The Final KO Read online

  “Uncle, uncle!” I cried out, and Arson’s devil fingers retreated.

  I tried to get up but his body slowly covered mine and I was pinned to the floor. I looked up at his face and saw him staring down at me with what looked like adoration. Emotions flooded me and I wasn’t ready to feel them yet. Was this what Arson meant when he said I wasn’t ready? If it was, then yeah I so wasn’t ready yet. I wasn’t sure that was something I wanted to be ready for.

  “I see it’s setting in, but it’s not there yet.” It was like he was reading my mind. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, so I changed the subject.

  “What’s for dinner?” I blurted out. Arson saw right through my change of topic, but decided to roll with it. I was glad.

  “Surprise, Princess.” He leaned in and kissed my nose, then moved down to my lips. That was more familiar. I felt him harden beneath his jeans and I forgot about everything else besides him. My hands wrapped around him and ran up and down the thick cords of his back. He kept his hips slightly away from mine and that just wouldn’t do for me. My hands gripped his spectacular ass and pulled his hips against mine. He groaned and I swallowed in down. My hips lifted, putting pressure against his cock, which was hard as hell. Feeling a surge of confidence, I rolled us over until I was over his body, straddling him.

  Our tongues tangled, and I slowly started moving over him. It was my turn to finally touch him and make him see stars. My lips moved away from his, then I made my way down to his jaw and open mouth kissed his neck. Nipping and sucking, I kept going. My hands went to the bottom hem of his shirt, his body jackknifed up, and together we removed his shirt.

  Our lips clashed, and my hands went to his chest. With little force I pushed him back to the floor. I was in control here. My gaze leisurely devoured the sight of him. Every muscle was cut, and hard. My hands followed the lines of his pecs and around each hump of his eight pack—yeah, eight pack. Leaning down, I pressed a hot kiss on his chest and licked every part of him that I could.

  His hips lifted, seeking release. My brain short-circuited and I opened his jean in a flash, my hands on him in seconds. He groaned and I started moving my hand, feeling him. His cock was gorgeous. I would normally never call a cock gorgeous, because they weren’t, but his was. It was long and so hard and thick. God it made my mouth water. Without thinking I touched my tongue to the silky hardness that was Arson Kade’s cock.

  “Fuck Princess.” His hips surged and I wanted more. I needed him to be unleashed. I needed the raw passion from him. I opened wide and took him inside my mouth. My hands gripped the base where my mouth couldn’t go. Over and over I slid my mouth up and down his member. His hands went into my hair and he thrust his cock farther into my mouth.

  I moaned at the feeling of him losing control. I managed to take the lead again and with one final surge of his hips I felt the spurts of hot cum in my mouth. I never liked the taste of cum but with Arson it seemed everything was different. I swallowed it down and when he was finally done, I gave his dick one last kiss before sitting up and looking at his sated face in victory.

  Arson started to move towards me and I put my hand out to stop him.

  “Let me have this. I don’t want the favor returned right now. Right now I feel on cloud nine for bringing you to your knees. Don’t outdo me,” I warned. His face was still heated with desire, but he nodded, agreeing to what I asked. I felt like dancing around the room.

  “I am gonna kiss you though.” He lips descended and I soaked him up. We made out on the floor like teenagers until finally he pulled back and looked at me with that face of adoration again.

  “What?” I had to know what he was thinking; maybe I was reading him wrong. He shook his head, denying me his thoughts. It frustrated me, but I had a feeling what his answer would be “Not ready yet” so I let his headshake slide and rose to my feet. I watched as he tucked himself back in his jeans and buttoned them back up. He stood up in front of me, shirtless.

  “You’re hot.” I wasn’t ashamed to say it out loud.

  “You’re gorgeous.” I blushed. He was making me feeling all womanly and I wasn’t quite used to that. We stared at each other for a few minutes. The sexual tension was running high again and I could tell he was fighting it just as much as I was. What was it between us that made things so electric?

