The Fighter's Block (4 page)

She smiled and placed her hands on his
pecs
. She lightly massaged them, seeming to encourage him to do the same with hers. He did, but then her mouth leaned down to kiss him, to
explore
with her tongue and manipulate his body to be under her spell.

No manipulation needed, he thought. He was hers however she wanted him, and right now, he was ready to take her how
he
wanted to.

“Dani, I’m not sure I can handle this any longer,” he finally said. “I’m about to lose every ounce of control.”

She smiled and said, “I was wondering how you
could
still be in control.”
It was a tease and she added, “I thought m
aybe
I wasn’t
doing to you what you do to me…”

He grabbed her with
both
hands and turned her to her back, a move that he’d never enjoyed so much as he did that time. Without words he took over as the
lover
in control, driving into her again, gently but powerfully, his lips kissing her with
infinite
passion. He hadn’t realized exactly how close she was
until it all came in an instant
, the tightening of her body and t
he look of pleasure on her face,
the sounds that traveled from her stomach, through her chest, and out her lips. 

His release was only seconds behind an
d she gripped his body
as he
pushed inside
. He kept most of his weight off of her by using his elbows, but just the definition in his arms and shoulders was what made her continue
thrusting
her pelvis against him, grabbing his ass and forcing him into her. He was hot, so incredibly sexy, and if his body alone could do this to her,
she could only imagine what his patience and care might have in store for her later on…

Dani woke the next morning
wrapped
unusually amidst the sheets
on Van’s bed.
She worked to get her legs free
and then propped herself up onto her elbows to look around.
He
was no longer next to her, and she wasn’t even sure he was still in the
apartment
. Did he go to work?
What’d he even do for a living
?

She rolled her eyes and dropped her face into the pillow. She didn
’t even know anything about him
and here she was, waking up in his bed. She knew he could throttle a guy in a matter of seconds, even breaking
a
hand with his own. But al
though she’d witnessed that side of him, she also knew how gentle he was, even giving
herself
to him entirely the night before without a single worry.

S
he heard a noise from the hall
and
sat up
just as Van entered the room. He smiled at her, thinking she looked pretty cute all wrapped up in a sheet with messy hair.

“Good morning,” he greeted. “Maybe?” he added
, just to make sure
.
She looked a bit perplexed.

She smiled at him, especially pleased that he was just wearing a pair of
baggy
shorts. She liked looking over his body
and she could tell that he took care of himself
.

“I’m not really a morning person, but I like the view,” she said to him
coyly
.

He paused where he was and smiled again. “Well that’s nice to know. I enjoyed the view
for a while before you woke up.”

Dani understood right aw
ay and felt her face get warm, b
ut she just smiled.

“Are you hungry?”
he
asked. “I was just about to take a shower, but since you’re up, I’ll make you something.
Eggs? Toast? Um, you eat bacon and stuff like that?
”

She smiled and answered,
“Mm, I’m not really hungry yet. Go ahead and shower.”

He nodded and entered the bathroom
in the hall
. When he shut the door behind him, he couldn’t help
smiling about the night bef
ore. It. Was. Incredible.

He sighed. It was pathetic, but he was already hooked on this girl. As he
turned on
the shower, he wondered how the night ended up like it did. Sleeping with a girl the first night he met her wasn’t exactly his style. He could tell it wasn’t
hers
either, so how did they end up in bed together?

For some reason,
he decided to take his shower quickly. He worried that his time with Dani was too good to be true, and he was afraid that she’d slip out the door without saying
a word
.

But the shower curtain parted slightly, and there she was
in just
a smile.

“Is
there
room for one more?” she asked.

Van had to leave an hour later. He had an appointment
with his father’s lawyer and he
promised
he
wouldn’t
miss it. He didn’t want to leave Dani, but she didn’t even questi
on it when he said he had something
to do that morning
. He told her
she could help herself to whatever she needed until he got back
.

Dani let him leave
without question
, but she didn’t tell him she wasn
’t going to be there when he returned
. She grabbed her things and left ten minutes after he did, and
then she
walked
four
blocks to
a coffee shop
.

“You look…different,” Jaime told her sister as she sat down across from her. Usually Danielle looked a little more…put together. And
what was that mark
on her face?

“I had a rough night,” Dani replied.

“Rough how?” Jaime asked with worry. She had a bad feeling about it, even though Dani seemed
pretty damn
happy.

“You won’t believe me if I told you,” Dani said.

