Upping the Ante
"Max."
Max turned to see Rachel beckoning to him.
"Yeah?"
"I haven't had a decent workout since my
promotion. Are you up for a few rounds?" she asked.
He shrugged, a grin spreading across his face.
"Sure, why not?" What he didn't see was Rachel's carefully blank
expression as she entered the training room behind him. When the door slid shut,
she tapped in a code, locking the door and turning off all surveillance
equipment in the room. Now to keep from losing my nerve, she thought
before turning back around.
They took their positions on the mat and began.
"You've been practicing," she commented, dodging a blow.
"Have to. Don't want Cat to outshine me."
Rachel aimed a low, sweeping kick at his legs, knocking
him to the ground. "Your defense still needs work." Her hand darted
out and flicked his jumpsuit zipper down to mid-chest.
"What…?" He looked from the zipper up to
Rachel's neutral green eyes.
"Let's make this interesting, shall we? Call it
a defense exercise. Every time one of us gets knocked down, we lose a
little." She gestured at his zipper. "Think of it as an excuse to stay
on your feet."
Max pulled his legs in and sprang back to his feet.
"Okay, I'm in." She won't take it too far. This is Rachel,
after all. Plus, she knows Berto monitors my bio-link.
They circled again, Rachel feinting, Max dodging,
striking, retreating. She felled him again with a well-timed blow to his chest.
"Down again, Max," she commented, flicking the zipper open to his
waist. "I'd almost think you weren't trying."
That does it. Gloves are off. The first
opening Max saw, he took, knocking Rachel to the mat. "My turn," he
said, pulling her zipper to just under the band of her black halter bra. She
stood, and he was distracted by a bead of sweat inching down her chest and
disappearing under the black lycra. He found himself staring at the ceiling
again.
"You can't let yourself get distracted, Max. Not
by anything." Rachel punctuated the last word by tugging his zipper
the rest of the way down. The edge of her mouth quirked as she saw the plain
tighty-whities he wore. Better take your own advice, Leeds.
He stood, trying to ignore his now-flapping jumpsuit.
Finally, he broke through her defenses. "I'm catching up," he joked,
tugging her zipper to her waist.
They sparred for several more minutes before Rachel
knocked him down again. To his surprise, she slid her hands inside the open
jumpsuit, running her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, pushing the
sleeves down his arms until his upper body was bare. Nice, she thought,
savoring the feel of his skin under her hands. "You might want to tie those
around your waist," she suggested, gesturing to the flopping jumpsuit arms.
A glint appeared in Max's eyes. Pulling on every
defense lesson she'd ever taught him, he felled her three times in a row. The
first fall, he took his time sliding her zipper to the end of its track,
semi-surprised to see the black, high-cut panties underneath, his fingers
brushing against the soft material. The second fall, he ran his hands over her
firm stomach and down her arms, lingering around her navel, momentarily cupping
her breasts before barely skimming her sides up to her shoulders. What am I
doing? he thought briefly before returning to the contest. The third fall,
just barely won because his eyes kept straying to her chest, he leisurely
removed her boots, taking his sweet time untying them, pulling the laces halfway
out and sliding them off her feet.
"I'm one up," he said. "Now
who's not trying?"
In answer, Rachel knocked him on his ass. "Ow,"
he mumbled as she knelt to remove his boots, sliding her knuckles across his
arches, smiling as she remembered that he was ticklish.
"Now we're even again." Rachel allowed
herself a moment to admire his sweat-slicked chest as he rose to his feet. On
his part, Max was getting up slowly, liking the way Rachel's chest rose and
fell with her heavier breathing. Don't get distracted, Steel, he
thought. She's carried it this far. She couldn't be planning…no.
He faced her again, determined to win the contest.
Intent on knocking her down, and hoping to catch another glimpse of her panties,
he didn't notice the hole in his defenses. Rachel did.
"Oomph!"
