Brave

by Natalie Gayle

“Maybe.”

  He rolled to his back and tucked his knees towards his chest with the bottoms of his feet upwards. Then he held out his hands.

  “Okay. You’ll need to do a bit of work for this one, Gem. So you need to keep your body taut and rest your hips on the soles of my feet. Take my hands and kind of roll forward over me. Then you need to raise your legs up so our point of balance is your hips. Once you’re stable, I’m going to raise you up and down.”

  “Sounds complicated; are you sure it’s safe?” I looked at him sceptically and was rewarded with a head roll that might as well have said, “Woman!”

  “Na, it’s a cinch.”

  I did as he asked and rolled forwarded onto the soles of his feet.

  The grip he had on my hands was firm and I glanced at our entwined fingers. His wrists were so much bigger than mine. At least double the size and every tendon and muscle was tight, supporting my weight. He grinned up at me.

  “You ready?”

  “Yeah.” I braced my body like he’d said and slowly he pushed me up then lowered me down.

  “Let’s go for ten first up.”

  First up! I thought. He was the fit one in this relationship, not me!

  Up and down we went. The muscles of my tummy, butt and thighs were on fire holding my position.

  “One more.” He grinned up at me. It appeared to be no effort at all for him.

  I gritted my teeth hard as my muscles screamed.

  “Ten,” he called as he helped me back to terra firma.

  My breath was coming fast and I couldn’t believe how hard that had been for something that seemed so innocuous.

  He grinned knowingly and I poked at his rock hard abs in protest.

  “I don’t recall seeing Reed doing any of that stuff. He just holds the pads and barks at you.”

  “Gem, I’m not big on having anyone but you laying along my back. Nor would I want to be looking at Reed’s ugly mug or having him balance on my feet. That was a little exercise improvisation.”

  “Well, consider me exercised,” I said plopping down on the sofa again.

  “Yeah, have a little rest then you can hold the pads for me.”

  “What? I’ve seen how hard you hit those pads. No way can I hang onto them with you pounding away.” I realised what I said and my hand flew to my mouth.

  He chuckled and that wicked grin was back. “Oh, I don’t know. You’ve seemed to hold up pretty well to the poundings I’ve given you. In fact, I was under the impression you really enjoyed them.”

  “Get back to work, Pretty Boy. You’re in training.” I used my best sergeant major voice and pointed at the mats.

  Xander just laughed and grabbed a large kettle bell from the rack. He then started to do a line of walking lunges with the bell in a reverse grip in the centre of his chest. It was an exercise I hadn’t seen him do before. It didn’t look too difficult but I could see the strain all of his muscles were under as he took each deep step.

  “Is that really hard to do?” I called out curiously.

  “Grab the small kettle bell and give it a go if you want to know the answer.”

  Okay, I was feeling a little adventurous.

  I walked over to the rack and picked up the smallest kettle bell, which was eight kilos. I took a reverse grip like I saw Xander was doing and I started to try and copy. Immediately, I knew I was in trouble. Every single muscle in my body started to scream.

  “The trick is to keep the kettle bell centred in the middle of your body and keep your shoulders back. Posture is everything. This exercise is as much for the core as anything else. It’s also brilliant for developing and stretching muscles in your hips which is exactly what you need for range of motion in kicks.”

  I grunted out a few more steps, then stopped. My butt was on fire, my thighs were burning and my sides were searing. Okay, now I understood. I caught my breath and promptly replaced the weight in the rack.

  “Giving up so soon?”

  “Yep. For some reason I think I just started at expert level.”

  Xander had the hide to laugh! “Yeah, you did. To do this exercise right you need to start with split squats first then work up. It looks easy, but there’s a hell of a lot of muscle groups and balance involved. It can take months to build the strength to do it correctly if you’ve never done it before.”

  I watched him do another half a dozen runs of the floor. By this stage the sweat was running off him. Then he grabbed two large dumbells and dropped to the mats in a pushup position with a dumbbell in each hand, only his feet were slightly further apart. He then pulled up his right hand till it was level with his chest and lowered it. Then he did the same with his left.

