Guarded Heart (Dubicki's) Read online

  Dana and Kyle kissed, and it turned into what seemed like a little make-out session right across the table from them. Awkward. Carissa smiled at Jesse apologetically. Jesse made a funny face at her while the couple continued kissing, and she laughed. The other two didn’t flinch, so Jesse brought his face to hers and said, “If ya can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

  They kissed passionately. When they were done, the other two still hadn’t come up for air. It was unbelievable. Carissa would definitely use that as fuel to tease Dana with later. It was only fair; teasing each other was part of the foundation of their friendship.

  “So, do you guys have any interest into coming to my next fight?” Jesse said, interrupting her thoughts.

  “Hell, yeah,” Kyle said, almost before Jesse finished the sentence. He looked genuinely excited and looked to Dana for approval, which she gave in her smile.

  “I’ll hook you three up with tickets at the door for my fight next Saturday. I really liked having Carissa there, and this is my way of saying thank you to the two of you for bringing her with you the last time. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have seen her again.”

  “Aww. That’s so sweet, Jesse,” Carissa said as she leaned in close to him and kissed his cheek.

  “Only the best for my girl,” he said as he gave Carissa a look that made her insides tingle.

  She felt like such a lucky girl at that moment and thought she might need to pinch her cheeks to see if she was dreaming. She realized then that if it was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up anytime soon. She was really starting to like the idea of being Jesse Dubicki’s girlfriend.

  Chapter 15

  “What are you wearing tonight, woman?” Dana asked as Carissa answered her phone. They had to finalize their plans for going to Jesse’s fight later that night.

  “I think I might try to glam it up a little. I’m his girlfriend now, and I want to look good for him. Wow, girlfriend. That’s so strange to say.”

  Carissa couldn’t control the smile that she got when she said that and was still trying to get used to the butterflies she got in her stomach when she thought of him. She’d never felt like that: maybe slightly with her last boyfriend, but nothing like this. She was looking forward to her public debut as Jesse’s girlfriend. The last time she was at his fight, she noticed all the women that were wearing Jesse “The Patriot” Dubicki inspired items. They were screaming all the nasty things they wanted to do to him and with him for the entire world to hear. She’d laughed at it then, but she wondered how she’d feel about it now that she was truly his girlfriend. Not that she thought they had a chance with him, but somehow knowing she was his made her feel oddly possessive. She confessed this to Dana.

  “I go through that all the time dating guitar players. There are always women throwing themselves at a guy with a guitar. What gives?”

  “Uh, Dana, you are usually one of them, and that’s exactly how you ended up with the guitar player.”

  “Shut up. I know it. Then I start going to all their gigs with them, and I have to watch women throw themselves at them. One night, we were at some bar, and a girl lifted her shirt right at Kyle and said they were for him if he wanted them. It took everything I had not to attack her.”

  Carissa giggled trying to imagine the scene. She knew that after that night she might feel a small pang of jealousy, but she’d like to think she left her fighting days in the past. Dana talked like she’d go nuts, but she was mostly all talk. Dana had a bit more experience than her with women hanging on her man and probably had learned some patience with it in the process, which was undoubtedly more than Carissa possessed at this point.

  They discussed clothes and who’d pick up whom and got off the phone to prepare for the evening.

  As she got ready to take her shower, she sent Jesse a quick text: “Can’t W8 2 C my sexy man kick some a$$ l8r. xoxox”

  A text came back a while later that read: “Can’t W8 2 C U at the fight. XO”

  Two hours later, she was ready. She was showing a little extra cleavage, cleavage that she didn’t feel like she had. Dana had insisted she buy a new, better push-up bra for the fight, and now she was glad she had. That little bra was magic and made her feel like maybe she was actually sexy in her new top with the plunging neckline. She had on a pair of black Capri pants and was putting the finishing touches on her lip gloss when she heard her doorbell ring.

  “Come in,” she yelled, knowing it was Dana.

