Thank you to everyone who read, enjoyed, and commented on the first chapter. I hope this continuation will meet with your expectations. Sorry about this taking so long, had a lot to do this past week. But, the next one should be out much sooner. As before, please keep on sending in any comments or suggestions.
Des sat in his Jeep outside Nic's small townhouse. His fingers drummed along the steering wheel, a nervous habit he thought he had eliminated some years ago. Consulting his wristwatch he discovered he had been sitting here in the dark, undecided on how to proceed, for exactly ten minutes. It hadn't seemed like that much time had passed since he pulled up to the address he had found in the school's student information files. But then, he could hardly remember the drive from the dojo to her street, he had been so deep inside his own thoughts.
Des glanced into his passenger seat. There, barely revealed by the light from the streetlamp just behind his car, sat the reason why he had decided to pay Nic Desmond a visit. Her cell phone rested benignly in the seat, though its very presence seemed to mock the difficulty he was having in making his way to her door. His gaze returned to the view of the street seen through the windshield.
Come on Radel! Get off your ass and just give her back the damn phone. She's just a woman.
Des laughed quietly at the pathetic nature of the situation. He had known for weeks now that he thought of Nic as more than just another woman. The problem was he still didn't know how she had managed to set herself so firmly in his mind. She had not done or said anything different than what would typically pass between a student and teacher. If anything, she had been standoffish and distant. She hardly spoke to him inside or outside of class. And, she was about the only single woman in the school who had not propositioned him to join her for dinner, a movie, or a friendly fuck. Their relationship was strictly business. And yet, Nic still managed to bounce around Des' thoughts with frustrating ease, a condition which had grown from the first time they had met.
Upon entering the large practice room some three months ago, Des had only been interested in seeing how advanced the students were. Calling order to the men and women milling about the floor, he had set about introducing himself and quickly flowed into the preliminaries of starting class. Going through the warm-ups and first basic exercises, he had walked around the room and examined each student closely. To be honest, Nic's femininity had not caught his eye as much as her excellent form and execution of the various drills. He noticed her only in passing until their first interaction.
After finishing some across the floor work, Des had broken the class into groups to practice a variety of kicks and punches. One student would hold the target while the others would perfect their form and power. Once again, Des walked around the class observing and correcting. He came to Nic's group last, watching as each student took several shots at the one holding the foam shield. As Nic stepped up, the woman holding the shield grimaced and braced herself firmly. Even with this preparation, as Nic's leg landed on the foam, the woman was knocked off balance and stumbled a few feet to the side. Des was impressed and immediately interjected, relieving the woman of the target.
Taking position, Des held the shield and nodded for Nic to continue. Though he thought he had been ready for her attack, Nic's kick managed to force even Des out of his ready stance. It was then that he had truly looked into her face. Her deep brown eyes sparkled up at him as she raised an eyebrow and tilted her head, questioning if she should continue. Des nodded the go ahead and readied himself again, only this time he was compelled to watch her face as she planted a blow on the target. Nic's eyes had narrowed as she focused on the shield, shading their brightness and giving her an almost relaxed look. Her full lips had opened slightly as she breathed in, standing completely still for a second. As the second ended Nic's body was in motion, her leg cutting easily through the air, her shin landing directly in the center of the shield.
As Des watched, he noticed a moment of animal pleasure cross her face as she landed the blow. Nic was pleased with the discipline with which she controlled her body and the flow of her muscles as she followed the age old movements. Her obvious enjoyment of the physicality involved put down her guards, allowing a glimpse at the woman she was underneath her tough exterior. For an instant, Des was confronted with a kind of sexual rawness, visible in her expression, and all of his male instincts made him aware of the fact that she was female, young, and vibrant. He had wanted her in that split second, in the most primal, uncivilized way. But, just as quickly as the moment came, it passed. Nic brought her leg back down to the mat, preparing to throw another kick.
