Below the Belt (8 page)

“Don’t go,” she repeated. She took his left hand in both of hers and placed it against her sternum. She locked eyes with him as she slid his hand down onto her breast. Her whole body tightened in response. She continued to push his hand down, down, over her ribs and belly and down between her legs. Her own hands curving around his single big hand, she guided him between her thighs to where she was wet and ready for him.

“I am not a freakin’ saint.” He growled the words.

But he didn’t try to pull his hand away.

“I don’t want you to be,” she whispered. Then she curled a leg around the back of his knee and leaned back with her body weight to tumble him onto her bed.

He could have easily resisted. He didn’t. His body fell on top of hers as they hit the mattress, and she closed her eyes as she felt the glorious pressure of his hard chest against her breasts.

He was still for a moment, then he let his breath out on a sigh. She waited for him to explode into action the way he had last time when his control had snapped, but he turned his face into her neck and opened his mouth and began to kiss her. He’d pulled his hand from between her legs when they fell, instinctively trying to break their fall, and now he slid both hands up the sides of her body until they were splayed wide just beneath her breasts. He held her that way for a few long seconds as he made a leisurely survey of the side of her neck with his mouth and tongue. Sensation unfurled in her belly, warm and liquid.

They were going to take this slow, not fast and crazy like last time. Part of her welcomed the thought, even as part of her rebelled, wanting—needing—the oblivion of hard, hot sex to blot out what had just happened between them.

Sensation quickly washed all thought away as he slid his hands up onto her breasts and began to massage them, his fingers playing her nipples, his palms cupping her weight. She closed her eyes and groaned low in her throat, spreading her legs beneath him so that he nestled more snugly into the cradle of her thighs. The scrape of his jeans against her naked skin was highly erotic, and she circled her hips, savoring the friction, reveling in the feel of his erection pressing against her through the denim.

Slowly he trailed open-mouthed kisses up her neck, and her whole body shuddered as he slid his tongue into her ear. She moaned, her back arching. When had her ears ever been so sensitive? But she felt like every part of her body was on fire when Cooper was touching her.

Her own hands were clutching his shoulders, holding him steady, or perhaps simply holding him. She didn’t want him to go, to leave her wanting again. This time, she had to have him.

She felt the rasp of his five o’clock shadow as he dragged his mouth from her ear. She opened her lips in anticipation as his mouth finally found hers. His tongue slid inside and she stroked it with her own, desire rippling through her body in powerful, building waves.

She began to move her hands, gliding them down his back, one finding his butt, the other tugging his shirt free from his jeans so she could touch his skin. She pressed her palm flat against the muscles of his waist, reveling in the leashed power she could feel beneath her hand.

One of his hands drifted from her breast to cup her butt. Lifting her, he silently encouraged her closer to him. She willingly pressed herself against him, her thighs wide, her body quivering.

“You are unbelievable,” Cooper whispered into her mouth. “You make me so hot.”

She reached for the hem of his shirt and began to tug it up his back. He broke their kiss for a few, torturous seconds to shrug the shirt off entirely. Then his naked skin was against hers. She raked her hands down his back and opened her mouth wide to his invading kisses.

When had kissing ever been so intense, so amazing, so all-encompassing? She felt as though her bones had melted, as though everything inside her had become one big liquid ache.

Cooper ended their kiss and rolled to one side. She lay with her eyes half-closed, listening to the sound of denim sliding over skin, her breathing more and more shallow as she anticipated what was going to happen next. Him inside her, at last….

“Come here,” he murmured. He reached out to draw her close again. Her legs tangled with his, their hips and chests coming together as they lay on their sides facing each other. He nudged a knee between her legs, encouraging her thighs apart. She smoothed a hand down his beautiful chest and belly until she felt the brush of his erection against her hand.

Wrapping her palm around him, she skimmed her hand up his shaft until she felt the hot velvet of the head of his cock. He was so thick and long. She ran her thumb back and forth across his head, imagining how it was going to feel to have all this masculinity pounding into her….

She felt his body tense, and he deepened their kiss for a few seconds before rolling on top of her. As he settled between her thighs, she guided his hardness to her softness. She rubbed herself against him, back and forth, back and forth, a torturous, silken, slippery tease.

Cooper nuzzled her neck, then he lowered his head to her breasts and began to lave her nipples with his tongue. The ache between her thighs became almost painful as her desire built. She sent a questing hand for the drawer beside her bed.

