Training the SECRET (Corrigan & Co #6) (12 page)

I find Nate sitting on
a bench near the cage, just staring at it. My heart hurts knowing
what’s he’s sacrificing for me. Although I don’t know the
details, I know that there’s a reason he doesn’t fight anymore. I
feel bad knowing that he’s doing this for me. I also feel grateful,
but not just for that.

“Hi, Soldier.”

“Hi, Angel,” He
replies, a big grin taking over his face, and lighting up his eyes
when he sees me.

“Thank you.”

“It’s just one
fight.”

“One fight too many
for you, I’m afraid. And I also mean thank you for earlier.”

“I’d do anything
for you. I want you to know that. Earlier was no big deal.”

“You are the ultimate
alpha, Nate. Letting me defend myself—and you—is not in your
nature. Yet you did it, and that’s a
huge
deal to me. Also, I
do
know you’d do anything for me, and I hope you realize that it goes
both ways.”

“You were proving
that to me before I finally came to my senses and had my way with
you.”

“Thanks for finally
acknowledging that. Now let’s talk about how much I’m going to
kick your ass while I’m training you.”

“You know, I could
just train myself.”

I look behind him on
the bench. “You don’t want me to be in charge of your fine ass?”

“Well, when you put
it that way, it’s not even a question. I mean, you already
own
it.”

“And I’ll kiss it
better every night. Along with all of the other parts of you that
I’ll be working.”

“Including your
favorite muscle of mine?”

“Oh yeah. Especially
that one.”

“We should get to
work, then.”

“You know I’d kiss
your cock even if I wasn’t training you.”

“Yeah, but the
thought of you bossing me around all day and then getting on your
knees at night is fucking hot as hell.”

“Go run some laps on
the track before I drag you into the nearest closet.”

“Option number two,
please.”

“Run. Now.”

He gets up and gives me
one of his smoldering looks that make my panties disintegrate. “Hot.
So fucking hot.”

I’m still smiling
when he comes back over to me after running his mile. We go through
all the different skills so I can see where he’s at. I know he’s
fit as fuck, but in order to train him properly, I have to look for
flaws and weaknesses. By the end of the day, I realize that he really
has none. He’s been honing his skills to perfection for sixteen
years, and he realizes every little mistake—and adjusts
himself—before I can even bring it up. He’s right. He could just
train himself, but I’m glad he’s letting me at least pretend to
be in charge. It makes me love him even more.

We’re both exhausted
by the time we leave the gym, so we just stop for some takeout on the
way home. Protein and carbs for both of us; although, he’s eating
more than double what I am. He’s a beast already, but we both know
adding on a few more pounds can’t hurt him. Especially since Brent
won’t tell us who he’s fighting yet. He
will
have to tell us soon, though. Otherwise, how is Nate supposed to
properly prepare? Or maybe that’s what he wants. He did seem really
angry when we were kissing, and maybe there’s more to it than just
annoyance. Ellie and Aiden will take of that, though. I just need to
worry about Nate.

Jade

The last two weeks have
been exhausting. Brent is still refusing to tell us who Nate is
fighting until next week—which I’ve explained to him is
completely unethical, but he doesn’t seem to care—so he’s been
working on every kind of fighting and wrestling you can imagine. When
the guys at the gym proved too easy for him, we brought in other
fighters. Ones who are more even matched with him. He hasn’t lost a
sparring session yet. His body is in prime form, and believe me, I’ve
been appreciating it when I can. It’s his mind I’m worried about,
though.

As the match draws
closer, he’s been getting tenser, and colder. He still kisses me,
and tells me he loves me, but I can sense the change in him and feel
the difference in our lovemaking. He’s pulling away from me—and
everyone else—as he fights whatever demons he’s hiding. He needs
to share them with me so I can help him. I have to make him see that.

“Let’s talk before
we go to the gym,” I tell him, rolling over to pull him to me as he
starts to rise from the bed. Or more like, pull myself to him since I
can’t move him.

“I really need to
work, Jade. As my trainer, you should know that.”

