Stand Of Honor (6 page)

“Damn
, Zane, you’re so fucking fast,” the guy from the ground said in admiration.

Zane bounced up and reached down a hand to help the guy up.
All the other men were laughing; it was an opportunity to make fun of yet another one of them that couldn’t stand a chance against Zane. No one had been able to make Zane surrender. They would occasionally make bets among themselves, but so far, no one had collected.

Zane laughed and opened his mouth to reply when he
spotted Melanie watching him. As they caught each other’s eyes, the men looked towards the front door to see what had caught Zane’s attention. She heard some whistles in the background, but she was lost in Zane’s eyes, not catching anything they might have actually said.

It was at that point that she
started having second thoughts. How was she going to be able to listen to anything he told her when all she could think about was his lips on hers and his tongue down her throat?

“Al
l right, guys, enough. Shut your mouths and get back to work.” Zane walked out of the ring towards Melanie, and she saw the admiration the guys had for him as they immediately jumped to do as asked.

She
felt herself breathing heavily as he walked across the gym. She was pulled out of her daze when she heard Lincoln grunt. She glanced towards him and saw the knowing look in his eyes.

“Shut up,” she snapped at him.

Lincoln raised his hands in the air.
“I didn’t say anything, girl.”

Melanie started to snap again, but
then realized he really never had actually said anything. She rolled her eyes and went to meet Zane.

“Hi
, Zane.” Melanie looked up into his grey eyes. His face was beautiful and hard at the same time, making her want to reach up and pull him to her. “Thanks again for agreeing to train me.” She tried to pull off a casual tone, yet damn, the man had tattoos on his bulging biceps. She was a sucker for tats.

“Let’s see what you got
.” Zane turned to walk to one of the rings in the back of the gym. It was around a corner so that the others in the gym could not easily see them. She was glad for that, feeling like she was starting over again since Tobias had screwed her moves up so much. She knew it was going take some time before she was able to regain any self-confidence.

Zane walked onto the mat and turned back to her.
“Let’s just start with some punches. Let me see your jabs.” He put on a punching mitt and waited for her to start.

Okay,
Melanie thought,
no small talk
. That was probably for the better.

She turned her body slightly to the side and put herself in a position to throw a right jab at him.
She was nervous and couldn’t fully focus, so her initial jabs were weak. She could see in his expression that he expected more from her, though, and that was exactly what she needed to let her nerves go and force her to execute the jab properly. She had to get her mind off his body or she was doomed to fail before she’d begun.

“Okay, not bad.
You’re holding yourself a little too tightly and can still put a little more force in the jab. With the right technique, a jab at the right time could throw your opponent off balance and will give you time to make your next move.”

Melanie nodded her head and continued to work on the jabs.
She felt proud at Zane’s comments and wanted to keep them coming.

The rest of the session went a little slow,
however she felt like she was making progress. He was able to detect some of the alterations Tobias had forced her to make. It took time for her to attempt to focus on doing it correctly. Zane was understanding; he knew it was going to take time. Melanie started to apologize for some of her mistakes, but he wouldn’t allow it. He told her that she wasn’t allowed to apologize for something that wasn’t her fault. He did warn her that it would be different when they were past the correction phase of training, though.

Two hours later, they were wrapping up the training session.
Melanie felt good that she had been able to focus on listening to Zane. However, now that it was over, she started noticing his body again. She also noticed they were the only ones in the gym.

She looked up to tell him thank you and caught him staring back down at her.
She licked her lips and saw his eyes darken as he watched her tongue. It seemed she wasn’t the only one having trouble keeping their emotions on a professional footing.

“Zane, thank you
. This means the world to me.” Melanie felt herself walking towards him, having an overwhelming desire to kiss him again. She watched his eyes flare before he stepped away from her.

“Melanie, what did I tell you about those come fuck me looks? Quit looking at me like you want me to take you on the mat,” Zane rudely stated.

Fucking asshole
, she thought to herself. She knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

“Fine, but don’t think I’m going to be available when you decide you do want me.”
Melanie huffed and started to storm away.

She had only taken
two steps when she felt his hands grab her waist, jerking her around to face him. Before she could make a sound, he slid his hands down to her ass and lifted her up. She fastened her legs around him in response, her arms wrapping around his neck.

They were locked in a battle of stares as he carried her towards the wall
, pushing her back up against it. She moaned in response. This was her fantasy coming true—a sexy, strong man picking her up like it was nothing and kissing her senseless.

He leaned into kiss her neck and
then worked his way up to her ear. She felt goose bumps ripple across her skin as his mouth worked at her body, using his teeth to slightly nip at her. She could feel her dampness, and with her soft pants, his dick grazed slightly into her through his thin shorts. She wanted more of him.

W
ith that thought, she rubbed herself even harder against him. She tried to kiss him, however he lifted her up even higher, taking a nipple into his mouth through her shirt, causing excitement to shoot through her body. She gasped out loud and moaned his name. This was everything she’d imagined it would be.

All of sudden, she felt
herself sliding down the wall as he set her back on the floor. Her knees were weak, so she leaned against the wall for support.

