The Fight Club (Askeladd & Katy)

Eric gave her a crooked smile as she became very nervous as she spoke, she was barely able to complete a sentence but he did not interrupt her as that would be rude. As she said that she would hate to see him hurt he nodded a bit "well I will admit I am glad to see me not hurt as well" he said in a joking tone, his body wasn't even sweaty but he reached up to wipe his shoulder off where a bit of Diego's sweat had fallen on him. He had honestly been expecting more from the man, he was big and strong but not all that fast not to mention his cardio really needed to be better if he expected to get anywhere in a real fight, hopefully he would learn and come back to challenge him one day but Eric doubted that very much.

As she came back to him now and held out the small beige card he knew exactly what it was without her having to tell him, he had at least two or three of those on him most of them time to advertise the club when he could. When she explained how she came by here and how it was not what she expected he gave a little laugh, "well I am sorry that I didn't get a chance to tell you anything but as you saw I had some prior business to take care of here". He said in casually while giving her a gentle smile, he did not have the face of a man who had just shattered an opponent's jaw moments ago, "It is a pleasure to meet you officially Grace, my name is Eric though from the announcements you probably already know that" he said teasingly.

She nodded and smiled. "It's ok. You didn't have to tell me anything. I just wanted to ... I didn't exactly have a chance to say thank you ... properly I mean." She shrugged a little. "So I thought I'd come down here... For a while there I was starting to think I had the wrong place. But then... you certainly know how to make an entrance."

Grace looked down at him as he sat looking up at her. She suddenly became a little self-conscious, standing there in front of him, but there was nowhere else to go. It didnt seem polite to sit down next to him and sitting anywhere else would have put her almost on the other side of the room. So she shuffled a little from one foot to another and wrapped her arms around in front of her as she tried to appear relaxed and comfortable.

Eric laughed at her little joke about how he knew how to make an entrance, "well the announcer always has to do that, he is an old buddy of mine and he said that if he wasn't allowed to announce like it was an actual sport then he did not want to be the announcer, so as embarrassing as it is I let him call out my name like that" he said softly. She was very nervous he could tell that much as she stood in front of him moving her weight from one foot to the other while her arms wrapped around her body, he laughed softly and offered her a hand "would you like to sit down? I know it can't be great standing around in that outfit even if it does make you look good" he said charmingly.

He wanted to know more about the young woman he had saved to be honest, she was beautiful but she seemed to lack the self confidence that other pretty or beautiful women had, "so do you go to clubs often or are you more of a fancy dinner girl? or perhaps a stay at home with friends thing?" he asked softly. He wasn't trying to pry into her personal life too much so he went with something light and casual hopefully she would take the idea and roll with it, maybe she would even loosen up towards him he thought to himself cheerfully.

She felt herself blush a little at the compliment; she looked at the bench that Eric was sitting on, looked at him and then nodded. She moved, taking the two or three steps which brought her around to the bench. She sat down slowly, close but not too close. Her body wasn't in contact with him and she didn't think that there was any 'invasion of personal space'. At the same time though she wasn't sat too far away. Leaving too much space would probably cause offense, not to mention looking rather strange. She sat down, crossed her legs and rested her hands on her lap.

She shrugged at his question;

"I like clubs sure... " her smile spread for a moment. "although Ive not been to one like this before. And Im not really much for fancy dinners. And to be honest, Im quite happy sitting curled up on the couch with a take-out and a movie on the TV. Doesn't need to be anything fancy to make me content."

Eric watched her every movement as she walked towards him, the soft sway of her hips through the slimming dress, the graceful way she walked in those hips and he founds himself imagining her with a sultry look in her eyes while she walked right towards him. But the thought was soon dispelled as she walked beside him instead and sat down, he noticed that she was keeping a bit of distance almost like she was afraid of invading his space. He would like her to invade his space or maybe he would invade hers he thought to himself jokingly as he smiled at her calmly, she was a beautiful young woman and he wondered if she actually knew that or was one of the more modest types that thought themselves plain.

As she answered his question he nodded a bit "Well I am glad to see that my club can offer a few surprises then Grace, as for your answer well I must say you seem like my kind of girl" he said half teasing and half serious. "Forgive me if I am being forward I just mean that you are beautiful and simple for what you like, it is not very often the two mix well together but I assume you make it work quite nicely" he said in that alluringly soft but powerful voice of his. "I often leave the club after a fight to go somewhere else a little more quiet, sometimes a bar or a little restaurant that not a lot of people know about, just something to get away from the hustle and bustle of this place" he explained calmly.

(I have work tomorrow and monday so my replies will be limited just so you know.)

