Bound by Honor

8. Rocco

8

ROCCO

D rops of sweat trickle down my forehead, matting my hair against my skin as Sofia and I circle each other on the floor. The gym's walls reverberate with the sounds of our grunts and sharp exhales, creating a chorus of gasps and huffs. I see a growing spark of excitement in Sofia's eyes, igniting a similar flame within me.

“Remember, keep your balance centered,” I instruct, trying to focus on the lesson rather than how her tank top clings to her every curve. “And wait for your opponent to make the first move sometimes.”

Sofia nods, biting her lip in concentration. Her muscles tense as she prepares to strike. Her movements are still slightly awkward and not yet fluid, but her eagerness makes her a quick learner.

“Like this?” she asks, lunging toward me with a tentative palm strike.

I deflect her hand easily and use her momentum to pull her closer. Our bodies collide, and an electric charge zaps through me.

“Good,” I murmur, “but don’t overextend. Stay balanced.” My hands rest lightly on her hips, adjusting her posture.

Her breath hitches slightly at my touch.

We pull apart, and for a moment, we stare at each other, our chests heaving. The air between us thickens with unspoken words and suppressed desires that make me think I’m playing with fire. Sofia breaks the silence first as she steps in again, and this time, her attack is more confident. I twist to the side, grabbing her arm and flipping her over my shoulder.

Sofia lands with a soft thud on the mat, laughter bubbling from her lips. “Not bad,” she gasps, and the sound is like music to my ears.

I offer her a hand up, perhaps pulling a little too eagerly. She crashes into me again, our bodies pressed together. Her laughter fades as our gazes lock. Time slows and I lower my head toward hers.

Sofia’s lips are soft against mine, yielding but eager. My heart hammers against my ribs as the kiss deepens naturally, as if we’ve been moving toward this moment for the past week. Her hands roam over my back, pulling me closer until there is no space left between us.

When we finally part for air, Sofia rests her forehead against my chest, breathless. "I think I'm beginning to understand judo a lot better now," she teases.

"We're just getting started," I reply with a grin.

As we resume our stance, there's an electrifying undercurrent to every touch and movement—an exploration not just of judo but of each other's limits and desires on this mat where only we exist.

My breath mingles with hers as our limbs tangle on the mat, creating a rhythm that pulses through the dimly lit dojo. This is how I imagined it could be with her when I wasn’t convincing myself that it was wrong to pursue her. Her hands, strong and skilled from hours of training, slide over my back, pushing me closer into her orbit.

"I bet you thought this was just another training session," I whisper against her lips, a half-hearted attempt at reason in a moment defying logic.

Sofia pulls back slightly, her eyes lit with a fire that reflects my own. "Maybe it was supposed to be. But sometimes, the best techniques are learned off-script."

Her words spark something reckless within me—a desire to teach and explore. My hands frame her face, fingers weaving through her hair as our kiss deepens. The world narrows to the sound of our combined breaths and our bodies moving against the soft padding of the judo mats beneath us.

I roll, switching positions so that she is now above me. The shift is fluid, like one of our practiced throws but filled with a new electric charge. She leans down, lips trailing a path from my jaw to my neck, each touch a lesson in control and submission.

"Rocco." Sofia whispers my name, and the sound sends shivers through me, causing me to tighten my hold on her. Her breath catches, and mine comes heavier. "Is this still part of the lesson?" she murmurs against my lips in a playful challenge.

"Off the curriculum," I confess, my hands steady at her waist. Moving from discipline to desire feels natural and inevitable, like a river breaking through a long-ready-to-collapse dam.

The heat between us builds, not just from the exertion of our earlier throws and holds but from something much more intense and torrid. Every touch, every graze of Sofia's skin under my fingers, feels like electricity sparking to life in dormant wires.

Time loses meaning as we explore this new intimacy between gasps of pleasure and guttural moans of our combined lust. Her fingers dig into my shoulders as I press closer, the boundaries between training partners and lovers blurring with every shared breath.

"It's a good thing we spent the day learning about balance," I manage to say between kisses that deepen with every second.

Sofia laughs softly, her forehead resting against mine. "Because right now, I feel like I could fall at any moment."

"And I've got you," I assure her, holding her tightly and silently praying this moment doesn’t end.

Sofia lifts her head, her long lashes fluttering as she gazes into my eyes with a sudden look of confusion. Her breaths come in short, uneven bursts as she pulls away, her chest rising and falling rapidly. “As much as I want to hear those words from you, maybe we should hold off on whatever is happening here,” she says softly.

My hands tighten around her waist, subtly trying to prevent her from sliding off my hips. “What do you mean?” I ask, my heart racing at the thought of ending things now. “You want to stop?”

Sofia shakes her head, the faint scent of grapefruit wafting from her hair as she straightens her wrinkled T-shirt. “No, it's not what I want, but what I need.” She takes a deep breath and looks away, her expression pained. “I think I need to lie down for a bit. We can talk more over dinner.” With that, she jumps to her feet and bolts into the hallway, leaving me aroused, stunned, and utterly rejected.

This isn't over. It’s much too late to stop now.