  Carissa had a routine for her lips: liner first, matte lipstick second, shiny gloss on top. Women often complimented her lipstick and makeup and asked her how she did it. There were a few skills she learned from her mother being a model. When she was younger, sometimes the only time she could capture the attention of her mother was to ask her about her modeling career.

  Carissa stepped into her heels, and they were ready to go to the arena. Dana and Kyle were driving her because she planned to drive home with Jesse.

  As they made their way into the arena, they were quickly spotted by Jesse’s team and ushered back to his locker room. As the door to his locker room opened, Jesse’s and Carissa’s eyes connected, and they both rushed into one another’s arms. Jesse nuzzled her neck and kissed her lips.

  “How’s my girl?”

  “Good, and even better now!” She smiled as she looked into his eyes.

  “You trying to look good for me tonight?” he said as he eyed her outfit up and down; his eyes immediately came back to her plunging neckline. “Mmmm, I like this.”

  He kissed his way down her neckline. Carissa lost herself in his touch for a moment.

  “Huh hem,” Dana said as she cleared her throat. Kyle and Dana had walked into the locker room behind Carissa. “Listen, you two lovebirds. You will have time for that later. I wouldn’t want you to forget that you have an audience.”

  Carissa giggled as she pulled away from Jesse, smoothing her clothes as she stepped forward to talk to them.

  “Whatever, Dana. Like we didn’t have to watch you two make out the other night.”

  Dana blushed; Kyle looked proud at being called out like that. If Carissa weren’t so lost in thinking about her passionate kiss with Jesse, she’d find it funny.

  “Well, you never said anything. I was starting to think maybe you two liked it,” Dana teased her best friend.

  “You two didn’t even notice we were trying to give you a run for your money during that little make-out session,” Carissa retorted.

  “Well, if we didn’t notice, then it clearly didn’t work,” Dana laughed with a hint of mean girl laced into her tone.

  Carissa stuck her tongue out at Dana. Somehow when the two women got together, they acted like they were 12. They forgot they were in the presence of anyone and just went at each other like sisters. Carissa liked that about Dana since she’d never had a sister.

  “Okay, ladies, settle down. I got you all really good seats tonight. I think they’re nearly ring side. I want to be able to see Carissa from the ring, but I sat you guys back far enough so you don’t get blood or other bodily fluids accidentally flying at you.”

  “Eeeww!” the girls exclaimed in unison. Both the guys laughed.

  Jesse embraced Carissa for one last kiss before the fight.

  “I wanted to see you. You’re my good luck charm. Plus, I want to see you and make sure that other guys don’t try to take what’s mine,” he said as he kissed her mouth possessively.

  “Good luck, baby,” she said as she joined Dana and Kyle again and they made their way to their seats.

  ***

  “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to what is going to be a great fight this evening. Our challenger this evening hails from Lake City, Iowa. Give it up for OWEN… ‘THE OUTLAW’… DAVIDSON!”

  There was an even balance of boos and hisses and cheering for him as he made his way out of the tunnel. If anyone could look like his fighting nickname, this fighter did. His body was slick with oil and tattooed heavily. His right arm had a sleeve of what
seemed to be the Wild West, and the word Outlaw was outlining it where his shoulder connected to his arm. His bald head gleamed under the lights, and his eyes clearly seemed to scream that he was out for blood. He waved to the crowd, and then clenched his fists as he waited for his opponent to be announced.

  “And now it’s time to introduce the reigning Midwest Middleweight Champion, our hometown hero—”

  The auditorium erupted with cheers and screams. There were also a few boos from what must have been the opponent’s fans. Some of them actually had scarves over the lower half of their face to represent the Outlaw. They look like morons, Carissa thought as she scanned her eyes over the crowd. She couldn’t wait to see her man.

  “Here he is, now… JESSE… the PATRIOT…DUUUBICKKIII!”

  The crowd continued to go wild as Jesse emerged from the tunnel in his shiny hooded robe. Carissa felt her body swell with desire and pride as she saw him. As Jesse made his way into the ring and disrobed, it took self-control for Carissa not to moan aloud. Whoops.