“Cooper,” she said when she found a single small foil packet.

He took it from her, levering himself on one elbow as he rolled on the condom. Watching him touch himself, stroking the latex on was one of the biggest turn-ons of her life.

Once he was satisfied they were protected, he stared down at her, his gaze smoky as it catalogued her straining breasts, her widely spread thighs, the neat strip of dark curly hair between them. Taking himself in hand, he positioned himself at her entrance, then lifted his gaze to hers and slowly flexed his hips.

She wanted to close her eyes and enjoy the first delicious stretch of him as he slid inside her, but his eyes compelled her to watch him, to share the moment. She bit her lip as he slowly, slowly buried himself to the hilt.

“You’re so tight,” he said, his voice low, his eyes closing as he felt her embrace him.

She tilted her hips and wrapped her legs around his and reveled in being so utterly, completely full.

He began to move, his big cock so hard, so right inside her, his butt flexing beneath her hands, his whole body straining. He kept the pace slow, building the friction between them, his strokes firm and knowing. She rode with him, matching her rhythm to his, desire coiling tighter and tighter inside her.

He lowered his head to her breasts again, his touch more demanding now, his mouth suckling, his teeth nipping, his hands shaping her. It was exactly what she wanted, what she needed. She dug her fingers into his butt and encouraged him to go harder, faster.

He lifted the pace, pounding into her now, the exquisite friction between them building, building…She threw her head back, her whole body trembling with tension as she felt her desire climb higher. And then she was shuddering around him, her hands clutching at him, her inner muscles pulsating, her breath coming in short, desperate pants as she came and came and came.

He slowed his strokes as her climax dissipated, withdrawing until he’d almost left her entirely before slowly plunging all the way back inside. She murmured her appreciation, rocking against him, her body warm and loose and damp. He licked at her breasts, teasing her nipples lightly, then gently sucking them into the heat of his mouth where he soothed his tongue over and over them. She rolled her head from side to side, her eyes closed, her hands busy mapping the muscles of his back and shoulders and butt.

He slid a hand down her belly, delving into her curls, finding the hard nub of her clitoris. Her eyes shot open as he pressed it, circled it, flicked it. Desire instantly flared to life inside her again.

Seeing the new awareness in her eyes, he grinned—a deeply satisfied, knowing grin.

“Let’s see how you handle round two.”

S
HE WAS SO TIGHT
and hot and wet, he couldn’t believe that he’d lasted as long as he had. At the same time, he wanted to extend the pleasure as far as it would go. She was incredible, utterly uninhibited, her body the sexiest damn thing he’d ever had his hands on.

When she’d come, he’d almost lost it, he’d gotten off on her pleasure so much. The way she’d arched her back, the little hitch she’d gotten in her breathing, the way her fingers had curled into his butt and anchored him inside her as she shuddered around him…

Staring into her flushed face, taking in the tight peaks of her breasts, still wet from where he’d kissed them, admiring the flat planes of her stomach, he felt himself start to lose control. He couldn’t last much longer, but he wanted to make sure she came with him. Shifting himself higher, he changed the angle of his strokes and slid his finger over and over her clit. She started to moan. She began to buck. He ground himself into her, reveling in her, giving himself up to the tension inside as he drove into her. So sweet, so tight, so wet, so open and willing…His whole body tensed as he climaxed, and beneath him Jamie tensed as she came a second time.

His body slick with sweat, he collapsed on top of her, aware of the pounding of her heart beneath him and the rapid rise and fall of both their chests. After a few minutes, he rolled to one side. He’d noticed a closed door when he came after her earlier. He stood and went in search of the bathroom. After taking care of business, he returned to the bedroom to find Jamie lying exactly as he’d left her, her eyelids at half-mast, her hair dark and tousled on the sheets.

He wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d expected sex with her to be good, especially considering the days and days of build-up to this moment. He hadn’t expected it to be so intense and gripping and overwhelming.

She was a very attractive woman, in more ways than the physical. Watching her try to hold back her emotions when she’d been talking about her father and her grandfather…She’d hated crying in front of him, a true warrior to the end. Seeing her emotions leak out around her self-control had been painful to watch. He’d wanted to pull her into his arms and let her know it was all going to be all right.

