Paradise Fought (Abel) (23 page)

I’d been staring down at her chest, specifically, the hint of her breasts inside the open buttons of her dress. I was distracted by how I knew what those breasts felt like in my hands, and I desperately wanted to touch her again. After what happened to Elma, what almost happened, I figured touching her was the last thing she’d want. Besides, she had only wanted to pretend that one night. To distract myself from thoughts of her body, I decided to talk.

“My father and I don’t get along. I was never good enough for him. I was small, weak, and unworthy as a child. Cain Callahan
is
my brother. The Cobra,” I said bitterly. “It’s hard to be in his shadow. I wasn’t even hidden. I simply didn’t exist.”

I felt Elma’s eyes on me, but I focused on the buttons of her dress. Shaky hands reached up and toyed with one between my fingers.

“My brother isn’t terrible. In fact, I owe him. He protected me. I never asked him to do it, but he did. He took the beatings, meant for me, from my father. He was bigger than me, stronger. It led to resentment. He was disappointed in my lack of fight.”

Unknowingly, I unbuttoned the button on Elma’s dress. This allowed her breasts to be exposed. A white bra held my prize, but the lacy material was a nice consolation to draw my attention, while I continued.

“My father was a tough man to please. He wanted it all. Whatever he didn’t have in Ireland, he planned to get in America. He wanted to be a prizefighter. When it didn’t happen for him, he blamed my mother and his children. He drove her away. When she left us, he exiled us to the desert in Vegas. He’s a miserable man. He hates women so much, he sent my younger sister to boarding school as soon as she was old enough to go. She’s hardly been home in twelve years.”

Distractedly, I unbuttoned another button on her dress and let my hand slip inside. I didn’t reach for my intended catch, but rather, wrapped a hand under her breast, around her side. I needed to feel her warm skin. It was difficult for me to talk about such pain, yet calming as I felt her gentle breaths, while my hand held under her heart.

“Cain was his focus. Whatever my father hadn’t earned, he made certain Cain would. Cain’s practically the breadwinner of the family. Genesis Gym doesn’t bring in nearly what Cain provides, and my father knows it. But Genesis Gym gave everything to Cain’s training and upbringing. My dad’s also made Cain feel guilty enough that Cain believes he owes it back to the family. He’s the laborer of the family. He’s worked hard his whole life, so my father hardly has to,” I sighed. It hadn’t been fair to Cain. He’d missed out on so much. I was disappointed in myself that I hadn’t been able to help relieve the pressure in some way. Cain was turning into a hard, bitter man like my father. It was a dangerous, lonely path that I didn’t want for my brother to travel.

“Montana did everything for us, too,” Elma said softly. “I was spoiled.” She smiled weakly, and I bit my lip to hold off a laugh. She was spoiled, but she was still sweet. I liked her. My eyes concentrated on my thumb, which tenderly caressed the side of her breast. My other hand was rubbing gently on her thigh. The skirt of her dress was moving upward with my steady rhythm.

“When my father left, Montana believed he was responsible for us. He was the man of the house my mother told him, over and over again. He was only thirteen,” she said sadly. “He learned to fight in high school and entered the circuit as soon as he graduated. He gave up college to keep my mother and me comfortable.” She paused. “In hindsight, we had more than we should. My brother had spread himself too thin. He started to gamble on the fights, including his own. He needed that final win.” Elma’s voice fell. She was referring to the fight with my brother. It didn’t seem fair. Elma’s brother was no more responsible for his family than Cain had been for ours, and yet they both took the liability. They had both suffered for it, too.

My hand stilled its motion. I cursed myself. While I was taking comfort in stroking over her skin, Elma might not have been comfortable with what I was doing. On the other hand, she hadn’t been stopping me. The lights of the parking space shut off, leaving Elma and I in darkness. The property was a private warehouse, but one that had been converted into a proper fight facility. Tonight’s fight had been small in scale, but legitimate. My truck was the only one left in the lot.

As my hand had stopped the motion, Elma’s delicate hands covered each of mine. Taking the hand at her side, she slid mine upward to cover the tender swell of her breast. Fingers on her other hand traced delicately over the back of mine on her thigh. Fingertips dragged lightly to encourage the restart of my caressing her leg.

“Are we done talking?” I asked; my voice strained as I leaned toward her, my eyes still focused in the dark night on massaging her breast.

“For now,” she said softly. My mouth came to hers. I hesitated. I didn’t want to scare her. Someone bit those lips hard a week ago. I wanted to remind her how delectable she was in a gentler manner. The light brush was met with instant connection. Elma’s hands dove into my hair and pulled me toward her. I scooted her to edge of the tailgate to press into me. The length of me strained against my zipper, wanting better access to her.

Our mouths swam together. Tongues collided, darting in and out against one another. Lips swirled, stirring up a wave of excitement that had me hard as ocean rocks. I ground against Elma and she moaned into my mouth. It spurred me on. I had completely unbuttoned the front of her dress and both hands delved into it, searching for skin. I loved the feel of her bare under my hands.

Her legs wrapped around my hips again, and she used the position to pull herself closer to me. Her arms were around my neck, while her mouth didn’t break the connection any more than the center of her. She rolled her hips to drag against me. Her breasts crushed into my chest. There was only one way for us to get closer.

“Do we have any rules here?” I asked between kisses.

“I think the rule should be no more rules,” she countered.

I pulled back slowly, letting my forehead rest against hers.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked hesitantly, knowing I would stop at any point.