  A knock at the door made me jump, and thoughts of jumping Arson were put on hold. I thought about who would be knocking and came up with no one. I realized it could have been Franny, so I walked over and looked through the peephole.

  “Shit!” I looked at the shirtless man in my apartment with wide eyes. Crap crap crap. I so didn’t want to do this right now. Arson looked confused and I quietly whispered for him to put his shirt back on. He did, walking over to me as he did.

  “Open up sweetie! I have eclairs!” The musical voice of my mother called from the other side of the door. Arson’s head tilted to the side. Oh boy. Here we go. I opened the door and peeked my head though.

  Chapter Eleven

  A Fucking Year

  “Hey Mom. Um, I don’t think now is a good time,” I said in an attempt to put her off—you really can’t blame me for trying. I didn’t want Arson and her in the same room.

  “Were you masturbating sweetie? Your face is flushed. I’ll just sit in the living room while you finish your business.” Dead. I was dead.

  “No Mom, I wasn’t masturbating.” I heard a chuckle behind me and chose to ignore it.

  “Well let’s eat some eclairs!” She sang and took a step forward through the door. She was looking down at her feet when she entered but as soon as her head came back up, her eyes landed on Arson. The eclairs went crashing to the floor, thankfully still in their box.

  “Hi, I’m Arson Kade, Rayne’s new boyfriend.” I narrowed my eyes at him. Boyfriend. I knew my mom was going to jump out of her shoes and to the moon at his introduction.

  “Boyfriend. Rayne Alexandra Jackson. You are dating this man and you didn’t tell your mother?” I was about to answer her when once again Arson jumped in before me so I couldn’t deny the boyfriend thing. Again.

  “It’s still new. Rayne has been busy with me. We haven’t had much time for phone calls.” My jaw dropped. He had not just said what I thought he’d said. If he meant we’d been fucking like crazy so I couldn’t call her, I was gonna flip. He flashed a beaming smile at me and I knew he was hinting at that. I also knew how my mother would take it.

  “I can forgive you there, the tension between you two is electric. Now come, let’s sit and you can tell me all about your relationship.” Mom was ecstatic. She bent down to grab the pastries and went toward the couch to get comfy. I closed the door and smacked Arson on the arm.

  “I can’t believe you!” I whispered harshly. He had no idea what he had done.

  “What? She seems cool, and you have been with me.” He shrugged. I closed my eyes and counted to five. Mom was there and I knew I had better warn him then before it got out of hand.

  “Mom’s a sex therapist, so she’s going to want all the details and everything about our relationship.” There really wasn’t much to tell there so I figured we would be good.

  “A sex therapist.” He mulled over her profession, then without another word to me stalked into the room to sit with her. I followed behind, needing to watch those two. I sensed trouble.

  “So Arson, I wanna hear all about you and your relationship with my daughter.” She bit into her pastry and looked at him expectantly. Wanting very much to eat that éclair but knowing it wasn’t in my diet, I ended up staring at it. A hand came into my view and grabbed the éclair. I watched as Arson lifted the pastry to me, gesturing for me to take it.

  “I can’t,” I murmured wistfully.

  “Yes you can. Don’t worry, I’ll work you extra hard tomorrow.” He winked and that was all it took. Self-discipline was out the window; I snatched it from his hand and went to town. I looked over and saw Mom smiling at our interaction. Oh geez.

  “So
sweet. Okay, spill.” She was so excited, something I had always admired about her. She was so happy for all things in life. Even when bad things happened, she found the good in it and could move on. That was one thing I was proud to say I took after her in. I didn’t let things get me down. There was always a positive in every situation.

  “Right. I’m Arson Kade, a fighter like Rayne. I’m also thirty years old, a Leo, and I’ve been hers since the first time I laid eyes on her.” I kept eating my éclair, not wanting to dissect what he’d just said.

  “Ooh a Leo—good in bed, and being a fighter you must have great stamina,” she commented. I wanted the earth to swallow me up.

  “I do,” he agreed. I wouldn’t know about that so I once again just kept myself quiet.

