Daemon laughed as he threw the truck into park. “I tried to warn you. It’s not as bad inside as it appears.”
We exited the vehicle and Daemon took my hand as we made our way inside. Once inside, I noticed it was an open space that was split into different areas. On our left were several older looking weight benches, an antiquated treadmill, and what I believed may have been an elliptical machine in its better days. However, with the seat resting on the floor and the handles bent and mangled in odd directions, I was pretty sure the machine had no other beneficial use except for as scrap metal in a junkyard. On the other side of the space was a fighting ring. My eyes widened and I may have jumped up and down a little upon sight of it.
Daemon turned to look at me. “Why are you dancing?”
“Because I get to kick your ass in a fighting ring. I’ve always wanted to do that. Do I get to jump off the ropes, and bounce you off of them and stuff?” The smile that took over my face undoubtedly gave me the appearance of a person who could use some time in a padded room. I didn’t care, however, because I was about to kick butt in style.
An amused grin broke out on Daemon’s face as he began pulling me in the direction of the ring. Once we passed the center partition of the space, I noticed that we weren’t alone. In the back of the room, were four older gentleman whose faces lit up as soon as they spotted Daemon and I walking in. They put out their cigarettes (yes, smoking was apparently allowed inside of this gym) and moved forward to shake Daemon’s hand.
“Daemon! So good to see you boy! It’s been a while since we had some young blood around here. I was getting tired of always having to look at the same ol’ ugly mugs every day. Who, may I ask, is your lovely friend here?” He reached out to take my hand as he said, “I believe you are in the wrong place, my dear. There are other gyms that may be more your style back in the city. But since you’re here, let me introduce myself. The name’s Joe.”
I reached out to shake Joe’s hand. His grip was like steel as my hand disappeared in the bear paw he called a hand. “Good to meet you Joe, my name’s Paige.”
The other three men came up to introduce themselves as well. Each one was strong and surly, and you could barely understand a damn thing they said due to their thick southern twang. Each man looked like he’d been put through the wringer a time or two, but they appeared to be genuine and friendly. These were definitely the types that would make a person shit themselves if they ever met these guys on bad terms. Each one looked like he’d just come off of a hunting trip or were taking a break from their stint with a motorcycle gang.
Joe took Daemon into a huge hug, patting him on the back hard enough for an echo to sound throughout the building. I winced at the sound, but laughed when Daemon returned the sentiment. “Hey Joe…I know it’s been a while, old man. I’ve been busy with the bars and this little woman right here. She’s a handful.” Daemon turned to wink at me before looking back at Joe.
‘Little woman’? What the hell?! My eyes narrowed in Daemon’s direction.
“Most women are, Daemon. We tried to warn ya when you were younger, but I guess warnings won’t do shit when you’re dealing with a gal as pretty as this one. Hell, if I was a younger man, you would have a run for your money on who she left this gym with.” Joe started laughing a deep belly laugh, but then started hacking up a lung from the effort. Smoking will do that to you and I was worried he would collapse on the floor right there in front of me. The other men banged on his back to get him breathing again.
Once Joe was upright and breathing normally, he turned to me and said, “Sorry, beautiful, but a man my age, who has been smoking as long as I have…well…let’s just say the ol’ airbags aren’t what they used to be.” I smiled politely as Joe turned back to Daemon. “So, what are you here for boy? You lookin’ to get your ass whipped by me today?”
Daemon pulled me closer as he replied, “Not today, Joe. Learned my lesson with you years ago.” Joe smiled proudly in response to Daemon’s statement. “I brought Paige to teach her a few things about defending herself against men. She has a tendency to piss of the wrong people and I want to make sure that if I’m not there to protect her that she’ll be able to get away, if nothing else.”
Joe thought about Daemon’s words, but then I swore I saw recognition light up those ancient eyes. “Wait, wasn’t it your club that caught fire the other night? They said it was arson in the papers; was she somehow involved?” Daemon nodded and Joe turned to me. “Well, who the hell you been pissing off, little lady. Shouldn’t you be home cooking or cleaning or something?”
