A Certain Girl Read online

  Eliza could have easily disarmed her on that pass and ended the match right there, but she was making a point.

  A point that wouldn’t soon be forgotten by Gaylena or any of her posse.

  “Oh, honey, remind me we need to stop by PetSmart on the way home,” Eliza called out to him. “I’m out of ear wipes for the babies.”

  “Sure thing, sweetheart.”

  “You cheated,” Gaylena said.

  “Sweetie, the rules have been the same since we were kids—yield, or fight until the match is called by the ref. This is what combat’s about. You want to choreograph everything, go form a drama group. We do skirmishes. We don’t go around filming YouTube fan movies of fights.”

  Gaylena charged again, leading with her sword. Rusty winced when Eliza dodged, drawing her bastons as she did. Another gasp of awe rose from the kids when Eliza blocked the girl’s blade by crossing the sticks in front of her, shoving them up high, and kicking Gaylena square in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

  Eliza stepped back. “We’ve taught people how to defend themselves, sweetie. I’ve got three black belts in three different disciplines and I’m not even breaking a sweat yet. You ready to give up before I kick your ass or you keel over from sunstroke?”

  Gaylena stood hunched over and coughing near the far edge of the circle, shaking her head.

  Jordan looked a little green.

  The other kids had fallen silent.

  Eliza turned her back on the girl and walked toward Rusty, dropping him a playful wink as he shook his head in amusement.

  “Don’t kill her, honey,” he warned. “That’ll get expensive, and Ed and Ross will end up owning our asses in defense fees. Just embarrass the hell out of her.”

  She grinned. “Spoil-sport.”

  Yeah, Gerald was an idiot if he thought he might one day screw Kailey over and get away with it. This right here was more than enough additional proof.

  Rusty couldn’t wait to get the video posted.

  Eliza returned to the center of the circle and turned to face Rusty and the other old-timers.

  Gaylena tried charging Eliza again from behind. Eliza held the bastons in one hand and waited until the last second, spun around, smacked Gaylena hard on her right elbow with the sticks while grabbing the hilt of her sword with the other hand and snatching it from her. Then Eliza added insult to injury by tripping her and standing over her with the point of the sword pointed at her throat.

  “Does the lady yield?” Eliza asked in that familiar accent that made Rusty’s semi fully spring to hard, screaming, throbbing life. “Or would ye like me to keep kicking yer bloody arse? Because there’s still a lot o’ fight left in this here ole bitch.”

  I wonder if the bathroom doors here lock…

  Because, damn, he wanted to fuck his gorgeous wife.

  Gaylena was sobbing, holding her elbow. “Yield! I yield!”

  The old farts started cheering. Eliza walked across to the far edge of the circle, in front of a very shocked-looking Jordan, and melodramatically planted the sword tip-first in the sand in front of him, where the hilt wobbled back and forth.

  She tucked her bastons under her left arm and dusted her hands off. “Your turn, buddy. I have errands to run before I get pizza, and I’m starving. You a lefty or a righty? I’ll try not to break it.”

  He nearly tripped backing away from her. “Yield! I yield! Fuck this shit, Gaylena. I told you this was a bad fucking idea.”

  He turned and ran for the parking lot, prompting a round of laughter from the adults.

  “Brave Sir Jordan ran away,” Kevin called in a teasing, sing-song voice, earning yet another round of laughter from the adults, many of whom started singing the full version of “The Tale of Sir Robin” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, only substituting Jordan for Robin.

  “Anyone else from your group of little shits want to fight me?” Eliza challenged. “I’m just getting warmed up.”

  To a one, they all shook their heads.

  Eliza swept her arm out, indicating the adults. “That’s what this group was always about,” she said. “Having fun. Y’all want to have a choreographed fight group? That’s great. But don’t change what’s been working for literally decades before most of y’all were ever conceived, and don’t force everyone else to do things your way when you are the newcomers.”

