Knockout

  Turning her head, Ally broke the kiss, gasping. “Jami.”

  Redirecting, Jami began kissing and sucking a path down her throat. “Hmm?”

  She pushed lightly against his shoulders. “As much as I would like to do this again, not tonight, okay?”

  The air left his lungs as Jami pressed his forehead to her sternum. He didn’t want to quit. He wanted to keep going, all the way down into the abyss. “Are you sure?”

  Combing her fingers through his hair in silent apology, she said, “Yes.”

  Inhaling deeply in search of control, Jami pushed off the bed. He had to burn some of the energy fizzling inside of him or he’d combust, and there was only one way he knew to do that besides sex. Kicking a pile of clothes out of the way, he dropped to the floor, braced himself on his hands and toes, and started doing push-ups.

  “I’m sorry.” Ally’s head appeared over the side of the bed.

  “Nothing to be sorry about,” he grunted, his mind splitting in two directions. One to keep track of the number he was on—eleven. The other to focus on her words.

  “Then why are you exercising?”

  “Taming the beast.”

  She laughed. “Okaaaay. So you’re not mad?”

  “Nope.”

  “Then why the one-word answers?”

  “Counting.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw her fold her arms under her chin and settle in. Was she planning to…watch him? Switching positions, Jami clasped his hands behind his head, rose up off the floor, and lifted his legs into the air. As he lowered them, he began talking. “So, I got a number for whoever has been calling today.”

  Alyson blanched. “He called again?”

  “Yep, and this time the phone company was able to trace it. We have a number.” He smiled at her, triumphant in his quest, but she didn’t look the least bit excited by the news. “What’s wrong? I thought you would be happy. We’re finally going to get some answers.”

  A deep frown creased her forehead. “I am. I’m just concerned, I guess. What happens now?”

  Sweat began to break out on his brow. What was he at now, thirty? Forty? He’d lost count. But his abs were beginning to burn, so he decided to keep going. “We catch this bastard. Then we make him pay,” he said menacingly, but his attempt to lighten the mood was lost on her. Dropping his legs, he began a series of crunches. “Are you okay? Did I say something wrong?”

  “Hmm? What? Oh, no, you’re fine.” She seemed distracted, and Jami realized from the way her eyes coasted over him, that she wasn’t really paying attention to him. Not to his words, anyway. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble,” he warned her.

  Her eyes snapped to his and her cheeks flamed. “Maybe I want to get into trouble,” she replied huskily.

  Oh, babe. She really didn’t know what she was starting here. He was trying to burn off energy so he didn’t end up tackling her to the bed, but she was building it right back up again. “You sure? I thought you said ‘not tonight’?”

  Her eyes flashed as she looked him over, lingering on his tightened abs. “That was before. You weren’t all sweaty and manly then.”

  Rolling to his feet, Jami stood before her, his hands on his hips. “I wasn’t manly before?”

  Pushing up onto her hands and knees, Ally scooted back and looked up at him with her wide, jade eyes. She had that innocent act down pat. “You’re always manly, but that goes up about fifty notches when you start exercising.”

  “Only fifty?” Cards were spread across the bed, and he swiped them out of the way, joining the mess already littering the floor. “Care to raise that number?”

  Her head moved from side to side and she bit down on her lip, drawing his focus there. That damn lip was going to be the death of him. He prowled toward her on hands and knees, and she swallowed hard. “I’ll raise it…when you earn it.”

  Grasping her thighs, Jami jerked her off balance and dragged her to him. She fell flat on her back, peering up at him through naked, lust-filled eyes. “First you turn me down, then you wait until I’m tired and worn out to accept my offer?” His eyebrow arched. Dragging his palm down her throat, he could feel her pulse pounding beneath his fingers. His balls tightened and his dick began to throb as his craving for her renewed. He was ready to tear her clothes off, and by the needy look she was giving him, she was ready for it, too. “Good for you that I never back down from a challenge.”

