Page 47 of Pragma
“Busy? Doing what?” He hops on the table near the kitchen and takes off the coat, letting it drop on the wooden surface.
“Training.” I walk toward the gym room and hear his footsteps behind me.
“Let’s do it together then. Judo? Jujitsu? Boxing?” he unfortunately suggests. But maybe a little venting isn’t so bad.
It’d be better if I don’t touch him, though. “Kenjutsu,” I utter.
His lips rapidly curl up in the usual devilish smile. He’s still annoyed. The gleam in his eyes doesn’t lie. Dueling with him is going to be twice as hard, but I’m ready for it. I actually want it.
We enter the gym room. There’s a few machines on the left, a pull-up bar, dumbbells, jump ropes, and battle ropes and other training equipment on the right. A large blue mat covers the floor near the tall window with a view of the dim street and buildings outside. I set the bottle on the small table near the mat and grab two swords from the wall. They arrived a couple of days ago from LA. I haven’t sharpened them in a while since I only use them when I train.
A sensei taught me how to handle one back in Cali, and Aki added to it. He is incredibly skilled in the art of the sword and other martial arts.
Why the fuck is he taking off his jeans? He leaves my Henley on and rolls the sleeves up. The garment reaches his middle thighs, making me wonder what kind of lingerie he put on. Fuck! Even when he’s not trying to seduce me, he does it anyway. I toss him the sword, starting to empty my mind of all thoughts. He grabs it by the handle without even looking at it—like in a fucking movie. Show off! Those intimidating tricks won’t work on me.
As soon as I step on the mat, he lunges, lightning fast, and flicks the hem of my sweats, blunted or not, the blade catches and tears one of the front laces. I jump back, raising my sword as he falls back into a relaxed guard. His unrepentant grin meets my serious expression.
“Let’s make it more interesting, shall we?” He swings the blade in the air, making aswishsound. “The winner gets to order the other around for an hour.”
“You already order me around,” I remind him, as we circle each other.
“I remember it differently on at least two occasions.” He smirks and then lunges again, but I parry this time, without a riposte. I’m waiting for my opening. He’s more aggressive than usual tonight. What the fuck made him this upset? And why is he bringing up our hookups now? Is he trying to distract me? Two can play this game.
“I have more occasions to remember, and those guys?Theyfollowed my commands to the T.” It’s a lie, I’ve never been the forceful type in bed, but liking it or not, I know how competitive Aki is. Enough to get distracted.
I thrust forward, the tip of my sword slices through his shirt collar. The tearing sound echoes inside the room, and I enjoy the little drop of blood forming on his shoulder.
He hisses…like an enraged snake. And then attacks. Our blades clash again and again. The only sounds in the room are the whispers of our feet sliding on the mat, the clink of the metal, and our panted breaths.
I move backward under the assault until my back is pressing against the window with our swords crossed in front of my chest.His face is slowly getting closer. His gaze is filled with outrage and threats.
“You’ve fucked other men?” he snarls, leaning toward me over the swords. He doesn’t care about getting cut by the blades as he reaches my face and bites my chin. I let out a startled grunt at the quick stab of pain, from both his teeth and the coldness of the metal brushing my chest. But it’s quickly followed by a groan at the pleasure Aki’s thigh grinding into my dick gives me. I look at him. His eyes are electric, filled with determination, his teeth gritted, his cheeks flushed. Damn, he’s playing dirty.
“You thought they were hotter than me?” His hissed words are followed by a harder thrust of his thigh that brings my dick to half-mast. Then he grabs a handful of my balls and squeezes.
“Ugh! No, I didn’t. Fuck,” I growl, fisting his hair hard and pulling his head back until he whimpers before shoving him off me.
“No underwear, bunny?” he spits out. “Didn’t know you like freeballing when you are alone. That’s just another thing you kept from me to add to the list.”
Is he still upset because of that? I dodge a first kick—I guess we are mixing things up now—and then deflect the second one. His blade comes down, nicking my forearm as I keep blocking his knee. I’m slower than him, but when Aki isn’t a hundred percent focused on the fight, he tends to favor his left, overcompensating for his natural right-handedness. And right now he’s venting on me out of childish jealousy. Still, the fire in every movement his lean body makes, when he bends and stretches or gracefully spins and twists, leaves me in awe and makes my cock swell.
“Not answering?” His eyes shine as our blades lock once again. “Did your thought train derail? You were so happy with your brother. Now you are back to your ornery self. Have I always been the cause of such a dark mood?”
He has a wounded look on his face as sweat rolls slowly down his neck. It hits me right in the chest, but I can’t keep indulging him. All of my suppressed feelings are surging up, and I’ve had enough.
“How can you say that?” I twist my wrist and neatly catch his blade with mine, flicking it out of his hand and sending it spinning away across the floor where it lands with a clatter. My execution was swift and precise, and for a moment, Aki gazes at me with admiration.
That doesn’t stop me from flinging my sword after his as I bark, “Before meeting you, I was fucking lost, miserable, reckless. I had nothing to lose, nothing to live for. I was merely existing in a bleak reality where I wished it would keep raining until my tears turned into water, filled my lungs and I drowned. Is this the shit that you want to hear?” I grab the torn collar of his shirt and yank him against me, forcing him to place his hands over my chest to keep balance. Those long, thin fingers feel like a brand on my damp skin.
“I want to hear everything, River. Every-fucking-thing. I want the good, the grim, and the gory. I want it all.” His eyes have gone wild, his hair messy, and that damn shirt dangles on one side, revealing the smooth skin of his shoulder. His teeth continue digging into his lower lip mercilessly. Nothing has ever set my heart hammering like this, nor left me almost shaking with the need to touch, knead, own.
Why him? A man who could never be mine. Nevertheless, he’s the center of my world. It feels like I’m trying to hold on to that old misery. Isn’t that the reason why I chose this life? I’m good at what I do, and I enjoy it. But I can’t keep sabotaging it. I need to draw a line. I let go of his collar and take a step back.
“We can’t always have what we want, Aki,” I state with as much resolution as I can.
“Oh, but I fucking can! I cheat, I scheme, I even use force if I have to. But I always win. And you should know that.”
“The fuck do you want from me, Akira?” I hit my chest with a fisted hand, sick and tired of his self-centered, confusing attitude. Why is he even here if he loathes this attraction between us? To play with me until I reach my limit?