She couldn't help but smile at the idea that he thought her 'his kind of girl'. It pleased her... although she was a little surprised that a comment like that from someone she barely knew would have any kind of effect on her at all. But at the same time she wasn't entirely sure that he meant it. This guy was clearly a good business man. Every she had read in the past editions of the paper, everything she had seen since arriving said that this was the place where the great and the good wanted to be seen. Some how he seemed to have brought together fashion, music and.... sport wasnt the right word. What she had viewed outside wasnt sport. It was something far beyond a simply competition. It had become almost gladatorial. And clearly there was a significant audience for it.

But this was also a man who seemed to be an honest to goodness 'good man'. He hadn't needed to help her out earlier. Help her out? To say the least! But he had. He hadn't crossed to the opposite side of the street. He hadn't just kept on walking. She smiled again when she realized he was still talking.

"I... I don't think you're being forward. You saved my life earlier. Im not exactly in a position to be critical now." Grace turned a little to face him as she spoke and her hands moved so that they were on the edge of the bench either side of her. "And I don't know how well I make it work, but simple usually is the best there is; I think we spend most of our lives making things a lot more complicated than they need to be."

His statement about leaving the club to go somewhere quiet was simply that; a statement. There was no invititation there; no offer but Grace's reaction wasn't one of disappointment. Instead she saw it as an opportunity.

"Look... how about you let me take you to dinner... anywhere you want... as a thank you." She stared at him hopefully, expectantly. "Seems the least I can do."

Eric was a down to earth kind of person even with all the showmanship, the flashy club, he was never one to spend money on himself even though he could. With the way this club was doing he could have been living in a mansion but instead he sound proofed the upstairs and was living in the club, he could have had some amazing car that went over a hundred miles faster than the speed limit but instead he just owned a rice rocket motorcycle that anyone could get. He hated spending money one expensive junk that only looked nice, he never understand people that wanted to buy the super fast cars that couldn't go that fast legally, or those that bought four hundred dollar shoes that they would wear one time it just made no sense. When she began to answer back to him he flashed her a warm almost charming smile, honestly he had been surprised when he saw her as he expected to never see this beautiful young woman again.

Most of the time you do a good deed the person says a half hearted thanks or no thanks at all, which Eric did not mind at all because to do a good deed wasn't to get thanks or rewards, he just never expected this lady to track him down so eagerly either. When she said that he saved her life he felt she was pushing it a little, after all it was pretty obvious then men were just after sex so they probably would have let her go afterwards he thought to himself and kept that to himself of course. He nodded at her last words and looked a bit thoughtful "true enough we shape our lives the way we want, not luck, destiny, god none of that makes our lives good or bad that is up to us to do" he said in a cheerful tone.

When the suddenly asked to take him out to dinner anywhere he wanted as a thank you he raised an eyebrow while looking into her eyes ever so calmly, going to dinner with her would definitely not be unpleasant he thought calmly. "I would like that very much Grace" he said in a gentle tone, "when would you like to schedule this dinner?" he asked softly while looking at the time and it was definitely early in the morning he thought to himself.

The smile suddenly disappeared off of Grace's face. She immediately looked at her watch.

"What? No... I... Sorry. I thought..." Inwardly she told herself off. She thought he was being specific. Talking about going out for something now, after this particular fight. She never even thought about the time. She took a breath and managed to stop herself gibbering any more. She sighed and the smile reappeared on her face.

"Sorry. I didn't realize what time it was. I thought you were talking about going out now which of course in light of how late... early it is now is pretty stupid." She chuckled a little and shook her head a touch. "So I guess unless you want me to buy you breakfast.... " Suddenly she stopped mid-sentence and her cheeks flushed. "And I didn't mean that how it sounded either... ohhhh God." She stood up in frustration and ran her hands through her hair as she turned first away from him and then back to him.

"You must think Im a complete gibbering idiot. And Im supposed to be a writer!" She took another deep breath as she came to stand in front of him again. "What I meant to say was that I would be more than happy to schedule something which is convenient for you, even if that is an early breakfast in a few hours time. I didn't mean to suggest that... well you know...."

Eric could see that the second he made his little joke the woman sitting next to him realized that it was much later than she actually thought it was, well well seems she enjoyed time with him more than he thought. He could already see her mind whirling in embarrassment just from the look in her eyes, she was trying to find a way to rationalize a joke and that was always difficult to do he thought to himself jokingly.

He reached forward now as she finished her little tirade of trying to tell him that he could choose the time he wanted instead of letting her, she might have displayed a defiance with the men on the street but with him it seemed she was more than subdued. His thinking continued as he gently caressed her cheek with his strong hand, the same hand that could inflict so much pain on others now teasing her warm flesh with the tips of his fingers.

