The Fighter's Fierce Temptation (9 page)

The crowd went wild, and Alice could see Tavvy repeatedly slapping Bryant on the back. Throngs of well-wishers surrounded Bryant and Tavvy and the other Burton brothers, who’d joined Bryant in the ring.

In the crowd, Alice sat still, watching Bryant soak in the accolades of his adoring audience, glad the fight was over and she could stop worrying about him. He had several cuts on his face, and no doubt the cut above his eye would need stitches, but other than that and a few body bruises, he had fared better than most fighters who’d gone up against Macken. And he’d won!

The crowd dissipated and Alice kept her seat in the stands, watching the action unfold around her. Since Bryant’s card had been the last of the evening, there was no hurry for the different camps to leave the cage in a hurry. The celebration continued for a while, before the doctors began urging Bryant back to the locker room.

Alice watched him leave with Tavvy, unaware of the two men who were watching her from the side of the cage. One of them grabbed Zac and pointed at her. Zac nodded vigorously, and the men slapped him on the back and headed in her direction.

“Alice?” a voice asked from above her, drawing her eyes away from the tunnel into which Bryant had disappeared only moments before.

“Yes? Do I know you?” The two men standing in the row below hers were gorgeous. Looking into their eyes, she suddenly realized who they were. “Bryant’s brothers, right?”

”Good guess, we’re not all as bad-looking as Bry.” Mason said with a smile. “I’m guessing you’re the girl he’s been mopping about for the past two weeks.”

Alice felt her cheeks color.

“So, what’s your intentions with our brother?” Beck asked.

Behind them she could see Zac. “Didn’t his sparring partner tell you?”

Beck shook his head. “Nope. Care to share yourself?”

“Not really. Let’s just say I owe your brother a rather large apology.”

“And you couldn’t have delivered that before his fight?” Beck asked.

“I didn’t want to distract him. I knew Tavvy would be working with him on his focus and I didn’t want to mess that up for him.”

“Listen, I can see you meant well.” Mason pressed his lips together. “But, Bry’s been burned in the past with women. Badly. He ain’t as tough as he looks. And those types of wounds take a long time to heal.”

Alice swallowed as she studied the eldest Burton brother, seeing the determination in his eyes to protect his brother from anything that might wish him harm. “I’m sorry, this was a mistake.” Alice turned to leave.

“Wait.” Mason smiled at her.
So this cute little thing is what’s had Bryant all tied up in knots these last two months. We better see what we can do about untying them.

Sitting down on the bench beside her, he outlined a plan he was formulating as he spoke. Mason knew from experience that Bryant wouldn’t be up to dealing with anything, especially including whatever had transpired between him and Alice, for at least twenty-four hours. The endorphins and pain medication the doctors would be giving him would take that long to wear off.

So Mason tempted Alice with a very beguiling description of the Burton family cabin, up in the mountains about an hour outside of Salt Lake City. The mountains were covered in snow this time of year, but the service road to the cabin was maintained, and Mason assured her she would find everything there that she needed for a nice secluded weekend getaway. Beck agreed to escort her to the cabin to get her established and to make sure the heat and water were working.

It was a Burton family tradition to visit the cabin and recoup after a major fight, without the threat of being hounded by the media or townsfolk. But the Burton brothers were sure Bryant wouldn’t mind a little female company.

***

“You and Beck aren’t going to join me?” Bryant asked the next morning. “Speaking of which, where is Beck?”

“He said he had some things to take care of, but he said to tell you he’d see you in a few days after you recover a bit. As for me, I think I’m going to stick around and work with Dustin. The kid has real promise, and his fight’s only six weeks out now. In fact, Tavvy and I were discussing taking him up to Oregon for a few weeks once you get back from the cabin.”

Bryant nodded. He was working on ignoring the flashes of Alice’s image that kept popping into his head. He figured she’d already headed back to school to start work on her master’s degree. He’d kept up on Terry Anders and knew the man was recovering nicely, making his daughter’s presence at the compound redundant, considering Marguerite was there 24/7.

“That would be good for him. I certainly learned a lot while I was up there.”
If only you knew.
He refrained from saying anything else.

Tavvy wandered into the kitchen, looking happier than Bryant had ever seen him. “How you feeling, slugger?” he asked, grabbing a cup and pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Like I just got done going three rounds with Macken. That guy punches like he has sledgehammers attached to his shoulders.”

Everyone laughed. Pain jabbed at Bryant as the movement jarred his bruised ribs. “Ouch!”

“Well, you did real good. I’m proud of you, son.”

“Thanks, Tavvy. And thanks for coming down here. I hear you and Mason are thinking of taking Dustin to the compound?”

“Yes. He’s got potential, but too many bad habits. I was thinking it might be good for him to spar with the local guys up there.”

“Yeah. It might help him realize where his biggest weaknesses are faster. Sounds like a good plan.”

“I know it did you some good, bro. Well, we’ll plan on heading up there in a couple of days. You enjoy a few nights up at the cabin. Beck can hold down the fort here until you return.” Mason gave his brother a half-hug and left Bryant with Tavvy.

