Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) Read online

  Jessica’s breath was ragged, and she wanted to be eaten, even consumed. But Slade helped her up before standing himself. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, gifting her with a little frustrated groan, and led her to the door.

  —

  That night, Slade took over her dreams. He was such a strong, domineering man, and she wondered about the extent of his dominance. Would he be domineering in bed? Take charge? Have his way with her? Would she even like that kind of sex? She’d slept with a few men before, but it was never what she had always fantasized sex should be like: passionate, lustful, out of control. Sex hadn’t been terrible, but it was just a thing you did with the man you were with at the moment. She’d always felt like it should be…more.

  And, goodness, did she want to be consumed by Slade! She wanted to feel each hard ripple of his body against hers, his long hair tickling her thighs as he dropped to his knees with a wanton need to taste her. As she thought about his fingers inside her, his mouth on her, her hands wandered down her body to feel how wet just the thought of him made her. She knew that these thoughts were just fantasies, unrealistic. But as she touched herself, she filled her mind with thoughts of Slade picking her up and fucking her into submission. Afterward she went to sleep hoping Slade could live up to her fantasies.

  —

  The next morning, Jessica was still in bed when her phone chimed with a text.

  Slade: Have a craving for strawberries.

  Her tongue involuntarily slipped out to lick her lips. He may have tasted strawberries on her, but she could still taste the delicious all-male, all-tough, all-badass Slade on her lips. A taste specific to him.

  Jessica: Come over and get some.

  Shit. That sounded more forward than she had meant it to. She typed quickly.

  Jessica: More kisses. I meant, more kisses. *Cringe*

  Slade: LOL. Yeah, after jumping me last night, I know exactly what you meant.

  Jessica: Me?! Jump you?! You jumped me!

  Slade: Have you been sniffing your strawberry lip thing, babe? You jumped me. I had to bow out gracefully. I’m a gentleman, after all.

  Jessica threw herself back on the bed and smiled.

  Jessica: So…

  Slade: So…

  Was it going to be awkward now? she wondered.

  Slade: You regretting last night? Is it going to be awkward now?

  Her body stiffened. Was he a mind reader?

  Slade: Babe?

  Jessica: No. No awkwardness here.

  Slade: Jess…

  Jessica: Are you in your “stance” right now?

  Slade: Stance?

  Jessica: I’m totally picturing you. Arms crossed over your Rambo chest, legs shoulder width apart, eyebrow cocked. I bet you even have your hair tied back. All serious. Trying to coax an answer from me.

  Too many seconds later:

  Slade: Rambo stance?

  Seriously, was that all he’d gotten out of the text?

  Jessica: Whatever. You know how you are. You try to be all intimidating.

  Slade: And you’re not intimidated?

  Jessica: No way. You’re sweet. You like strawberries. And, incidentally, I have no regrets.

  Slade: Good to hear. And, by the way, I don’t just like strawberries. I like you. Your delicious strawberry lips.

  Her heart fluttered. Her stomach did a cartwheel. Her cheeks turned the color of strawberries.

  Slade: Shit. Gotta go. Guys just got to the gym and are going to start bitching if I don’t start training ’em. See you for dinner later. Pick you up at seven. Good luck today at work.

  Jessica: Sounds good. I’ll buy strawberry ice cream for dessert.

  Slade: No need. I know exactly what I want for dessert. Later.

  She closed her eyes and tried to regulate her erratically beating heart and rein in the crazy butterflies that had taken residence in her stomach. Later couldn’t come fast enough.

  —

  It was Jessica’s first day back at work. All the patrons, as well as Patsy and Jett, the owners of the Pier, welcomed her back with open arms. “You sure you’re okay?” Patsy asked for the dozenth time since Jessica had arrived for her shift.

  “Yes, Patsy, I’m fine.”

  “We don’t mind you takin’ more time off. You got a job here when you’re ready,” Patsy said.

