Page 34 of Come in with the Rain
We head back out to the gym, where we find Dani and Stella in a corner, on a mat, standing side by side, throwing punches. Stella has taken off the light sweater she came in, her arms taking on an unbelievable shape as she follows Dani’s instruction on how to throw a jab. I’ve never wanted anyone or anything as bad as I want Stella. I try to keep out of sight as Ford and I get closer to the women, my blood pumping hard now, the conversation in the locker room forgotten.
Dani comes up behind Stella, puts her hands on her hips, and shows her how to rotate as she throws a cross-jab. Every muscle in Stella’s legs, covered only in tight leggings, flexes, and the sight shoots straight down to my cock. An image appears in my mind, quick and hot, Stella bent over, her calves and thighs tight with tension as I rock into her from behind. A fantasy I’ve had what feels like a million times.
“You’re drooling,” Ford whispers in my ear.
“Think it’s too soon to propose?” I whisper back without taking my eyes off Stella.
Ford chuckles. “Wait until after dinner, at least.”
Stella finally spots us, and her arms drop to her side. She immediately crosses them behind her back, like a child who’s been told not to touch anything.
“Please don’t stop on my account,” I tell her, switching places with Dani so that I’m standing behind Stella. Ford and Dani wisely vanish, and I step up close enough to Stella to feel the heat radiating off of her. She’s been working hard. Without thinking, I grab onto her hips.
She sucks in a little gasp, and I feel a spark of triumph inside my chest. She’s as aware of my body as I am of hers, and I give a little glance around the gym to make sure no one is watching us too closely before I take one more small step forward and press my hips to her ass. I slide my hands up until they’re resting on her stomach and say in her ear, “Try to focus. When you’re in a fight, a real one, there’s so much going on around you. It’s loud and there are people shouting, and all the adrenaline is rushing through your body, and if you don’t keep your brain clear, you’ll freeze up.”
I know Stella isn’t here because she wants to fight, but I imagine her training, all of her muscles solid and covered in sweat, wearing as little clothing as she can get away with, and my dick gets hard against her curves.
She makes a little sound in the back of her throat, not quite a moan, something more socially aware, and I grind myself against her. I lean forward and watch the way she clenches her jaw tight as I position her legs in a more solid stance.
“You have to anchor yourself to the ground or one good swing is going to throw you right off balance. Tighten your core. Your power is here.” I press a hand to her abdomen, splaying my fingers so that my pinky disappears beneath the waistband of her leggings.
She sways. “I thought you didn’t have much experience with women,” she breathes out, her head dropping back against my shoulder. She’s given up all pretext now.
“I don’t. I’m just touching you the way I want to.”
“Take me home. Now.”
Spinning her around, I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder, ignoring the way every head in the gym turns to us when she shrieks in delight. I march us right past Ford and Dani, giving them a small wave as Stella giggles down by my side.
“Call me about the bags and the floor,” I shout to Ford and then throw open the door.
CHAPTER34
STELLA
I’m just a vibrating nerve as I drive back to my place with Adam following behind me. I feel exhilarated. I feel like someone who’s just been told that dessert exists. My arms are sore and my legs a little gelatinous, and it’s incredible. And it’s not just Adam. Having him basically dry hump me in front of a room full of people was definitely an experience I didn’t know I needed, but it’s more than that. Dani and her fists and the way she taught me how to have the tiniest slice of the confidence she has was amazing.
When we pull up in front of my condo, I hop out of my car, and before Adam can get out of his, I swing into the passenger seat and close us in. Adam looks over at me with a smile in his eyes, like he can tell that I’m positively vibrating from the inside out. “You liked it?”
I nod enthusiastically. “It was great. Dani is so badass.”
“So are you.”
He sounds so confident when he says it, but there must be doubt written all over my face because when he looks over at me, his smile fades. “Anyone who spends five minutes with you can see it. Dani can see it. Why do you think she’s all over you like that?”
“Sure, but Dani doesn’t know me.”
Adam taps his thumbs on the wheel in a nervous gesture. “Do I?” he asks. He turns off the truck, and when I think he’ll put distance between us, he does the opposite, reaching across the console to set his hand over mine.
We sit in silence for a minute, neither of us making a move to get out. “I think so,” I finally say.
One corner of his mouth tilts up. His thumb, almost twice the size of my own, strokes over the back of my hand. With the sun shining right into the truck, his eyes look impossibly blue. “You amaze me, Stella.”
I blink at him. I know he’s a nice guy, and he wants to say nice things, but… “I want to earn that, but I don’t know how.” The words come out sounding so small. It’s how I’ve always felt my whole life, like I couldn’t find a place that I worked hard enough to get into. That everyone else has it all figured out and I’m just here, trying to learn how to maneuver through life with my own two feet.
Adam’s expression is severe. “Stella, you don’t have toearnanything.”
I feel it like someone has reached into my chest and wrung out my heart like a wet towel. In seconds, I’m scrambling across the console to get to him. He helps me, grabbing onto my hips and hoisting me over, until I’m fully seated on top of him, and our mouths crash together.