  Every single muscle in his back and arms were rippling with the exertion and his butt and thighs were so tight, I could have bounced coins off them. When he had done this thirty times he stopped and then started a series of burpees. Three times he repeated the process and eventually he stopped as his chest and abdomen heaved with the strain of the exercise.

  Oh, it was good to be me today and I silently cheered. As soon as he was finished I decided then and there I had another workout for him to complete. This one I hoped he’d be really keen on.

  “What was that? That looked seriously difficult but hellishly sexy.” I gave him my best sultry look. I have no idea if it was convincing or not but we were both in playful moods it seemed.

  “Those were renegade rows and they seriously kill but are amazing for core and just about every other muscle in your body, plus they’re a huge cardiovascular exercise. I’m sure you’ve seen burpees before.”

  I nodded listening to what he was saying, but seriously getting more and more turned on each second.

  “I’ve got a few more things to do. Why don’t you go and hit that heavy bag for a bit. There’s some gloves over there then I’d like to work on a few more of your self defence moves. We haven’t done much training the last couple of weeks and I feel like I’ve been neglecting you.”

  “Do I have to?” I whined and gave him my best puppy dog face.

  “Get that delectable arse over to those bags now. If I’m sweating you can, too,” he barked in his best Sensei voice. The only thing that gave him away was the twinkle in his eye. His tone alone sent shivers of the best kind down my back.

  I picked up some gloves and got to work.

  “Keep your wrists firmer as you connect,” he called out from where he was going through a series of complicated shadow boxing moves in front of the large mirrors on the wall. Our eyes connected in the mirror as he moved around.

  “How am I supposed to concentrate with you doing that?” I whined.

  “I don’t remember you being so vocal at the start. What’s going on?” His top lipped curled a little. He knew exactly what was going on. I wanted him and he was torturing me.

  “Fine. I’ll just say it then. You’ve been tormenting me for the best part of two hours. I’m horny. You need to do something about it.” I threw the gloves on the rack and stood there glaring at him with my hands on my hips.

  He looked at me for a long while and I started to get a little uneasy with my declaration. Then he strode across the mats and grabbed my hand and pulled me into the middle of the mats where he dropped my hand and turned to look at me.

  “I think it’s time for a little grappling and throws training.”

  That sounded good, but I did have one surprise I wanted to try. Len had shown me a throw the other day…I wondered if I could pull it off.

  Rather than waiting for Xander to deliver his next instruction, I stepped forward into him, but a little to the side. I took my right hand and placed it on his cheek and wrapped my left hand around his bicep just above the elbow. Then I dropped a teasing kiss to his lips. As soon as I knew I’d diverted his attention, I struck!

  I pushed down on his elbow and slipped the hand on his cheek to his shoulder, while getting him slightly off balance and onto my right hip. Then it was just a matter of stepping through
and taking out his leg. His body went crashing to the mats. Only problem was I was following him down. This wasn’t supposed to happen! I was supposed to remain on my feet with control of his arm.

  We ended up on the mats in a heap, Xander on the bottom grinning at me with mischief. His legs came up and wrapped around me locking me tight to his body I was at his mercy.

  “Not quite what you had in mind, Gem?”

  “Mmm, not quite.”

  “I’m hardly a fair opponent, particularly when I’ve got something in mind.” He reached up and brushed the loose hair that had fallen out of my ponytail back from my face.

  “You could have at least let me think I had it right.”

  “Oh, you had it right, Gem. I just didn’t want you still on your feet while I was down here. I wanted you right where you are…over me.” He wriggled his hips a little but never broke the lock of his legs around me. There was no mistaking he was fully aroused.

  “So now you’ve got me where you want me. What are you going to do? Talk me into submission?” I said with a whole heap of newly found cheek.

  That comment made his eyes flare and a little grin rip at his full lips.

