(Noah)

I couldn’t get enough of her. I stood there at the edge of the bed, fucking her, my eyes scanning every inch of her body. Her tits were perfect. I could tell she was worried about their size, but they were amazing. Small enough to hide behind her shirt but enough that I had something to hold, taste, and they bounced with the same rhythm as I fucked her. She took turns scratching at my chest, grabbing my arms, holding the covers and wiggling her hips. And her hips… goddamn… I could hold them for hours.

I pushed and pulled her, thrusting as I fucked her, feeling myself approaching my own ending. I stopped fucking her for a minute and just worked her body against my cock. She throbbed against me, leaving my body glistening with her sweetness. She tasted as good as she looked. And she felt even better.

Her back arched again, her ass bucking up and down on the bed. She was coming again and this time, I wasn’t going to be able to control myself. I leaned down on the bed, pinning myself against her body. Our noses touched and flirted as I felt my cock thickening, ready to explode. She put her hands to my back and pulled at me. Her ankles locked around my body.

I gave her one last thrust and started to come. I held there as she let out a whimpering cry. Her mouth was open and her eyes locked to mine. I let my lips touch hers as I groaned, my cock pulsing deep inside her. She fought against my strength and was able to move her body, sliding her pussy against me as I came.

We stayed like that for a while, me inside her, both of us moving every now and again.

But we just stared at each other.

I just wanted to fuck her before I figured out what to do with her.

The first part of the plan was to get her out of my fucking bed.

Penny then touched my face. “Noah… I know it’s only one night, but will you hold me? I hate feeling alone.”

I gritted my teeth and pulled out of her beautiful body. I stood there and admired what was before me. She was… trouble. She was working against me. She was using me for a story. A fucking story? To do what? To break up an underground fighting thing?

My hands gently touched her sides and moved down her body. Her creamy skin was so warm and soft. Between her legs, her pussy was like a flower, bloomed, nectar dripping for the taking. Everything about Penny was temptation and wrong.

“Get under the covers,” I whispered. “Before I change my fucking mind.”

I shut my eyes and knew I was making a huge mistake.

I shouldn’t have gotten involved with Seth. I shouldn't have stepped over the line with Marcos. I shouldn’t have saved Penny. This was her war, not mine.

But since I had fucked up so much already, I figured why stop there?

I climbed into bed with the intentions of holding a woman while she slept… something I hadn’t done in years. The last time was for a woman I killed someone for. I had the feeling I’d be doing the same with Penny.

* * *

“It’s not all about you.”

I wasn’t asleep, but I really wasn’t awake either. My body was pressed against Penny’s body. My hand touched her arm at first, then her side, then her belly. I flirted with her breast for a few seconds but knew that would only lead to even more trouble.

I thought Penny was asleep, but I guess not.

“What?” I asked.

“What I’m doing. It’s not all about you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

She moved a little, her body sliding against mine. It was instant heat, a rush of blood throughout my body, my dick trying to get hard. The smell of her hair, the feel of a woman next to me, it gave the illusion of something normal.

“I had a thing about the fights long before my boss asked me to do this,” she said.

“Why?”

She ignored me. “He read something I had written. He wasn’t supposed to see. That put an idea in his head for me to do a piece. I delivered and he said it was a good start. Then the project faded. Next thing I knew, he was adamant about me not only writing the project but finding someone to make it personal.”

“That’s where I come in,” I said.

“I guess. This is serious for me too, Noah. This isn’t a game.”

“Good to know. We can hold hands when Marcos has us both shot in the head tomorrow.”

Silence.

I swallowed hard.

“Sorry. But that’s the truth. That’s what you stepped into. He doesn’t play around.”

“I figured that when I got the note on my car to stay away.”

“What?”

“The last fight there was a note on my car.”

“And you didn’t listen?”

Penny rolled to her back and looked at me. “The reporter in me thought it was intriguing. If I was getting threatened then that meant I was close. I thought for a second it was you who left the note.”

“No. I was just looking for someone to fuck after a fight.”

“I know.”

“And now I’m trying to help protect you,” I said. “I’m fucking insane.”

Penny reached across and touched my face. “I never handed in any writing about you.”

“So you did write about me.”

“Yes,” she said. I could see her through the darkness. “I did.”

“Can I read it?”

“You know where my bag is,” she said. “I have nothing to hide.”

“I don’t believe that. You seem like the type to always be on the hunt and then on the run.”

Penny rolled toward me now. “Fine. My father was killed in a fight.”

Oh… damn…

“I’m sorry.”

“I was young. Seventeen when it happened. I had to lay low until I turned eighteen so I didn’t end up in the system. My mother died when I was really young. My father wasn’t a good person, but he wasn’t the worst person. I never understood what happened to him. All I know was that he went to an underground fight. He never came out of it alive.”

