21

Climbing out of bed, I walked into the bathroom in mine and Bella's hotel room and placed my hands on the vanity, shifting my eyes up to the mirror. The bruising and swelling around my eye and jaw had finally vanished, the cut on my head had nearly faded away. Just in time to receive a new round of hits, I thought humorlessly.

We'd arrived in Boulder, Colorado late the night before or early this morning; all depended on how you looked at it. Even though most of us slept on the bus, we were dragging our asses into the hotel, which wasn't going to help us at all today.

"Hey," Bella murmured, sliding her arms around my waist and laying her head on my bare back. "I'm tired."

I laughed. "Me too, baby."

Bella sighed and stepped away. "Shower with me?"

"I don't know," I said, looking over my shoulder at her. "Do you think you can keep your hands to yourself?"

"No," she giggled. "Do you really want me to?"

I smirked. "Fuck no."

"Good." Bella winked before bending over and turning on the shower. The bottom of her shirt, or my shirt actually, slipped over the curvature of her ass, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. She was teasing me and enjoying every minute of it.

Straightening back up, Bella turned and faced me, sliding her hands down to the bottom of the blasted shirt and grabbing the hem. Looking at me from under her lashes, Bella slipped the shift off, dropping it onto the floor. My breath hitched in my chest. Completely naked, she stood before me looking sexier than I'd ever seen her.

"Fuck," I swore under my breath.

"You can fuck me," she purred, turning and stepping into the shower.

In haste, I ripped my boxer-briefs off and nearly jumped into the shower behind her. Grabbing her around the waist, I pulled her body against mine. My cock was already hard and throbbing. Just the feeling of her touch had my arousal pressing into her.

"You've been teasing me again, baby," I growled, pulling her head back and nipping at the side of her neck. Bella moaned, pressing her ass against me. "Stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" she gasped, bringing her hands back to my hips.

"Taunting me with your sexy ass," I snarled, pushing her against the wall and pressing the length of my body against her. Lowering my lips to the outside of her ear, I whispered, "I need you."

"You have me," she moaned, shuddering against me.

Grabbing her hands, I placed them on the wall before taking hold of her hips, and pulling them back, bending her at the waist. With her ass presented to me, I lined myself up at her entrance and thrust into her, filling her in one quick motion. Bella cried out, slamming her hand against the beige tiles. Tightening my hold on her, I set a fast pace, needing to make sure that she'd feel me inside of her all day.

"Oh, fuck, Edward!" Bella groaned, pushing against me. "Feels . . . so . . . good."

"I. Can't. Ever. Stop. Fucking. You," I grunted, using my hips to punctuate each word. "You feel so fucking good, baby. Just made for me."

"Only you," Bella cried out. Her walls tightened around me, and I bit my lip to stop from coming right then and there. I wanted to her to climax at least once more. No, I needed her to come once more, I needed to know that when we walked into the gymnasium later, she'd been feeling me with each step she took. "Edward!"

"What, baby?" I asked, sliding my hand up to the back of her head and grabbing her hair. Yanking her back against my body, I found myself filling her at a new angle, one that was going to be the end of me. "Jesus Christ, you're so fucking tight."

Bella whimpered, which did me in. Slamming my hips against her ass, I let my orgasm take over, with Bella falling with me. Panting for air, we slumped against the wall, the warm water washing away the sweat from our exertions.

Giggling, Bella turned and looked at me. "Baby, you're amazing."

"I know," I smirked, before kissing her. "You're pretty fucking amazing, too."

"Oh, I know," she purred. "And while you're fighting today, you're gonna remember just how tight and wet my pussy was."

I groaned, knowing that she was right. Just like she'd feel me inside of her, I'd have to deal with the feeling of her wrapped around me. And I'd love every minute of it. "Okay, my little harlot, let's shower so we can go kick some ass."

—LO—

An hour later, Bella and I emerged from our rooms freshly showered, dressed, and with our iPods on. We were ready for today's tournament, ready to prove our worth once more. The rest of our team was waiting for us in the lobby, Tia included. While she couldn't fight anymore, she was still a valued member of our team and we'd made sure she knew that we needed her here for support. The fall semester had officially ended two days before and while most of students on campus had loaded up and headed home for the winter break, we'd have to wait until to see where our fate laid with the tournament.

Silently, we followed Phil out to the bus and loaded on, trying to steal our nerves for the mission at hand. Ten minutes later, Phil pulled the bus into the parking lot outside of the gymnasium at the University of Colorado. Standing up, he turned to face us. I could see the worry and stress on his features, and while I wanted to ease them, I couldn't. Today was our first division tournament, and it would set the stage on whether or not we were able to reach the national tournament in March or found our program floundering.

"Okay, well, today's not gonna be easy," Phil said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But you're ready for this; all of you are ready for this."

"You bet your ass we are," Bella snickered, standing up and pulling her bag out from under her seat. "Let's do this."

Nodding our agreement, we gathered our stuff and followed her off the bus, through the parking lot, and into the gymnasium. There were hundreds of people milling around, waiting for the tournament to start. As we had done before, while Phil went to check us in and get our fight schedules, Bella and I led our team down to the floor and found a corner to stretch in. The somber tension around us was thick; all of us were focused on getting one simple job done: win.

Phil came over to us twenty minutes later and handed us each our schedules. I had a handful of fights today, and depending on how I did in the double-elimination tournament, I'd have at least three, possibly four, the next day. Taking a deep breath, I shoved my schedule into my bag. My first match wasn't for another hour, but based on the tense look on Benjamin's face, his match was up first.