  “Nope…” Before he’d even got the word out, we were rolling and I found myself under him again. My first thought was I wanted to learn those moves, but that was short lived as his mouth came down on mine, hungry for my undivided attention. His lips moved urgently on mine and his tongue slashed across and demanded entry to plunder my mouth.

  I was feeling needy before, but within about three seconds I’d moved right past needy to full on hungry and, if the way Xander was attacking my mouth was any indication, he was right there with me.

  He raised his head a little as if assessing where he was going to attack next. His eyes had that dark wanting bubbling in them that I was now so accustomed to seeing.

  “Have you finished training?” my words came out as breathy little whispers.

  “Yeah, training’s done but I think this work out needs a different type of finish.” His hands came to my hips and were pulling at my yoga pants and underwear.

  “Xander, anyone could walk in,” I reminded him, suddenly a little anxious. His hands stilled for a moment.

  “We’re fine. Barn’s closed to invitation only today. Front gate’s locked. Stop worrying. I’ve wanted to take you here since that first night I brought you home. Let me have this, Eden.”

  His voice was demanding, but still held a hint of need that was oh so sexy. How could I resist that? He finished pushing my pants down and off.

  “Okay.” I reached up and kissed his neck, as I caught my fingers in the waistband of his shorts and underwear then pushed them down together. When I could no longer reach with my arms I hooked my toes in to the band and finished the job.

  He grinned down at me. “I knew there were benefits to having a girlfriend that had legs that go on forever, wrap them around me Gem and lock them. I want to feel your thighs squeezing me tight.”

  “Don’t you ever get sick of rolling around on these mats, Xander?” I joked as I did as he’d asked.

  “Never with you, Gem. Let’s get to the good part.” He thrust into me hard. It was exactly what I wanted and he knew it. I couldn’t help but let out a long low moan. I loved having him inside me.

  “Yeah, exactly that Gem…Fuck that feels good,” he said on a ragged growl, shaking his head and sucking in air through his teeth. “Woman, you push me to the edge so quick—each time, every time.”

  He set up a slow rhythm with deep strokes that hit every single sensitive spot, then some; my fingers gripped tight to his butt pulling him into me. I wanted to feel every last ounce of pleasure and sensation he could give me. It was more of the torturous slow build we’d been dancing around for the last couple of hours. Wonderful, but I wanted more and needed to feel the race to the end. I pushed at his shoulders and he sat up to his knees grabbing my hips tight to him to keep me locked around his hard cock.

  “Something you wanted?” He raised his eyebrows in question.

  “Yeah, you deep and hard.” My voice sounded low and raspy.

  He held tight to my hips and thrust hard. “Like that?”

  “Like that.” I wriggled my spine and shoulders trying to get even closer.

  “Hold for a second, sweet thing.” I went to protest but he cut me off as he leant forward for a kiss. “Let’s get this shirt off you. I want your breasts.”

  His hands had the shirt over my head and they were undoing the clasp on my bra before I could form words. He dragged the straps down my arms and flicked it to the side, then he locked his lips around my right nipple. Oh, so good. The sensation shot straight to my feminine centre and I felt myself clench tight around him.

  He pulled his head back and he looked liked he’d been scorched. “Woman, you make it damned difficult not to come.”

  “Isn’t that the point?” I asked innocently and wriggled letting him know I wanted him to move.

  “Ahhh! It is but not so soon. I want this to last,” he gritted out as I rocked my hips, enjoying the feeling of being so full of him and teasing him.

  “We can always do it again, you know.”

  It was as if the idea hadn’t occurred to him until then. His hips sprang into action and he thrust deeply, every stroke pulling me closer to the edge. He raised his body up and pulled me with him. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and held tight.

  “Take what you want, baby,” he growled out in a low whisper against my ear.

  That was my cue and I didn’t miss it. I rocked my hips hard against him to catch every single spot that brought us both pleasure.

  I threw my head back and he nipped at my neck, then licked up to my ear. The soft tickling sensations mixed with the hard rhythmic build of my hips moving on his solid length. Everything seemed to be moving around me as I climbed higher pulling Xander with me.