“Try me.”

Dani smiled and took a
sip
of her
coffee
. When she was sure she had her sister’s full attention, she said, “Long story short? Last ni
ght I broke it off with Brian
and
he didn’t take it very well.
” She pointed to the mark on her face that she’d covered pretty well with makeup from her purse.

Jaime’s mouth dropped open with
disdain
. How dare that prick lay a hand on her baby sister!
She
was a
bout to get into it about Brian
but Dani continued.

“But Brian’s history, especially after some guy—a very handsome, stoic stranger—put Brian in his place, and then…
” She bit her lower lip for e
ffect.
“
I went home with him.”

Dani smiled and took another
sip
of her coffee as she watched her sister’s reaction. Jaime was still trying to piece everything together, but that last part…

“You what? What do you mean you went home with him?”

“I went
home
with him,” Dani smiled with implication. “
Lots
,
”
she decided to add
.

Jaime opened her mouth with disbelief, and after a few seconds of shock wore off she hissed, “You
hussy
!”

“Hey
now…”

“I’m totally kidding
but… Jeez, Dani. That is so not like you!”

“I know,” she smiled
sheepishly
.

“So
what of it? What does it mean? Are y
ou trying to get back at Brian? Dani, if that little shit laid a hand on you, you are not going b
ack to him—
”

“I know, and I don’t want to.
Never.
And no, I wasn’t trying to get back at him. I just… I really liked this guy and… We just sort of clicked.”

“Yeah, I guess you ‘clicked,’
” Jaime chuckled.

Dani smiled and took another sip. “I didn’t want to bother you last night—you know, wake up the kids or Steve—but I didn’t really have any other options. Van was just there and—”

“Van?”

“That’s his name. Van.”

“Who names a kid Van?”

Dani laughed and said, “His parents, obviously. But it’s short for Donovan.”

“Oh. Well why couldn’t they just call him Donny?”

“That’s what they call his dad I guess. But anyways, what’s wrong with the name Van? I like it. And I like
him
.”

“And? So what does all this mean?”

“I don’t know,” Dani shrugged.

“You don’t know? I mean…
a
one-
night stand? You guys
gonna
see each other again? What’s the deal?”

“I don’t know,” Dani shrugged again.

“Van, you have to make an appearance, kid. Your dad has zero chance of getting parole if you don’t make it to his parole hearing…”

Van was listening to
his
fathe
r’s lawyer, but Gus just didn’t
seem
to
get it
. Van
wished that he hadn’t even come to the meeting in the first place.

“Things are different this time,” Gus continued. “He’s doing good, he’s turned over a new leaf.
He found God, Van. That changes a man.
This could be it, Van, and you should be there when your dad makes parole.”

It didn’t matter to Gus that Van’s life had been a living hell because of his father. Gus didn’t have to have Donny Kemp as a dad.
Van’s only concern that day was making sure his dad
stayed
in
prison
and he
didn’t like
what he was hearing
.
However, Gus wouldn’t be begging for his help if he didn’t think it was needed.

Van
headed
for home after grabbing some takeout from a nearby restaurant. He would have called Dani to let her know, but he stupidly realized he didn’t have her phone number. Plus her cell phone was dead and he hadn’t had a charger that was compatible with it. He called his apartment number, just in case she would answer it, but when the answering machine picked up and he told Dani to
grab the phone
, there was nothing.

Sh
e wasn’t there when he got home
and he just sort of stood in the kitchen, thinking it over. He thought about the past twelve hours as he ate lunch right from the takeout containers. After the
night
they’d enjoyed together,
and
then
the morning shower,
he would have never guessed that she’d just leave like that, without even a word.

Or a note.
Maybe she left him a note.

He looked over his entire apartment—the bedroom, the bathroom,
the
fridge,
the
kitchen counter,
and the
front door—and didn’t find a thing. He could feel himself deflate when he realized he had no way to get a hold of her. Not even a last name.

Quincy pounded on the door and hollered at Van, so
he
got up
to
let him in.
He watched him enter like he had almost every day for the past seven years.

“Feeling a little hungry today?” Quincy chuckled, eyeing the
several
containers of takeout.

Van only shrugged as
his best friend helped himself to the orange chicken
.

“So you get your shit taken care of?” Quincy mumbled
through a mouth
ful
.

Van only nodded.

“Well don’t tell me too much about it,
asshole,
” Quincy scoffed.

Van slightly smiled and said, “Sorry, just got things on my mind.”