That stings, and I
can’t stop myself from lashing out. “I’m not some random fuck,
Nate.”

“Where the hell did
that come from?”

“Think about it,” I
tell him, turning my face so he doesn’t see the tears forming in my
eyes.

“I don’t have time
to play games. So either tell me why you’re acting like some needy,
emotional chick, or let me go.”

“Go.”

“Are you showering
with me, or what?”

“No. I’ll shower
later.”

“Later? You’re not
coming to the gym?”

“You said it
yourself—you don’t need me. I have stuff to do, and I need to
check in with my dad and the doctors in Vegas.”

That’s not a lie. My
dad has been in Vegas for a week, and the treatments are going well.
I wish I could be there with him, but he says that the gym is more
important, and I should stay here to help Nate. Darcy is getting
ready to start a new mission, so she’s been spending a good amount
of time at the office. My dad and she have bonded, and she’s been
helping keep his spirits up. We haven’t been super close in the
past, but I know we now will be. Anyone who helps my dad is someone
I’ll be friends with for life. Just like anyone who hurts him will
remain my enemy as long as I have a breath in me.

“How much of an ass
have I been to you?” he asks, turning my face back to him

I shrug, knowing that
he’s doing this for me. Fighting for me, anddestroying himself in
the process. But I have to be honest. We both deserve that from me.
“You’ve pretty much treated me like some groupie you’ve brought
home to fuck for the past week. It was rough before then because I
know that this is hard for you, and I want to help even though you
won’t let me. But it’s been getting worse every day. I’ll be
your fuck if that’s what you need for now, but I have to know if
that’s the way it’s going to be forever.”

His face crumbles, and
all of the ‘asshole’ that was there a few minutes ago is
completely gone. “Shit. Angel. I-I…oh my God. I’m so sorry.
You’re not my ‘fuck,’ you’re my
everything
.
This fight is getting to me, and I know I haven’t been handling it
well. I-I never want you to feel like I don’t care. Never.”

“Can you talk to me?
I
know
this isn’t
you, how you’ve been acting. I want to help.”

“You help just by
being you.”

“Which means you’re
not going to tell me.”

“If I tell you, it’s
going to become bigger than it already is, and then I won’t be able
to concentrate on winning this fight. Or look you in the eye.”

“I don’t see how it
could be bigger, and you damn well better look me in the eye, no
matter what. Nothing, and I mean
nothing
you
could tell me about your past would ever make me think any less of
you. Or feel any less. One day you’ll realize that, and know you
can tell me everything. Until then, just stop shutting me out. Like I
said, you can fuck me senseless if you need to, but I want you to
hold me after. I have to know that you realize it’s me who you’re
with. That’s all. I can take your moodiness, but I can’t take
wondering if it matters that it’s me here with you.”

“Jade, I never forget
a moment when I’m with you. I promise you that. It kills me that I
haven’t been showing you that, but I promise that I
always
know it’s you who I’m beside, inside, over, and under. And every
second of it is pure heaven. I love you. With everything I have,
which is not all that desirable right now, I know. I’ll win this
fight for you, and any other battle I need to in order to be worthy
of you.”

“I can slay most of
my own dragons, you know.”

“Just as long as you
know that I’m your backup for the ones you can’t.”

“You know I feel the
same about you, big guy.”

He ignores most of what
I just said, and goes for flirty. I’ll let him for now. “Speaking
of big, are you sure you don’t want to join me in the shower?”

“You should save your
strength for the workout today.”

“I have the stamina,
but maybe you’re right. I should choose a less strenuous way of
making you think of me all day while you’re here and I’m there,”
he says, gently pushing me onto my back and hovering over me.
“Getting all hot and sweaty.”

“Oh God.”

His fingers are moving
through my folds and pinching my clit. “You like me hot and sweaty,
babe? Or do you just like knowing you made me that way? That you told
me what to do, and I did it?”

“Both. Don’t stop.”

He spreads me legs
wide, and lowers himself in between my thighs. His breath is teasing
me, and I want that mouth of his. And his tongue. God, do I want his
tongue.