What the fuck?!
If Joe wasn’t a senior citizen, I’d knock him back a step or two for making such a chauvinistic comment. I know that older Southern men grew up in a different time, but damn! He had to know times had changed. I mean, if a woman enjoys cooking or cleaning, more power to her; but it shouldn’t be a requirement. I opened my mouth to let him have it when Daemon squeezed my hand and answered for me. “Joe, she’s not the type. Trust me when I tell you, the last thing you will find this girl doing is cooking and cleaning.
Joe thought about Daemon’s statement and chuckled at some private thought. “I’ve heard some women nowadays ain’t of that breed..I get that. Little things want to prove themselves in worlds that normally were reserved for men.” I may have physically flinched at his statement, only causing Daemon to pull me closer to his side. Joe continued on without noticing my reaction. “Well, then you two best get to it. Dave and his boys are coming in about an hour to take over the ring. I’m here to act as referee. Come to think of it, you might want to stick around, Daemon. Dave’s boys are little punks that could learn from you. Maybe you could whip their asses around the ring a time or two and teach them they ain’t as tough as they imagine.”
“I’d love to, Joe. But we’ll have to save that for another day. Paige and I have places to be after we leave here, but we’ll be back often in the coming weeks. Tell Dave to schedule another day for me to spar with his kids. It’ll be fun.” Joe nodded and Daemon began pulling me towards the ring. I was curious why they would have Daemon sparring within a bunch of kids.
“Why do they want you to beat up on children, Daemon? Seems like it wouldn’t be fair, given your size and all.”
Daemon chuckled. “By ‘kids’, he meant people our age. Joe and his friends don’t look at us like we’re adults, Paige. We don’t get that honor until we have one foot in our graves.”
When we approached the ring, Daemon lifted the top rope so I could climb through. “Oh no! Uh, uh. I don’t need your assistance, Daemon. If we’re going to be fighting as equals, then I should be climbing in there by myself just like any other opponent. I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be lifting ropes for a man, so you can go ahead and climb in, and I’ll follow behind you.”
Daemon’s hand released the rope as he turned to look at me. “Number one, we’re not fighting, Paige…and number two…” His voice trailed off as a grin spread over his lips. “Never mind. I’ll let you do things your way.”
He climbed in the ring and moved to the center to watch as I made my way in. I balanced myself on the edge of the raised floor and started to pull up on the top rope. Holy crap! The rope was not as flexible as Daemon had made it appear. I looked up to Daemon as I tried to lift it with two hands and I grimaced when I noticed his arrogant smirk had graced his lovely features. I couldn’t give in now without looking like an idiot so I pulled up on the rope with as much force as I could manage. It barely budged. I decided to attempt another approach by climbing the ropes up and over. The bottom rope was wobbly, but I was able to use it to raise myself enough to climb over the top of the highest rope. Just as I placed my body weight on the top rope, it lowered down unexpectedly and I went headfirst into the ring. I rolled, feet over head onto my back and was laid out supine, staring at the ceiling. I could hear Joe and his crew chuckling from where we’d left them and I laid there embarrassed as hell until Daemon’s smiling face came into my line
of sight.
“If that is any indication of the ninja skills you will be using on me today, I have to tell you, Damsel, I’m not that frightened. Can I help you up, or are you still being stubborn?” He reached his hand down and I grudgingly accepted. Sonofabitch. Daemon chuckled as my cheeks turned red and pulled me to my feet.
Pulling me to the center of the ring, Daemon stood as his eyes raked over my body. I felt heated from his gaze and my eyes flicked to ‘Joe and the Gang’ to see if they had taken notice. All four men stood silently smoking their cigarettes, paying apt attention to what was about to go down in the ring. I looked back to Daemon and noticed a crooked grin peeking out from the corner of his sculpted lips. “You ready for this, Damsel?” I nodded hesitantly in response. “Good. Now, I want to see what those ninja skills of yours can do for you. You stand there, and I’ll attack. Show me how you would normally defend yourself, okay?”