Phil stood up, grabbing the back of his neck again. "Breathe, guys. You've got this."

"Is she here?" Bella asked, causing us all to look at her. The hard glare rolling off of her made it clear that Bella was asking about that bitch Tanya, who nearly killed Tia. "Is she?"

Phil shook his head. "No, Stanford didn't come to this tournament."

Bella snarled something under her breath that sounded like, "Motherfucking bitch was too scared to face me," but I couldn't be sure. Placing her earbuds back into her ears, Bella cranked her music. Phil started to speak to her, but I shook my head. She'd be okay, and for now, she could use her anger at not being able to face off with Tanya to her advantage.

"Okay, let's kick some ass today," Phil said with a sigh.

Standing up, we slowly made our way to our rings. Bella was at ring one with Heidi, who had the first match of the day. Missy, Bree, and Maggie were at ring two, while Riley, Embry, and Liam were at ring three. That left me, Benjamin, and Demetri at the fourth ring. Maggie was standing at the side of her, trying to steal her nerves and listen to whatever last minute advice Phil was spouting off into her ear.

Next to us, Embry was rolling his head from side to side, trying to stay loose. I went over to him, and grabbed his gloved hands, pulling them in front of me. Embry snapped his eyes up to mine.

"You've got this." Pushing his arms up in front of him, I grabbed his elbows and tightened them up around his ribs. "Keep them in like this, protect yourself. Now, tell me about your opponent."

Shifting his eyes over my shoulder, Embry said, "He's tall, lanky. Could mean he's gonna have trouble staying on his feet, but it could mean that he has a larger reach than me."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to step out of my corner with caution, watching his feet. Depending on how he moves, I'll know whether to kick his ass now, or let the match drag out a bit before I kick his ass."

I smiled. "Good. You're ready for this, Embry. Focus on your technique."

"Will do," Embry said, nodding.

I moved so that I was standing between rings three and four, that way I could watch both matches. Embry climbed into his, jumping on the balls of his feet so that he stayed loose. His opponent pulled the ropes apart to get in to the ring, but got caught up and ended up falling on his face. Embry looked over his shoulder at me, and nodded. Yep, this would be an easy one for him.

Turning my attention to Benjamin, I watched as he stood in his corner. Unlike Embry, Benjamin had his eyes on the mats, making it clear that his focus wasn't on the man standing in the opposite corner as him. Before I could say anything, though, the referee called them to the center of the ring and gave them the usual play nice speech before having them bump gloves and go back to their corners. Popping his mouth piece in, Benjamin waited until the bell rang to step toward his attacker. Yet, the only problem came when instead of fighting, he just moved around, avoiding getting hit. The guy Benjamin was facing should be eating glove right now, but instead, he's getting to take cheap shots.

"Get in there," I snarled at Benjamin, slamming my hand on the mat. From my position, I saw him roll his eyes just before he threw a roundhouse at the guy — a very lazy roundhouse. Fuming, I stood next to the ring and watched Benjamin pissing away the first round of his match.

"He's fucking giving up," Demetri muttered.

"Not while I'm here," I groused. The moment the round ended, I scrambled up to his corner and grabbed the sides of his headgear, forcing him to look at me. "What the fuck are you doing?" I bit out.

"I'm feeling him out," Benjamin blabbered.

"No, you're not, you're pussying out because you're scared or whatever." Benjamin closed his eyes, taking a heavy breath. I sighed. "Look, I get it, okay? Tia's your world and you're worried as fuck about her. I get it, but you can't lie down and take it up the ass just because she can't fight right now."

"I know," he muttered.

"Tia needs you to be strong for her, to show her that you're in this ring for both of you. Get your goddamn arms up and end this shit now." I released his headgear. "You can beat this fucker; he's got nothing on you. Prove it."

Pushing him away, I jumped off the side of the ring and folded my arms in front of me. Benjamin blew out a heavy breath before he turned and faced his opponent once again, who had a smug look on his face. The moment the second round started, Benjamin pulled his arms up in front of him and went on the offensive.

With a step to his left, he was able to corner the guy in just a few moves. Throwing a left hook followed by a right uppercut, Benjamin finally started fighting. Over and over, he alternated his fists, punishing the poor boy for more than just being in the same ring with him. By the time the second round ended, Benjamin's opponent was barely standing. The referee pushed Benjamin into his corner, and turned his attention to the boy who was barely hanging onto the ropes. After a couple of minutes, the referee turned to the judges and declared the match over.

"Yeah!" I cheered as Benjamin climbed out of the ring. "Good job, man!"

"Thanks," he muttered, pulling his gloves off. "I'm sorry for not being one-hundred percent there. I don't know, I just worry about her."

Shifting my eyes over to where Bella stood, I sighed. "Trust me, dude, I understand, but Tia is like Bella. She's a tough-as-nails bitch, who will come back from this stronger." I looked at Benjamin. "And when she does, you'd better hope she doesn't kick your ass for slacking off."

Benjamin scoffed. "No shit. I'd take it for her, though."

"Yeah, I know you would," I murmured.

The sudden eruption of cheers around us drew our attention back over to Bella and Heidi, who'd jumped out of her ring and was hugging my girl. Based on the euphoric looks on their faces, it wasn't hard to guess that Heidi had won her match. Bella pulled away from her and shifted her eyes over to mine, winking. Now, it was our turns.