  “Fabulous. It’s about time Rayne had a man who knows what they are doing .”She was the second person to say something like that. Was everyone really so involved in my love life to see how pathetic it was? Arson just nodded along with her.

  “So Arson, tell me more. When did you first lay eyes on my ebony-haired beauty?” She winked at me and waited. Either she was just complimenting me or she was digging for more information for my benefit. Mom had a way of knowing things about relationships without being told; it was one of the things that made her such a great therapist.

  “A year ago.” He answered seriously and I couldn’t turn to look at him. A year. I kept repeating it over in my head. I knew their conversation kept going but I didn’t hear a word of it. Arson had said he’d been mine since he’d laid eyes on me, which was apparently a year ago. Holy shit, he’d said he hadn’t had sex in a year. A fucking year. Things were not what they had seemed with him. I didn’t understand what all of this meant. I was confused, feeling a spectrum of emotions. I jumped up and mumbled something about going to the bathroom. I turned on the lights and looked myself in the eyes.

  What did this mean? I didn’t want to believe what my mind was telling me; I wasn’t ready for it. I groaned at the thought. This had to be what Arson meant about not being ready. I’d had an idea of what it could be earlier, and I felt pretty damn sure I knew what it meant now. I wasn’t ready to hear how serious he was about me. If what he said was true, it couldn’t just be a coincidence that he’d seen me a year ago, said I’d owned him since then, and had been celibate for that time, on top of everything that had happened with him entering my life recently. Arson Kade was harboring some serious feelings for me. I started to hyperventilate. I should have been happy about it, but instead I was having a mini panic attack. I had only known him a few days! It was too soon! I was leaning on the sink, trying to catch my breath when the door behind me opened. I knew it was him. My body was tuned to his. It knew who owned it, even if my mind fought it.

  “I told you, you weren’t ready. I never lie, about anything, especially when it comes to you.” He spoke behind me. I was right about my theory. This was what he had warned me about. I stayed silent and turned to face him.

  “You need time, I know. I will give you time, but know this. I’m not going anywhere Princess. When you’re ready, we’ll talk.” He didn’t touch me, and I had mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I wanted to run into his arms and accept what he said, and one the other, I was still in denial.

  “Let’s get back out there. I’ll make us all dinner, then tonight I’ll give you your time. I have some things that need my attention in Cali until Saturday. Hopefully by then you’ll be ready to talk about us.” My stomach dropped. He would be gone for the next four days. He was giving me time. I wished I knew what I wanted. I wanted him, but I felt out of my league there. I nodded, not knowing what else to do. Together we walked out, then Arson went to work on dinner while Mom and I chatted about TV shows, books, and my upcoming fight. The night passed in a blur and I was still reeling from his confession. I watched as Arson cleaned up the kitchen. Would being serious with him be so bad?

  “Freaking out?” Mom asked softly. I nodded.

  “Understandable. He told me many things and I must say, he is one amazing man. I hope you give him a chance.” I looked at her as she reached over and squeezed my hand in comfort. I vaguely wondered what all they had talked about, but decided now was not the time to think on it. We went back to talking about mindless stuff until Mom decided to leave. She kissed both Arson and me on the cheek then left.

  I was alone in the apartment with Arson.

  “I’ll be here when you’re ready for me, Princess.” He walked over and leaned down to give me a soft kiss. I felt the pure uninhibited passion for him rile up inside me. My mind clicked off and I tried to heat up the kiss, but Arson was not for that. He pulled back and rested his forehead on mine. He said no goodbye before he turned on his heels and walked out of the apartment. I had much to think about, but decided to turn off my body and go to bed.

  I slept like shit.

  When I wasn’t dreaming about Arson, I was awake thinking about him. So many thoughts ran through my head, and I still had no answers to any of my questions. After getting up from bed the next morning, I made myself some breakfast and tea.

  I sipped my drink and tried to enjoy every sip without any thoughts, but I was useless.

  Arson had thrown my whole world into a spin with just three words: a, year, ago.

