Real Challenge (Atlanta #2) (20 page)

The announcer bantered stats in the background while Cassie gave a knowing look to Scott. “I’m sure I’ll get an earful tomorrow about that one. I bet Luke’s going to be pissed, and Marc’s going to spend all night putting him in his place.”

“Seriously?” Scott nearly shouted over the crowd.

Cassie nodded. “I’ll let you know how it goes.”

Over an hour into the event, Marcus’s match came up. He was pitted against some guy named Oscar Mendez. Mendez looked like a beast, seriously less than human. Erin, as usual, started the match with her eyes half-covered. She hated to see Marcus in fights, no matter how strongly he dominated the cage.
 

As soon as Marcus entered the ring, determined and focused, Cassie screamed louder and Scott whistled through his teeth. The crowd seemed equally split between the two fighters and the round began with a bang. Both men barreled at each other, Mendez with pure power and aggressiveness, Marcus with an unlikely mix of both offense and defense. He blocked with his arms while simultaneously taking Mendez down with a roundhouse sweep of the leg. The crowd went absolutely wild.
 

Cassie noticed right away that Mendez was more of a wrestler than a boxer, and Marcus handled him like a pro. Marcus adeptly avoided getting wrapped up completely, forcing his opponent to rely on his fists against him…obviously not Mendez’s strength in the ring. Still, Mendez managed to land a few unbelievably strong blows. Erin cringed at each one. Marcus, however, didn’t flinch. He only responded with more kicks, punches, and the occasional take-down.

The entire match went that way. They traded blows while Mendez tried unsuccessfully to get Marcus down on the mat. Marcus’s speed, agility, and strategy outshone Mendez’s raw strength and aggressiveness. Marcus let Mendez tire himself out, then let his strategy bust out the win. The animal inside was released and rained blow after blow for the entire last minute of the match. Marcus won by knockout with 28 seconds left to go.

The row of Marcus’s biggest fans, led by Cassie, screamed louder than anyone. Even Scott was howling like a madman when the ref raised Marcus’s hand in sweaty victory. Cassie beamed when Marcus gave a quick smile at Erin before heading back to the locker room, bruised and triumphant. She turned smiling to Scott.

“See? He’s awesome!”

“That was unbelievable,” he said over the noise of the crowd shuffling to the aisles. “And
I
was right. Your brother’s a machine,
not
a teddy bear.”

Cassie just laughed. Scott leaned down for a quick kiss. “You ready to get out of here?”

“Nah, let’s wait for my bother to come out so I can congratulate him. Then we can head back to my house so you give me a proper kiss,” Cassie said with a smile.

“I can live with that,” he said with a grin, pulling her close to him while they waited.
 

Erin, Jenna, and Cassie talked about the other three fighters from Marcus’s gym and how they fared at the match, as well as Luke and the inevitable rage-fest that was sure to follow.
 

“Yeah, I don’t figure Marcus will be home tonight,” Erin said with an understanding smile. “Luke’s a handful.”

“Maybe he just needs more patience,” Jenna said kindly.

Just then Marcus came out with tunnel vision that led straight to Erin. She reached up to touch his bruised, swollen eye carefully. He grinned at her. “It’s not so bad.”
 

After a strong hug and a loving kiss on top of her head, Marcus nodded hello to everyone.
 

“Nice win, ninja-wannabe,” Cassie tossed at him with her best obnoxious smile.
 

Marcus rolled his eyes, and bumped her fist, followed by Jenna’s and then Scott’s.
 

“Good match, man. That was intense,” Scott said.

“Thanks. Bill showed me video of Mendez last week. Once I knew what to avoid, the rest was actually kind of easy.”

Scott shook his head with a smile. “I would not call that easy.”

Marcus chuckled good-heartedly and turned his attention back to Erin. “I’m sure you’ve already guessed…”

“Yep, go have fun mopping the floor with your protégé,” she smiled. “I love you.”

“You too, baby. Bye everybody.” With one more kiss for Erin and one more wave for the rest of them, Marcus was off.
 

Scott turned to Cassie immediately. “Now, I remember something about getting you home and kissing you properly?”

Cassie grinned, Erin made a gagging gesture and Jenna laughed.
 

