Rachel was on the short side for a fighter, but her compact body was powerful. So much energy propelled her legs and hips, that she seemed to spring forward when attacking an opponent.
A twenty-one year old pre-med student at Blake Mitchell University, Rachel had a pert nose and hazel eyes that burned to consume reality completely. When talking with her, people often got lost in her gaze.The five men that Rachel boxed fell into that trap and got floored.
When Marc made Rachel sleep with a fourth round right hook, he caught her as she plummeted to the canvas.
"Well, she's out!" Emma the Ref observed, pushing Marc away from the spot where he set Rachel down. Emma had gone through the count to make it official- Marc was victor by a knockout.
"You planned this, of course." Emma taunted Marc as they carried Rachel into her dressing room. "You knew you could out fight Sleeping Beauty."
"No one gets in the ring expecting to lose!"
They placed Rachel on the recovery bed and Marc watched Emma remove Rachel's boxing gloves and loosen her top slightly.
Emma divided men at the Amazonia into two groups. The ones who took knock outs and the ones who dealt them out. In spite of his good manners and kind nature, she knew Marc was in the second group.
"You gave Rach her first defeat," Emma said, waving smelling salts under the girl's nose. Her face imploded momentarily and Rachel was conscious. Marc felt disappointed.
"What do you remember?"
"Just us fighting and then blackness, streaked with white flashes."
In the days since the match, Rachel struggled to recall how Marc had put her down. Baffled, she spoke to him about it.
"That must have been when I tagged your jaw." said Marc. "You went right out."
"Emma said you stopped me from hitting the canvas."
"Yeah..." Marc sounded modest.
"Emma said you looked at me like you were in love?"
"Yeah.. I did..."
Marc sounded less modest.
Almost nightly they fucked for three weeks at Marc's place. Most of the time, Marc didn't care where they did it, but eventually he asked Rachel if there was something wrong with her apartment.
"I've got a girlfriend!" she blurted.
Encountering bisexual women at the Amazonia Boxing Club was not out of the ordinary.
"Do I know her?" Marc asked.
"Desiree."
"I knew it!"
Desiree was the wife of Peter, the Amazonia's chief trainer. She had only one male partner, her husband, and multiple female lovers. Judging by the glow in Rachel's eyes when she said "Desiree,"
Marc figured she was at the emotional arch of her current romance.
"Does Desiree know?"
Rachel shrugged. "She knows I've gone with men before. She's got Peter and those kids, so she's got no grounds for complaint."
Marc nodded his head in mild resignation. "No, does she know about us?"
"No, I haven't said anything. Desiree can be possessive."
This isn't going to be simple, Marc decided.
Desiree was not in a sharing mood after rumors about Rachel and Marc reached her. Desiree challenged him to ten rounds, KOs only. The loser dropped Rachel.
"All right, Dez, this is ridiculous!" Marc insisted, as the fighters stood face to face in the Amazonia's main ring. "It was just sex!"
"Yeah, you just having sex with my Rachel...that's the point!"
"Dez, you go through girlfriends like tissue paper! You're telling me that now you've fallen in love?"
"Rachel is mine!" Desiree insisted, as if explaining the obvious to a slow child.
"I ought to knock you out right here!"
Desiree snorted a laugh at Marc. "But you won't, you want Rachel enough to fight me for her!"
Desiree's skill as a fighter had increased since becoming a parent. She wanted to set an example for her daughter and son of what their mother could do, of how strong they could be. This was personal for her.
Brat! Marcus thought, watching Desiree's fine ass and toned legs, striding back to her corner.
"Peter needs to get control of you!' he called out to her.
Boxing with Desiree was actually stimulating for Marc, so he delayed the knock out he had planned until round four. For now, he thought, I'll just smack her around.
Desiree attacked early with rapid brutality, followed by retreats, leaving empty air for Marc to swing at. Rachel just outside the ring, along with ten other women, nervously watched the bout. Marc wondered who Rachel wanted win.
BAP!
A phantom right collided with Marc's skull. He felt himself fall through black nothingness, landing on the canvas, collapsing through the ropes. Marc saw the ring sideways. Emma the Ref was counting him out. Marc tried moving his limbs, but they only squirmed comically. Finally, he was able to control his arms and Marc used the ropes to slowly stand. By "EIGHT!" he was upright.
Feeling the ache in his jaw, Marc decided that Desiree was really in love with Rachel, which got him angry.
In the next round, Marc was on the offensive. He knew he was not in love with Rachel and that he was going to win her. Desiree understood Marc's goal and fought back, the feel of Rachel's naked body in her arms fueling her aggression. She blocked and counter punched, inflicting stabs of pain on Marc. He absorbed the hits. Desiree speed up her attack, desperate to bring down the wall she was battling.
Marc threw a punch into an opening between the piston-like thrusts of Desiree's arms, hitting dead center on her jaw, staggering the girl. Marc saw how much Desiree wanted to keep her eyes open. Her knees went to the canvas and Desiree spun downward. Marc stepped back from the motionless fighter as Emma the Ref started the count.
Marc looked from Desiree slumbering to a frantic Rachel, who was half inside the ring already. When Emma called out "TEN!" raised Marc's hand over his head, Rachel scrambled to her lover. Marc knew who Rachel was rooting for.