  As Jesse waved to the crowd, his eyes found Carissa’s. He stopped and just stared at her; the crowd seemed to realize it and watched him as he loudly proclaimed “MINE” as he pointed at her. Carissa blushed, but the crowd mostly started to cheer in response to his declaration that he had a woman. Many of the other fighters had women, but this was the first that the public had ever seen with Jesse Dubicki.

  Carissa heard lots of “You go, girl!” declarations from other women mixed in with an occasional jealously driven chant to Jesse of “I could fuck you better” or “I want to be the one to have your babies, Jesse. Dump her.” Occasionally he’d blow a kiss at a random female spectator to sate the rowdy women’s response to his declaration. Carissa was surprised at her desire to jump out of her seat and attack each recipient when he did so. She’d never thought of herself as possessive, but she’d never been with anyone like him before. Love does strange things to you, she thought as she suddenly flinched at the realization. How would she know if she were in love? She decided that, for right then, it was better for her overall emotional sanity to not think about it.

  She noticed Jesse’s sister and family in a section near them, and they waved to each other. She’d just had a manicure, but as nerves started to take her over as the opening bell rang signaling the beginning of the fight, she hoped she didn’t bite her nails and ruin the manicure.

  The Outlaw approached Jesse quickly and jabbed the first punch. Jesse returned the hit and nailed the side of the Outlaw’s head with a right hook. As he did so, he started to back the Outlaw towards the wall. These fights were sometimes referred to as cage matches because of the chain link material that lined the fighting rings. An opponent had less control if he was backed against the wall. As Jesse pushed him against the wall, the Outlaw escaped from him, and they continued their dance around the ring. A few hits were given, but the bell rang signaling the end of the first round. Each fighter went back to his respective corner as the crowd cheered in anticipation of the next round.

  “That Outlaw is kind of a hottie. Maybe I’ll change from guitar players to fighters. I think it would be hot to be underneath him,” said Dana, not looking at Carissa as she said it, but rather assessing the Outlaw from head to toe.

  Carissa thought there might be a secret language around MMA groupies as she watched Dana give him a look that seemed to be some sort of cat call for humans.

  “Eeew, Dana. Really? If you are going to switch to fighters, can you not talk about the person that is Jesse’s opponent at the moment like he’s a god? We need you on OUR side.”

  Dana rolled her eyes at Carissa. “Whatever. You don’t have to be the only one having fun.”

  “Uh, Dana, you’re sitting next to your current boyfriend?”

  “Sweetheart, he may walk and talk like a boyfriend, but it’s nothing serious. Everyone knows that male musicians think they have a proprietary right to have as many band girlfriends as they want. It’s hardly exclusive.”

  “What? Dana, why are you okay with that?” Carissa gasped.

  “Don’t judge it. It’s an arrangement that works for us. I don’t want anything more than that right now. When I’m at his gigs, he’s with me. Right now, we’re together a lot because it’s new and because I’m friends with Jesse Dubicki’s girlfriend. End of story.”

  “Wow. I don’t know what to say about that. I’m going to have to let this go for the moment, but you are SO not off the hook about discussing this with me,” Carissa noted.

  The bell rang signifying the start of the next round. Dana started to get loud, and, luckily, it was encouragement for Jesse. If Dana had rooted for the opponent, the two girls might have come to blows, so all was right in the world at the moment.

  The fight lasted for five rounds until the Outlaw, exhausted from a series of rapid punches to Jesse, succumbed to Jesse sweeping him off his feet and gaining dominance over him by delivering a series of hits to his back and head, resulting in a win for Jesse.

  Carissa, Dana, and Kyle all screamed with the rest of the crowd with excitement. Dana and Kyle said goodbye as Carissa went back to congratulate Jesse on his win. Carissa was ushered to the back where Jesse was being worked on by his team. He had a few cuts that they were working on. When that was done, his sports therapist had the table ready for him. First, he asked the therapist to wait a moment so he could embrace Carissa.