  “I know,” Jessica responded. “Thanks, but really I’m fine.” This was how it had been all day. So much so that the patrons sat in other stations just to give Jessica a break. It was sweet of them all, but it was also annoying as hell. She might as well have stayed home. She had wanted to get out, resume her life, and forget about the nightmare of the past month. Instead, she was being treated like an invalid.

  “I never did like that Dennis fella. Glad Slade kicked his ass,” Jett said. “But you coulda done without the damage he did to you, sugar. You need more time to heal, you just let us know.” Jessica hugged Jett and again thanked him but declined his offer.

  With little to do, she let her mind wander to the past.

  Jessica had met Dennis Stavros while they were both at graduate school. He had pursued her for months until she had finally given in. The relationship began well. He was like no other man Jessica had ever known. He was sweet and said everything that a man courting a woman should say. He complimented her, took her to nice restaurants, and asked the right questions. That lasted about two years. Then they graduated and he asked her to move to his hometown of Tarpon Springs, and, like a lovesick puppy, she followed him. As soon as they arrived in town, things began to deteriorate. He’d always been jealous, but not in a scary sort of way.

  His uncle, who had raised him, was the mayor of the town, and Dennis always aspired to be like him. The higher Dennis got on the political totem pole and the more he rubbed noses with the elite, the nastier he became. It was a combination of jealousy and envy: jealousy over anything that Jessica did or anyone who looked at her, envy of the people he was spending time with. He wanted what he didn’t have: political power, money, and fame. He wanted a wife at home doing all the perfect domestic things a wife of a prominent politician should be doing. That was not what she had signed up for, and that was not the kind of woman she was.

  As time went on, he tried to control her. First it was small things, like suggesting she quit her job. Then it was bigger things, like making her stay at home while he went out to schmooze. He bought her the clothes he wanted her to wear, and they only went to the places he wanted to go. With this change of behavior came the arguments. At first it was just yelling and a poke at her shoulder with his finger. Then it evolved to a small push. Then a big push. Then he began to manhandle her, pulling her or dragging her around. But never had he blatantly hit her. Not until the night she confronted him about not pressing charges against Slade.

  “Rum and Coke, please…Hello, ma’am?” A customer’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.

  “Honey? You okay? Why don’t you go on home?” Patsy asked once again.

  Jessica jumped up, and began to fumble for the rum. “Sorry, I was just daydreaming. I’m fine,” she said, flustered, as she mixed the drink. Luckily, a big group walked in and all of them sat at the bar. For the rest of her shift, Jessica was slammed with work and had no time to think, and Patsy and Jett didn’t have time to baby her again.

  By four in the afternoon, when she arrived home, Jessica was bone tired. She decided to take a quick nap before she got ready for her date with Slade. That was the last thought she had before face-planting onto her bed.

  —

  Slade hadn’t heard from Jessica all day. He’d called and texted her a few times, but she hadn’t responded. He had planned on going home to shower and get dressed before picking her up for dinner, but he was too worried. He’d called the Pier and Patsy had told him that Jessica had gone home about two hours ago after what turned out to be a very busy day at the bar. When she didn’t answer again, he decided to go to her house and check up on her. His mind w
as racing. Could she have had a car accident? Had Dennis gotten to her? Was she sick? By the time he arrived at her house, he was a combination of worried and mad. He got even madder when he saw her car parked in the front. Was she just not answering his calls? Had he done something wrong? Since when did he care this much, and why was he feeling so insecure? All these thoughts just added fuel to his mounting agitation.

  He rang the bell and then knocked. No answer. When he was about to lose his mind, a sleep-tousled Jessica, still in work clothes, opened the door abruptly. She had her hand over her chest as if startled. “Slade? Oh my God, you scared me to death with the knocking. I almost fell off the bed!”

  “Where the hell have you been?” He walked in, forcing her to move out of the way.

  “What time is it?” She closed the door behind him, then yawned and rubbed her eyes.

  “It’s past six. I’ve been calling you for hours.”

