Reese (8 page)

The rage was still there in his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips for me. “Mel seems like a special person. I’m glad that you found her.”

“She’s the mom that I always needed. And because of her past she didn’t look down on me for running away from my problems, or my makeup…” I shrugged. “She’s my family now. Not Greg or my mother.”

             
“I can understand that. Family isn’t always blood. It’s who is there for you when you really need
them
.” He reached for my hand and tugged me toward him again. I went willingly, needing his arms around me. “You are so strong, Reese. Stronger than most people would be in such a situation.”

             
His steel gray eyes were intense and I could see the pulse throbbing at the base of his throat. Being this close, knowing instinctively that he wouldn’t hurt me, was helping push all my fears to the back of my mind. All I could see, think, feel was him. “Stone…”
I murmured his name.

             
“Yes, baby?” His gaze was on my lips.

             
“Will…” I swallowed hard, both nervous and excited at once. “Will you kiss me, Stone?”

             
A shiver raked his body and I could see the same need that I was feeling in those incredible steel gray eyes of his. “You think you’re ready for that?” He breathed, his head drifting closer until I could smell his sweet, warm breath. “Are you sure?”

             
“I trust you.” I told him honestly. “And I want to kiss you.” The last was a soft whisper, but he heard me.

             
His lips gently brushed mine and my heart stuttered. The next touch was so careful, so incredibly gentle that it brought tears to my eyes and I reached for him.
All my fears, my insecurities disappeared with the taste of this amazing man on my tongue. I opened my mouth for him and his tongue ventured inside. But as the kiss went on and on he never rushed it, was never more than gentle, even as I felt his body tremble with the need to take things fast
er
.

             
When at last he lifted his head he was breathless. Resting his forehead against mine he just held me for a long moment. “You taste like heaven.” He breathed. “I’m afraid that I will get addicted to just your taste alone if I’m not careful.”

             
“Is that a bad thing?” I murmured, snuggling into his neck.

             
“No. Just something different for me.” His lips brushed across my jaw, making me shiver. “The way you make me feel…I have never felt anything so
intense
in my life.”

             
His words along with the soft kisses along my jaw were making me melt in a way I never thought I would
soften
before. I had always considered myself cold, frigid when it came to romance and sexual arousal. But now I realized that I had just been waiting on Kieran Stone.

             
He held me for over an hour, giving me a gentle kiss across my lips from time to time; skimming his fingers down my neck and arms. He told me more stories about his family and I felt like I had known him for years by the time his watch beeped. With a curse he stood and pulled me with him. “It’s eleven.” He grimaced. “And I have to be up early. I would love to stay, baby. But I have to stick to my normal schedule as much as possible until the fight.”

             
I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to continue the night as we had for the last hour, which had gone by way to fast. But I understood his need to keep to his schedule. I respected it and him for it. But my chest still ached as I walked him to the door.

             
He turned in the doorway and low
er
ed his head to give me a long, lingering kiss. I melted into him, kissing him back. His tongue teased mine and I moaned, wanting more, but unable to
ask for it. “Come spar
with me tomorrow.” He murmured as he lifted his head and grinned down at me. “I promise not to kick your beautiful butt too horribly.”

             
I laughed out
loud at that. “You can try, big guy.” Unable to resist I stood on tip toe and brushed a quick kiss across his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow. And we will see who’s butt will get kicked.”

             
()

             
The gym was empty when I walked inside. Empty except for the six men in the back all surrounding a few red mats laid out for sparing practice. Two of the men were in padded body armor:
head gear, chest protector, and groin gear. They were all decently muscular, but Kieran stood out among them if not in height then in body mass
a
nd a
sense
of confidence that drew my gaze like a magnet.

             
I walked past the treadmills and other machines, watching the men as they joked and shoved each other good naturedly. It wasn’t until I was just a few feet away that one of the men noticed me
and
gave a wolf whistle. “Hello, hotness.” He greeted.

             
I narrowed my eyes at the guy. Taller than Stone by
few
inch
es
with a head that was covered in more tattoos than hair. His right brow was pierced and so was his nipple, something that was easily seen because he was shirtless. His abdominals were well sculpted and hard, but they lacked a certain appeal
for me
. As a whole package
he was relatively good looking but I was left without the melting feeling that Kieran inspired
.

             
“Reese!” Stone pushed the taller guy out of his way and lifted me into a gentle hug that belied his superior strength.

             
I gave him a shy smile when he put me down. “Sorry I’m late. I had
a few things to deal with
back
at Safe Haven.” A shipment of liquor had arrived hours earlier than expected and it had taken twice as long to deal with because half the items that I had ordered had been wrong. My supplier was in deep trouble with me to say the least.

             
“I’m just happy you could come.” He took my hand and pulled me into the middle of the five other men. “Reese this is my crew. The rude dude you just met is Jake. He is my manager. Over there, the spar twins
:
Gage is in the red, his brother Simon in the black. They let me beat them up most days.” He grinned down at me in such an adorable way that
a
giggle escaped me…

             
The sound surprised us both. Me because I
never
giggled. Him, because he liked the sound and
wanted to hear it again. The look he gave me
said
just that.

