The Client(17)

It wasn't until I pulled out that I realized how badly I'd screwed up.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

“Wha...”

The word trailed off as the knowledge dawned on her face. The realization that we hadn't used a condom was quickly followed by the understanding that quite a bit of her was still exposed. Her entire body flushed and she yanked up her pants, then pulled down her bra.

“I'm on the pill,” she said quickly, not meeting my eyes. “And I always used a condom with Gordon, so I'm clean.”

Shit! What the hell had I been thinking?!

I got to my feet and ran my hands through my hair as I turned away from her. Dammit! I was smarter than this.

“You'll excuse me if I don't just take your word for it.” I felt the air between us shift, but I kept going. “I mean, no offense, but it's not like we actually know each other.”

“You're right.”

Her voice was cold, and something inside me twisted at the sound.

“We should both get tested as soon as possible. It's not like I know where your dick's been.”

I turned, but she wasn't looking at me. Instead, she was climbing out of the ring.

“This doesn't count as a regular session.” The words popped out of my mouth before I'd really thought about them. “I expect to see you here tomorrow morning, usual time.”

“I'll be here.”

There was no malice in her words. In fact, there wasn't anything at all.

“Thanks for the sparring session,” she said as she reached the door. “It really cleared my head about some things.”

I knew I'd fucked up before the door closed behind her, but it was too late.

And maybe that was a good thing.



* * *



I couldn't sleep, and it was seriously pissing me off.

The day had been going so well. Dad had finally met Sara, and they'd gotten along great. I finally felt like I was getting to know her, and then the heat between us when we'd sparred...

I hadn't been able to help myself when she was on top of me. I'd needed to know what her mouth tasted like, felt like. And things had just gone from there.

I couldn't stop thinking about her. What it was like inside her.

It'd felt so right, so natural. During the moments I was pumping in and out of her body, listening to her moans, feeling her skin against mine, I'd been able to put aside what all of it would mean, how what we were doing would change things. I'd been able to ignore how natural it felt, how much I'd wanted to take her home with me and spend the entire night exploring every inch of her body.

When we'd finished, and I realized that she'd made me lose control so badly that I hadn't remembered to use protection, it'd scared the hell out of me. I was always in control, even when I had sex. I was always aware, even in those moments when my body's natural instincts were taking over, I always held back.

Until tonight.

She'd made me lose control, lose myself. And for that, I'd lashed out at her in a way that made me sick when I thought about it. I could sometimes be a bastard when it came to women – okay, most of the time – but I'd never liked being intentionally cruel, especially not to someone who didn't deserve it.

Part of me wondered if she'd even show up tomorrow morning, or if I'd have to find yet another trainer. I was pretty sure I could get Jelani to come back. If I apologized well enough, things could even go back to the way they were.

But that’s not what I wanted.

I didn't want Jelani training me and then sticking around for a quickie in the shower. I didn't want to call her some night when I was horny and didn't want to bother going out to a club to find some one-night stand. I didn't want to have to explain to her yet again why I wasn't going to be exclusive with her.

I knew what I didn't want, but couldn't let myself admit what it was that I did want. I told myself that I didn't know, but this was apparently one of those things that I couldn't lie to myself about.

Finally, after tossing and turning for hours, I decided to get up and go for a run. If nothing else, it'd clear my head before I went in to the gym. Usually, I would've gone to the park, but I didn't know if Sara still ran there. While the sheer size of the place meant that my chances of seeing her were slim, I didn't want to take that risk.

I also didn't want to risk running into my dad on my way out, so I crept down the backstairs and snuck out through the kitchen the same way I did when I was a kid.

The downtown office building where FFC had its official headquarters had a gym on the top floor so that employees of the various corporations could exercise on their lunch breaks. It'd been my dad's idea, and he footed the bill for most of it, but a good percentage of the people in the building took advantage of it. I generally didn't. If I wanted to work out in peace, I did so in my apartment. If I wanted a gym atmosphere, I went to the gym.