“Fine, Daemon. However, I can’t promise I won’t hurt you in the process, so don’t blame me if you leave this place limping. In fact, you might want to put on a cup or something to protect your manhood, because I would hate….Ahhhhh!” Before I could finish my sentence, Daemon lunged forward, managing to grip both my wrists. He tugged me forward, while at the same time placing his foot in front of my feet, tripping me as I tried to steady myself. I went forward into the mat as Daemon brought my arms to my back and locked them to the middle of my spine with one hand. His other hand came down between my shoulder blades as he straddled my lower half, using his weight to hold me in place. Joe and the Gang instantly broke out into hoots of laughter and I turned my head to see them slapping their knees and each other’s backs. My mouth was forced open into an ‘O’ from the mat pushing up against my cheek.
Daemon leaned forward, his mouth softly brushing against my ear as he spoke, “Your first mistake, Damsel, is that you talk too much. While you’re busy distracting yourself with your own voice, your opponent will be watching and waiting for the moment when you let down your guard.” His voice lowered an octave and seductive tendrils dripped from his words as he said, “If I wanted to, I could take you from behind right here and right now, and there’s not a damn thing you could do about it.” His teeth nipped at my earlobe causing an involuntary pull within my core and a whimper to escape my lips. I believe drool may have dribbled a little from the corner of my mouth, causing Daemon to chuckle wickedly. “Keep that up and I might be asking our audience to give us some time alone.” My body trembled in response to his statement.
Releasing my hands, he pushed himself up, before reaching down and helping pull me to my feet. My balance was unsteady at first and I was still feeling heady from my encounter with Daemon on the mat. I shook off my hormone-induced stupor before placing my feet in a fighting stance and bracing my posture ready for his attack. Daemon’s eyes raked over my body again, this time slower, burning with obvious dirty intentions. I steadied my breath and kept my focus locked to his arms and legs awaiting any movement that would give away his attack. When he didn’t move, my eyes traveled up to his face. His eyes were hooded and his bottom lip was pulled between his teeth. The cocky expression over his face was the final nail on my coffin. I couldn’t help but react.
“Daemon, we are fighting, not having sex so you can wipe that seductive fucking grin from your face before I…” Shit!
Once again, Daemon came at me quick as a snake. Before I registered what was happening, he’d taken both my hands into his, swept my feet out from under me using his foot, and had taken me to the ground with a loud thump as we landed. The ceiling was in my line of sight while Daemon’s body was prone over mine. He quickly switched my wrists into one of his hands before lifting and pinning them above my head. That particular move must have impressed our elderly audience, because a low whistle and some lewd murmurs sounded from their direction.
Daemon’s mouth came to my ear. “Have I ever told you how much I enjoy that sassy mouth of yours?” His tongue flicked out, pulling my earlobe between his teeth. I gasped and my hips bucked a bit from the sensation. My cheeks heated when I suddenly remembered we were being watched. His mouth released my ear before he said, “I’m reconsidering what I told you on the ride here. Apparently, things have not changed as much as I thought. I do believe I’m controlling and owning your sexy little ass at this very minute; and to be completely honest, the only thing keeping me from ripping your clothes off and having my way with you is the peanut gallery standing within fifty feet of us.” His warm mouth caught mine, leaving me breathless when the kiss was over. “Now, are we done fighting so that I can actually teach you something, or did you have more skills to show me?”
“You’re an arrogant twit, Daemon, you know that right?”
He snickered at my question while pushing himself upright. “I know, Damsel. I know.”
Not giving up the good fight, I taunted Daemon into a few more sparring matches. On my third attempt, he flipped me back to my stomach, kicking my legs apart and bracing himself above me. Howling laughter erupted from our audience and the embarrassing moments just piled on from there. I tried to dodge and attack on my fourth attempt, ending up swung and bounced off of one of the corner cushions. I threw myself back into the fight and was graciously bent over and held still over the perimeter rope of the ring. I was nervous for Joe and the Gang as their faces turned purple while they clutched at their sides from the uncontrolled laughter. My hair had escaped the bun on the back of my head, finding its way to becoming plastered to my face. Air huffed out from between my lips, blowing the hair away momentarily, before replacing itself across my eyes. Daemon jerked me back, replacing me in the center of the ring.