"I was joking Grace" he said before pulling his hand away slowly "no need to be nervous after all I am just a person like you" he said in a warm cheerful tone. "If you would be open to it perhaps we could go upstairs to my part of the club, you and I could cook a meal together perhaps" he suggested in that soft but powerful tone of his, "after all working together brings out the best result in anything" he said almost as if hinting at something else.

For a moment she was a little confused. What was he joking about? Then she noticed his hand but before she could fully appreciate anything else, it was on her cheek. It was a big hand. His third and fourth fingers ran the length of her jaw line and stretched beyond her ear and into her hair. His first and second fingers, slightly separated from the third and fourth ran up to her cheek bone and again into her hair, whilst his thumb seemed to move back and forth just a little under her eye. It was not a soft hand. No-one could possibly have expected it to be had they seen the performance in the cage of course. The power that she could practically feel within it was expected however but nevertheless recognition of it generated a feeling inside her that was complete novel; She gazed back at him, silently relishing the feel of his hand, the sense of security it seemed to transmit. And then suddenly she realized he had asked her another question.

"What?.... Erm... Upstairs... " A smile suddenly spread wide across her face accompanied by a slight laugh. "You cook too?" She nodded without waiting for an answer. "Im not entirely sure how that constitutes me thanking you for your help, but... it sounds very nice... very nice indeed. I think I would like that a lot."

Eric would have laughed at the way she seemed to be so dazed because of his touch but he did not want her to think that he was mocking her or anything of the sort. Her smile made him smile again and soon he was nodding with her as she asked if he cooked as well, he was not a chef but he knew how to whip up a home cooked meal every now and then. "You don't need to thank me Grace" he said in a sincere tone as he stood up slowly, "after all I just did what a good person should do" he said in a cheerful tone before reaching down with his hand to help her from her seat. Eric was a rather down to earth guy humble yet fierce when needed, gentle but powerful when the time came he was the perfect mix between violence and peace almost as if he was the definition of yin and yang. "Besides I have reward enough to spend a bit of time with a beauty such as yourself" he said in a soothing tone, "shall we head up there now?" he asked in that warm soft tone of his now.

(Blah short sorry.

Grace really wasn't sure what she was doing. Sure, the guy had come to her rescue on the street. But what did she really know about him. She had looked the place up on line. He was the owner of a very fashionable bar. At least he said he was the owner. But who knew what his background was. And then she had seen him willingly engage in what at best might be described as an extreme boxing matching. On the street he had been a man of violence - albeit a chivalrous one. In the right he had been a man of violence. But here. Right now. His voice. His manner. His touch. All were incredibly tender. But was she being stupid in agreeing to go upstairs with this man? If she was... so be it. Something told her that she had nothing to worry about and her instincts generally didn't tend to let her down.

And so she smiled again and nodded.

"Sounds... like a plan."

Eric smiled at her again as she smiled back to him, his hand gently grasping hers now as he led her towards the entrance of the gym, he gave a curt nod to his head bouncer who was a bigger monster than the man he fought tonight. At six foot five he weighed in at two hundred and fifty pounds, Eric looked at his head bouncer calmly "hey Ashleigh we are going upstairs so no visitors no interruptions someone causes a problem you have full permission to take them out". His tone firm but not harsh with the huge bouncer who nodded "you got it boss" the man said in a voice so deep one might think it was a bear growling, the man might have been called Ashleigh but there were very few out there that were going to mess with this man. "Good" Eric said before pulling Grace along with him towards the elevator "so Grace what would you like to cook? I have a lot of things up on my floor but not everything as I usually get a good meal or two at the restaurants around here" he explained as they entered the elevator.

"I know for a fact that I have the stuff for spaghetti and enough for a steak with something on the side but if there is something you have a craving for maybe we can satisfy that craving" he said with a little smile on his lips like he knew more than he was saying.

This was ridiculous. She knew it was. Going upstairs to the apartment of a man she had seen to be violent after only just meeting him. But she didn't care. She liked how he took her hand. She liked how it felt and how her's felt within it. Small. Surrounded. Imprisoned. Safe. And that she knew he only had to squeeze and he could break it as easily as dry firewood somehow added an element of excitement to it. This was something she had never really felt before. She followed him, the remains of the smile still on her face, but saying nothing.

When he spoke to the bouncer at the doorway, she was sure Ashleigh had given her a quick once over knowing look. The kind of look which said... 'OK... we've been here before. The boss is going to have himself some fun'. She had no idea of course if this was something that Eric did regularly or even ever, but she couldn't help but blush at the idea that that was excatly what the bouncer thought. She ducked her head a little, but the smile remained. And suddenly it hit her. If that was what Eric had in mind... she didn't care. She actually quite liked the thought and as she walked half a step behind him towards and into the elevator, her imagination began to wake up a little and her body began to react.