  “Hi, handsome,” she purred as he took her in his arms. “You were amazing tonight!”

  “Carissa, it’s you that was amazing. It meant more to me than you know being able to see you from the ring this time, knowing that you were my girl. That kept me going during the times of the fight when I thought he might gain the upper hand.”

  He planted several kisses on her lips before the sports therapist urged him to the table. He was down on the table but wanted to know Carissa was near him and requested she get a seat near the head of the table

  “Talk to me, C. This isn’t always comfortable when I’m face down on the table getting worked on by the sports therapist after a fight.”

  She sat down on the bench across from the table he was on and talked to him.

  “Well, Dana told me tonight she might switch from guitar players to fighters.”

  He laughed.

  When the locker room had cleared of all of his staff, Carissa slowly walked up to him and placed her fingers gently on his facial wounds. He may have won the fight, but it was not without a few bodily blemishes to show for it. She lightly traced the mark on his check and another on his forehead, and he leaned his head into her hand and gently closed his eyes. She leaned forward and gently grazed her lips against his. He leaned forward and let her, responding with the gentle caress of his lips as his tongue parted her lips.

  He sat down on the wooden bench across from where Carissa had been sitting and motioned for her to follow. She walked up to him and silently asked permission to straddle him, and he nodded his consent. She slowly parted her legs around the wide girth of his body and hoisted her petite frame up onto his lap. He grabbed her bottom to secure her there as they began to devour one another. Neither of them intended to lose control in the locker room after his fight, but neither of them had ever experienced a passion which they could not control.

  The way he softly caressed her drove Carissa mad with need. She didn’t know what was coming over her, but she lacked the power or willingness to stop it. If he didn’t pull her clothes off soon, she would. She was already rocking her hips over him rhythmically and could feel how hard he was beneath her. She found the thought of him penetrating her delicious.

  “Do you like this?” Jesse asked, and Carissa nodded.

  He took his time and trailed his index finger from her bottom lip to her throat. He gently kissed her throat before he continued, gently trailing his finger and gently kissing his way behind it as he did. He got to her breastbone and looked in her eyes for permission to undress her. She loved his respect for her but was conflicted by the
impatience that was rising from her core. She was starting to feel her desire soak through her panties in anticipation of his touch.

  He gently unbuttoned her blouse and groaned when he saw her lace bra. It was sheer enough to see the outline of her areola and nipple under the fabric, and it drove him wild with need. He would not be able to control himself much longer but drew upon his inner strength to continue slowly undressing her. He gently lowered his head to her breast, nuzzling her nipple outside of her bra. She moaned as she ground her hips into him more. He slowly took her straps down, and the flimsy bra fell down while it was still on her, exposing her breasts. She had just enough size for him to comfortably suckle, and he did just long enough for her to wonder if he wanted nourishment from her breasts. She moaned as her desire intensified.

  “Jesse, please,” she moaned in a sultry tone; it was what he needed to hear to lift her off of his lap and lift her onto the countertop.

  “Do you want to take off your jeans for me?” he said.

  She nodded as she impatiently shimmed out of her skinny jeans. She hooked her thumb into her panties.

  “Wait,” he said. “I want to look at you first”

  Jesse looked at Carissa’s mostly nude body in appreciation of her beauty. He could see her desire soaking through her panties and wanted nothing more than to taste the beauty at her center. He stood there watching her writhe with her desire, and her hands wandered to her own breasts. He didn’t know how much longer he could stand it if she continued to fondle herself, but yet he couldn’t keep his eyes away as she continued to moan with her legs spread wide open. She took her hands down to the crotch of her panties moving them to the side offering him a peek of what was inside. He could take no more and moved in to help her. He moved her fingers and replaced them with his own. He held the crotch of her panties off her as he let his finger wander into her wet folds. She moaned in appreciation as her hips continued to rock.