Hard Justice(24)

Should'a kept it quick.

But damn, her mouth was soft and damp, and with a shuddering breath she parted her lips.

He lost his head a little, especially when she melted against him and her small hands clutched at his chest.

Again on instinct, he turned them so that her back was against the wall, her front shielded by his body, ensuring no one could see her.

It was insane. Definitely wrong. But he had to taste her.

His tongue slipped over her lips, dipped inside to touch her teeth, then her tongue. She teased back with her own.

On a groan, he nudged her mouth open, deepening the kiss with a bold stroke of his tongue. Her mouth was warm and sweet, and he couldn't get enough.

Her soft sound of surprise gave him a second of sanity. What the hell was he doing?

He decided he had to stop, and tried to by lifting his head. He expected Fallon to say something, maybe even push him away. Instead, her breathing labored, she kept her eyes closed-her swollen mouth looked so pink, so wet...

This time he kissed her without any reserve at all. He couldn't get enough of her as he held her nape in one hand, and with the other, coasted down her narrow back to her hip.

In a sign of acceptance, her arms slid up and around his neck.

He pressed against her-

"Jesus, Justice, what are you doing?"

Harsh reality crashed into him. Oh, fuck.

Justice glanced over his shoulder and saw Leese scowling, Armie grinning. Busted. After clearing his throat, he asked, "When'd you get here?"

"Just now," Leese said, disapproval in his tone and expression.

Armie cocked a brow. "Really getting into the act, huh? It's convincing. No one will doubt that you're into each other."

"Yeah, um..." What to do? Fallon had tucked her face against his chest, clearly hiding, and damn, he could feel her hot breath even through his T-shirt. He also felt her trembling.

It took him a second to wrap his brain around the fact that he'd now be stopped cold, when seconds before he'd been smoldering.         

     



 

The idea of watching Stack compete no longer seemed so important, but no way could he do what he really wanted, which involved finding someplace private and scoring big with sweet little Fallon Wade.

"Would you like a minute?" Armie asked with absurd formality. "Not to finish, you know. I mean, you're right here in the open. But maybe to make your apologies to the lady? To set up plans for later?"

"Fuck off, Armie."

That got his friend laughing. Clutching his hands together, Armie said, "Young love. So beautiful. So...lusty."

Leese shoved Armie, then scowled again at Justice. "Wrap it up," he suggested, his tone terse. With yet another shove, he prodded Armie along to give them privacy.

Feeling damned ridiculous, Justice turned back to Fallon.

She continued to hide against him, and now her shoulders shook.

Oh, shit. If he'd made her cry, he'd kick his own ass. "Fallon?" He tried to lift her chin.

She resisted by tucking tighter to him.

He didn't know what to do. He stroked her silky hair, then her back. He pressed a kiss to her temple-and got himself all hot and bothered again.

Frowning at his own lack of control, Justice whispered, "You okay, honey?"

Her hands fisted in his shirt, and she made this strangled sound that alarmed him.

"Fallon?"

He heard it again, not quite a sob, but maybe-

She looked up at him and Justice saw that her big doe eyes were bright with laughter, her cheeks hot, and she couldn't quit snickering.

Hilarity?

He quirked a smile of relief. "Tickled your funny bone, huh?"

Choking on her humor, she hugged him again.

God, she looked incredibly beautiful to him. "Get it together, woman. We're in public."

Around a chuckle, she admitted, "Right-now I remember!"

Meaning she'd forgotten, too? "You're not the one who had to face Leese and Armie."

She did more snickering before she could face him again. "Oh, God, that was so embarrassing."

But rather than blast him, she laughed? Nice. Justice liked that reaction. He tangled a hand in her hair, saying, "Trust me, Armie's done worse."

That only put her into a fit of giggles-until Justice murmured, "You taste good, Fallon."

With a sharp inhale, she stared at him and bit her lip.

Renewed need clenched his guts. As much to himself as her, he said, "We have to get back to our seats."

"Right." She looked away, smoothing her hair and shirt. "I guess that kiss was to help convince people we're together?"

Sure, and I got hard for the same reason.

No, he couldn't say that; it'd only make things worse.