  “Oh. I’m so close,” I stuttered out between breaths and thrusts.

  “Yeah Gem, just there.” He growled again biting down on my earlobe.

  The world went fuzzy as the sensations flooded through me and we jerked and thrashed while clinging to each other. We toppled back and landed on the mats with Xander on the bottom once again. I lay on his heaving chest, not caring about the sweat that we were sharing between us. I could hear the rapid beating of his heart, then it slowing as he brushed the hair from my face.

  We lay there for a few minutes, neither of us saying anything nor needing to—just experiencing the connection of being together and sharing. Neither of us had spoken of him leaving tomorrow. It was almost as if we didn’t talk about it, it wouldn’t be true. It was only going to be for a week, but for some reason it seemed to feel much longer.

  “Want a shower?”

  Mmm tempting, but I wasn’t sure. “What did you have in mind?”

  “Today, I’m prepared to make an exception. Lukewarm it is, but you’ll have to keep me warm if I start to get cold,” he joked.

  “Sook, my big bad fighter boy doesn’t like cold showers.” I ran my hands down his ribs tickling him. He bucked underneath me and caught my hands. “I suppose I could be enticed to keep you warm if it’s that much of a problem.” I huffed making it sound like far more of an issue than it was. No way would I pass up the opportunity to be naked next to Xander.

  “I’ve got a big fight in a couple of weeks, Gem. I need to keep my muscles loose and limber. Can’t have them freezing up.” He popped a little kiss on my lips punctuating his words.

  “I thought ice therapy was good for muscle recovery?”

  He shook his head in mock annoyance. “This is what I get for having a brainiac for a girlfriend?”

  “All part of the package.” I shrugged.

  “Ice therapy is great for muscle recovery, but didn’t say I liked it. My dick doesn’t either.” He gave me a look that was all suggestion.

  I giggled. “Well in that case ice therapy is off the menu for today.”

  “Good p
lan. No cold water. I’ve got serious plans for my dick today.”

  “You can partake in ice therapy as much as you want once you get to Vegas.”

  “If it was up to me—never. I think Reed and my physio have other ideas though.”

  My brain started to switch gears. As much as part of me tried to ignore it, he was heading off tomorrow. Sure we’d only be apart for about ten days, but why did it seem like forever?

  “I know Gem, I feel the same,” he said quietly, stroking his hands down my shoulders and back.

  I looked down into his eyes and could see what I was feeling reflected in his obsidian depths.

  “I know it’s only about ten days but it just seems so long. I know we’re both going to be stupidly busy but still…”

  He nodded his head. “Reality and how we feel don’t seem to be meshing at the moment. I wish you could come with me, but you need to get these exams done. You can’t blow off all you’ve worked for. I’d feel awful about that.”

  I nodded and I knew he was right. “Okay. Then I guess we’ll just need to double our texting and messaging for the next ten days until we can do this again.” I tried to sound light and breezy.

  “We will.” He was back to being positive. “I guess it’s just kind of hitting me how much I’m going to miss you and it’s sort of surprising the hell out of me, but in a good way.”

  My heart squeezed tight. There was something about being loved and needed by Xander that just touched me in the deepest of ways.

  “We’re a hopeless pair because I feel the same. Normally I don’t mind studying, but at the moment it’s really bugging me. I just want to spend time with you. I know that isn’t practical all the time but that doesn’t make how I feel change any.”

  “I know. What a pair we are?” We both laughed and rolled around a little more.

  Chapter 27

  Eden

  Just one more exam. ‘Today was it,’ I told myself as I looked at my notes one last time before Len dropped me off at my mid-morning exam. I was ready—I had this one in the bag. My mind drifted from accounting principles to Xander.

  As soon as this exam was done I was going to relax, then pack the last few things I needed and Len and I would be off to the airport to take a midnight flight to the US. It was all happening so fast and slow at the same time, if that made sense.