  He stripped them bare in record time and as soon as he was buried inside of her, they both moaned from the incredible feeling of being joined to one another. He’d always been a firm believer that there was no place better on earth than inside a woman, but Ally changed that. Now, he would preach at the pulpit that there was no place better, anywhere, than being buried deep in Ally. She was changing his outlook on everything.

  They made love fiercely. Pounding into her, Ally arched beneath him, taking him deeper, moaning his name. He held out long enough to feel her body tense, and watched her as her orgasm took her under before claiming his own. Rolling onto his side, he took Ally with him, gathering her to his chest, and drawing the blankets over them. This, right here, with her in his arms, felt absolutely right. Like nothing he had ever felt before.

  He was learning that there were a lot of things he hadn’t experienced before, and that most of them involved Ally was a curious thing.

  Closing his eyes, Jami tried not to think too deeply about it. Change was not his friend. At the moment, he needed everything to stay just the same. Even as he felt his body relax into sleep, he knew he was living in a dream world.

  TWENTY-NINE

  “Maybe you shouldn’t fight.” Alyson sat with her back to the wall, chewing her bottom lip. Jami glanced up at her and gave her one of his crooked smiles. Her stomach flipped.

  “It’s the qualifying match, babe,” he said smoothly. So calm. So reasonable. “You know I can’t miss it.”

  Dotting the walls, his body guards gave her a mix of subtle head shakes and smirks that she took to mean they thought she was just a silly little woman to fear for him. Well, she wasn’t. She thought she was not only justified, but also reasonable in feeling the way she did. Someone had to.

  “Why the hell would he want to miss the fight?” Spencer strolled into the room, his face angled down at his phone. “That’s just stupid.”

  Out of everyone in the room, Alyson disliked him the most.

  “Hey,” Jami barked. “Watch it or the Iron won’t be the only one getting a taste of these fists tonight, you feel me?”

  Spencer passed Jami a bland look. “Yeah, sure, man. Hey, did you know that there’re over two-hundred people betting on this match? At twenty a head, that’s like…two grand or some shit.”

  “Four, actually,” Jami said drolly.

  “Whatever.” Spencer waved him away. “Hey, sweetness. Didn’t see you over there.” Spotting Liv, Spencer walked over and bent to give her friend a kiss. When he seated himself beside her, Alyson noted the dour look Liv wore. Trouble in paradise? Cleary, yes.

  Since she’d already gnawed her lip raw, Alyson began chewing her thumbnail. She watched as Don shifted back and forth between Jami and his tool box, producing wraps and tape and a pair of thin gloves. Tossing them down on the bench next to Jami, he commanded, “Give me your hands.”

  Jami mindlessly lifted one arm. He did everything like that, she noticed. It reminded her of driving, the brain processing the change of streetlights so automatically that sometimes she couldn’t recall whether it had been green or red until after she’d already passed through the intersection. Jami’s reaction was like that—immediate, robotic. He didn’t have to think about it.

  He was looking at her now, his eyes calm as a lake under a gentle breeze. “What are you thinking about over there?”

  “Me?” She sat up straighter and dried her ragged thumbnail off on the leg of her jeans. “Nothing.”

  His keen eyes held hers. “I’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

 
She nodded. “That’s easy to say when you haven’t had your face punched in yet.”

  “That’s half the fun,” Spencer remarked. “The other half comes after the fight, when you can kiss his boo-boos all better, right, Judge?”

  Jami dropped his head and chuckled. “Shut up, man. I told you not to call me that.”

  Spencer shrugged, sat back, and tossed his arm behind Liv’s shoulders. “Just trying to get your head in the game. And speaking of games. How about that bet? The pot is huge, man. If we get in on that now—”

  Jami held up his hand. “Stop. We’re not doing it, so forget about it.”

  “Dude, we all know who’s coming out on top tonight. That’s easy money. Tell me you don’t want to get in on that?”

  “I don’t want to get in on that.” The look Jami leveled on Spencer was so cold and hard, Alyson shrunk back.