Not an urge that had ever gripped him with any of the women he’d slept with previously. Not something he could guarantee for her, either.

The sheets rustled as she lifted herself up onto her elbows.

“My grandfather’s going to be home soon,” she said.

He blinked. She wanted him to go.

“Sure,” he said, frowning.

He’d shucked his jeans and boxers in one move, and he pulled his underwear free and tugged it on, quickly following with his jeans. She passed him his shirt when he started buckling his belt. He shrugged into it and did up the minimum of buttons before sliding his feet into his shoes.

“Before you go—you’re still going to be my trainer, right?” Jamie asked.

He stared at her. So beautiful, so determined, so goddamned focused on redeeming herself and her family name. Was he the only one who had felt anything apart from a bunch of great sensory shit when they’d been together just now?

Feeling angry with her all of a sudden, he headed for the door.

“Is that a no?” she asked.

He paused in the doorway. “We need to sort some things out,” he said.

A slow smile spread across her face.

“But you’re still my trainer.”

He stared at her for a long beat. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the gym.”

T
HE NEXT MORNING
Cooper was doing paperwork in his office at the gym when Ray stuck his head in.

“Hey. Just wanted to see how it went with Jimmy.”

Cooper had bailed on Ray’s dinner party to go confront Jamie last night, and the other man was well aware of his reasons for leaving early. Cooper regarded him silently for a moment.

Ray had lied to him about Jamie. Which meant he had two fighters who had been dishonest with him.

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. Jimmy and I go a long way back. She didn’t want anyone to know, and I figured that was her decision,” Ray said, tackling the issue head-on.

It was an apology, but there was a fair share of defiance in there, too, in the set of Ray’s shoulders and the way he held Cooper’s eye.

Fair enough. Cooper figured he’d probably feel about the same way if he were in Ray’s shoes. He’d only known Jamie for a handful of weeks and already she’d burrowed into his psyche. It was clear to him that Ray was still half-gone on her—he would have found it almost impossible to deny Jamie if she came to him asking for help.

“Let’s forget it, okay? Jamie and I have got some shit to sort out, but you and I are square. I get why you did it,” Cooper said.

Ray came fully into the office.

“So it went okay last night, then?”

It was Cooper’s turn to feel uncomfortable. “Like I said, we still have some shit to sort out.”

Ray dropped into the chair opposite Cooper’s desk. “Don’t be too hard on her. She’s copped a lot of crap in her life. All that stuff with her old man throwing that fight, then Kyle Vandenburg did her over, then her father’s death…Is it any wonder she wanted to just put it all behind her?” Ray said.

“What’s Kyle Vandenburg got to do with anything?”

A heavyweight, Kyle was the kind of egomaniacal moron who gave boxing a bad name. He brawled in bars, threw his weight around and hung with all the wrong people. He was also a dirty fighter. Cooper had beaten him twice in his career, and both times it had been a pleasure to pound the bastard into submission.

“He was hooked up with Jack for a while. Sort of a mentor thing. Jack toyed with training for a bit before he came out of retirement and took that last fight,” Ray said. They both knew how that had ended—Jack had hit the canvas in round five after a lackluster display. He’d been arrested in the change room for fraud straight afterward, the unusual level of betting against him having tipped the authorities off. It had been front page news in the U.S. and Australia and had brought the sport an intense amount of scrutiny for several months afterward.

“When Jack went down on the fraud charges, Jimmy was stuck with a bunch of legal bills. Vandenburg stepped in to help out. Jimmy was only twenty-two. Just a kid. I mean, I knew her back then, and she was gorgeous, but there was no way I would have gone there. She was so upset about Jack, her and Arthur were really struggling. But Vandenburg didn’t give a crap about any of that. He wanted her, and he got her. Told her he’d take care of everything, get his business manager involved to help them work things out.”

Cooper rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Vandenburg ripped her off?” he asked.

Ray nodded. “Him and his business manager. The Sawyers lost their house, cars, everything. Had to drop the appeal on Jack’s sentence, and Jack wound up doing the full two years. Jimmy blamed herself for a long time for being such a soft touch. That’s why she never lets her guard down any more. That asshole really did her good. Then her father finished the job two years ago when he killed himself.”

Cooper remembered the way she’d hunched her shoulders in on herself last night as she struggled to control her tears. No wonder she hated being vulnerable. Life had taught her that only the strong survived.

