the clunk of the outside doors, then the loud click of her turning the lock. The gym had no windows, and locking the door essentially guaranteed nobody would walk in and find her here. I was pretty sure she even parked down the street… in an alley.

  Turning towards the entrance to the gym, I watched her walk in and drop her duffel bag on the floor by the doorway. Over the past few weeks, she’d been coming in every night after work. Every time she’d step through the door, she’d shoot a smile in my direction and shyly come closer. Tonight, her light blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she’d already changed into some knit athletic pants and some kind of little strappy shirt that was entirely too fucking hot to be real. For a beautician, she didn’t cake on the makeup, only highlighting the stunning features already there. The natural sparkle of her green eyes framed with thick lashes, the gentle contour of her cheeks, the full soft curve of her lips.

  The more time I spent with her, the harder it was to ignore the pull.

  And, considering what she’d been through not so long ago, I really, really had to ignore the pull. Not only was she recovering from a horrendous breakup of a violent relationship, but I was probably about the worst rebound guy she could come up with. I glanced down at the belt in my hands and almost groaned aloud at the image that popped into my mind. If I ever told her what I really wanted to do with her – to her – she’d run screaming bloody murder.

  So I had to get my head out of my pants, push all those feeling aside, and stick to the friend zone.

  “So,” she began as she walked closer and held out her hand for some tape, “I ran into Sage at the store last night. You know, Sage from Hyper.”

  Uh oh. Jeff was always giving me shit about Brynn, egging me on. I fervently hoped that pussy-whipped son-of-a-bitch hadn’t opened his fucking mouth to Sage.

  “Yeah, I know Sage,” I replied as I began to wind the protective white band around Brynn’s knuckles. “She’s a sweetheart. She’s had kind of a rough time of it, but she’s bound and determined to make things better for her and her kid.”

  She watched my features closely as I wrapped her hand with a fierce concentration and precision. “She has a kinda crazy idea about you… you and me.”

  My eyes flicked up to meet her sea-green gaze momentarily. It was hard to read the expression there. “She’s decided she’s a matchmaker,” I grumbled with a light-hearted chuckle. “I suppose it’s about time she targeted me.”

  I turned my focus back down at her hand, smoothing the tape down before reaching for the other. This was one of my favorite parts about her coming here every day. Something about wrapping her tightly, even if it was just her knuckles, was almost breathtaking.

  It made me want so very much more. To wrap the tape around her wrists… Damn. I needed to stop thinking about that shit with her.

  “Do you really come to Hyper to see me?”

  The directness of the question stunned me. I froze momentarily, waiting a moment before answering, wondering how to phrase it so I didn’t come off like a total creep.

  Except that it was a little stalkerish. Even I could see that.

  “There’s something about you that makes me want to take care of you,” I finally admitted as I finished taping up her hand. “I’m not sure what it is. But it kicked into overdrive when I saw that fucker hit you. So, yeah. I suppose I do. I come to make sure you’re okay.”

  I may have been a creep, but I was an honest one.

  I looked back up at her face, noting a little confusion that passed over her bewitching sad sea-green eyes.

  “Kicked into overdrive? So you felt like this before we even met?”

  Her voice sounded a little cautious, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to look her in the eye, once again focusing on wrapping the fine knuckles of her other hand and nodding.

  “Doesn’t that seem a little… odd?” she softly murmured.

  “It would if it wasn’t you.”

  “Do you do this sort of thing often?”

  I immediately focused all my attention on her. As uncomfortable as it was disclosing this to her, she appeared equally confused by my reply. Holding her small, delicate hand in mine, I held her gaze with every ounce of seriousness. “I’ve never done anything remotely like this in my life… until you walked by me at Hyper one night.”

  For a long awkward moment, she held my gaze. “Is it weird that I feel the need to thank you?” she whispered.

  “Haha… no thanks necessary. I kinda like watching out for you,” I chuckled and dropped her hand, taking a step back. “We better get at it.”

  “At it?” Her lovely little mouth dropped open.

  Oh, sweet Jesus, to know what was running through her mind…

  “Yeah… the lessons?” I reminded her.

  Her eyes and mouth both slammed shut for a moment. Then, with a small shake of her head, she inhaled deeply and said, “Lessons… right. Yeah.”

  Picking up from the night before, we started with some stretches. T’ai chi to loosen up the muscles and strengthen, helping to center and soothe her nerves, allowing her to focus and learn.

  This was always a tough for me.

  The smooth movement that highlighted her exceptional ass and breasts. Every time her eyes drifted closed, she seemed to almost trance out.

  I could barely function thinking about how serene she could be… if…

  Dammit… focus.