That’s it. Ninja time now!
I waited for Daemon’s move and kicked out at him when I saw him suddenly lunge in my direction. He caught my foot easily and flipped me onto my back. I grit my teeth from the impact with the ground before pushing myself once again into a standing position. Attempt number six didn’t go much better. I lunged at Daemon, only to have him grab my hands and use my forward momentum to slam me against the ropes, bouncing me onto my stomach on the mat. My frustration intensified as I attempted to right myself, only to have Daemon continuously shove me back down before I was upright. When I finally gave up and laid there, he lowered himself to the mat, taking my face into his hands.
“We done now? I’d love to stay here and own your ass all day, but we’re running out of time and will have to give up the ring soon.” He pushed up into a standing position over me. “Get up, Paige. Until you learn to protect yourself I’m going to keep introducing you to the mat. Laying there, doing nothing won’t help you.” My mind instantly raced back to my childhood with Buddy. The word he’d just spoken were similar to the ones he’d spoken when we were young in the backyard of The Center. A smile graced my face as I realized that those days had come full circle. Once again, he did what he could to teach me to take care of myself. Despite his aggression as a child, Daemon never let me give up when I was younger, and it appeared that theme carried over into our adult life. If ever there was a thing as redemption, it was this moment. He may have hurt me before, but the lessons he tried to teach me then and now more than made up for any pain he would have caused. Holding strong to those thoughts, I finally pushed myself up and retook my position opposite Daemon.
My chest heaved from the exertion of our fighting. I noticed Daemon hadn’t even broken a sweat from his efforts, causing me to grow annoyed. I wanted to continue my attempts to take his ass down, but the time limitations he’s reminded me of made me reconsider. “Fine. Don’t get a big head over me conceding this time. If we didn’t have a time limit, I’d wear you down eventually.”
My arms crossed over my chest as Daemon’s roaring laugh vibrated the mat. “Okay, Damsel. However, if the fact that you can barely breathe is any indication, I’d say you are damn near close to wearing yourself out before I even become winded.” My eyes narrowed at him, causing his dimples to pop out from his grin. “Now, st
op your stubbornness and let me show you some things.” He took his offensive stance once again before saying, “We’ll go over the basics today and then, tomorrow, we’ll start working on your endurance and strength. If that was enough to cause your breathing to become so erratic, you’ll need to get used to extended physical activity before you ever think of protecting yourself against someone like Chris.”
I rolled my eyes before responding, “Zip it and let’s get this over with.”
“Okay, Damsel…first thing you need to realize is that, more likely than not, you’re not going to be able to beat or escape a man of my size in a hand to hand fight. Whereas the chest and arms of a man are his strongest feature, a woman’s strongest feature is in her legs.” Daemon’s eyes slid down the skin of my exposed legs, before he brought his gaze back to mine. “Although, those stems of yours are hot as hell, we’re going to need to work on strengthening them. I’m going to lunge at you. I want you to try kicking up at me, catching me in a knee.”
“I don’t want to hurt you, Daemon.”
He smiled. “No worries, Paige. You won’t hurt me.” His shoulders bobbed from silent laughter, causing me to glare in his direction. Huffing out another breath, I waited for him to lunge forward. As he instructed, I kicked out, aiming for his left knee. He easily grabbed my foot and held it as I bounced and balanced on the foot I had on the ground. Daemon chuckled and released my foot. He took his attack position in front of me and nodded. “Again.” As instructed, I kicked out when he lunged forward, only to be caught and knocked off balance. Daemon caught me before I hit the mat and he righted me only to demand that we try again. We worked through that motion another ten times before I gave up.