“I’ve been trying to get a match with Vandenburg ever since Jimmy told me,” Ray said. “Maybe this year.”

Cooper nodded. “Yeah. We’ll have to see what we can do about that.”

Ray grinned. “Can’t think of anything I’d like more than to make mincemeat of that prick.”

Cooper could—
he’d
like to be the one to do it, with his bare fists.

It should have surprised him that he felt so fiercely about the wrongs that had been visited upon Jamie, but after last night he was over with being surprised where she was concerned.

She was under his skin in a big way. It was more than great sex. How much more, he had no idea. He was sailing into un-charted waters, big-time. And his gut told him that it would be rough going all the way. But when had anything ever been easy where Jamie was concerned?

“Thanks for coming to clear the air, Ray. I appreciate it,” he said.

Cooper stared at his closed office door for a few minutes after the other man had left.

What was he going to do with Jamie Sawyer? Last night he’d committed to staying on as her trainer, yet this morning Ray’s revelations and his reaction to them had shown him that he was far from objective where she was concerned. He couldn’t bring himself to cut her loose, either, not when he knew how much she burned to redeem herself and her family. Who was he to deny her that chance?

And how was he going to work closely with her and not want her again, now that he knew how good it felt to be inside her?

Scrubbing his face with his hands, Cooper pushed himself to his feet. When in doubt, work out had always been his motto, and he headed out to hit the long bag and work up a sweat.

T
HAT AFTERNOON
,
Jamie exited her car in the parking lot at Fitzgerald Fighters’ Gym. Her grandfather slammed his door shut on the other side of the car and fanned his face.

“Another stinker,” he said, squinting up at the clear blue sky.

He’d insisted on coming into the gym with her when she’d told him that Cooper knew she was a Sawyer. He wanted to apologize in person for lying to Cooper. She wasn’t about to stop him. She felt bad enough for asking him to lie in the first place. He’d never been comfortable with the subterfuge, even if he’d understood her reasons for wanting anonymity.

She jingled the car keys in her hand. Her palms were sweaty.

Her grandfather glanced her way.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

She and Cooper had had sex last night. It was no big deal. It didn’t change anything. In fact, it was supposed to make things better, release the tension.

Yeah, right.

She kept telling herself that the first five minutes would be the most uncomfortable, then maybe she’d make some crack or Cooper would be a smart-ass and all would return to normal. Whatever the hell that was.

She’d woken that morning to a rush of hot, sticky memories and a wave of…Not quite regret, but close. Sex with Cooper hadn’t been what she’d expected. It had been great. It had also been disturbingly intense.

Now she had to face him for the first time.

This is why they invented that rule, don’t screw the crew.

Funny how these things always seemed far more manageable when lust was raging and getting naked was on the agenda. Only in the cold light of day were all the pitfalls evident.

The first thing she saw when she walked into the gym was a sea of backs. Everyone—staff and fighters—were gathered around the ring. Alarm raced up her spine when she saw Cooper was in there, sparring with Ray. Both men were wearing boxing shorts and tank tops as well as padded head protectors and gloves.

In her one week in the gym, she had never seen Cooper spar with anyone, which was nothing less than what she’d expected—the man had suffered a badly detached retina. Any head trauma could aggravate it and lead to permanent blindness.

So what the hell was he doing trading punches with Ray? He might be wearing a head guard, but Cooper was still taking a stupid risk, and for what? To give Ray a workout? Or was this more about what he’d said the other day when they were running? About him not ever knowing anything other than fighting and missing it?

Dropping her bag, Jamie found a gap in the crowd and stood with her arms crossed over her chest.

She’d seen Ray fight live many times, but she’d only ever seen Cooper on the small screen. Even though she was deeply concerned about the risk he was taking, she couldn’t help but admire the speed and grace of his footwork and the skill with which he ducked and weaved. Many heavyweight fighters were sluggers, shuffling around the ring and using power to pummel their opponents into submission. Cooper possessed a rare combination of grace and power, and Ray was having a hard time keeping up.

After a few minutes of trading blows, Cooper put his hand up and called an end to the bout. Both he and Ray were breathing heavily and laughing, the big lugs, as they pulled off their gloves.

“Man, you’re fast,” Ray said appreciatively. “Lucky you’re retired, that’s all I’m saying.”

“Lucky you were going easy on me,” Cooper said.