  We moved on to feigning submission, pretending she’d totally been overcome to lower the guard of the attacker so that she could strike, stun, and get the fuck away.

  This was even tougher.

  Holding her down, pinning her to the floor below me. It took every bit of self-control I possessed as her fresh scent rose to tickle my nostrils. As her soft body, writhing and wiggling below me, began to still. Gradually, as though the fight was slowly leaving her. And when she went limp beneath me, her breasts pressed against my chest, and her soft exerted b
reath brushed against my skin, I had to constantly remind myself why I was doing this.

  Stay in the game, Kian.

  This was so not about me. This was all about her.

  Fortunately, Brynn would often land a good kick to my nuts to bring me back to the present.

  Brynn

  The time I spent with Kian had done some amazing things for my confidence, at least in the self-defense realm. He was strong and capable. He never seemed to overstep the role between teacher and student, all serious and professional. One hundred percent ethical. Sage’s comments from the night before had me thinking back, though, looking for any signs that she was right. Trying desperately to remember a time that he’d clearly flirted. But he’d never made a single move on me.

  And it was starting to drive me nuts.

  Because he was really fucking gorgeous.

  I nearly fainted the first time he grabbed hold of me to mimic an attack. Every time he pulled my hand to his body to show me where to strike, I wanted to melt into a little gooey puddle. And these submission moves he’d been showing me lately had me squirming beneath him and dying to go home and bang myself silly to relieve the ache. Pressed below him, his firm grip on my wrists…

  Fuck.

  This was seriously killing me.

  I needed to feed off that anger, to push down the maddening lust that wanted to take over.

  So, after letting my body go limp, giving my ‘attacker’ a sense of power, I aimed my knee for his groin. There were a lot of other things I wanted to do to that part of his anatomy, but just knowing that sort of pissed me off and had me totally unsettled.

  His deflection left him open, so I pushed at him and scrambled away, rolling up to my feet.

  “Now you run,” Kian said as he rose to stand across the mat from me.

  “Heck with that. I think I can take you,” I ground out and rushed at him.

  I didn’t last long, though.

  The next thing I knew, we were back on the floor. He was on top of me again. My breath left my body in a loud Oomph!

  "Don't lose focus, baby," he smiled down at me. “You were starting to think you were bigger than your britches. You can fight a guy off, but you were switching over to taking me on. There's a difference."

  He was right. With his mass against mine, I was powerless in a full on fight. I could bite and scratch and kick, but so could he, really. Lesson learned. If a bad dude was to attack me, do not try to take him on.

  But this was Kian. And, again, he was on top of me.

  He was different. Lying under him, I felt safer than ever. Even the way his weight was distributed over me, the way he angled his body, was protective.

  “You okay?” he asked softly. “I didn’t hurt you when I took you down, did I?” His hand lifted to my jaw, his fingers along my neck while his thumb brushed my cheek.

  Sage’s words kept repeating through my mind as I shook my head slowly at his question, my eyes locked with his. Then, I turned my head slightly and caught his thumb in my lips, sucking gently, my tongue smoothing over the tip as my eyes drifted closed. I felt him intake a sharp breath.

  Releasing his thumb, I met his gaze and saw the heat in his eyes. He wanted me. And for the first time in a long time, the first time since Evan, I wanted to be wanted.

  For what seemed like forever, we continued to study each other. His hooded gaze held me still, waiting. His lips dipped ever so faintly and, just for a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me. But then, he blinked and shook his head slightly, his breath stilted… and he lifted off me.

  Once he’d backed away to his knees, he held out his hand and pulled me up with him to a stand. I watched him walk over to the bench and take a long drink of water. Setting it back on the bench, he scrubbed his hands down his face before he turned back to me.

  Back in teacher mode.

  I felt like an ass.

  Like a complete and utter slut.

  He didn’t want me. It’s a bad sign when a guy totally pretends you didn’t just obviously throw yourself at him like that.

  Back to business, as though I hadn’t done what I’d just done. My heart pounded as he began to speak. But despite the clinical, instructional words he said, his voice was thick… hot.

  He was far from unaffected after all.

  “Let’s work on a leg sweep. The first thing is to make sure your attacker is in the best position for it to be effective.”

  Kian took a few steps towards me and patted his leg, not looking at me, but rather down as he began to explain. He stepped closer, guiding my body. Every touch of his hands sent tremors through me. In spite of his professional demeanor, I was completely melting inside.