  Seemingly unaffected, Spencer continued talking, filling the room with idle chat. Alyson tuned out. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to be back at home, on her couch, wrapped in Jami’s arms. Where she knew he was safe. No one could beat on him from there. But here? Here was another story. The memory of his face, full of contusions and smattered in blood sent a shudder through her. Maybe it was part of being a woman, but she just couldn’t understand the appeal. Who in their right mind would willingly place themselves in a position to be broken?

  Jami. Jami would willingly place himself in that position.

  And she was going to be right there, ringside, watching it all go down.

  Oh, God.

  A sharp knock on the door shut Spencer up, and then a tall, aging man stepped inside. He was dressed in business casual. Well, as business as it was going to get in this place. Actually, he was all business in a high school coach kind of way. Dressed in a pair of pressed khaki pants with pleats running down the center of each leg and a pale yellow polo shirt tucked into the waistband, the man commanded an air of professionalism, and judging by the way everyone grew quiet at his appearance, she guessed this was the guy who would check Jami over before he headed out.

  “Ready for the fight, son?” the man asked jovially.

  “You bet.” Jami was all seriousness as he held out both of his hands. Don began wrapping them as the man hovered close by, watching.

  When Don was finished, Jami presented his hands, arms outstretched. With a nod, the man wished him luck and left.

  Now that the checks were done, it was just a matter of time.

  “You remember what to do if you see him lead with his left?” Don asked.

  Jami’s eyes focused on the floor, glazing over as his mind scanned through the last few weeks of training. “Block, step in, hit him with a right.”

  Don nodded. “Or…”

  “Take him down with a knee to the ribs.”

  “Good. And what do you do if he gets you on your back.”

  “Pony up, ‘cause that’s gonna be one hell of a ride.” Spencer grinned as if he thought he was the cleverest person in the room.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Jami shot Spencer a dirty look, but it was full of antagonistic good humor that could only come from being close friends.

  “Actually, I do,” Spencer said, looking up from his phone. Giving Liv a brief glance, he tried to look apologetic, but Alyson could see straight through his phony façade. “Sorry, sweetness. This won’t take long.”

  Liv accepted the kiss he gave her, but grabbed his shirt to keep him from running off. “What’s so important that you have to take off now? Jami’s about to go on in a few minutes.”

  “Hey, I don’t need you busting my balls,” Spencer snapped. The sudden change in his demeanor piqued Alyson’s temper and her eyes narrowed into slits. Maybe she’d use some of those self-defense moves Jami taught her to teach him a lesson in respect.

  Jami touched the top of her hand. “Come here,” he said softly, taking her hand and tugging her into his lap.

  “If your friend doesn’t watch how he speaks to my friend,” she warned under her breath, “then I’ll be the one busting his balls.”

  Jami’s chest shook with laughter. “Now that’s a bet I wouldn’t mind putting my money on.”

  Her eyes snapped to his. “You don’t think I can kick his ass?”

  Tucking her hair back behind her ear, he regarded her with sincere eyes. “On the contrary, I think you would tear him to pieces.”

  “Look,” Spencer said loudly, “this isn’t going to take long. I’ll be back in a few.”

  Without a look back, he fled the room, slamming the door open so hard, it bounced off the wall. Liv jumped at the noise, and she cast her gaze toward the floor. “Hey,” Alyson said, calling for her attention. “Don’t worry about him. He’s a jerk, and you can do so much better.” Remembering who she was talking about, she grimaced, telling Jami, “Sorry, I know he’s your friend.”

  Jami shook his head. “No need to apologize to me. Spence is a jerk.”

  “I think he’s up to something…not good,” Liv said softly. Staring down at her hands in her lap, she picked at her cuticles.

  “How do you mean?” Jami asked casually, but by the way Alyson felt his muscles stiffen beneath her, she knew he was on alert.

  “He, um. He came home a few days ago with bruises all over his chest and back, like he’d been in a fight. And yesterday, after he said he would be right back—” she rolled her eyes “—he told me he was jumped on his way home from…I don’t know, wherever he was, and all of his cash was stolen. He’s been really edgy ever since and his phone has been going off like crazy.” She shrugged. “It’s probably nothing.”