Full of purpose, Bryant turned to Tavvy. “Are you going to give me her number now?”

“You don’t have to ask again. It’ll be waiting for you once you get back from the cabin. Take a few days and get your head screwed on straight first, okay? And if you’re not going to be willing to listen to her explanation, save yourself the call. I promise, there’s a very good reason she did what she did.”

Bryant absorbed what Tavvy said, his words continuing to play themselves over and over again in his head as he packed a bag and made the drive up the mountain. By the time Bryant got to the cabin, he was more than willing to give Alice the benefit of the doubt and listen to her explanation. He made up his mind to call her when he returned and then he’d know if they had any future together.

Bryant pulled his truck into the driveway and shut off the engine.

What the hell?

Someone was inside the cabin, with a fire going.

Sliding from the truck, he stormed up the front steps and threw open the door, not ready for the shock that was awaiting him. Sitting on the couch was none other than the object of his fervent thoughts the entire drive.

Entirely unprepared, his surprise at seeing her came out as anger. Unable to wrap his head around the fact that Alice was really there, was really waiting for him in the cabin, he was befuddled and a bit clumsy about handling his feelings. “What are you doing here?” he demanded,

“Hi.” She smiled shyly, a bit afraid of his cool reception. But she had to do what she had come to do.

He closed the door, shutting out the cold wind. Slowly he approached her. “I’ll ask again. What are you doing here?”

“Mason thought… I wanted to apologize to you… he thought this might be better than the locker room at the arena.”

“You saw the fight?” he asked in wonder, still trying to settle down and get over his surprise that she was there.

“I was sitting in the third row behind the announcer. You did good, fight-boy.”

Bryant sat down next to her, resisting the urge to reach out and pull the elastic band from her hair; he wanted to see that cascade of auburn tumbling down to her shoulders. Instead, he confronted her. He had to know. “Why? Why did you pretend to be your father?”

Alice closed her eyes and shook her head. “I didn’t mean to. You showed up right after I found out that we were on the hook for his last hospital stay—it wasn’t covered by insurance. I’d just opened a hospital bill for thirty thousand dollars and we had no way to pay it off.”

Alice played with the ring on her finger, then continued. “My father had planned on inviting you up, but then he had the second stroke, and he couldn’t even walk unaided. There was no way he could train you. But I could. And I knew I was good enough, or I’d never have had the nerve to even try. It was a spur of the moment decision, but once we started down that road, there was no way out.”

“Why did you show up as yourself that first Saturday, then? Why not just keep on pretending to be your father?”

“Tavvy tried to work with you, but you were just too strong for him to handle for too many days. I would have been myself for longer if Zac hadn’t shown up. With him there, and the attraction I felt for you … I just didn’t feel it was in your best interest to continue putting us in each other’s way.”

“But you knew it was me. Didn’t that bother you?” Bryant asked, wondering if he’d been in her place, would he have been able to keep his identity secret in light of the chemistry that was between them.

“That’s why I kept my distance. I used the local boys or Tavvy for everything, or didn’t you realize that’s what I was doing?”

“I guess I just figured that was the way you trained people. I didn’t think too much about it.”

“My father is very much a hands-on trainer. If you’d trained with him before his stroke, he would have made you pay for every weakness you showed him in the cage.”

“Well, Alice, I really look forward to seeing him healthy enough to do that in the future.”

Alice shifted on the couch. “Mason told me about her. Natalie.”

“Yeah.” Bryant tensed, a grimace passing over his face. “That one hurt.”

“I can’t believe she tried to sabotage your training just to get paid.”

“It was my fault too. I shouldn’t have let myself be distracted so easily.” Bryant rubbed the back of his neck. “And then when I found out what you did, it just felt so familiar… But now I understand.”

He really didn’t want to keep talking about it. What he wanted was Alice. Giving up his self-control, he reached out and pulled the holder from her hair, letting her shining locks flow through his hands. He looked up and met her eyes again. “You could have explained all of that in a letter. Why come here to do it personally?” He was hoping that he knew the answer.

Alice licked her lips. She felt a bit awkward but she had to tell the truth. Meeting his eyes, she forged ahead. “Because some fight-boy got me all hot and bothered three months ago, with a promise to explore things further after his fight. Then I screwed up and drove him away, but I couldn’t forget him. I couldn’t put out the fire…”

Bryant had heard enough. He slammed his mouth down over hers, plunging his tongue into her open mouth and leaving no doubts about what he wanted to do to rest of her body. His strong hands pulled her against his hard body, molding her soft curves to his solid muscles. He held her tight on the couch. He didn’t want to let her go. He wanted her.

Alice gasped and allowed herself to relax against his hard chest.
God, he feels good. So warm, and strong, and he smells so good…
Alice pulled her mouth from their kiss, placing her lips against his neck, tracing the muscles over his collarbone.

“You smell so good. You feel even better.” Bryant pushed his hips up to meet hers. He groaned at the exquisite feeling of her sweet flesh against that part of his body that was hard enough to pound nails. After the incredible dry spell during training, after hoping and waiting for Alice for all this time, he was so turned on, he knew it was going to be a matter of the strictest self-control that would keep him from spilling himself in his jeans. He’d never been so turned on so fast.