“Yes,” she whispered, then kissed me hard again. I broke away after a few seconds.

“Stay here,” I commanded quietly. Behind the seat of my truck was a sleeping bag. I grabbed it and spread it out in the bed of the truck. I came around to the tailgate and climbed up. Elma had crawled to the softer surface I provided. and I closed the tailgate which provided a loud click in the silent night.

“Shit that was loud,” I said, but Elma giggled behind me. I spun and crawled to her.

“Your laugh is the greatest sound, my rúnsearc,” I whispered, before letting my mouth resume its capture of hers. I was breathing her in, while my hands returned to roaming over her. We were laying down with my body half over hers. My hand took over the breast I hadn’t caressed yet, this time forcing lace aside to meet her cool tender skin. Her hands were in my hair, working my scalp with delicate scratching. My knee rose to press into her center and she pulled back with a groan. Her back arched.

I wasn’t about to let my knee take what other body parts wanted, and I cupped her quickly. Her underwear was damp under her skirt. She wanted me, or at least, wanted this. I pushed the elastic aside and slid into her. She moaned into my mouth again as her back curved and she pressed into my hand. Fingers were enveloped into warmth. I worked her slowly, dragging out the pleasure, reminding her often between kisses that she was beautiful.

It didn’t take long before Elma pulled back from my mouth to concentrate on my fingers below. In an instant, she crashed and her leg wrapped over my hip as the orgasmic sensation lingered. When Elma came, there was nothing sweeter. Her hand cautiously trailed down my chest to my buckle and her mouth resumed its dance with mine. Tongues tangoed back and forth, while lips leapt from top to bottom in playful nibs and sucks. In no time, my belt was undone and a rough tug released it from the loops. Confident fingers unzipped me, finally setting me free from the confines.

A warm hand wrapped around the length of me. I shimmied my pants down to my hips to allow greater access while Elma squeezed and tugged in earnest. Elma had a reputation for being an expert, but her attention was not like Keli’s. Touching me wasn’t a practiced skill mastered. Elma was stroking me like this was something more. Tenderly, her fingers massaged and dragged like she wanted nothing more than to please me.

“That feels amazing, Elma,” I exhaled against her lips, while she worked tight skin over a hard shaft.

“I know what would feel better,” she drawled sweetly.

“What about the rule?” I said, kissing the corner of her mouth.

“What rule?” she breathed.

That’s my girl
, I screamed inside, but she wasn’t my girl. She wasn’t going to ever be my girl, but it didn’t mean I didn’t want her. My hand had returned to her underwear, dragging it down her thighs while her hand continued to twitch over the length of me. I wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Just making certain you’re okay being a rule-breaker,” I muttered with a slow smile, as I shifted my knees between her legs. Pushing her dress up to her hips, I took a breast into my mouth for a momentary distraction. I had to calm a little, or I’d lose it before I began.

“Yes,” she breathed into the night air. I wasn’t certain if she was answering a question or just simply praising my attention to her body. I released her with a soft popping sound then positioned myself outside of her. I toyed with her slick folds, rubbing the tip of me through her. The sensation was overwhelming and my eyes rolled back as her damp skin covered mine

“Shit, Elma. No condom.” The reality hit me. I didn’t carry them as a rule because I hadn’t had need. I wasn’t a one-night stand kind of guy. I wasn’t a spontaneous lover. All of my experience in the past had been scheduled, planned, and paid for. That’s when condoms were required.

“I don’t care,” she muttered.

“I’ve never been with anyone without one. Ever,” I said, pressing forward gently. She was tight. Very tight. The connection of her warmth over me had my body shaking.

“And I’ve never been with anyone. Ever,” she whispered.

I stopped.

“Wait, what?” I balanced over her, my dick not even in an inch inside her.

“I’ve never been with anyone before.”

The words flew out into the night air and flitted over me.

“You’re a virgin,” I snapped quietly, but the words echoed louder than the snap of my tailgate. Elma’s face turned away from mine. “But I thought…” my voice trailed off. I thought she had been with several guys on campus. At least a few of them, from what I’d heard.

Her hands came to my shoulders. She was ready to push me off of her. I would stop if she wanted. Of course, she wanted to stop. I worked myself into this. This should be special for her, not in the back of a truck.

“Does it matter?” she asked. Her hands wrapped over my shoulders, nails digging into my t-shirt. She hadn’t pushed me away yet. I was still between her folds below.

“No, but if I had known…”

“You wouldn’t have wanted me,” she interrupted.

“What? No. I want you. I definitely want you,” I chuckled a little. The jolt of my body reminded us both what position we were in.

“I want you, too, Abel,” she said softly. It was all I needed. No one had ever said that to me. Paid or not. I was willing to pretend it was real and I pushed forward.

The initial force stung and tears came to my eyes. I knew it would be like this. I’d been told by Lindee that romance books make it look too pretty. The truth was, it hurt. Stretching me, Abel moved cautiously. At first it seemed like he was prolonging the torture until I spoke out in frustration.

“Just do it.”

Then I screamed out as he rammed into me, filling me in a connection I’d never had before with any boy or man. He stilled and I waited. I knew this wasn’t it. This wasn’t enough. My body was vibrating. I needed relief again. I was at a crossroads, caught between the sting of pain and injection of desire. I clenched and Abel groaned. He had been kissing my neck, my cheek, and my jaw, continuing to mutter that I was beautiful. I was perfect. I felt so good around him.