Rachel straddled his knees. "Only one more item
left for you after this, Max. You'd better start concentrating." She
gripped the sides of his jumpsuit and whisked it down his legs. "Nice
briefs."
Now is not the time to get self-conscious! Still,
Max couldn't help but feel exposed as he faced Rachel again. Funny, it
doesn't seem all that cold in here, he thought, noticing the way her
nipples seemed to strain against the confines of the black lycra. To make
matters worse, that bra and enticing glimpse of panties was playing havoc with
him, and she was bound to notice.
She had noticed, eyes straying to the telltale
bulge in the front of his briefs, and was therefore distracted when Max
attacked.
"Mmh!" She took a second to catch her breath
as Max knelt in front of her. His hands slid over her hips, brushing against the
sides of her silky panties and smoothing down her long legs as he pushed her
jumpsuit off. She's going to call a stop now. Right? I mean, we're both
in our skivvies. She won't take it further…will she? Max half-hoped she
would.
She took the offered hand-up and rose to her feet. They
assumed fight positions and circled.
This set took longer than the rest, partly because Max
didn't want to lose his last scrap of dignity, and partly because Rachel
wanted to prolong her moment of victory. It happened, though, and Max found
himself flat on the mat again. "I told you your defense needed work,"
she chided him, curling her fingers around the elastic waist of his briefs. A
quick tug, and they joined the jumpsuits outside the circle. Her eyes lingered
on his exposed skin, the proud upthrust of his member. To his surprise, she
straddled his waist and leaned down until her nose touched his. "I win.
Now, to claim my prize." Her right hand slid down his left arm until she
felt his wristband. A simple code and the disguise function was turned off in a
crackle of static. Now it wasn't Max Steel between her thighs, but Josh
McGrath. A tilt of her head, and her lips met his.
Josh's eyes closed, then shot open. This isn't
happening, he thought, watching in amazement as Rachel sat up, crossed her
arms in front of her, and pulled her bra over her head. Josh could only stare as
she rose to her knees, hooked her thumbs in the sides of her panties and slid
them off.
She lowered herself down, still straddling his waist.
Wordlessly, she slid back until she felt the tip of his member come in contact
with her. You can't stop now, Leeds. This is what you wanted. Rachel
locked her eyes on his and thrust back, taking him inside in one stroke.
A gasp escaped as she felt
him fill her. He felt so good, so right inside her. Her hands gripped his waist,
her fingers tracing the definitions of his muscles. Josh groaned, his hands
coming to grip her hips, kneading her firm buttocks, sliding up to cup her
breasts, thumbs grazing the sensitive tips. She rocked back and forth, sliding
along his member; he instinctively followed her movements, adding thrusts that
wrung gasps from her. Rachel put her hands over his, pulling them away from her
chest and linking her fingers with his. Her movements increased in tempo; her
head fell back, lips parted as she gasped in time with the thrusts. She cried
out, back arched, as her hands squeezed his and he felt the pressure of her
coming surround him. His cry followed, as her release was his undoing.
Chest heaving, she collapsed on him; he rolled slightly
so they were on their sides. She pushed a damp lock of hair away from his eyes,
green meeting brown. They stayed like that, cradled together, not speaking, for
several moments. That was…that was… Rachel thought. Oh, God, what
have I done? Silently, she stood up and started to dress.
Josh followed suit, sending a silent prayer that Berto
hadn't been watching. What on earth just happened here? I'm not sure I'm
complaining, but… Rachel reached over and took his arm. Maybe she'll
say something, explain… Instead, she just turned his disguise function
back on.
"Someone might wonder, if they looked at the hall
tapes," she explained, looking back at Max Steel. Only now, she
automatically saw brown eyes instead of blue. Rachel entered the code to unlock
the room, turning the surveillance equipment back on.
"So…I'll see you tomorrow," she said. Please,
just let me walk away.
"How about tonight? For dinner?" he asked
hopefully. Please, don't let this be it.
She half-smiled. "Tonight, then." She
disappeared down the hallway.