The Fight for Love (Contemporary Romance) (4 page)

The applause of the crowd was deafening and thundered in Dalton’s ears. But it was a sound that he loved, a sound that he’d so doggishly chased since he was a young boy. Standing as the victor in the ring he felt infinite. It was an amazing feeling and one he’d yet to experience elsewhere. His heart was dancing to a crazed rhythm in his chest as he did his best to soak up the atmosphere in the arena. People were on their feet, cheering his name. The main lights had come on so that the crowd was no longer shadowed in darkness. As Dalton looked out at the sea of faces he saw her. Lucie was there, politely clapping her hands together and smiling. There was no mistaking that bright blonde hair and those eyes. Why was she there? Had she come to see him?

Questions began to bombard Dalton’s thoughts but he couldn’t deal with them, not there. He continued his victory lap and then, as he disappeared from the ring and headed backstage he searched for his agent, Lee.

“There’s a journalist here called Lucie Walters,” he told him briskly. “If she asks to come backstage let her through.”

Lee opened his mouth to say something but Dalton had already disappeared into his dressing room where he wasn’t to be disturbed. After a fight he liked to be left alone for a while to let the excitement inside him settle down.

Dropping onto the sofa in the dressing room, Dalton reached for a nearby bottle of water and checked his phone. There was a congratulatory message waiting from Steve. Steve always watched the matches at home with his wife, apparently he found the intensity of being in the arena too stressful and Dalton didn’t blame him. Unlike other coaches he preferred not to be at the sideline, which was unusual but Dalton didn’t mind. He respected Steve, however unorthodox his methods might be. He figured it had a lot to do with the fact that Steve had once been a fighter himself.  Dalton was just replying to Steve’s message when someone knocked on the dressing room door.

“Come in,” Dalton called out.

The door opened and Lee peered round, his latest layer of fake tan making him look almost orange. Dalton always wondered why his agent didn’t just try and get some good old-fashioned sunshine instead of risking looking like he belonged in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.

“There’s a Lucie Walters here asking to see you,” Lee explained.

“Send her in,” Dalton nodded at him. He quickly pulled on a T-shirt and hoped that he didn’t look too sweaty and disheveled following his bout in the ring.

***

Lucie was so nervous she thought she might faint. On the off chance that Dalton had seen her in the crowd, she’d tried to get backstage and to her utter surprise she’d been allowed. Granted, her media pass let her in places many of the public couldn’t go but Dalton was notorious for rarely giving post-fight interviews.

“Thank you,” Lucie nodded gratefully at Lee and then entered the dressing room. Dalton sat on a plush-looking sofa wearing a plain white T-shirt and black jogging bottoms. His skin glistened with sweat.

“Congratulations on your win,” Lucie told him with a smile.

“Thank you,” Dalton replied modestly, his voice so deep and rich it sent chills through her body just to hear it.

“I didn’t expect you to be here,” he told her.

Lucie nervously lifted the lanyard round her neck. “Duty calls,” she shrugged.

“So…are you here for an interview?” Dalton frowned at her.

“Umm…no,” Lucie looked down at her feet. An interview with Dalton Hughes after such an epic win would be a real coup for The Standard. But that wasn’t why she was there and she felt compelled to be honest with him.

“I got everything I needed during the match,” she told him. “I just came by to say…well done!”

“Is that right?” Dalton was standing up and walking over to her with those same powerful, confident steps he used in the ring. But Lucie didn’t feel afraid, she felt aroused. He was now so close that she could smell the sweat and dull musk of cologne on him. She chewed her lip and thought again of the kiss they had shared.

“You didn’t mention you were covering my fight,” when Dalton spoke he leaned down to graze her nose with his. Lucie shuddered with delight.

“It was a last-minute thing,” Lucie whispered.

Dalton pressed his lips to Lucie’s neck and she groaned. When he guided her over to the sofa she didn’t resist. Soon he was on his back and she was on top of him as they kissed passionately, their bodies intertwined.

As they kissed Dalton’s hands crept up her body, feeling the curves beneath her tight-fitting jeans.

“Won’t someone come in?” Lucie broke the kiss to nervously ask the question. Dalton shook his head. For a moment she realized he must often entertain women in his dressing room but she was too on fire with desire to care. Leaning back she removed her lanyard and top and let Dalton assist her as she wriggled out of her jeans and threw off her panties. He was soon out of his own clothes and Lucie averted her eyes from the sore cut which remained on his sculpted chest.

They were kissing passionately as Lucie straddled him on the sofa.

“Dalton,” she breathed his name into his ear as their lips briefly parted. She could feel how excited he was.

Dalton moaned with longing as he pulled on some protection and placed his hands on her hips, firmly gripping her in place as he entered her. Lucie leaned back and closed her eyes in delight. He felt utterly amazing. For a man so powerfully built he was a surprisingly gentle and tender lover. But Lucie discovered that he could be powerful when he wanted to be. After she’d been on top for five minutes he scooped her up in his powerful arms and carried her across the room, pressing her back up against a wall.

Lucie locked her legs around him as he kissed her neck and made her entire body burst into joyous flames. She’d never experienced sex like it. It felt like the earth was shaking beneath them. She lost count of how many times he made her climax. She was delirious with desire as he held her in his strong arms.

