Black and Blue

“No.” Layla shook her head. “Don’t do this, Lucas. I’ll do anything.”

Lucas was already heading toward the bedroom to grab his phone.

“Lucas!” Layla raced after him, tugging at his arm.

“Let me do this!” he roared at her, knocking her off her feet.

“Oof!” She hit hard and she hit fast, sending Lucas into a frenzy.

“Oh fuck! Are you hurt?” Lucas knelt down beside her, his large frame trying to shield her from every possible danger.

“Lucas, please calm down and breathe…”

Layla was still so calm, and it was tearing Lucas apart.

“What do I need to do? Do you need medicine? Do you need…me?” She looked down at her body, and he knew what she was asking.

“You won’t like me when I’m like this, Layla. Fucking you to pieces isn’t what I want to do right now.”

“Then let’s do some meditation.” Layla sat up and Lucas followed, wondering what she was doing. “I need you to close your eyes and take some deep breaths.”

“Layla…”

“Now, Lucas.”

The tank of a man bowed to her immediately, but he didn’t want to close his eyes—he wanted to watch her.

“I want you to just sit here in silence and let all of the thoughts you have come and go,” Layla told him, taking his hands into hers.

He watched her chest rise and fall, and her little plump lips started moving again. “You can go to a happy place.”

“Beating the fuck out of Paul is my only thought.”

Layla scowled, but she nodded. “If that’s your happy place right now, then that’s where we’re at.”

They sat there in solitude for what seemed to be forever. Lucas didn’t want to take his eyes off of her, but he did as she calmed him down. Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply and let it all out with a big sigh.

“You can come to your breath all of the time, Lucas, and I’m right here with you.”

That’s what Lucas was afraid of. She’ll get scared off, he’ll hurt her, nothing good could come from this woman being at his house, in his life…

In his heart…

“Are you okay?” Layla was looking at him now and he was, indeed, better.

“I-I think so?” Lucas hesitated, still holding on to her hands.

“Do you want to eat now?” Layla asked him.

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, I gotta warm it up again, I’m sure.”

They proceeded down the hall and back into the kitchen, where Layla was pleased with herself for helping Lucas.

She couldn’t tell him how she really felt—how her own world wasn’t all calm and peaceful, butterflies and rainbows. This was about Lucas, and she needed to be careful.

“Do you like it?” Lucas asked her as they ate. He never cared much before if people liked his cooking. Hell, he didn’t remember the last time he cooked for anyone else except for Layla.

“It’s delicious, Lucas.” She nodded. “You’re a master chef in the kitchen.”

Lucas smiled. It terrified him that he sought her approval when he cared nothing about others’ opinions about him.

“Are you still going to stay tonight?”

Layla gazed at him, setting her fork and plate aside. Now that the storm had passed, she felt safe bringing her body to straddle his lap at the kitchen table.

“Do you want me?”

Lucas ran his hands up and down her sides. “Very much so.”

“Then you know what to do.”

He looked at her with enough want to last a lifetime.

“Are you sure?” Lucas asked, lifting Layla’s shirt over her head. “I know you feel my cock. He’s so hard for you.”

“He feels like he’s about to burst through the seams.”

Lucas figured his dick might as well have a mind of his own when it came to the woman straddling his lap.

“I’m going to fight tomorrow, and I get rough after a rumble,” Lucas said as he carried her back to this bedroom.

Laying her gently on the bed, Lucas stripped down to his socks, watching Layla do the same, mesmerized by her every movement.

“Tonight, I’m going to be so passionate with you that you won’t even know it’s me, but tomorrow? Tomorrow night I’m going to fuck you every which way to Sunday.”

“Do you promise?” Layla teased, moaning as Lucas slipped his cock inside of her wet pussy.

“I’m a man of my word, Little Hippie.”

***

He watched her sleep. The fucking he had given her earlier was sweet and slow, but hard and deep. It was enough to keep him from grabbing the bottle of whiskey he’d completely forgotten about.

She’d fallen asleep on top of the covers, and her curvaceous body beckoned for Lucas to take her again, but he knew there’d be plenty of time. Even the way Layla slept was a turn on.

It was nearing midnight when Lucas made the phone call to Tim about the next night’s fight. He’d lined up a pretty good fighter for him, and Lucas was excited.

He wasn’t excited to have Layla there to watch him, but it’s what she wanted, so he wasn’t going to deny her.

The next day came too soon, but Lucas had never in his life wanted to hold a woman like he wanted to with Layla. She had curled up in his arms sometime during the night, and he’d held on for dear life.

He knew nothing about the little hippie’s night terrors until her body had suddenly jerked and she had moaned loudly in her sleep, tears streaming down her face as her eyes remained closed.

