Black and Blue by Paige Notaro Read Free Book Online Page A

his eyes narrowed as he finally understood how mad I was for his body. He shifted himself over me and entered smooth and deep and full. The sound that erupted from me was one I’d never heard myself make.
    The sound came over and over, and I came with it several times that night. He had me on my knees and my back and my side and my stomach, and even overhead. I felt him buried deep in me as I thrust on and off him, heard the wild sounds of our union and the groans from my man.
    Finally, he came over me one last time; a hot, tight finish with his hands trying to fasten my body to his. When he released me, the sheets were a tangle of our sweat and more. We lay loosely in each other.
    All the energy he’d put in me that day was gone, spent and returned back to him. He looked just as exhausted as me though. His eyes were already shut, and all of his fight was gone. I had a notion to leave, and knew I should, but his arm lay tight around my shoulders and there was something soothing about the way his breathing was off pace.
    He had held nothing back from me. He was the kind of man who would risk everything and anything. That gave me a moment of terror. I could only imagine how he fought.
    But then my mind started to fade, and I thought it wasn’t such a bad way to live your life. Whatever else he was, he lived honestly.
    At least lying here with him, I could start to feel a little bit the same.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Sean
    I opened my eyes and saw Gabi heaving peacefully next to me.
    I blinked a couple times and pinched my thigh and she was still there.
    Goddamn.
    I tipped onto my side to watch her sleep. Her smooth dark form was bare and spread on my sheets, soft as them but a stark contrast of color. She’d tugged the blanket up to her waist. I had the urge to lift it up and peek at the treasures I had tasted, but she looked too peaceful to disturb.
    Many girls had been through here. Many had been lying where she was, but none had left me so mesmerized - hell, so consumed. I should be out at the gym by now. I wasn’t typically all that delicate in getting my hookups up and stumbling out the door. Her chest swelled and fell and I couldn’t do anything more than watch.
    Hell, I had to pee, and I didn’t even want to nudge her by accident to do that.
    She sighed deeply and turned my way. I looked at the delicate features of her face, and tried to picture Marcia’s face on there. That’s what this was about right? The satisfaction of finally doing well enough to bed an upper crust girl? Well, upper crust for a poor guy from Downriver like me.
    Only I couldn’t even remember Marcia when I saw Gabi. I just saw her. There was a feeling from my chest to my stomach that I couldn’t quite comprehend: part lust, part ease and part fear. It was one thing to have her witness my life, but it seemed like I was actually considering let her linger in it. How long would it take before she saw how thin these fancy walls were?
    Pop and Sarah were still there. That rickety house was still there. The only thing holding me in this room were my two fists. For the first time, I worried there might not be enough there for me to keep what I had.
    In MMA, people only came to see you when you were on your way up. If I hit a level that I couldn’t beat…well, it would squash me back down and I’d lose everything else with it.
    I really needed to hit the gym.
    Gabi’s eyes fluttered to life as if she’d read my mind. Her brow wrinkled and she looked at the room past me.
    “Morning, baby,” I said. “You know where you are?”
    “I do,” she croaked, then cleared her throat. “It just looks different in the day.”
    “Wasn’t planning on staying this long?” I asked.
    “I didn’t but that’s fine.” She looked on either side of her. “Can you find me my phone?”
    Her purse was by me. I picked out her phone and handed it to her. She took a glance at the screen and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.
    “It’s 10:15?!”
    “Yeah,