I pulled her body forward. “Wriggle up, Gem. I want a taste. I’ve missed having my mouth on your pussy. I’ve missed your taste.”
“I thought I was the one supposed to be smothering you in TLC?” she complained but complied none the less.
“Oh this is TLC, Gem. Just being with you is all I need.” I didn’t say anything else; just drew her hips down over my lips and ran my tongue the length of her slit. The flavour of her arousal burst on my tongue like sherbet and I lapped at the wetness, wanting more.
She cried out and bucked her hips into my face. It was the sort of hit I’d never get tired of feeling. Every ache I had from the fight was fast disappearing. I found the little tight nub of her clit and focused my attentions there until she was panting like she’d run an Olympic sprint. When I felt her tense in readiness for release I sucked her clit into my mouth and paused, drawing out the sensation. Should I let her come? Or should I make her wait?
Decisions, decisions.
“Oh, Xander, please!” she begged and the decision was made for me.
How could I resist Eden anything, much less something that would bring us both so much pleasure. I kept up the suction and flicked my tongue over her clit.
Immediately her hips bucked and grounded against my face and her body flung about wildly. Her breath was coming in harsh pants between agonising groans of pleasure as she screamed my name. I held her tight to me, dragging out her pleasure with my tongue and lips. Finally, she slumped forward towards the head of the bed looking all sexy and satisfied. The look on her face was a huge stroke to my male ego. What man didn’t want to see his woman looking like this and going nuts at what he did to her?
I ran my hand up and down her thigh, as I let her catch her breath. Suddenly I realised the weariness had disappeared only to be replaced by a hunger for her that was raw and basal.
Her head lifted from the pillow in surprise as I rolled from the bed. I could see the question in her eyes.
I rounded the bed and leant forward to hook her knees in the crook of my arms. I dragged her back down the bed and the surprise in her eyes had turned to a hot look of need. She might have been shy to start with, but not anymore. Now Eden was open to anything and everything. I knew it was because she trusted me in everything we did and not just in the bedroom. Eden knew I’d never betray that trust. The feeling it gave me, knowing how much she trusted me, was something that just seemed to overwhelm me at times.
She grinned up at me as her hips came level with the end of the bed. “I thought you were tired and a bit battered and bruised tonight.”
I chuckled and returned her grin. “I am. But suddenly the part of my body that is hurting the most is my cock and I know exactly how you can make that pain go away.”
She giggled and raised her eyebrows at me suggestively. “Well then, what are you waiting for?”
I tightened my grip around her thighs and nudged my hips forward. Like a missile guidance system, my cock immediately found the target and I thrust home. The sensations of her hot wet pussy surrounding me flooded my senses. I sucked in a breath and gritted my teeth trying to push back the need to lose my head in a few quick violent thrusts to oblivion.
Eden wrapped her long legs around my hips and locked them at my waist pulling her tight to me. It was so fucking good. I rocked my hips in long firm thrusts until we had a rhythm that seemed to suit both of us. Her hands clutched at the sheets and she was rolling her hips to meet mine.
“Oh yeah, Xan. There. Right there.” I retraced the arc my hips had travelled and she panted, “So good,” in reply. Oh yeah, she was so right.
My balls were sucked tight to my body screaming for release as I felt her walls start to squeeze me.
Then her back arched up and I released the brakes on my control. I slammed my hips hard into her, both chasing and pushing her to release. The harder I thrust the wilder she thrashed on the bed. She met my thrusts one last time with a roll of her hips and cried out her release. I could hold back my own orgasm no longer.
My hips hammered into her in short sharp strokes while her walls drained every last drop of pleasure from me.
Somehow I managed to hold my feet, even though the bone-tired weariness had returned and my head was spinning.
We both looked at each other and laughed. It had been so intense and earth shattering, but there really was no elegant escape from this position.
“Get up here, Pretty Boy, and give me a cuddle before you fall on your butt.” She held out a hand to me. Now there was a demand I knew I’d be smart to follow.
* * *
Eden
The next morning I woke to find him missing from the bed, and a hum and gurgling noise coming from the bathroom. I rolled over and edged to the side of the bed before padding across to the bathroom.
I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I found him lying, eyes closed in the monster tub with the spa jets running. The bruises on his face were a little more prominent this morning, but he was still sexy and handsome to me. The bubbles were playing peek a boo with my ability to see his hard cut body. Just when I caught a glimpse, they’d reform over where I’d been looking, obscuring my view.
Xander must have sensed me there and his eyelids slowly rose and a lopsided grin formed on his face.
“Morning, gorgeous,” he said.
“Hey, you. You feeling okay?” I asked, concerned that he’d got up to sit in the spa because he was hurting.
“I’m okay, a bit stiff and sore, but on the whole I’m fine. I should have done more recovery work after the fight.” His hands broke the surface of the water in a move that spoke of the impossibility of that with everything that went on. “I woke up a while ago and you looked so peaceful, I thought I’d come hang in here for a while.”