Des held Nic off by standing up straight and handing her the shield. "You're very talented and have quite a lot of strength. Make sure you don't overextend your power. Using too much force could leave you open for attack," he said, still confused by what he had seen and even more, how he had responded.
"Onegaishimasu," said Nic, bowing to Des before she had readied herself to hold the target. Des had walked away confident that Nic was unaware of the effect she had had on him. She had unconsciously hit the walls of his control, something that hadn't happened since high school.
While Des had never had a problem getting sexual attention from the random woman, he had been in a bit of a dry spell for some time. He played off his reaction as a need to get laid. But, over the next few weeks, the barrage upon his self-discipline persisted, as Nic's presence in his thoughts began to increase.
Des could remember wanting women before, but never had one so distracted him on a daily, even hourly basis. At first, Des thought he only respected her abilities as a student. Nic had a strong drive to master aikido, which reminded him of himself when he was first learning. Not only did she attend class and take in all the suggestions of the instructors, but she often practiced after class was over, perfecting her technique. Des began pushing Nic hard to learn more, wondering if she could handle the pressure, and was encouraged when she stepped up the pace and matched his demands with quick learning. Although she was one of the younger and less experienced of the students, Nic was easily the strongest female and was comparable to most of the men at her skill level.
Soon, however, the line between Nic as a woman and Nic as a student began to disappear. When Des should have been thinking about her improvement, he was instead sidetracked by a strand of hair that had escaped her scarf or how small her hand seemed when he helped her off the mats. More and more, his eyes seemed drawn to the contours of her uniform-clad body. Nic was favorably endowed both above and below, and Des could only wonder at why she tried to hide her hourglass figure in baggy jeans and oversized t-shirts. Worst of all, Des could not help remembering that look of open sexuality which had initially released the floodgates of his semi-obsession. Was that the face the man who climbed between her legs was greeted by?
It was aggravating knowing that he was losing the self-possession that he had maintained for so long. If he had only found Nic attractive there would be no problem; however, she had invaded his thoughts, both waking and sleeping. Not being able to completely command his mind, Des forced himself to train longer hours, going to his physical limits. He even tried distancing himself from Nic by becoming the sensei from hell, hoping her anger would cool off the building want. But, even that had backfired, because seeing her eyes spark up at him as she checked her furious passion and channeled it into her training was a flaming turn-on.
The whole situation had culminated earlier tonight after her test match. Des had been half enraged and half proud at the way Nic had continued to fight after her injury. Tending to her wound in the changing room was something he had both dreaded and anticipated as the other teachers left. He couldn't even begin to guess at how he would deal with those long minutes spent alone with her. But, Des had surprised himself by acting professionally and had thought he might have even been gaining some ground with his attraction, until...
Until, he looked up and saw that damned expression on her face. The very one that had captured his attention in the first place. He was lost and so was she, apparently. All the time that he had spent trying to fight off Nic's appeal had been successful only because she treated him solely as her sensei. She had never even hinted at wanting more. Now, Des could plainly see that Nic was in much the same boat. It had been sheer force of will for him to get out of that room without stripping her out of that uniform and taking her there against the wall. When she had run her tongue along those full lips, Des had felt something break inside, and knew that one way or another, he would have Nic Desmond.
The only thing that had stopped Des then was the nervous fear he had seen lurking beneath the surface. Nic was scared of him for some reason, and he wouldn't push her without understanding why. So, he had left as quickly as possible, and holed up in the men's changing room until he heard her leave. He had thought he wouldn't get another chance to see her until next Monday when they met for their individual session, but fate had stepped in, in the form of her forgotten cell phone.
Now Des sat outside her home, trying to justify stopping by at nearly ten 'o clock at night. He could have waited till another day to give her back the phone, and that had been his initial plan. Des had run through drills for an hour at the dojo before leaving with the intent of going home and getting whatever rest his active mind would allow. Nic's home phone number and address had drifted in and out of his thoughts as he drove.