They climbed out of the ring together. Jamie glared at Cooper. How could he behave so cavalierly when his eyesight was at risk?

A couple of the other fighters were patting him on the back when he glanced across and saw her standing there. An absurd rush of warmth washed through her as she met his dark blue eyes and remembered the way he’d held her gaze as he slid inside her last night. Annoyed with herself, she shrugged it off.

“Can I see you for a moment?” she asked.

He nodded, grabbing a towel and following her as she marched through to his office. She waited until he was inside before kicking the door shut with her foot and turning to face him, arms crossed over her chest again.

“What were you doing, fighting Ray? What if he’d hit you in the head?”

Cooper’s eyebrows rose. “Why do I feel as though I’ve been called into the principal’s office?” he asked.

“I’m serious, Cooper. What if he’d clocked you a good one and you injured your eye again? For a stupid sparring match, for God’s sake!”

Cooper stared at her for a beat, then his lips curved into a smile.

“I didn’t know you cared.”

“I don’t,” she said quickly. “You were the one going on about not going blind the other day.”

“Yet you’re the one who just hauled me in here and tore strips off me,” Cooper said, cocking his head to one side and studying her. “I think I’m flattered. After you kicked me out last night I figured I mustn’t have been up to scratch.”

Even though she knew he was deliberately provoking her, her cheeks grew warm.

“I didn’t kick you out. It was just that my grandfather was due home. It wasn’t a comment on your, um, performance.”

“Oh. Good. That’s a load off,” he said. He was still grinning.

“Smart-ass.”

“Sexy ass.”

She stared at him, painfully aware of the urge to reach out and touch him. To slide her hand around one of his bulging biceps and snake her leg around one of his legs and press herself against the firmness of his body.

She sucked in a deep breath. Wasn’t this stuff supposed to go away now that they’d had sex? Wasn’t that the whole point of last night?

Cooper’s smile faded as he stared back at her.

“Once was never going to be enough, was it?” she asked.

“No.”

“Now what are we going to do?”

He shrugged. “Suck it up and get over it. We’re both adults.”

She knew it was the right answer, the best answer, the answer they should have stuck with all along. She still felt the sting of disappointment. That in itself was reason enough to agree with him. Sex was sex—it shouldn’t come accessorized with feelings of longing and concern for Cooper’s health and disappointment that whatever this was between them was over before it even began.

“Okay. But you’re going to have to keep your shirt on around me,” she said.

“And I never want to see those hot pants in my gym again. Deal?”

Despite how grim she felt right now, and how hard she knew it was going to be not thinking about Cooper’s hot hands and hot mouth and hot cock, she found herself smiling. At least they were both in this thing together, strapping themselves to their respective masts to avoid the siren’s song of their mutual attraction.

“Deal.” They shook hands as a knock sounded on the door.

“Come in,” Cooper said, releasing her hand.

“Just wanted to say my piece, if you’ve got a moment.” It was her grandfather, looking determined.

“Of course,” Cooper said.

Arthur’s expression was unreadable as he approached, chin forward. “I wasn’t comfortable lying to you, I want you to know that, and I’m sorry. It’s not the way I usually like to handle things.”

Jamie had to look away. Her grandfather had lost everything else already—his good name, his son, his standing in his chosen community. She hated knowing that she’d taken something else from him when she’d asked him to lie for her.

“You were standing by Jamie. I’m not saying I like being made a fool of, but I understand why you felt the need to do it. It’s good to know Jamie’s got people who will back her up. Every fighter needs a loyal team in their corner,” Cooper said.

Jamie shot a look at his face, sure that she’d heard something else beneath his words.

“Well. Good. We understand each other,” her grandfather said. He offered Cooper his hand and the two men shook.

There was a small awkward silence in the office afterward, the three of them standing there as though they were waiting for something else to happen. Cooper broke it by turning to Jamie, one eyebrow cocked in question.

“I’m pretty sure one of us is supposed to be out on the speedball right now, doing her conditioning training,” he said.

Jamie forced a smile, even though she was feeling troubled after the events of the past few minutes. Troubled by what she’d forced her grandfather to do and because even though she knew keeping her relationship with Cooper professional was the smart thing to do, a part of her wanted him very, very badly. Last night, with his body moving inside hers and his heat warming her, she’d felt the best she had in a long time.

“Guess I’d better get my butt into gear, then,” she said.