Page 58 of At Her Pleasure
She’d seen his flash of anger, the aggressor response that would have answered a strike with a strike, but he wasn’t that kind of man. “Cyn. What the fuck?” he said quietly.
“You need to see me. I need you to see me. Not some person you refuse to fight because I’m a woman, because of some fucking antiquated idea of chivalry. You need to fight me because you see what I need and want. I’m not a goddamn brat sub.”
She had the presence of mind to pitch that part low. Some of those here knew they were part of the BDSM scene, but others didn’t. She wasn’t outing Matt to those he might not want to have direct knowledge of that. Though from what she knew of him, that discretion had more to do with protecting his wife and her reputation in the corporate world than himself.
See? She had her head on straight. Mostly. Even if the rage boiling through her said if he refused her, she might punch him a second time.
“Matt, Cyn?” Grizzly had arrived. “We got a problem?”
Cyn’s gaze didn’t leave Matt’s. She had no idea what was going on behind those raptor’s eyes, but she’d seen Ros look at a challenge like he was doing. Silently, taking her time. Weighing variables.
Skye had told her that learning when to be silent, when to let people work through stuff, was as much a talent as knowing when to interject the right verbal push.
Verbal pushing was Cyn’s thing, but it didn’t mean she couldn’t learn from Skye and others to improve her own wheelhouse of effective tactics. So she kept her mouth closed. With effort.
“No,” Matt said at last. “Cyn and I are going to spar, if you have a ring available. I think that might be better than one of the marked floor spaces.”
Cyn nodded as Grizzly looked her way. It ticked her off that he waited for one more from Matt to confirm this was legit, but whatever.
“Okay,” the gym owner said. “Boxing or MMA gloves?”
“The lady’s choice,” Matt said, without a trace of irony or snark, but Cyn saw a glint in those dark eyes.
“MMA,” Cyn said. Motherfucker. “Want to put some money on this?”
The CEO of K&A lifted a dark brow. “Think you can bet in my weight class?”
Oh yeah. He was goading her now. “A thousand,” she said.
“If you win,” he agreed. “If I win, I name my price after we’re done.”
She bared her teeth in a smile. “Long as you don’t want me to suck your dick.”
Matt blinked once. “While this defies all evidence to the contrary, your mouth’s not big enough for that.”
It took her right back to Mick when she hadn’t known his name, and the taunt she’d thrown out that night.
“You don’t have a big enough dick to get me on my knees.”
“Does anyone?”
“Jesus,” Grizzly muttered. “Ring Three. Let’s get you gloved up.”
* * *
MMA sparring gloves were less padded than boxing ones, but they still provided some measure of protection to the hands.
Cyn didn’t usually wrap her hands for sparring matches, but she did for this one. Stan, one of the staff members, got in the ring to help her do that and pull the gloves snug over them. Grizzly did Matt’s gloves, probably because he wanted to gather more info about what was happening. Again, annoying, but fine. She noticed Matt didn’t have Grizzly wrap his hands first. A message he had no intention of hitting her hard enough to risk his hands.
She was going to change his mind about that.
Cyn tuned them out, keeping her eyes on Stan’s progress and her focus on what lay ahead. She fought better on waves of aggression, because it was familiar ground to surf. She just had to keep it at the sweet spot, or the waves would surge to tidal wave size.
“Good afternoon. Have you lost your fucking mind?”
Ros had arrived. Her boss had made her way through the gathered members to grip the ropes and pull herself up. She was in her pristine workout leggings and sports bra. Her expensive workout shoes, teal with silver logo, perched her on the mat edge outside the ropes. Though her tone was pleasant, her blue eyes were shards of glass.
“No more than any other day.” When Stan stepped back, Cyn tested the gloves in a quick set of warm up punches against his beefy palms. “Thanks, Stan.”