She shook her head at his question and shrugged her shoulders a little.

"Oh I don't know. Let's see what's up there, but Im pretty sure that we can throw something together than will satisfy both of us. Spaghetti is good, but I... I do most definitely enjoy the taste of meat. Whatever you want to do though... I'm more than happy for you to be in charge - its your kitchen after all"

Eric smiled again at her response that she did not care what they made together and that she enjoyed the taste of meat, oh if only she realized what she had just said he thought to himself jokingly. He hit the button for the top floor where they could be alone in what was basically a suite for him in the club, he sometimes needed to be out of the club but this place was somewhere he could relax as well. As the elevator went up he leaned against the wall and looked into her eyes gauging her reactions to all of this as it happened, he couldn't tell if she was being polite or if she wanted something more at this point. Perhaps she was just excited to be around him but was not sure if she wanted him, his thoughts were soon pushed away as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened slowly for them. There was nothing but a small blue hallway there until the end of the hallway where a white door stood all by itself, he took Grace's hand again ever so gently leading her towards the door, "well then perhaps we could make steaks instead" he said casually.

He unlocked it and soon opened it for her to see his hide away from the club, the rooms were right out of a fancy hotel, counters with black marble, leather couches, even a fur rug in front of a gas powered fireplace. It was the type of place that would be setting people back a bit if they were to stay just one night in it, he turned his head to look at Grace and then gave a playful bow to her "welcome to my humble abode Grace" he said softly while his eyes gleamed with the same playfulness that his tone had.

Grace felt like a silly school girl at the senior prom or an child at Christmas. And she had no idea why. But for some reason everything she had every promised herself about meeting strangers and first nights and keeping herself safe and never judging books by the cover... none of it mattered tonight. None of it mattered with Eric. She gazed at him and smiled and he leaned back against the wall of the elevator. He seemed so very much at ease with everything. She noticed a slight red swelling on his right cheek and was about to say something when the elevator came to a stop and the door opened.

She turned to see a blue lit corridor infront of her. She said nothing as Eric took her hand again and led her down toward the door at the end. When he opened the door for her and let her in, her jaw dropped. The place was incredible. She turned around to see him playfully bow. She laughed and walked up to stand in front of him.

"If his is what you regard as humble... It's... its incredible." She stared at him for a moment and then she noticed the swelling again. She took a step forward and lifted her hand, placing it softly on his cheek. "I think we night need to use the steak for something else. It looks like your opponent might have gotten in a lucky punch." She drew her thumb slowly - gently - under the bruising.

To someone with as much money as Eric this was a humble abode, he could have been living in a mansion with who knows how many floors rather than just one floor of his club. He smiled as she looked quite shocked at it all, he was not surprised by her reaction as many expected something a little more loose with him, after all he was the owner of an amazingly hip club so this seemed a little fancy to most who did not know him. When she stepped towards him he arched his right eyebrow in a playful way almost like he was asking what she might be doing with just that simple movement, as she said diego might have gotten a lucky punch he shook his head a bit.

He could feel his body shiver just the tiniest bit and he pressed his cheek against her palm now with a little smile on his lips, "well lucky punch or not he lost the fight" he said in a confident tone. His own hand reaching up to delicately press against hers and give it a little squeeze, "besides it is best not to waste such good food on a little wound that will be gone in a day or two" he said cheerfully. "Good food and very good company could make this almost terrible night into a very nice night" he said in a playful smooth tone before leading her towards the kitchen now.

She smiled and let him lead her to the kitchen like a little girl. She was confused by ths man. He seemed intelligent and clever. He seemed to be charming and clearly he had a good business brain. But it didn't seem to match very well with the violence and brutality of the fighting. Typically your Harvard business type - although she really didn't see him as a Cambridge graduate - was not a man who would even contemplate a fight let alone something quite as extreme as she had seen earlier.

"Don' you worry about getting hurt... I mean serious hurt... " She couldn't bring herself to say "dead".
"Why when you have all of this would you put yourself through that?"

Eric enjoyed having her around him for more than just a smile, he wanted this woman to be his and his alone he smiled back at her now as they entered the kitchen. He released her hand now and then came forward a bit his body but inches from hers and he was in nothing but shorts still, "I will change into something a little more appropriate please make yourself at home, take off your shoes and relax I will be but a few minutes at most" he said cheerfully. Turning away now he headed towards the back room which was his bedroom leaving her within the kitchen, in that brief moment he had wanted to claim her lips with his own but that was no fun after all he wanted her to come to him all on her own he thought playfully to himself as he changed.