When Alice slipped her hand down his chest, her intention to reach his groin, he grabbed her hand. He turned their bodies so that Alice was lying on the couch, and he was prone on top of her, teasing her.

Alice shook her head. “Please. I want to feel. With you. Please. Right now, I need you to take the hurt away.”

“Oh no! You’re hurt? Where? Is it my weight? Are you injured and I missed it? Show me.”

Alice bit her bottom lip. “Will you kiss it and make it better?” she whispered. She couldn’t believe how forward she was being.
God, I hope I don’t sound like a whore!

Bryant caught the hesitancy in her gaze and suddenly knew she wasn’t injured. She was flirting! Playing along, he solemnly met her gaze and whispered, “I promise to make it all better. Show me, where does it hurt?”

Alice took his hand and placed it on her breast. When he cupped it softly at first and then more firmly, she couldn’t hold back her moan of pleasure.

“Is this where you’re hurting?” he asked, pulling the edge of her V-neck shirt aside to bare her lace-covered breast his hand. When she nodded, he dipped his head, stroking the skin above her bra with his tongue.

Sitting up, he pulled her up so that he could pull her shirt over her head. He deftly unhooked the front clasp of her bra and slipped it from her arms as well. Laying her back down, he devoted long minutes to soothing her breasts and creating an ache of another kind lower in her center.

Alice was in heaven. His hands on her breasts thrilled her, and when he suckled her, squeezing her breasts and placing the moist warmth of his mouth over her nipples, she thrust herself up against him, wanting more.

“Does that feel good?” he asked. He knew it did. He loved how responsive she was to his touch.

“Yes,” she breathed out the word with a soft moan.

“Is this the only place you hurt?” he asked, letting his fingertips trail across her sculpted stomach to toy with the waistband of her yoga pants.

“No. Lower.”

“Where?” he asked, wondering just how far she was willing to go. When she grabbed his hand and guided it between her legs, he had his answer.

He curled his fingers around her center, feeling the damp heat that emanated through the fabric of her pants. “Are you wet for me?”

Alice blushed but slowly lifted her eyes and met his gaze. “Yes. Mmm. Please make the hurt go away. Make me better.”

“I’m gonna do that. But we have to do something about all these clothes first.” He stood up and quickly stripped out of his shirt and then his jeans, tossing them on the floor behind him. He left his boxers on for the moment, struck with the vision she presented as she shimmied her yoga pants and panties down her long legs all in one move. When they sailed past his right shoulder, he grinned at her readiness.

“Better?” he asked, lowering himself between the thighs she’d spread open for him with no hint of shyness.

Alice arched into his touch, loving the weight of him pressing her back into the couch cushions. “Kind of. Bryant, I think we’d both feel better if you moved a little more to the…”

He didn’t need any more direction. Lifting himself up a bit, he fitted himself to her core and slowly began to press himself into her heat. He watched her eyes widen as he continued his slow slide, and then began an equally slow retreat. “God, you feel so good.”

“Mmmm…,” was all the response Alice could muster up. She felt him bottom out inside her and then begin to withdraw, only to push back inside her again. She’d never known such ecstasy before in her life.
Scott’s an idiot!
And then she couldn’t believe she was thinking about Scott. Right then, she banished him from her mind forever. From here on out, there was only room for Bryant.

Bryant tried to keep up his slow rhythm, but he soon needed more. “Alice, I’m going to have to move faster. You feel so good, but I need more. I can’t wait.”

“Please.” She locked her thighs around his hips and held on tight as he began to pound her into the cushions. She gasped as her pulse kicked up again, and she tried to maintain her ability to think, wanting to catalog each feeling and emotion for future reference. But Bryant had stolen her ability to do anything but feel him and feel that moment.

Nearing his climax, Bryant reached between their bodies to hold Alice in his hand, catapulting her over the edge. He closed his eyes as she screamed his name, and he reached the ultimate pleasure with her. Exquisite timing of a sort that was new to him.

He leaned his forehead against hers, struggling to regain control his breathing, and wondering what in the hell had just happened.
I’ve never felt so much pleasure in my entire life!

When he felt her struggling to take a deep breath, he chuckled and then lifted his weight partially off her. “Sorry. Are you okay?” Moving a lock of hair off her forehead, he met her eyes, pleased to see nothing but happiness shining back at him.

“That was amazing,” Alice whispered, still reeling from the small pulses of pleasure moving through her body.

Bryant pushed himself into her once more. He dropped a kiss on her nose and withdrew, leaving their sweat-covered bodies to discern that there actually was a slight chill in the air. “Let me go warm the water up in the shower. I’ll be right back.”

Alice smiled and watched him head down the hallway. When he returned for her to carry her easily to the shower, she found it second nature to lay her head against his shoulder and be cared for by him. She didn’t know where their future was headed, but she had decided not to let it matter. She was fully committed to living in the here and now. The future would take care of itself.