             
He cleared his throat and turned toward the last two of the five men. “Mason is my coach; he’s the best mix martial arts trainer this side of the globe.” Mason was about five-ten with crew cut dark hair and amused hazel eyes. He was lean and muscular all at once.

             
“Maybe I will introduce you to my marital arts
instructor
and let you compare notes.” I told Mason as I shook his offered hand. “Maddox has taught me everything I know.”

             
Mason grinned. “Bring him tomorrow. It would be my pleasure to take some notes from him.”

             
“And it would be my
pleasure
to rearrange your face.” Stone muttered as he pushed his coach away. “Reese, this is
Corbin.” He introduced the six-five
dark man with coffee eyes. He looked like he was a year or so younger than me, but I couldn’t be sure.
The muscles made him look older. “
I guess you could say that
Corbin is my prodigy. I’m sponsoring him in the next amateur cage battles.”

             
Introductions over
Stone
took my gym bag from me and tossed it away from the mats. “Okay guys, enough fooling around. Simon, get Reese some gear.”

             
“No, Simon.” I stopped the man when he turned to do just that. “Just a mouth piece, please.”

             
Stone shook his head. “No. No way. If you are going to spar with us you need more than that. We get rough, Reese. You could get hurt.”

             
I raised my hand and cupped his jaw. His eyes closed for a second, as if he were savoring my touch. Then I patted his cheek roughly. “Don’t worry about me, Stone. I’m a big girl. A little rough play isn’t going to dent me.”

             
He opened his mouth to protest again but I turned away from him. “So, Simon…” I took the new mouth piece that he offered me. “…want to go a few rounds?”

             
He grinned. “Oh, yeah.”
             
“Simon!” Stone’s tone was menacing.

             
Simon’s grin grew. “I’ll be gentle.” He promised.

             
I put the mouth piece in and pulled my ha
ir back into a tight pony tail before stepping onto the mat. He bowed to me and I did the same, just as a form of respect. We took up starting stances and Gage blew a whistle.

             
The first time I brought the man to the mat he let out a gasp. Mostly because I had knocked the air out of him but a little because I surprised the hell out of him. The five men surrounding the mats roared. All of them surprised, even Stone who had already seen me in action with Biker One and Biker Two. The second time I took Simon down he was still surprised, probably thinking that I had merely gotten in a lucky shot.

             
But by the time Gage blew the whistle again two minutes after our spar
r
ing had started Simon was out of breath and had a different attitude about me as an
opponent. I felt bad because Simon hadn’t really tried to fight back…Maybe because I hadn’t given him a chance or
perhaps even
because he was scared of what Stone would do to him.

             
I turned toward Stone and he stood with his arms crossed over his impressive chest. A smile teased at his lips, but his eyes were still hard. “You could have been hurt, Reese.” He muttered.

             
“I know how to take care of myself, Stone. A few bruises are nothing.” But I knew what he was talking about, what was really bothering him. I had seen enough MMA matches to know that the end result of either opponent was rarely pretty. Broken bones, swollen body parts, bleeding… I wrapped my arms around his waist. “This is just for fun,
Kieran
.
No one is going to hurt me…Are they?”

             
“I’ll rip their fucking heads off if they tried.” He muttered but pulled me close and dropped a soft kiss on my lips. “You were really wonderful, by the way. Simon is the smart one. Always keeps me on my toes. Gage is the brutal one, goes in full force…” He lowered his head, his breath tickling my ear and making me shiver in a very delicious way. “And I have never been more turned on in my life, baby.” He whispered.

             
I blushed but was thrilled all the same.

             
“My turn.” Gage called out. “I want a go at the hottie.”

             
I felt Stone stiffen and stepped back enough to meet his steel gray eyes. “Trust me?”

             
He let out a long sigh but nodded his head. “Have at him.”

             
Work that night was quiet. Typical for a Tuesday night. Bubba didn’t come in. It was biker gang night, or something. Meaning he played poker with a few other overweight
, somewhat tough
guys that liked to drink and ride on their H
ogs
.

             
The biggest part of the night—the best part of the night—was when Stone and his crew came in for a beer. They set at the bar and talked to me, flirted, and were
beyond
surprised when they realized that I, the Goth
girl with my white face makeup,
black lipstick and jet black chic hair, was the same redhead ‘hottie’ that had kicked two of their asses earlier in the day.

             
They left about two hours after they arrived, with the reminder that I was to bring Maddox with me to spar the next afternoon. I had called Mad earlier that evening and he had nearly burst my ear drum when I had invited him along. It was a dream come true for him.

             
Stone brushed a gentle kiss across my lips before leaving and I was sad to see him go. But it was eleven and he was on his strict schedule. When he was gone things returned to being quiet, and I was bored as hell. I scrubbed everything behind the bar, despite the vigorous cleaning that Biker One and Biker Two had given it on Sunday while Safe Have had been closed.
I already had the paper work finished before last call came around and got home before my normal time.