  Eliza turned to Mayghen while sliding the sticks back into her pouch. “In case you don’t know my name, it’s Eliza McElroy. I’m in the Facebook group. I expect the website and newsletter login info to hit my Facebook inbox within the next two hours, and I expect to be made admin of the Facebook group and page by then, too. And all y’all will be removed as admins and moderators.” Eliza jabbed a finger at her. “If not, I’m going to go tell your parents what little shits you’ve been, and they’ll ground your asses by the time I’m done. I looked into all of you on Facebook.”

  She pointed to five different kids. “I know your parents. I taught them. You think they’re going to be happy with Mrs. McElroy rolling up on them and telling them what you’ve been up to? Think again. This group belongs to us. Go form your own group and do your own thing, but y’all’ve already driven away the best talent you ever could’ve learned from.”

  Eliza turned to walk away.

  “Can we be in your group?” Mayghen called after her.

  Eliza turned back. “Sorry, honey. Maybe when you all grow up a little.” Gaylena was still sobbing as she struggled to get to her feet while cradling her right arm.

  Eliza pointed to her. “And someone’s probably going to need to drive her to an ER. I was trying to be gentle, but if she actually knew how to fight…”

  Eliza shrugged. “I have the info for the dojo I still teach at posted on my Facebook profile. Y’all start taking lessons, prove to me you can work together, with a group, and act mature, then we’ll think about letting y’all back in. Until then, you can find the rest of us sharing workout time with the Viking group. They’ve already invited us to join them, and we can still keep our unique fighting styles. Meaning y’all are going to miss a lot of really cool shit as we start exchanging techniques and ideas.”

  Eliza held her hand up for high-fives as she strolled past the group of adults. Rusty stopped filming and started uploading the video to Facebook.

  He hustled to catch up with her. “Pizza and PetSmart, Ma’am,” he reminded her.

  She grinned up at him. “That’s my good boy,” she softly said so only he could hear.

  Chapter Eleven

  While the rest of them practiced, Eliza ran home first to check on Chica—who was wearing a cone of shame, but her toe hadn’t started bleeding again—before rejoining everyone to eat.

  That was probably the best fucking pizza Rusty had ever eaten in his life. And everyone treated Eliza like the heroine she was while he sat back, smiling and enjoying his wife’s rightful time in the spotlight.

  She deserved it.

  Later, at home, Rusty stood in the shower under water as hot as he could stand it and let it beat on his deliciously aching body. He didn’t even turn when he felt the draft from Eliza slipping into the shower with him, or startle when her arms wrapped around him from behind.

  “Hey, there, tall, dark, and handsome.” She kissed the spot between his shoulder blades that always gave him the good kind of shivers, flicking her tongue over it. “You come here often?”

  He chuckled. “I have never wanted to fuck you as badly or as hard as when I stood there and watched you take that girl apart.” He turned in her arms, draping his around her. “That was fricking incredible.”

  “I’m not letting any little bitch insult my barbarian and get away with it.” She looked entirely too pleased with herself. “Fuck that little cunt. She’s in for a very rough life if she can’t learn humility now. Might even be too late for her. She’s never been told no, and she’s never had to face real consequences for her actions. Besides, that’s our group, not hers.”

&nb
sp; She sighed. “Literally, now, I guess. I got the notices that they added me as an admin to the Facebook group and page, and received a PM with all the login info for the website. I just booted them and added you as an admin.”

  “Question—why not let the other kids join the group if they’re contrite?”

  “Because, again, they all need to learn this shit now. Notice none of the kids of our long-time members put up with her bullshit. They went over to Ron’s group immediately with the rest of the grown-ups. Not because they all had to, either. Some of them are driving themselves. They switched because they fucking know better and didn’t want to deal with her bullshit.”

  “But Ron’s group choreographs.”