“Did he fight?”

“I don’t know. Police found his body on the floor the next morning. His car was in the parking lot and someone called it in. That the car looked suspicious or something. That was it. He was gone. Beaten to death. No bullets. No knives. Just… punched until he…”

“It’s okay,” I whispered. I touched her cheek. “That’s no reason to get into this mess, honey. You can’t bring him back.”

“But I want to know why. I want to get what it all means.”

“There’s nothing to get,” I said.

“What about you, Noah? What’s your story?”

“No. I’m not doing that. You’ve already put me in a bad spot.”

“I didn’t ask for that,” Penny whispered, “but thank you for doing it. I’ll go tomorrow. To whoever. Seth. Marcos. Whatever. I’ll show them what I have and explain my reasoning.”

I nodded.

That was a nice thought, but the truth was Marcos would never give Penny the chance to talk. He’d put her on her knees and a gun to the back of her head. No questions, no chances. But if hope helped Penny sleep tight on her last night alive, I wasn’t going to take that from her.

“Get some sleep,” I said. “We have a long day tomorrow.”

Penny smiled. Her eyes pleaded for help. The softer, murderous spot in my heart melted for her.

She rolled to her side and remained there, for hours, until I knew she was asleep.

I managed to get out of the bed without disturbing Penny. I grabbed my jeans and put them on. When I got to the doorway I looked back. It had really been a long time since I shared a night in bed with a woman. Especially a woman whose name I knew and that I wanted to be there. Christ, a woman I had to protect. A woman opening her heart, leaving me stuck between life and death.

The right thing, the honest thing, the loyal thing would have been to call Seth or Marcos and get this weight off my chest. Play it out, send Penny packing to face her own judgment.

In my heart, I knew I wasn’t going to do that. Face it, I enjoyed trouble and I couldn’t resist a woman in need. Not after what happened last time. A part of my brain had me convinced that if I did this one right, the outcome would be better.

Plus, there was one piece of this I wanted to know. Why was her boss so adamant about following me? Killing Penny would stop her, but not if something was brewing in the background.

I went to the kitchen and opened her bag. There was a notebook and I took it out. i flipped it open and read what Penny had to write about me.

He’s a warrior. Standing in a pit with greed and lust surrounding him, his eyes are stoic. He blocks out the rest of the world, they don’t exist. Nothing exists right now. Nothing except pain. His course of action will result in either delivering pain or receiving pain. He steps forward as his opponent does the same. They both lift their fists. There’s a moment that feels like time has stopped. He reaches with his left hand, still high enough to protect his face. His right hand goes back, fist locked tight, packed like a bullet shooting out of the barrel of a gun.

As his fist comes forward, his face changes. He’s not a warrior anymore… he’s an animal. He’s a beast. He’s on the hunt and his prey is within reach.

Sailing through the air with the murmur of the crowd cheering him on, his fist connects. The first hit always seems to be the most intense. The crack of skin on skin, bone on bone, power taking full control. The yell from the crowd as they know it’s actually happening.

The opponent’s head moves to the side, his neck looking ready to snap. Spit, blood, sometimes a tooth, flies from the opponent’s mouth, another souvenir for the concrete floor that’s seen as much death as an undertaker’s cold stare.

He grabs his opponent and swings again.

The fight isn’t “on” but rather almost over.

When the warrior becomes the beast, the warrior lives insides the beast. And while the beast feeds, the warrior seeks victory.

I shut the notebook and sighed. It was pretty intense writing. I opened the notebook again, to another random page. It was all the same. It was this dark, almost poetic writing, focusing on the hits, the blood, and ultimately, the death. Penny had been telling me the truth about her father. It bothered her that he was dead. This wasn’t about writing a story and making money for her. This was about her trying to fill an empty part of her heart.

I closed the notebook for good and put it away.

There was no chance Marcos would let Penny defend herself.

But what if I did it for her? What if I…

“No,” I whispered.

It wouldn’t work.

None of it would. I could either stick to my story that I found Seth passed out and took Penny to keep an eye on her, or I could tell the truth and take my own bullet to the head.

I walked back to the bedroom.

An idea struck me as I stood there, looking at the figure of the woman in my bed. It had worked the last time, and it would work again. Yeah, I’d lose her, but what the hell did it matter? I was an underground fighter. She was a beautiful woman looking for a fun night. Everything after that meant nothing.

I went to the nightstand. I looked down.

I let a few minutes pass as I played it out in my head.

I picked up the gun and looked at Penny as she slept. I nodded. I knew what had to be done, no matter how much it hurt.