“Tell me what to do,
Angel. Order me around the way you like to in the gym.”

“You know what to do.
What I like,” I pant out, practically begging.

“Say the words for
me. It turns me on when you get bossy.”

“Lick me, Nate. Use
that magical tongue of yours and lick me.”

He does, giving me one
gloriously long lick, followed by a bunch of small ones, all designed
to drive me insane. I thrust my hips up, asking for more. He swirls
his tongue over my clit, and I nearly fly off the bed.

“Suck it. Lick
it…suck it…yes. Please, yes.”

He alternates sucking
and licking until I can’t talk anymore. “Fingers? Do you want me
to fuck you with my fingers, and my mouth?”

I grab his hair
tighter. That’s all I can do right now. It’s enough of an answer
for him, and he plunges three of his long fingers in me. If his
tongue is magical, I don’t know how to even explain his fingers.
They know just what spot to hit, and when he twists them, I come so
hard that it’s a wonder I’m still conscious.

He pulls his fingers
out and I hear him moan into my pussy as he moves lower. I look down
and see him stroking himself hard and fast. He’s close, I can see
it in his eyes.

“Come for me,
Soldier. Let me see what eating my pussy does to you.”

We hold eye contact as
he devours me. There’s no other word for what he’s doing. His
tongue is buried deep inside of me when I see his eyes go wide, and
his body starts shuddering. The sight and feel of him is too much,
and I go over the edge again, screaming his name. He smiles against
me, and then moves up my body, kissing every inch he passes until he
gets to my mouth, where he hesitates.

“Give me your mouth,
Nate.”

“I’m covered in
you.”

I can see it. His
mouth, mustache, and stubble are all coated with me. I never would
have thought that could be hot. But it is. It’s so damn hot to see
how much he loved it. I pull his mouth to mine, and taste it. The
mixture of him and me. And then I know what else I want.

I take his cock in my
hand and start stroking it back to life. He pulls his mouth from mine
to look down at me. “More?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“My workout’s going
to suck today, but it’ll be worth it.”

“Oh yeah it will,”
I tell him as he starts getting hard again. He really does have the
stamina of a god. “On your back.”

“I know I said I love
this, and I do, but I’m back in control tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just get
on your back.”

He complies, pulling me
on top of him. I debate whether I should ride him forward or backward
this time. I decide on the former, because I really want his tongue
on my tits. As I slide down, I lean forward and silently demand what
I need from him as I grab the headboard. He doesn’t disappoint—not
that he ever could.

I ride him slow and
steady, until it gets to be too much for us both, and I switch to
hard and rough. He keeps up a steady pace of lips, tongue, and teeth
on my nipples as he grips my hips. When he starts biting my tits
themselves, I feel it building, and God if it isn’t coming even
stronger than before.

“That’s it, Angel.
I can feel you starting to clench. Take it, take
me
the way you need to. I’m going to keep marking your beautiful body
as mine while you use my cock. Then I’m going to hold your hips and
fuck you so hard you won’t even know when one of us stops, and one
begins.”

I would probably have
come just from his words, even if he wasn’t inside of me. But he
is, and that makes it so much better. He knows how to say what I
need, and I’m screaming his name again, which I know he loves. He
keeps his promise and starts thrusting into me, going a little wild
himself. Once he’s yelled out for me, I pull off of him, but not to
get away.

I move down his body
and take his softening cock in my mouth. I can taste both of us, just
like I wanted. Tasting me with his saliva is one thing, but this…oh
God…this is beyond belief. I moan as I lick him.

“Like that? Fuck, you
wanted both of us, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m getting hard
again already watching you. Is it good, Jade?”

“I can feel you, and
don’t worry. I’ll finish you off. I love it. You and me together.
Fucking love it.”

Before I know what’s
happening, he’s spun me around so I’m over his face. He’s
licking me now as we sixty nine. We’ve done this many times, but
never right after sex when I’m still dripping with all he’s given
me. After one tentative lick, he’s all in like I am.