Chapter 29

Marcus took his line, calmed himself, bowed, and assumed the ready position all to the referee's call, and then the bout was on. He'd watched the other fighter's last two matches, and knew he was good — for competitions, perhaps a little better than himself. The first flurry of punches came at him, but he'd been expecting fast-handwork and a snap side-kick bought him a little time and space. His opponent turned in the wake of a roundhouse punch, and Marcus held off the illegal strike to the back.

His opponent didn't hold back with his equally illegal blind back-kick, though, driving his heel into Marcus' lower abdomen.

Shawna screamed her anger at the attack — Marcus had told her enough for her to know that was beyond the limits of the competition — and a few of the more knowledgeable in the crowd booed as well. Across the arena, Connor and his club cheered.

"Illegal strike — no point." The ref called, which didn't help Marcus much, but he drew his breath in, got to his feet gingerly and took his two-minute break to walk it off while the ref warned the guy on his behaviour.

"You ready for some more, dick-head." His opponent growled as he came back to his position, but Marcus ignored him.

This time the attack was more obvious, a thrusting side-kick aimed at his solar plexus, but he pirhouetted past it, dropping to one heel and swept the standing leg out as he turned, dropping the guy to his back right underneath a stamping kick for a full point just as time ran out on the first round.

Elspeth and Briana rose to their feet, whooping their approval, joined by Corrine who couldn't get up, but cheered all the same. Shawna, though, just stared at the action, marvelling at Marcus' tight controlled lines and speed as he moved. Lorraine noticed, and as the others took their seats again she nudged Elspeth and pointed her out. Elspeth gnawed gently on her lip and smiled, plotting already, and bent down to mutter something to Corrine.

Marcus bent down at the edge of the mat to sip from his bottle again, calming his breathing ready for the second round, and the rest of the team clustered round him with 'helpful' comments and advice. Corrine waited until they all backed off in preparation for the buzzer, and then leant forward to pitch her voice quietly.

"Have you seen how Shawna's looking at you?" she asked, the smile in her voice more than matched by the one on her face. "Elspeth thought you might be interested... said any incentive to win would be good right now. I'm sure I don't know what she could possibly mean." Marcus looked up, straight into Shawna's green eyes, and felt the spark there as he did, feeling the corners of his own mouth crease a little as well.

The reminder focussed Marcus even more than he had been already, and the second round barely had time to start. He drifted inside the sloppy punch, latched on over the wrist and then stepped back on himself into a cast, forcing the guy to flip himself off his feet before his shoulder dislocated. From there it was a simple drop into a classic arm-bar, and the full range was his: strike, full-point throw and a submission.

Corrine screamed her approval, and Briana and Elspeth were out of their seats again, but Shawna was just pressing her legs together, staring at him in wonder, which had Lorraine laughing. The trophy ceremony was, thankfully, relatively brief, and then they were all crowding in around the team to pat backs and congratulate people.

"Slow her down!" Elspeth whispered to Lorraine, who immediately roped Briana in to help, and Elspeth took off towards Marcus. Lorraine got Shawna's help with getting Corrine to her feet — Briana deliberately got in the way a few times as a joke just to give them a little more time, and by then Elspeth had wormed her way into the throng.

"You remember what we talking about earlier?" she whispered in his ear, and he nodded. "I think, after seeing you do that, now would be a really good time to make things clear." She pointed out.

"You were incredible." Shawna enthused, wrapping her arms round his neck as he passed the trophy over to Corrine. He stared down into her eyes, seeing the light there, and feeling her heartbeat as she pressed herself against him. Maybe Elspeth was right? Could it hurt?

"You're pretty incredible yourself." He whispered in her ear, and it was his tone that brought her up short.

"Marcus..."

"You just look good enough to eat when you smile like that." She shivered, clutching him a little tighter. Marcus just didn't talk like that and the shock as much as the words got to her.

"What would you know about eating me?" she giggled back, feeling the tingle in the pit of her stomach start up again.

"As soon as you let me, I'll start learning." He promised. She eased back, staring at him, and it was all so clear in his eyes. There was concern, and love, and caring as always. But there was a desire there, too and she felt her knees weaken as she stared into his gaze. He wouldn't hurt her...

"Then you'd better change quickly..." she told him, nibbling on her lip. He did. Half an hour after the competition finished, they were making their way through the door of the flat, and he dropped his bag, pushed the door shut and just swept her off her feet.

"Oh God Marcus..." she laughed, clutching round his neck as he guided her carefully through his door. He laid her on the bed, gently, trailing his fingers over her face for a moment, then stepped back and began to gently unzip her boots.

Her socks followed the footwear, and then he knelt beside her and gently began to kiss her cheek, wandering his lips slowly down her neck. Unpicking the top few buttons of her blouse, he moved along her collarbone and she gasped, squirming at the sensation, reaching up to stroke his face.

He lifted his head away, reaching for the button again, and then paused. He didn't speak, didn't ask, but the question was there, obvious, and she loved him more for that than anything. She just nodded, once, and he leant down to follow the opening trail of buttons down her chest with his lips.

He opened the shirt up, reaching round behind her to release her bra, and she giggled, easing him away and snapping open the front with her other hand, peeling the material away slowly, watching the wonder in his eyes.

"You're beautiful, you know." He whispered, as she wrapped her arms about his neck, and he returned to his kissing. He started on her neck again, and she arched against the sheets, moaning gently, as he went down the other side of her throat and across the other shoulder, bringing goose-bumps to her skin.

"Oh!" she gasped, as his tongue trailed down over her breast, teasing her nipple gently before he wrapped his tongue around it. "God that's good..." she muttered, and moved her hands from his neck to his back, pulling his shirt up over his head. He let her breast out of his mouth for a moment as she pulled, and as he moved his head back to her other nipple she ran her hands over the broad, firm expanse of his back, feeling the muscles at play there as he held himself over her, tracing one of the ridged scars for a moment.

She pulled his head up, popping his mouth off her, and then drove her tongue into his mouth, love and want and need driving her forward as she sat up, reaching for his belt with eager hands. He pressed back into her, standing up to make things easier, and her nimble fingers were working on the buttons at his fly before he knew what was happening.

He jumped, slightly, as her hand slid inside his boxers, squeezing him as he grew under her caress, and she pulled away suddenly. He stopped, thinking he'd upset her, but she eased his trousers down, and then gasped as he sprang free of his underwear.

"Holy shit..." she whispered, staring up at him.

"What..." he asked, suddenly afraid he'd made a mistake, somewhere, but she just stroked his foreskin back, peering up at him through her eyelashes.

"You're pretty beautiful, yourself." She told him, and then opened her mouth and engulfed him in one movement. She struggled to get as much in as she could, felt him trembling at the sensations and backed off a little. "Sit down..." she pushed him onto the bed, tripping him on his own jeans, and then stripped him off, leaving him naked on the bed.