She was impressed by his stamina. After almost fifteen minutes had passed he pressed hard against her and groaned, his entire body tensing. Lucie wilted against him, satisfied and exhausted. She wanted to remain in his arms forever.

“That was…” Dalton released her and stepped back, running a hand over his head.

“Amazing,” Lucie finished for him, gasping for breath. “That was amazing.”

Dalton couldn’t stop smiling. Each time he tried to put on his hard, fight face it fell away, melting into a warm smile.

“Dalton, come on, you’re killing me!” Steve lowered the punch pads he’d been holding in the center of the ring.

“Sorry,” Dalton wiped the back of his hand across his face and tried to concentrate. He was still smiling.

“Lee told me about that new sponsorship deal,” Steve noted. “Is that what’s got you grinning like some sort of madman?”

“Nope,” Dalton shook his head and laughed.

“Because that’s a pretty big deal,” Steve continued. “Lee told me it was seven figures.”

“Yeah, it’s a good deal,” Dalton agreed.

“And you got it off the back of that impressive win the other night.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You want to get more lucrative deals like that?”

“Of course.” Dalton nodded.

“Then you mind telling me why you can’t focus on your training this morning?” Steve was glaring at him which forced the smile from Dalton’s face. “Don’t get me wrong, Dalton, I’m all for seeing you happy but it’s interfering with training. I can’t get you to focus on anything. So if it isn’t the sponsorship deal then what the hell is it?”

“I met a girl,” Dalton blurted, embarrassed by how much he sounded like a lovesick teenager.

“A girl?”

Dalton had expected Steve to smile but instead his trainer remained stone-faced.

“Yes, a girl,” Dalton confirmed. “Her name is Lucie and she’s a journalist and –”

“Let me stop you right there.” Steve held up one of the punching pads he was holding towards Dalton. “I thought we’d talked about this, Dalton.”

Dalton began to pace around the ring in frustration. He knew what was coming next. Steve was about to tell him that he couldn’t have it all. That if he wanted to remain on top he had to be willing to make sacrifices.

“You need to focus on your training,” Steve said quietly. “You know there isn’t space in your life for some girl, not if you want to remain on top.”

Dalton was about to state that Lucie wasn’t just “some girl” but he bit his lip.

“Relationships need time and energy to flourish,” Steve stated sagely. “And you can’t risk sparing time for either of those. I’m not saying this to be cruel, Dalton. I’m saying it to be practical. If you tell me now that you’re done with fighting, that it’s no longer your life’s dream then I’d say go after this girl and make a life with her. But if you still have that hunger in you to get in that ring and dominate then I suggest you forget about her and quickly.”

Dalton parted the ropes of the ring, swung himself out and headed over to his waiting towel and bottle of water.

“Ignoring me won’t help the situation,” Steve called after him. “You’ve got to make a call on this, Dalton. Sooner rather than later.”

***

Lucie sat at her desk chewing her nails nervously. She felt like she was checking her phone every ten seconds to see if she’d heard from Dalton. Four days had passed since their steamy session in his dressing room and she’d yet to hear anything from him.

“You know a watched kettle never boils,” Adrian’s comment jolted Lucie out of her thoughts. She glanced over at him in surprise. “You’ve been checking that thing like it might explode all day,” he added. Adrian glanced at the cell phone on her desk.

“I have?” Lucie wondered as her cheeks began to burn. She’d hoped she’d been a bit more discreet over obsessively checking her phone.

“Why don’t you just call him?” Adrian suggested.

“What?” Lucie’s cheeks got even hotter.

“You’re waiting on a guy to call, am I right?” Adrian asked bluntly. Lucie was too stunned by his perceptiveness to claim otherwise.

“You women are all the same with your games. Like you can’t call him and appear too keen. I’ve got news for you, Lucie. It’s 2015, women have just as much right to call as men. So stop torturing yourself and call him.”

Lucie glanced between Adrian and her phone.

“I won’t look too desperate?” she wondered sheepishly.

“How long has it been since your date?”

Lucie wasn’t sure she’d call what happened between her and Dalton a date but she wasn’t about to tell Adrian that.

“Four days.”

“So call,” Adrian shrugged, “now you just seem polite, you’ve gone past the point of clingy.”

“And when was that point?” Lucie asked with a smile.

“Two days,” Adrian nodded, also smiling. “I know I’m married but don’t forget that I used to play the game back in the day, the same rules still apply.”

“Okay,” Lucie grabbed her phone and clutching it to her chest she stood up from the desk.

“I’m going to go and call.” She sauntered off towards the ladies’ room, emboldened by Adrian’s advice.

When she called Dalton didn’t answer, instead it went straight to voice mail. But Lucie had been prepared for that. She imagined that he was just busy training and unable to get to his phone. Taking a deep breath she left what she hoped was a casual, yet sexy message.

“Hey, Dalton, I had a lot of fun the last time we ran into each other. Why don’t you call me so we can bump into each other again sometime?”

She purred the words into the phone and then ended the call with a satisfied smile. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait for Dalton to call her back.

***

Freshly showered, Dalton stalked across the changing rooms of the gym towards his duffel bag. His cell phone was on the top, blinking to alert him to a new message. Reaching for the phone he unlocked the screen and saw that he had a missed call and voicemail from Lucie.

Straightening against the wall of lockers he pushed his phone against his ear and listened to the message. Then with a brisk swipe of his finger he locked the screen and tossed the phone back into his duffel bag.