The blood curdling scream she let out after set Lucas on edge.

“Layla?” He had tried to rouse her out of her nightmare, but she had drifted back into a deep sleep, burying herself deeper within his embrace.

***

“Are you all right?” Lucas kept asking Layla as they settled in his dressing room.

Layla nodded. “Of course I am.” She smiled. “Stop worrying about me.”

Lucas couldn’t help but remember the night terror Layla had experienced and wondered if it was worth mentioning. Before he could think, a knock came at the door.

“Fifteen minutes, Lucas!” Tim called out.

“You can leave your bag in here,” Lucas told her as they headed to the locker room so he could dress and throw some punches at a bag for a few minutes. “It’ll be safe.”

Taking her hand, he led her down the hall, sneering at any man who looked at his little hippie.

Once in the locker room, a woman approached Lucas and started kissing him. Tim appeared and waved his hand.

“I didn’t know you had a plus one this evening.” Tim nodded to Layla as the young girl backed away.

She wasn’t Lucas’s, so a part of her knew she wasn’t going to get in the way of any other women he had in his life.

Surprisingly, Lucas brushed the woman off and motioned for Tim to get rid of her. They both exited the locker room, and Lucas continued to warm up.

“You didn’t have to let her go.”

“I have you here.”

“But—”

“I’m an asshole, Layla, but I’m not going to fuck another woman right in front of you.”

Layla had no idea why that made her heart flutter, but it did.

When it was time for Lucas to enter the ring, she couldn’t help but feel fear for him.

“Kiss for good luck.” He leaned in and dipped her, kissing her passionately, not at all wanting the moment to end.

“Five minutes!”

The other guy was about Lucas’s build and mean-looking. Lucas had a handsome, rugged face that could easily display mean expressions, but this guy looked like a hardcore villain.

Some of Lucas’s friends had taken Layla under their wing and set her up with them in the VIP box, a little bit away from the crowd.

People were out for blood, and if Layla didn’t know any better, she was sure there was a blood sport arena nearby.

Once the bell pinged, Layla almost closed her eyes, but she couldn’t help watching. A few strikes were thrown by each man and every time Lucas was hit, she shuddered.

Lucas was dancing around the guy, and he knew this was a real deal fight. The Punisher was ruthless and willing to do whatever it took to take down his opponent.

A few more blows to the face, a couple to Lucas’s, and suddenly he spied Layla, catching her gaze and seeing the fear behind her eyes.

Lucas drowned out the crowd, and for what seemed to be an eternity, he kept his focus on Layla.

That was until the room darkened and all he could see was Paul putting his hands on her.

Lucas was unsure of what had happened, but his knuckles were on fire and his arms ached.

There was shouting from all around him, Tim trying to hustle his way into the ring and Layla… What the fuck was this tiny little woman doing trying to get into the ring? Did she have a death wish?

“Lucas!” Layla crawled into the ring as people tried to grab at her ankles to pull her out. “Lucas! Stop! You’re killing him!”

She grabbed Lucas’s arm, tugging him away from the other fighter. Lucas looked down at the pool of blood in the ring, but he didn’t see his opponent—he saw Paul.

“Lucas!” Layla was on her tiptoes, cupping Lucas’s face in her hands, pleading for him to snap out of his attack. “Come back to me!”

“The winner is Tornado!” the ref said, but as the medics and other people rushed the stage, Lucas came back down from his blackout and fell to his knees in front of Layla.

“Are you with me?” she asked, kneeling in front of him. “Lucas?”

Lucas stared at her for a moment and hung his head.

“I’m here, Little Hippie.” He nodded. “Don’t you ever get into the ring while I’m fighting again. You could get hurt—or worse.”

Lucas’s scolding bypassed Layla. She sighed heavily into his arms as Tim and his team escorted them back to the locker room.

“Payment at the door!” Tim grinned. “Hell of a fight, Foster.”

There was a heavy silence between Lucas and Layla as Lucas turned on the shower.

“I meant what I said,” Lucas told her as she watched him step underneath the hot water. “This is no place for you, Layla.”

“Maybe it’s no place for you!” Layla taunted, clearly shaken up by what she’d seen.

He couldn’t tell her what had transpired. She knew it was an attack, but she didn’t need to know who he was daydreaming about.

Lucas chuckled. He kept gazing at her, allowing Layla to view all of him. “Are you going to just stand there and watch me or get in here with me?”

“Lucas…”

“I told you what would happen the next time we fucked, Layla,” Lucas warned. “I won’t be gentle.”

“Wasn’t the fight enough of a release?”

“Not when I have a better release in mind.”