  A year ago I’d gotten injured and everything I’d known was in jeopardy. I hadn’t even met him yet. I mean, sure, I’d seen him on TV, and maybe when I’d been at a match and he was there, but never face to face. How could he mean everything he had been saying to me? I was a mess. My alarm went off and I knew it was time for me to get ready to hit the gym. I probably wouldn’t be on top of my game, but I couldn’t lose a day’s worth of training. I changed into longer gym shorts, a sports bra, and a sleeveless shirt. I looked kinda rough, but I wasn’t feeling the tight spandex material today.

  I made it to the gym on autopilot and walked inside. A feeling of disappointment rolled through my stomach when I noticed Arson wasn’t there. He had said he would be in Cali for a few days, but a part of me had been hoping he would still be there.

  I went to the treadmill and warmed up.

  “Jackson!” Coach’s voice boomed through the gym. I slowed the pace and finally got off to see what he wanted. I drank some from my water bottle as I sat down on the little couch.

  “What’s up Coach?” He looked up from some papers he was fiddling with.

  “Right, today you’ll be sparring with Ryan. Arson had to take care of some business back home—which reminds me, you still coming to our annual island camping trip this weekend? Exercise free zone for those two days.” I had totally forgotten about it, but I never missed it, so I would go no matter what.

  “Of course, I always do.”

  “Right, message Arson and invite him will ya? One of my granddaughters broke my phone, can’t get the damn thing to work.” He sighed. I nodded, then realized something: I didn’t even have his phone number. We had planned to exchange them but I had gotten mad at him for marking me.

  “I don’t have his number.” Coach went typing away on his computer and then wrote something down on a little post-it note. Arson’s number.

  “Here. All right, easy day today. Don’t want to push you too hard.” He nodded toward the door. I got up and went to put the post-it somewhere safe before jumping in the ring with Ryan, one of the other fighters. Coach helped keep me focused and I had a pretty good session, but when the day at the gym was over, I was sort of at a loss for what to do to keep my head occupied.

  Chapter Twelve

  What if it’s something serious

  Instead of heading home, I decided to make a detour to Cammy’s shop. I knew she would be able to either cheer me up or help me sort my shit out. I paralleled parked off St. Armand’s Circle on Siesta Key and walked into the shop. Hair stylists were doing their thing, and there was a woman getting her makeup done at one of the stations; the whole shop was alive and being beautified.

  “Rayne! What’s up chicarita?”
Cammy came walking out from her little office area dressed in a cute sundress and heels.

  “I need my Cammy,” I whined with a fake frown on my lips.

  “Oh dear. Ladies, I’m going in!” she said to her employees and then walked back into her office. I followed her in and slumped down in one of her cute cushioned chairs. Her studio was all bright colors and happiness; I liked it there.

  “What did he do?” she asked.

  “I’m just confused. ’Member when I told you he said I wasn’t ready? Well I have kinda figured out what I wasn’t ready for and he was right. I so wasn’t!” I blurted out. Cammy pursed her lips and waited, so I launched into the story.

  “Mom came over last night and you know her, she wanted to know everything about him and us, and he said he’s been mine since he first saw me, which is sweet right? Until she asked when that was and he said a year ago. A fucking year ago!” Cammy looked confused. I was right there with her; it was confusing.

  “But you guys just met at the Gala,” she stated, trying to figure it out, just like I was.

  “Yeah! We did! Oh and I haven’t even told you the good parts. He hasn’t had sex in a year! He’s got really strong feelings for me, and I’ve only known him a few days. I so wasn’t ready for this. I mean shit, what do I do?” I let my head fall back on the top of the chair and sighed.

  “Did you hear all of his side? Sounds like there is more; maybe he could clear up your confusion.” She was right, that would have been the smart thing to do. If I was honest, I was scared.

  “What if it’s something serious? Like he L-words me?” I couldn’t say love, not yet, because I couldn’t comprehend a man like Arson Kade loving someone, as shitty as that sounds. It was hard to believe, but maybe there was more.