  “Yeah, but they do a lot of intensive training. It’s not simply Hollywood movie shit actors do for a camera. It’s not just rehearsed moves. There’s actual fighting involved. They learn how to defend themselves, how to block—all of that. It’s only choreographed to a certain extent. There are a lot of things that can get someone hurt if they don’t know anything other than following a script. You know that. Those kids, if someone goofs up a move, someone’s going to get badly hurt.

  “I mean, look how she charged me point-first. If I wasn’t experienced, she could have impaled me. If she tries to press charges against me later, we’ve got, what, no less than ten different videos showing it was self-defense? Motherfucking stand-your-ground laws for the win.

  “Ron’s group teaches the basics before they teach choreography. His group is like the hard-working stunt actors who do the heavy lifting and actually fight. They do some skirmishes in practice, but because they have a common fighting style, and they’re using large swords, and are nearly all of them similarly armored and using shields, it’s a level playing field except for skill.”

  He smirked. “Going to post a bunch of videos of us all having fun and make those kids grovel to join us, aren’t you?”

  “Fuckin’ A, I am.” She grinned. “No one picks on my barbarian.”

  “You were going to break her elbow, weren’t you? I saw you pull your hit at the last second.

  She shrugged. “Hey, don’t I get brownie points for pulling back at the last second because I thought getting sued by her parents might not be a good thing, even if we would have won it?”

  “Yes, of course you do, baby.” He kissed her, sweet and tenderly, loving this woman, every terrifying bit of her.

  “Did you post the video to Facebook?” she asked.

  “Of course I did, Ma’am.”

  “Did you tag Kailey and Gerald in it?”

  He snickered. “Of course I did, Ma’am. I want to remind him how terrifying his mother-in-law-to-be is.”

  She rested her head against his chest. “We make a great team, barbarian.”

  “Yes, Ma’am, we do.”

  She sighed. “I will literally kill him if he breaks her heart. Tilly will have to alibi me in London or LA or somefuckingwhere.”

  “I think we got that message across loud and clear, Ma’am.”

  “You sure? Because I can be even more terrifying.”

  He snickered. “Yes, I know you can. And yes, I’m sure.”

  “Our baby’s all grown up.”

  “As you yourself said, our baby is an expert with firearms, in addition to armed and unarmed combat. If he’s not already terrified of her, I’d be shocked, or he’s just not paying attention.” He nuzzled the top of her head. “Kind of the biggest turn-on, actually. Being terrified.”

  She looked up, smiling. “Turn-on, huh?”

  “Yes, Ma’am. Knowing you absolutely can take care of yourself.” He kissed her again. “And your barbarian.”

  “You ever stop to contemplate that one of the first official things you did for me as my fiancé was to make sure I had an alibi?”

  He grinned. “Yeah.” He ground his hips against her. “Why do you think it’s such a turn-on? Because there’s a certain girl who knows how to rev my engine and keep it running. Even after all these years together.” He ground against her again. “She has, ever since the day I met her, when she thoroughly kicked my ass.”

  She giggled. “You’re warped.”

  He waggled his eyebrows at her. “And you love me like that.”

  “Yes, I absolutely love you like that.”

  * * * *

  Eliza had worried she was going to step into the shower to a long and rightfully deserved lecture about how poorly she’d handled the combat group situation and Gaylena.

  Especially for how she’d handled Gaylena.

  Because in all honesty, Eliza had originally been planning on sending the girl out of there in an ambulance with at least one badly broken arm.

  Just to send a message.

  No one fucked with her husband and got away with it. Especially not some whiny-ass teenaged girl, all because he was too much of a gentleman to kick her ass himself.

  The only person allowed to fuck with her husband was her.

  Period.

  And only in the ways she wanted to fuck with him.

  Like the way she wanted to fuck him right now.

  He’d already been sporting a chub. She reached down and cupped his balls in her hand, his cock immediately growing fully rigid against her arm.

  “That’s what I wanted.” She sank to her knees in front of him and engulfed his cock with her mouth.