But because he didn't have a good answer, and he didn't want to outright lie to her, he kissed her again instead.

This time he managed to keep it light and quick.

"Sorry I embarrassed you." With an arm around her, he steered her out of the alcove and along the wide hall to their aisle entrance. "Don't ask me to apologize, though."

"Okay."

Justice frowned. She shouldn't have been so damned agreeable. "Not for the kiss, I mean."

"I knew what you meant."

Damn it. "It was wrong to maul you like that, especially here and now, but-"

"Justice, I'm not complaining."

No, she wasn't.

He didn't know what to think about that.

Talking became impossible as they squeezed through the crowds returning to their seats. He noticed Marcus and his cronies were again seated, now with drinks in their hands.

Feeling more surly than ever, Justice looked at each of them. The same man who'd been eyeballing him earlier looked up to meet his gaze. The guy smiled, then lifted his drink in a mock toast.

Justice continued to stare at him-until Fallon tugged on his hand to get him seated. There was a lot of ribbing from the guys as they waited for the next fight. Justice ignored them until he saw Fallon blushing.

Then he tried to mean-mug them all-without much success.

"Aw, he's sensitive," Denver said in a loud stage whisper.

Armie grinned. "And damned indiscreet."

"Rude as hell, too," Leese added, "because he hasn't introduced me yet."         

     



 

Fallon turned with a smile and took care of the introduction herself. For a few minutes she and Leese talked about the bodyguard business. Justice thought about Marcus and wondered how he could get the names of the men with him.

When Tom came up to him, he almost groaned with frustration, especially when Tom took the seat beside him.

"Good night of fights, so far."

"Yeah," Justice agreed, not exactly in a chatty mood.

Tom elbowed him. "Makes you want to get back in it, doesn't it?"

"No."

"Bullshit. It's in your blood, Justice."

Used to be. But now? He had so many other things on his mind that he-

Tom thwacked him hard on the shoulder. "Give me the word and I'll talk to the powers that be. They already promised they'd set us up quick. And you know fans would love it."

Justice tried ignoring him.

"Your little lady would love to see you compete."

Sitting back in his seat, Justice said, "Ain't happening. Let it go."

"Can't, man. You're part of the plan and you know it."

"Get a new plan."

Tom grinned widely, but the annoyance was there in his eyes. "Fallon, honey, wouldn't you like to see Justice in the cage?"

Being drawn into the discussion caused her to falter, but not for long. "Justice can make his own decisions."

"But you'd like to see it, right? Or maybe you don't, considering how badly he'll lose."

She took the bait, saying, "Maybe I'll just watch the fight where he already knocked you out."

"I have it recorded," Armie said. "You're welcome to it."

"That was a fluke," Tom scoffed. "If Justice was really so damned cocksure, he'd have already given me a rematch."

Armie laughed. "If you want to stick with that fluke story, a rematch is a bad idea."

"You chicken?" Tom leaned around Justice to see Fallon. "Normally I wouldn't believe that of him, but since he's dodging me..."

Justice took Fallon's hand to stifle her denial. "Believe what you want, but I'm still done."

Finally Tom's smile slipped. "Damn it, man. I can't accept that."

Justice looked him in the eyes. "That's your problem then."

Fallon glanced anxiously from one man to the other. Justice gave her hand a squeeze to let her know he wasn't bothered. But, yeah, that was a lie. Tom got to him-not enough to make him backtrack, though.

Just enough to make him want to throw a punch.

Then he saw the guys with Marcus watching with interest. No way could they hear anything being said, not from that distance, but body language alone probably showed a conflict, and it had caught their interest.

Tom said, "I'll give you half my pay." Then with quiet force, "Take the fucking fight."

Fed up, Justice half turned to face him. "Your ego wants to fight, but here's a news flash for you-I don't give a shit about your ego, so leave me the hell alone."

Tom looked surprised for just a moment, then his face split with a grin. "I'm wearin' you down, buddy, I can tell. No, don't start gnashing your teeth. I'll let it go-for now."

Luckily the music started as fighters made their entrance with deafening fanfare. This was the start of the main card with a lot of fan favorites competing.