“Bye, love-birds,” Erin called after them.

Scott shook his head with a backward wave as he tucked Cassie in against his side. They walked to the arena doors together and straight to Scott’s SUV.

“Do you want to get your car from the test center now, or wait until tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow,” she grinned. “I’m too intent on that kiss.”

“That’s understandable. My lips
are
irresistible.”

Cassie laughed out loud at his adorable show of arrogance. “Too true.”
 

About a half hour later Scott and Cassie were on the floor in her living room eating ice cream by the steamer trunk.
 

“Your brother kicked some serious ass in there,” Scott said again. “I knew he was a fighter, but Christ. I’m more scared of him now than I was before.”

“Stop being scared of him,” Cassie rolled her eyes. “He looks a lot scarier than he is.”

“I guess I’ll have to take your word for it, but I really don’t believe you,” Scott smiled.
 

“Maybe you’re just a big wimp,” Cassie sassed with a smile.

“When it comes to your brother? Absolutely.”

Cassie laughed genuinely and took the last bite of her ice cream. Scott wasn’t quite done but she took his bowl anyway.

“Hey!” he protested, reaching for the spoon one more time while she pulled it away from him with a wicked smile.

“No more, blondie. It’s time for you to kiss me properly.”

She disappeared into the kitchen. When she came back to the living room, Scott was
right there
. He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her crashing into him. He moved his mouth so close to her lips, she could feel his hot breath. She tilted her head up for her kiss but he pulled away. Scott angled his head and breathed deliberately into her ear.

“Tell me, Cassie…how do you define proper kissing? Because I know all
sorts
of ways to use my lips,” he whispered. With his nose, he nuzzled her for a quiet moment, his lips never touching her. “Most of which would be considered
improper
, I suppose, unless you define proper by pleasure.”

Cassie gasped when he grabbed her ass cheeks and picked her up. She wrapped her legs around him quickly and pressed her torso against his, circling his neck to help keep herself touching every surface of him she could. She tilted her head back as Scott moved his nuzzling down to her neck.

“Kiss me, Scott…” she breathed.

“No, Cass. Not yet. I need to know what you mean by proper. I’d hate to disappoint.”

He walked her back to the bedroom and laid her out on the mattress. He pushed himself directly over her, between her legs, his mouth still tantalizingly close to her. Still, he kept his lips from her.

“Just kiss me already…”

“Oh, Cassie. I will. With insane attention to your needs. But how? Do you need a sweet, soft moment on your lips? A deep, sensual invasion?” His nose skimmed along her jaw. “Or do you want my kisses on your body? Your nipples perhaps? Lower? What is proper for you tonight, Cassie? Or maybe
im
proper…”

Cassie was softly writhing below him, solely from the heat of his breath and the intensity of his words. “God, Scott…”

“Maybe your toes? Hmm?” His nose continued to tickle her neck, teasing her skin in combination with his breath. He took her hand and brought her inner-wrist almost to his lips, still not kissing her. He licked delicately on the sensitive skin of her arm and spoke into her palm. “I’ll heat up your entire body, Cass. Just tell me how.”

“Start here,” she breathed as she dragged her fingers delicately along her lips.

“That’s a good start, Cass,” he breathed, now hovering directly over her mouth…still not kissing her. “But that’s just a start. You still didn’t tell me how.”

Cassie was breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling with anticipation. She squeezed his biceps and his shoulders, pulling at him and willing him to kiss her. She couldn’t think; her mind was absent as her body took over.

“Please…I don’t know…just kiss me,” she almost whined.

“My choice?”

“Yes…”

“Oh, this will be fun,” he smiled as his breath played along her mouth. “Since you asked, I’ll start with your lips. Just don’t expect me to stay there too long.”

He leaned forward and offered her a soft, very sensual kiss. His lips softly moulded themselves to hers and his tongue moved slowly along the length of hers. He almost cautiously invaded and explored her mouth, the whole time keeping gentle pressure on her lips. He pulled away only far enough to breathe along her skin again. She sighed audibly as he kissed the very corner of her mouth, so softly and slowly.

“Scott…” she breathed through the sweet pleasure he gave. “Oh…”

“Lift your chin, sexy.”