  Alyson couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Probably nothing? The whole thing screamed of something. She looked to Jami for answers, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. Instead, he looked toward the door, lost in thought. “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sure it’s nothing. He’s probably just worked up over losing his money. That’s probably why he was so eager to place that bet.”

  Liv nodded. “Yeah… Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” She smiled tightly. Alyson tensed. Were they both out of their damn minds? She wanted to shout at both of them, and she was about to, when she felt her phone vibrate against her butt.

  Lifting some of her weight from Jami’s leg so she could retrieve it, Alyson answered. “Hello?” She waited, hearing commotion on the other end of the line. Covering her ear, she repeated the greeting to no answer. Her ears strained to filter out the noise, but with the door to the room standing wide open, the chaos in the building poured in, making it impossible to make anything out. A note of alarm coursed through her. Despite Jami having tracked down the caller’s number, the calls were still coming through. When would it end?

  Ending the call, she caught Jami’s questioning gaze and shrugged as she tucked the phone back in her pocket. “No one there.”

  A frown began to form, putting creases in his forehead. Not wanting him to be distracted, she bent and kissed him sweetly on the lips. “Turn that frown upside down, mister. This is a happy day. In less than an hour, we’re going to be celebrating your first big win as a heavyweight.”

  Wrapping her arms around his neck, she attempted to distract him with a long, leisurely kiss. Thankfully, it worked. The last thing she wanted was for Jami to go into that ring with his mind someplace else. Until then, she would deal with the relentless hang-up calls on her own.

  They spent the last few remaining minutes holding each other. Alyson used that time to pour everything she felt for Jami back into him. She coasted her fingertips over the bulge of muscle in his bicep, across the ridge on his shoulder, and moved to his collarbone, his chest, back around to his thick neck, making a circuit that raised goose bumps across his flesh. She wanted to infuse him with her love, to let him know that she was there for him every step of the way.

  Their gazes locked, Jami wove his fingers through the hair at her nape and pulled her head down. His lips captured hers, and Alyson released a soft moan into his mouth as his t
ongue slipped into hers, tasting her, promising her things that he couldn’t deliver at that moment, when she needed him most. A flame ignited in her veins, and traveled lower, pooling in her stomach and then lower still, heating her core. She shifted as a dull ache started up between her thighs, growing with each stroke of his tongue against hers, until it became an insistent throb. She rubbed against him, feeling all of his lines pressed against the side of her body, reminding her of the things he had done to her just hours ago, in bed, the shower, and again before they walked out the door.

  She wanted him. Needed him. Now.

  “Jami!” Miles rushed through the door, his face alight with excitement. He held up a shirt in front of him. “It’s just like yours. Isn’t it cool?”

  Alyson felt her hopes of a last minute quickie in the shower room disappear in a puff of clouds. Reaching past her, Jami held up the corner of the black shirt covered in neon green scrollwork and logos. “Nice. Put it on. Now that you got the colors, you can be part of the entourage tonight.”

  Miles’ eyes shot wide. “Seriously? Sweet!” Without a care as to who was in the room, Miles tore his shirt off and replaced it with the new one. Behind him, Victoria wore a tight smile. “What do you think, Mom? Do I look like one of them?”

  Clasping his face between her hands, she smiled warmly. “You definitely look the part, sweetie.” Despite her obvious reservations, Alyson could see that Victoria was trying. As a woman who had been a part of this life for years, and considering how it turned out for her, Alyson could imagine how hard this must be for her. But she was staying strong, for Miles. He wasn’t a little boy anymore. He was a little man.

  Her heart clenched when Miles grabbed his mom in a tight hug. “This is so awesome. Here, take my phone,” he said, thrusting it at her. “Take lots of pictures. I want the guys at school to see this.”

  Jami was grinning, obviously happy to see the joy that one simple act had caused, and Alyson couldn’t blame him one bit. It was a heartwarming moment for her too.