His eyes were trailing my body and becoming increasingly hungry. I knew that look and it was a thought I shared. An idea popped into my mind and I suddenly felt nervous. Could I go through with it?
“Stay right there. I’ll be back in a sec.” I headed to the separate toilet off the bathroom and closed the door behind me. After I did what I needed to do, I washed my hands in the basin and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
The face I saw looking back at me still had those same scars yet it was very different from the one that used to look back at me. This one was the face of a woman who was no longer controlled by her fears. This was the face of a woman who was brave enough to take what she wanted from life and make it hers. Fears were something that just needed to be faced and pushed at. None of it was easy, but nothing worth something ever was. The man lying in that tub was more than worth conquering any fears I might have
The thought of enjoying being able to share it with him, and the need to do so, was more than my fear of the warm water in the tub. I pulled my hair up off my face and secured it on the top of my head in a messy knot with an elastic I’d left on the vanity.
This was it. I headed back to the bathroom and moved to the tub. Xander hadn’t moved but he was watching me curiously.
“Want to join me, Gem?” He held his hand out for me to take, seeming to understand what I wanted.
I reached my hand out and took his. His fingers closed tight around me as a peace and strength descended over me. It was all I needed.
“It’s not very hot. It won’t burn. Just put one foot in at a time.” His voice was calm and reassuring.
As if on command at his voice, my left leg rose and my toes, then my instep and finally my heel descended into the warm water. The water actually felt surprisingly comforting and I stepped forward until my leg was submerged to my knee. Then I brought the other leg over the edge and into the water.
“You okay, Gem? You’re doing great.”
I placed my other hand on the edge of the tub and took a deep breath. This was it. I didn’t think about it anymore. It wouldn’t hurt me. I lowered the rest of my body into the water and I felt the warm resistance coupled with the tickling bubbles of the spa jets. It was sur
prisingly good and my mind raced back to a time when I used to love having a bath.
Xander let go of my hand and pulled me back against his body, wrapping an arm around my chest. That was all I needed. Any previous fears of warm water now seemed ridiculous and foreign.
“How’s that, baby?”
“Feels good,” I admitted.
He chuckled. “Can you be a little more precise? What feels good? Beating the hot water demon? The spa? Or being cuddled close to me?”
“Can I be greedy and say all three?”
“You surely can.”
“Then I’m saying all three.”
He brushed a loose strand of hair back from my face.
“I love you, Eden. Thanks for sticking by me through all that crap. I know how difficult it was for you.”
“I guess that’s the thing I’ve learned about love, Xan. It makes you want to do things you don’t think you’re capable of, or even want to, for someone else. Case in point, I’m sitting in this bath and it’s pretty damned good.” I turned my head and kissed his jaw.
“You’re right. I didn’t think I’d ever get in the ring again and I did because I needed to.” He seemed to be in a quiet and reflective mood this morning. I didn’t mind in the least. The last few days had been insane.
“Are you going to take another fight?” I asked not sure whether I was ready for the answer or not.
“Yeah, I think I probably will. Dad mentioned to me last night there’s a shot at the world title after that win last night. I’ll give it a few weeks, then make a call.” He went quiet again for a little while. “How do you feel about that?”
I laced my fingers through his free hand. “I’ll tell you what I told Reed last night.” I felt him stiffen under me. “I told him that it was totally up to you. If that’s what you want to do I’d support you; the same thing applies if you don’t ever want to step into the cage again. The decision’s yours, Xan. I’d never stop you from doing something you felt the need to do. That’s not what loving someone is about. It’s about being part of what they’re trying to achieve. It’s about supporting and being there for them. You’ve done that so much for me and I want to do the same for you.”
He squeezed me tighter to him. “God, I love you, Eden.”
“Whatever you want to do is fine by me.”
“I haven’t made any decisions. I need to think on it some more, but it is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
“I know.” I squeezed his hand.
“You do realise our life is probably going to be a little crazy from now on out? I’ve no idea where all this press and social media shit is going to go,” he warned.
“One thing I’ve learned Xan is that you can’t help what other people think, say or do. Trying to second guess them will drive you insane and stop you from achieving anything. You can only be true to yourself and the ones you love, no one else really matters in the scheme of things.”
“When did you get so wise?” he joked.
“Um, I kind of met this guy who demanded that I stop hiding and come out to join the world with him.”
“Really. Must have been a hell of a guy.”
“Modest, too.” We both laughed for a bit.
I pulled our joined hands out from under the water and examined the pads of my fingers. “Will you look at that? We’ve even got matching prune wrinkles.”
“Definitely a match made in heaven,” he agreed.
“So what are we going to do today? I’m not sure we can sit in here much longer.”
“Nope. That would probably be a bad idea, but I do have an idea that I think would be much better.” His voice had gone to that low growl tone that I loved; every one of my nerves was back on high alert.
“What did you have in mind?” I asked a little breathlessly with anticipation.
“How about we take in the sights?” It wasn’t exactly what I thought he’d suggest but I didn’t mind as long as I was with him. “There’s something in Vegas that I’d really like to try on for size.”