  “You have?” She walked to the living room, where she found her purse and began to rummage through it.

  “Why didn’t you—”

  “I…was slammed at work…and then I came…home and…must have fallen…asleep,” she told him, her breathing harsh and labored.

  Slade reached out his hand and led her to the couch. “You’re winded. Sit. Take deep breaths. I’ll be right back.”

  Slade ran to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. When he returned, Jessica was sitting on the edge of the couch, her forearms on her thighs, her head bowed, and she was gasping for breath. His heart broke. He rushed toward her.

  “Baby?” He clutched her shoulders. “Please, Jessica. I’m sorry for being so abrasive. Take a deep breath. Please. Just try to relax.”

  She held a finger up to quiet him. He knelt helplessly in front of her as her shoulders heaved and her breaths came out in short hiccups. He remembered the doctor saying that she couldn’t exert herself because she could become easily winded. The only way to recover from a collapsed lung was time and rest.

  “Okay, sweetheart, listen to me. The doctor said slow, deep breaths. Don’t look down. Sit up straight and look at me.” Her head moved up, and if the breathlessness wasn’t enough to break his heart, the tears in her eyes finished the job. He swallowed and squeezed her shoulders. “Okay now, breathe in and hold it.” He waited. “Now blow it out.” He instructed her to do that three times until he noticed she had caught her breath. “Better?” He reached up and wiped the tears away from her face with his thumb. She nodded.

  When she seemed better, he scooped her up, carried her to her room, and laid her on her bed. He climbed in next to her, tucking her in alongside him with her head on his chest.

  They stayed in bed together for about twenty minutes in silence.

  He spoke first. “You scared the shit outta me.”

  “Sorry. I guess I ran to the door too fast.”

  “You see, Jess? You’re still not fully recovered. You have to rest, okay? Maybe you need another week away from work.”

  Patsy and Jett were babying her. Hell, the customers at the bar were babying her, and now Slade was babying her. She didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but she wanted to scream! Instead she bit her tongue. After a moment she said, “I guess our second date isn’t going to happen?”

  Slade kissed her temple. “Of course it is. Just not tonight. Tonight I’ll order us food, and we’ll eat in bed and watch television.”

  “Will you kiss me?”

  “Do you want me to kiss you?”

  She nodded.

  “Then there will be some kissing.” Again he kissed her temple. “But since I almost had a stroke seeing you gasping for air, we’re going to take it easy tonight.” When she pouted, he said, “So that you’re feeling better for our real second date.”

  She smiled as he continued to stroke her hair. As promised, Slade ordered food and they ate it together on her bed while watching an old action movie on television. By ten o’clock her eyelids were becoming heavy, and when she yawned, Slade took it as his cue to head out.

  Jessica walked him to the door. “Thanks for tonight. I’m sorry I ruined our evening.”

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned down, something he did often. He always made sure she was looking into his eyes before he kissed her. “You didn’t ruin it. It was a great night.”

  “It was, wasn’t it?” she said with a smile.

  He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” He kissed the corner of her mouth before leaving.

  —

  The following morning, Jessica went to the Om Spot before work. Yoga had been her favorite thing to do since she could remember, and not having been able to practice yoga for the last month had been torture. By the time her shift began at work, she felt more like herself than she had in weeks. And even though work was less hectic, Patsy continued to check up on Jessica.

  Slade had called earlier to tell her he was working with a new fighter and wouldn’t be able to get out of work until late in the evening. They agreed that he’d bring her dinner when he was done.

  It was now later that evening and they were on her couch. She was moaning into his muscular, half-tatted neck, “Oh God, Slade.”

  She felt all loose (from the yoga earlier that day) and relaxed (from seeing Slade), and then one thing had led to another, and the food remained untouched and the movie unwatched. Slade’s arm snaked around her waist as he moved her on top of him. As she straddled him on the couch, they were like two teenagers in the middle of a hot and heavy make-out session. His free hand cupped her breasts over a silver camisole, while the other squeezed her waist. His mouth was on her neck, lips, collarbone. Her hands fisted his shirt, and she couldn’t help but moan when he nibbled the sensitive area behind her ear.