  He slumped back against the wall with a needy groan that made Eliza’s pulse throb and her pussy clench.

  She teased him, pulling off slowly to explore the head of his cock with her tongue and lips.

  “Fuck, yeah!” he gasped.

  She cupped his balls again and worked her way down his shaft, mouthing along the underside, back to the head. Down and up she played with him, over and over, loving the tension she felt building in him.

  Even her nipples tightened.

  Everything about them, and this, always felt right. If Kailey and Gerald felt a fraction of this love and passion for each other, then they had her blessings.

  She was pretty sure she could help win Rusty over, if given enough time.

  She settled in to enjoy this. She’d always loved going down on him, having him helpless and needy and vulnerable with her.

  Except she also wanted him to fuck her.

  That meant playing with him, driving him nearly insane with her mouth for nearly twenty minutes before finally relenting.

  She stood, smiling. “Make me come first—”

  The rest of the sentence was swallowed by her laughter as he shoved her against the wall and dropped to his knees in front of her, much like his first night home after his trip. Her juices were already running down the insides of her thighs. All he had to do was slip two fingers inside her pussy and start finger-fucking her as his mouth closed over her clit.

  Rusty was no slouch in the oral department, either. Once he got her started, hooking his fingers forward to reach her G-spot, she was a goner and she knew it. He ravenously feasted on her, his other hand reaching up to play with her nipples. Back and forth he tweaked and rolled them, sending new pulses of need to her clit with every motion.

  When she climaxed, he let out one of those sexy, satisfied growls he made that only made her come harder.

  In their primal, animalistic lust, he ravished her like a great white taking down a gimpy seal.

  She loved it.

  And him.

  Eliza lost count of how many times she came before she finally reached down and tugged on his hair. He shot up to his feet, his cock seemingly impaling her on the rise, effortlessly sliding home inside her slick pussy.

  She hooked a hand around the back of his neck to pull him down for a kiss. Rusty slanted his mouth over hers, his low, rolling moan already starting as he held her pinned against the wall and fucked her. Wet, warm water raining down on them, their flesh sliding against each other, it felt like Heaven, right now.

  Just like she loved. Hard and fast, eager—his every action showing her how he felt about
her.

  Nothing passive about her guy.

  Not at all.

  Everything he did showed her how he felt about her. She never had a doubt about his feelings.

  This time, all she could do was hold on and let him rut. It was difficult, standing like this, to get any traction. This was all him, all for him.

  It didn’t take him long to come, either. When he exploded, filling her with his cum, he moaned into her mouth. She loved hearing his noises, loved the tangible, sweet proof of his feelings and what she did to him.

  When he finally quit thrusting, his chest rose and fell as he tried to catch his breath. “Wow,” he whispered against her mouth.

  She stroked his hair. “Wow, indeed, baby.”

  He stared down at her with those gorgeous green eyes of his. “After all these years, you still put up with me, Ma’am.”

  She smiled. “Just try getting rid of me.”

  He rested his forehead against hers. “Guess we’ll be paying for a wedding at some point, huh?”

  “Probably.”

  “I guess I’d get punished if for the bachelor’s party I got him drunk and shaved his head?”

  She snorted. “Not by me, you wouldn’t. Kailey might not appreciate it, though.”

  “Yeah, well…” He sighed. “Guess I’m going to have to learn to let go, huh?”

  She hugged him tightly. “When you figure that out, please let me know, because I’m going to need some help with that myself.”

  As they stood there in the shower, Eliza closed her eyes and relished this moment of peace, of calm.

  “Li?” he softly said.

  “Yeah?”

  He choked up. “Thank you for being patient with me and loving me all those years ago.”

  She hugged him tighter against her. “Yeah, well, not like I’m the easiest person to live with. I think I got the better end of the deal.”

  He nuzzled the top of her head. “Love you, baby.”

  “Love you, too, barbarian.”