“What did you say about you not being available to me?”
Zane asked her.

Melanie was pissed
as she realized he had just been proving a point. She went to kick him, yet he easily grabbed her ankle and leaned into her, his other hand grazing her inner thigh, brushing his fingers across her wetness with his fingertips.

“So wet, so quick.
I never thought you would grow up to be easy. I can have a girl just as sexy as you underneath me in ten minutes with one phone call. The question is, can you find another coach? I told you to make your choice before we started training. I won’t fuck you and train you at the same time because you’ll spend more time thinking about my dick than your next move. Now, do you want me to train you or not?” He shrugged. “I’m game for whichever you choose.”

Melanie reared back and punched him in the face.
“How dare you, you shithead!”

Zane barely flinched. He
laughed but finally let her go. “Melanie, go home. I’ll see you in a couple days. You need to rest your body after today.” With that, he started towards the front of the gym.

Melanie followed behind in silence
, cussing herself. Why did she lose all of her senses every time she was close to him? Every time she tested him, he showed her who was really in charge. She would be more cautious of letting him see she was attracted to him in the future. Besides, with any luck, his callous attitude would eventually kill any attraction she had for him.

She gathered her composure
, walking out the door without looking back while saying, “See ya, Zane.”

*
  *  *

Zane watched her storm out of the gym
, shaking his head. All those years growing up around so much testosterone must have caused Melanie to be forward and not afraid of her desires. That was what he liked about her; she didn’t play the shy, coy role that annoyed the shit out of him with other women. She had grown up with so many male influences that she probably didn’t see the need to play the usual female games.

As he thought about the last two hours with her, he realized how much he liked being able to share his love for the sport with someone that was as passionate about it as he was.
Ever since he had been kicked out of the league, there had always been a part of him that felt angry and wanted to leave it behind, but at this moment, the burden he had placed on himself didn’t feel as heavy.

He didn’t know what he was thinking
, grabbing her up like that. He had told himself over and over again that she was his best friend’s sister and to be respectful. He had to admit to himself, though, that he wanted her. Bad.

He was
just going to have stay on task and continue to train her. Plus, he figured she was angry enough not to set herself up again. He knew it wouldn’t be safe to become attached to her, yet something about Melanie brought out feelings that he had suppressed since Faye.

The thought of that money hungry bitch hardened his resolve not to become involve
d with Melanie. He wasn’t meant to be with anyone and she sure didn’t deserve to become involved with someone with his kind of baggage.

He pushed all thoughts of Melanie aside.
He had a job to do tonight.

*
  *  *

Zane sat in a dark sedan across the street and
observed a man exiting his car before he looked up and down the street as he made his way towards the front door of his house. Zane watched him quickly jab the key towards the handle and miss several times because he kept looking behind him as he tried to unlock the door. Zane could sense his fear.

The man finally entered the dark house and Zane noticed he didn’t turn on the lights.
His plan to make it look like no one was home wouldn’t work tonight.

Zane stayed in his car for another hour to give the man time to think he was safe for the night.
It was always better to catch them off guard.

When enough time had passed,
Zane stepped out of the sedan and then quickly walked across the street to the front door. He slipped the key out of his pocket, quietly opened the door, and pulled the pistol out of his jacket as he entered the house.

Chapter 9

Melanie continued to train with Zane over the next several weeks.
She was happy with her progress. It hadn’t taken her long to recognize the difference between Zane and Tobias. She didn’t feel as if she was going to have her ass handed to her when she entered the cage with Zane as her coach. He had done an amazing job of adjusting her moves, and she truly felt like she was much closer to her first real fight.

She and Zane
had somehow managed to keep it professional, although there was no denying the chemistry between them. She knew he had been burned so many times before and probably didn’t think too highly of her since she’d practically thrown herself at him the first few times they had been around each other. Not caring for a repeat of those occurrences, she made it a point to stay on track and work on her technique.

What conversations they did have were casual
; about school and various interests they each had. Still, there was always that moment at the end of each session when they were alone in the gym and it felt like the air could explode between them. She was determined not to make the first move, though she was getting tired of waiting for Zane to accept what was between them.

“Okay, dodge my punch and throw your weight against me when I’m off balance,” Zane instructed her
during their session centered on takedowns.

She prepared for the punch, quickly
ducking below it while moving towards his body. She then threw her body weight against him and actually forced him to fall back a few steps. She hadn’t been able to take him to the mat, but getting him off balance was significant for her.

“Great job
, Melanie. That was your best one today,” Zane complimented.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, trying to control her smile and not act so giddy from his compliment. She didn’t feel bad letting his
accolades go to her head. Hell, the man ate it up as much as she did.

Melanie observed the respect he received from the men and the looks he received from the women.
She wanted to beat them up every time she saw one of them glance his way. Fortunately for her, the couple of women training in the gym were Lincoln’s clients, so she didn’t have to think about him spending hours training with any of them. She was aware that she was feeling possessive of him already. She smirked to herself. The beauty of being a female cage fighter was that she could scare off her competition with a glare.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Zane stated.
“How are you feeling about things?”