  “Baby,” Slade said between nibbles, “you feel so good.”

  Even through the dim light, Jessica could see him fighting his resolve to take it slow. He pulled away and planted a kiss on her neck, then nose, and finally lips before lifting her and moving her next to him.

  “Are you okay?” His husky voice came out even huskier. His blue eyes shone with lust. His black hair stood in all directions, evidence of her mauling.

  “Um…yeah. Super fine.” She looked at him as if he were crazy. Why the hell was he stopping?

  He laughed at her expression, tapped her nose, and stood up from the couch. He adjusted his pants, which looked uncomfortably tight around the crotch area, and ran his palm over his face. Then he reached his hand down to her. Jessica’s brows creased as she put her hand in his. He pulled till she was on her feet. “Don’t look at me like that.” He kissed her cheek and walked to her kitchen.

  “Like what?”

  “Like I just kicked your puppy.”

  “Why’d you stop?” she whined. “I do kinda feel like you kicked my puppy. Actually, like you kicked my vagina.”

  Slade had just put a glass of water to his lips to sip, but a laugh erupted from his mouth, causing him to spit water everywhere. “Oh my God, Jess. I can’t believe you just said that.” She grabbed a paper towel and wiped the water dripping from his chin and shirt and then mopped up the wet counter.

  “Well, it’s true.”

  “For the record, I’d never kick your vagina.”

  “I’d hope not.” She smiled a little devilish smile.

  When he had sufficiently caught his breath, Slade reached for plates and began serving them Chinese food. “Why are those in the garbage?” Slade asked, pointing to a small bunch of sunflowers that she’d tossed in the trash.

  “I hate sunflowers. Hate them. They give me allergies. Someone left them by my front door. Probably meant for my neighbor, but she’s out of town, so I tossed them.”

  Slade shrugged as he continued to portion out the food. It felt nice to see him so comfortable in her house. “Jess, this was our second date. We did a lot more than you’re supposed to do on a second date.”

  She snorted. “What? I think we’re past proper datin
g etiquette. I’ve known you for months. We’ve even lived together. You’ve seen me mostly naked.”

  Jessica sat up on the counter next to him. She looked over at his plate, then at hers, and smiled. There was a small mountain of fried rice and noodles on his plate, three egg rolls, and some other thing she didn’t recognize. On her plate sat an egg roll and some rice. His appetite was as big as the man himself.

  “So…second date, huh?”

  With a mouthful of food, he nodded and swallowed, then took a swig of beer. He winked. “You’re kinda slutty, babe. I think we passed first and second base.” She dropped her egg roll on her plate and looked at him, her eyes wide open. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then went back to eating.

  When they were done and she had cleaned up, they sat back on the couch and he started the movie. That was the last thing she remembered.

  —

  Her alarm went off, and she jackknifed up, confused. She lifted the sheets and looked down at her body. She had on the same T-shirt she had been wearing last night, but her jeans were gone; she was only in panties. She looked around the room.

  By the alarm clock sat a note: You fell asleep on our second date. You owe me a third date…and third base. —S.

  She smiled and plopped back into bed, her eyes focused on the ceiling fan as it went round and round, a big goofy grin on her face.

  She couldn’t help but remember how persistent Slade had been, asking her out repeatedly, weeks before she became a domestic violence statistic. She thought back on the night that had changed everything. It had been a slightly cool evening. Cool for Tarpon Springs meant seventy-five degrees, but she remembered that she’d been wearing a sapphire-blue tank top and jeans. She’d rubbed her chilled arms as she went into the abandoned warehouse full of drunkards with Dennis Stavros, her boyfriend of five years. It was at least ten degrees warmer inside, from all the men crowded in there. The smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and possibly pot, combined with sweat, overwhelmed her senses.