Cassie did and he placed small kisses from her mouth all the way down to the hollow below her throat. He paused only to pull her shirt off, then he began his descent to her navel, tonight sporting a simple silver ring. He kissed and teased her soft belly for a long moment, causing Cassie to move softly below him.
 

“Listen, Cass, let yourself feel…ride this out with me. I’m going to kiss every single pulse point on your body. Your neck, wrists, your sexy thigh, everywhere your blood is right at the surface. Imagine every kiss soaking in, and every heartbeat carrying me through your whole body.”

He undressed her the rest of the way and dragged his lips up to her temple. He kissed there, breathing purposefully to heat her skin before kissing along the gentle pulse again. He moved directly back to her wrist. He kissed and licked over her pulse, gently sucking and massaging with his tongue.
 

“Feel it, Cassie. Me…my kisses…moving straight up your arm…over your skin
and
under,” he breathed as he kissed up her arm to the strong pulse of her bicep and then under her chin. He continued this sexy circuit slowly across her neck and down her other arm, directing her imagination as he went. Scott’s lips spent decadent amounts of time over each pulse before moving back up her arm and down her chest.

He moved to her ribs and down her hip and back around to her inner-thigh. Harder now he licked and sucked at her skin, alternating between both legs. By this time Cassie was squirming and moaning, lost in the sensations of his tongue and the fantasy of his words. “Everywhere, Cassie. In all of you…”

He kissed down behind each knee and down to the pulse at her ankle. He was making his way back up her leg when she placed her hand solidly on top of his head, essentially stopping him. He continued to kiss her leg but stopped as soon as she said, “Scott, wait…”

Scott, baffled, eased his way up beside her, searching her eyes for the source of her hesitation. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re doing it again,” Cassie said, trying hard to bring herself out of the pleasured trance and into what looked to be the beginning of an argument.

Scott dropped the scenario completely, trying not to be annoyed. “Doing what again?”

“Scott, how many women have you used this routine on?”

“What? I don’t know…why does that matter? Didn’t you like it?”

“God, Scott, I did. Too much…until I realized how forced it was. You were working me again, not really with me. It killed me to stop you…but I won’t be one of many. Ever.”

Scott couldn’t decide if he was angry or hurt. He was not “working” her at all.

“I
was
really with you, Cassie. That was me right there. I was imagining the same thing you were. I liked the idea of being all up in your skin. You and me. Cassie and Scott. Don’t you get that?”

“But if this was one of your standard seduction tools, then I almost feel manipulated,” she sighed with frustration. “I don’t like feeling used.”

“Used?! What the hell?” Scott clenched his jaw and forced a breath. “I am
not
using you, Cassie. How could you even think that? You have to know that you’re important to me. I don’t even feel like the same person because of you. I couldn’t use anyone if I tried. Not anymore.”

Cassie searched his eyes. “Tell me you haven’t used that little scene to get someone to sleep with you.”

“Obviously I have, Cass. But that’s not the point.”

“Then what
is
the point?”

Scott paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. “Ok, look. I’ve used that ‘scene’ to make enough of a connection with a girl, just to let me have her. With you, the connection is already there, no manipulation. I tried my moves with you on our first date and it didn’t work at all, remember? But we’re better because of it, don’t you think?”

“Of course we are,” Cassie said. “Then why did you bust out your little strategy there? I don’t understand.”

“Only because I knew how good I could make you feel…how good we both would. It wasn’t strategy at all. And I’ll tell you, this was the first time I let myself be a part of it. I never imagined myself really getting inside someone like that before. The difference was intense.”

Cassie looked at him and searched his eyes. His liquid-blues showed such sincerity. She touched his forehead and then ran her fingertips along his eyelids as he closed them gently. “So it was for me? And that was really you, not the player?”

“Every time with you,” he said pointedly, looking her straight in the eye again. “Every time is
me
. Just me. The player took a hike weeks ago. I can’t pretend I don’t have a past. And I know plenty of fun games to play, but I promise I will never use or manipulate you. I couldn’t anyway. You’d never have it, which is part of why you’ve gotten so far under
my
skin. You challenge me, Cass. And you know how I love a challenge.” He smiled at her genuinely.