  “Wait until one leg is forward, supporting the bulk of their weight. Make sure their weight is on it, though, because sometimes it can be deceiving. Go in with a punch or a slap or something. This will distract them a bit and force them to block. Then put your foot just inside theirs…” To help demonstrate, his hand slipped along my inner thigh, down by my knee, to pull at my leg. My breath hitched, and for a split second, he froze. After a minute, he cleared his throat and continued on, his voice an octave deeper. “Sweep out and lift their foot off the floor. As they begin to lose balance, their arms will try to regain it and leave their head and torso unprotected.”

  Kian straightened, and pulled his arms back, mimicking someone who was falling. The motion pulled his t-shirt tight across his chest, highlighting the defined muscles underneath. Every fiber of my being wanted to lift the soft fabric and run my fingers up his abs.

  “Then you strike, whatever is closest, but in a way that you don’t have to step closer. Take out his knee with a kick, or his nose with the heel of your hand. Maybe knife-like motion to the neck.” He placed his hands on my shoulders, nudging me back a few steps. “Let’s give it a shot.”

  My mind sped through what he’d just instructed, fighting through the haze of desire that I was swimming in.

  “Okay,” I murmured with a breathy sound.

  “I’ll help guide you a few times until we can get your movements right.”

  Kian took a deep breath and then stepped forward, putting all his weight on one foot like he’d described. I followed his directions, sweeping out with my foot. Three or four times we did this, and every time, my body tingled with his touch. Every second I was close to him, my heart rate increased and my breath caught in my throat.

  “Let’s try it for real this time,” he suggested, and I nodded.

  He reached for me, and I again followed the instruction, lifting his foot. My mind was racing and I was horribly keyed up. Instead of striking, I shoved at him hard without thinking, and Kian’s balance began to go.

  My base instinct was to help steady him, so I reached for him as he fell, firmly grasping his t-shirt. But, seriously, the man was probably twice my body weight, so it only pulled me down on top of him.

  I lay there over him, straddling his waist, breathless with my heart pounding in my chest. He was so close to me, his hand resting on my hip.

  Don’t. Don’t make an ass out of yourself again, Brynn. Getting shot down in such quick succession would do nothing for my self-esteem.

  But then his hand tightened on my ass… almost painfully. The shock of his bruising grip sent me over the edge and, just like that, I kissed him. I simply had to. I couldn’t help it.

  Roughly, suddenly, and full of need, I pressed my lips to his in an effort to convey the level of my sexual frustration. For a second, Kian barely moved, shocked by my forwardness. Then his other hand tangled in my hair, holding my head with a firm grip as he kissed me back, his tongue sweeping through my mouth.

  I skimmed my fingernails down his sides, from his arms to his waist, relishing in the feel of the tensing muscles under his shirt. Reaching the hem, I worked my hands up under the fabric, exploring the smooth skin as a heady moan escaped my throat. Tugging the shirt up out of the way, my lips trailed down his chest, nipping and licking the skin I uncovered a
s I slid down his body until I’d settled between his sprawled out legs, my hips pressed against his groin.

  Oh my God.

  He was massive. And hard as a rock.

  Suddenly I was crazed, fervent with need. I quickly rose to kneel above him and pulled off my cami, baring my breasts. With a desperate moan, he sat up and wrapped his hands around my back jerking me over to straddle him as his lips crushed against my aching nipples, ravenously devouring my sensitive skin. The urgency of his motion ripped through me, set me aflame as I ground my aching sex against him. He nipped at the sensitive skin of my breasts as he lifted me higher against him, burying his face into the soft skin. Loosening the band that held his hair back from his face, my fingers wound themselves through the soft, smooth texture, urging him closer, wanting him to devour me.

  One of his hands slipped down to the waist of my yoga pants and slid inside, gripping my ass with an almost bruising force. The ferocious need ripped through me and I rose above him, cradling his solid jaw in one hand as I began to push down the waist of my pants with the other. The two of us worked and shifted my body until I was naked, straddling him once again, undulating against him and begging for him.

  I yanked at the waist of his athletic pants, tugging to reveal his throbbing length. It was marvelous, thick and dark, the skin so smooth. Hot in my fingers.

  “My back pocket, baby,” Kian growled. “There’s a condom in my wallet.”

  He tipped slightly to allow me to reach behind him for his wallet, which I held out to him so he could pull a foil packet from inside. I took the packet and ripped it open with my teeth, lining the latex up to roll it over him. The splendid girth of his cock and my own frenzied state made it somewhat difficult to put the condom on him, so his large hand slid down to assist me, our fingers entangling as we smoothed the sheath over him. Kian released a ragged groan as I rose above him to take him in.

  A cry lit out from my throat as he stretched me, filled me. I was frozen above him, shocks of energy shooting throughout me as I settled over him, taking him deeper, until I had him completely.

  He felt a-fucking-mazing.