The place was full of casinos and to date we’d done very little other than focus on the fight; a little flutter at the tables might be fun. “Are you looking to see if you can increase your winnings?”
“That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind; I’m a lucky guy to have you. It’d probably be really pushing my luck to think I could win at the tables as well.” He shifted his body a bit and his very hard erection probed at my hip.
I dragged our linked hands to his cock and closed my hand around him. His hand cupped mine over his engorged flesh. “This is something that I’d be happy to try on for size, if this is your much better idea.”
He chuckled. “You can try that on for size as much as you want, Gem. But getting back to my idea before you remove all rational thought from my head… we’re in Vegas and I’m a firm believer in taking in the whole experience. There’s one in particular I think we’ll really love, but it’s kind of a leap of faith.”
I was getting suspicious. I’d seen the brochures for that bungee jump off the hotel on the coffee table just yesterday. In fact, Dane had been talking about it. That experience looked horrific. “Xan, I’m all for facing fears, but I’m not inclined to want to jump off a perfectly good building and I’m not sure the jolt would be great for you at the moment.”
He burst out laughing. “That’s not what I had in mind. Dane and Seth can go do that shit.”
I had no idea what he was talking about then. “I give up. What’s this great idea?” I wished he’d hurry up and get on with it, because I had ideas of my own. I closed my fingers to give him a little reminder.
Then he removed our joined hands from around him and caught my chin in his fingers and turned my head so I could see his eyes. They were dark and serious and full of emotion. “I love you more than anything, Eden. I thought the leap of faith we could take was marriage. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
My stomach felt as if it flipped over and my heart leapt into my mouth. I took a great gulping breath and gave him the only answer that made any sense.
“Yes, Sensei.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Eden
I laid back and tried to clear my mind and relax as the needles of Jarryd’s tattooing machine moved over the raised skin on my side. Today was the last of the ten sessions I’d endured in order to transform the ugly scars of my side into a true work of art. It had been five months and lots of pain but I knew it would be worth it. I grimaced and let out a little squeak of pain. Some areas just hurt like a bitch!
Xander squeezed my hand in support and I glanced over at our matching wedding rings. “Nearly done, Gem. Hang in there, gorgeous.” His voice was calming but I knew he felt every jolt of pain that I felt.
“When do you start the prep for the World Title fight?” Jarryd asked in that low calm voice of his.
“Monday week,” Xander answered. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He really did live for this stuff.
“Feeling confident?”
“I wouldn’t have taken the fight if I didn’t. It’s a huge commitment for not only me, but my whole team and Eden. I wouldn’t do it unless I was one hundred percent committed,” he explained.
I winced again as Jarryd hit another tender spot. “How do you feel about it, Eden?”
Jarryd was trying to take my mind off it, bless him. “If that’s what he wants to do then he should do it. I’ll support him one hundred percent.”
“You’re lucky to find someone so supportive of what you do, Xan. It can’t be easy being a fighter’s wife,” Jarryd commented.
“It has its moments. Although, it might be different for all I know this time. Last prep I was his girlfriend. This time I’m his wife.”
Oh, how things had changed since then. Five minutes after the shock of Xander asking me to marry him had worn off, we’d sprung into action. He’d found a “traditional Vegas Chapel” and the plans had swung into action. Later
that afternoon I’d walked down the aisle on Len’s arm to be met at the altar by Xander and his groomsmen—Reed, Dane and Seth.
I’d found a gorgeous designer dress in the hotel boutique that was an ivory silk and stunningly beautiful in its simplicity. It was completely unadorned by anything other than the beautiful long lace sleeves. The rest of the dress was absolutely plain but clung to every plane and curve of my body like it had been custom designed for me. Xan wore an impeccably cut dark suit with a snowy white shirt and he couldn’t have looked more handsome. The bruises and slight puffiness of his features only seemed to give him more of a “bad boy” air. Oh yeah, but he was my own version of a “bad boy.” I’d take respectful, honourable and committed over anything else. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind he was the man for me.
We’d left Vegas that night and spent the next week quietly exploring the beauty of the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas. When we got home with me sporting a three carat solitaire diamond set in platinum with a matching wedding band, my family had been surprised and pleased for me. But I could tell they regretted not having had the opportunity to share the day with us.
That was something we were going to rectify on our one year anniversary. We were going to do it all again. Only this time it would be planned rather than spontaneous, and all our family and friends would be in attendance. Beth and my sisters would stand up with me. In fact, Beth was now talking about moving to the city for a bit and I couldn’t be happier. I loved that we spoke every day via technology, but I’d love to see her in person more often. Sophia and Tori has also been busy. If everything went to plan Sophia would be trying for her black belt just before our “Wedding take 2” and Tori would be going for brown. But my husband had a fight to win first and that was where our primary focus had to be.
“How would it be different?” Xander asked, obviously curious.
“Well, this time I’ll be living with you twenty four seven rather than heading home. That’s one thing.”
Brave Page 46
