Inside the Ring

Lara

Being a fighter was all I dreamed of. I would sit and watch video after video, studying moves and trying to get the gist of MMA fighting.

My brother Bobby had always been my practice partner and biggest supporter. Even though I worked in a bar part time, my focus was on the gym.

My heart stopped the first time I laid eyes on him: Kitt Edwards. He’d had a short stint in the ring and was fucking good, never lost a fight, but after he tore his hamstring that was him finished.

Now he trained others, and he was the best of the best. I wanted him to train me, but I also wanted him in every other way possible.

Growing up in my hometown of Hays in Kansas, there was nothing for me, no place to train or fight.

Bobby wanted to run his own gym, but helping to run this gym, which belonged to a retired MMA fighter, was the next best thing for him. He jumped when an opportunity came his way.

To walk alongside a fighter was more than he had dreamed about, and his thoughts fell to me. He wanted to give me any opportunity he possibly could and suggested I come with him.

With all the men in the gym, I felt out of place. I was the first woman to come in and kick some ass, and it felt good.

I was quite a shy girl really, but Kitt ignited things inside my body I never knew possible.

There goes my heart again. I squeeze my thighs together as I remember our first encounter on the floor.

I lost all concentration as he held me in a chokehold. All I could think about was his naked body pressed against mine. Was it so wrong that I wanted him sexually as well as to teach me how to fight?

They were practicing in the ring. Seth was good—I’d watched all his matches since his comeback, and he was amazing.

I sat at the side sipping my water and trying to follow some of his movements, studying hit attack moves.

They stopped for a breather and Kitt glanced over at me. I had to suppress a moan as he licked his lips.

“Lara, would you like to go up against Seth?” He grinned at me. I was sure he saw me almost drop my bottle of water.

“Sorry?” I squeaked out, sure I’d wet my pants with excitement.

Holy shit, he just asked me to come into the ring with the Warrior!

I fumbled about with my gloves when Kitt appeared next to me.

“Here, let me help you.” He helped secure the gloves on. The way his fingers touched my wrists, I could imagine him holding them above my head as he fucked me.

“Don’t worry, Seth won’t hurt you, but I want to see you move.” Kitt stood up. The way he held my gaze, I had to gulp down my dirty thoughts as he held the ropes apart for me to climb in.

My nerves were going haywire, excitement and fear pumping through my body. I wiped my forehead with the back of my glove. Seth bounced opposite me as Kitt approached us.

“Lara, I want you to go in and attack Seth.” He gave Seth a nod with his head. “Right, bump gloves.”

My throat was dry. I tried to think of what moves to pull. Kitt clapped his hands together and signaled us to fight.

Is he for real? I glanced at him and he encouraged me to go in at Seth. I threw a punch at Seth, which he pushed away.

“Come on, Lara, don’t pussy about—go for it! I’ve seen you do so much more,” Kitt shouted at me.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” I muttered, unsure of myself, and Seth chuckled.

“Lara, I can take you down in one move. Come at me, show me what you’ve got,” Seth encouraged me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. He asked for it. I danced lightly on my feet around him then went in for a jab, followed by a low kick to try to take his legs out. He blocked and dodged my legs.

“Faster—use your legs.” Kitt clapped his hands again.

I went in faster and let my instincts take over. I thought I got in a couple of good kicks—that is until Seth came at me and took me down.

“You hesitated still.” Seth let go of me.

“I’m just nervous. I’ve gone from practicing on my brother to fighting a champion.” I let out a nervous chuckle.

“You have great leg skills. Mix it up a bit—you’re too predictable.” Seth motioned me with his hand to come at him again.

My nerves slowly subsided as we fought. I went in with some punches and a high leg, catching him on his chin. I knew we weren’t going full force, but Seth gave me a raised eyebrow.

After a few more moves, Kitt called it and sent Seth off to warm down properly. We left the ring, and I wiped my face and body down.

“You relaxed toward the end. I could tell how much more easily your body flowed with your movements.

“You managed to hit a champion on his chin, and I bet if that was at full force you could have knocked him down.” He let his hand rest on my leg, and I had to stop a moan from coming out.

“I was so nervous at the beginning.” I pulled my gloves off, trying to take my mind off where I wanted his hand to be.

“It’s different when I’m just shouting moves at you from when you go up against someone.” He paused and studied me.

“With more practice, Lara, you have fantastic potential. I’ve worked behind the ropes now long enough to know when I see talent.”

His eyes lingered on mine before he patted my knee and got up.

“Thank you for today. I learned a lot from this.” I took a swig of my water so I wouldn’t stare at him too long.

“You are more than welcome to join in at the end so I can give you some more one-on-one practice.” He winked at me and I think I wet myself.

Holy shit. I chewed on my bottom lip as my body erupted into overdrive.

“Thank you. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. I’m going to do some stretches before I head to cool off in the showers.”

I grabbed my towel and walked off, leaving him to check out my ass. I finished off and showered. My day was amazing, and I left on a complete high and headed home to get ready for work.***The night at the bar was busy. I preferred it this way. The final call had been made and all the punters were now filtering out.

Wiping down the bar and clearing the glasses away after a late night of drinkers, my thoughts flashed back to my meeting with Kitt.

Today he had given me the chance of a lifetime. My dream was coming true. I just needed to balance my time here at work with going to the gym to practice.

“Lara, will you check the back room for glasses once you have finished here? Then that will be us for the night,” Casey shouted from the cellar.

“Sure.” I flicked the cloth over my shoulder and headed through.

A few glasses were left on the side shelving around the pool table. With a quick clear-away, I wiped them down and tidied up the pool cues for the night.

The bar was a lively bar with a mix of punters. I loved it. I think it helped me come out of my shell a bit.

Casey was a wild one, bright pink hair with several piercings on her face, but she and I got on like a house on fire.

Pete, who owned the bar, normally sat in the back room placing bets among the pool players. I was sure he held gambling sessions in the bar after hours with a few of the regular oldies.

“Right, that’s us.” Casey grabbed the set of keys, and with one last glance around the bar, we left out the back door and she locked up.

“See you tomorrow.” I gave her a wave as I walked back to mine and Bobby’s place.

The mild evening was pleasant and refreshing. As I walked, I flicked through the media on my phone.

I had been following a couple of fighters anonymously, checking out their videos and clips of winning matches. Nat the Lightning had just beaten Rona the Hurricane.

There was a big fight coming up between Warrior and Jimmy The Machine Masons. I’d seen him fight and he was mean, quick, and had dealt the fatal knockout blow in his last couple of fights.

He was a fighter I wouldn’t want to meet. There are some fighters who would put you six feet under outside the ring, and Jimmy was one of those men.

Going to bed and having wild dreams about seeing Kitt the next day, and keeping my hands to myself, was going to be incredibly hard.