This story is the sequel to If I Should Fall Behind: https://www.fights.sexy/if-i-should-fall-behind/
The Kelly vs. Paula the Poacher fight referenced in this story is from The Poacher series: https://www.fights.sexy/the-poacher-2/
It is not necessary to read Poacher 2 for this story but I’d recommend it.
Desperate, Carly tried to force an opportunity, lunging forward at her opponent. Indeed, her opportunities had been few in this match. Outclassed from the start, she clung to any hope that she could turn the tide. Her arms and hands lurched at the empty space inhabited by her opponent’s shoulders just a second ago. She never saw her feet being swept out from under her, nor could she react in time to break her fall as her momentum sent her falling forward on her face and chest. In an instant, she felt her arms pulled and locked behind her back, her head forced down, pressing the side of her face to the mat. The weight of her adversary’s knees dug into her lower back. Outmaneuvered and on the defensive again, Carly let out an anguished cry, kicking the mat in frustration. Holly was in complete control. And she smiled in satisfaction.
This is not what Carly expected. During the video chats, Holly seemed so pleasant, so friendly and unassuming, Carly thought the poor girl was walking into a mismatch. At age 37, she was a year younger than Holly. At 5’8” and 135 lbs, she had a very slight size advantage. But here she was, in her own home, in her new dark green bikini matching her short walnut brown hair and green eyes, getting her ass kicked.
Exhausted and weakening, her right cheek pressed to the mat, Carly could only look in one direction. And look she did – but what she saw crumbled her spirit like feta cheese. A few yards away, lay her husband David, flat on his back, helplessly pinned beneath another man, his chest buried under the man’s bulk, his arms stretched out firmly subdued and tacked to the mat. She couldn’t see his face. In fact, the only part she saw of the man she married were the unmoving legs protruding from beneath his captor, ending in a pair of still feet. She knew he had been defeated. In fact, she heard him yell out his submission three minutes ago. At 6’0” and 204 lbs., and 41 years old, David was no match for the strong athletic 6’2” 218 lbs 48 year old Shaun. The better, stronger wrestler had toyed with David throughout the match finally crushing the ribs with a figure four body lock to end the match. She understood that. But to see him laid out, silently declaring his inferiority was too demoralizing. But that was the agreement. All four wrestlers would compete at once, man against man, woman versus woman. The first competitor to lose by pin or submission must assume a submissive position and remain under physical control of the winner until the second match was decided.
She glanced at the men again. “Come on Carly, you can do it,” David barely croaked out, blinded to his wife’s predicament. The soles of his bare feet faced in her direction as an ominous warning. But it was too late for warnings. Holly, holding one of Carly’s arms and hooking the other into a half nelson, rolled her 5’7” red bikini clad 130 lbs body to the side, attempting to maneuver her opponent on her back. David, already on his back, immobilized by Shaun’s weight, heard his wife groan and shriek. He could only imagine what was happening, expecting her to utter the fateful words, “I give.” But then, his gloomy ordeal was pierced by a small ray of hope. From the periphery of his vision, he saw his wife – free. She managed to escape. Rising from her knees, she staggered forward in his direction, bent at the waste. She was….free. And then she wasn’t.
From behind, Holly pounced on her back like a lioness taking down a gazelle. With Holly’s blonde ponytail bouncing around her, her legs wrapping around her prey’s torso, Carly had nowhere to go but down – likely for the last time.
Lying on her side, Carly squealed in anguish as Holly tightened the body scissors. Holly held on to her opponent’s wrists, sensing the seeping away of any vitality Carly had left, applying as much pressure as she could with her thighs wrapped around her victim’s rib cage. A submission would only be seconds away. Carly was finished and they both knew it.
Carly tried to tap out but couldn’t clearly signify it with her hands tied up. She gulped in as much breath as she could in order to verbally submit. She gasped out an “I….” Then, relief. Holly released the hold before the submission. It seemed cruel and uncharacteristic of Holly. But Holly’s reason was simple. She preferred pins to submission. She loved the experience of a woman’s body trapped underneath her own. She’d experience a rush of feeling the woman’s despair and hopelessness, her shoulders pressed down and hearing herself counted out. With Carly totally spent, Holly had the luxury of choosing her finish. All she needed was a simple crossbody press and the match would be over in five seconds.
A few yards away, Shaun looked on, holding his man captive with a body press of his own. Holly looked at him. Their eyes locked…and they smiled….that special smile only the two of them understood. “I’ll be right there with you, honey,” she cooed at him.
Holly could have pinned Carly right on the spot but she had one final plan – to score the victory next to her husband. Rolling her opponent one more time required little effort. Battered and exhausted, Carly heaved and gasped, then compliantly rolled flat, her shoulder blades on the mat, practically offering her chest to Holly to cover. Holly, for her part, was happy to oblige.
Carly and David, husband and wife, lay side by side, parallel to each other like two burial plots. Holly and Shaun faced each other, on top of their respective victims, holding them down with his and her crossbody pins. Stretching their necks toward each other, the two of them pressed their lips together for several seconds before mercifully ending the event.
“One…Two,” they both counted, working toward the agreed five count for a pin.. Carly turned toward her fallen husband. Alas, his face was turned and pinned in the opposite direction. All she could see of him was his shiny scalp, made bare from male pattern baldness.
“Three…, “
“Shaun, look,” Holly interrupted, pointing to David’s dark green Speedos, matching the color of his wife’s bikini. Shaun looked down to see that his opponent’s briefs evidently had become twisted during the proceedings, the head and neck of his dick was now poking through the leg opening.
“I’ll fix it,” said Shaun, pulling up the waistband of David’s covering as high as possible, working out the twist, then releasing the band. With a loud snapping sound the Speedo band returned to David’s skin, his member now sufficiently hidden.
Holly giggled like a middle school girl who just heard her first dirty joke. “Now where were we?” she asked. “Oh yeah.”
“Four…Five.”
For a few seconds, Holly and Shaun rested on their beaten opponents, like they were relaxing on their bellies on rafts on a hot day in the swimming pool. They shared another kiss. “Shall we?” asked Shaun. He rose to his feet first, then extended a hand to help his wife stand up. Carly and David would remain on their backs until they received permission to rise, according to the agreement.
Holly and Shaun each placed a foot on the chests of their conquests and proceeded to pose, intermittently pausing to kiss. Finally, they each stood on their human footstools with both feet before engaging in a long kiss. With a sudden and atypical rush of inhibition, Holly removed her top, pressing her erect nipples against her husband’s brawny chest.
“I love you, Shaun,” her words rushed with excitement. “Oh God, I love you so much…I want to do it with you right now, right here.” Regaining a modicum of respect for their hosts, she asked her husband in a childlike voice, “Can we please stop at a motel on the way home? Please…please.”
“Yeah, I think we can do that,” Shaun answered, “Let’s go.”
In under a minute, they threw on just enough clothes to cover up, packed up what few items they brought along and headed for the door.
“We’re leaving now,” they informed the bodies on the floor. “Thanks, guys. You’ve been great hosts.”
*****
Kelly sipped her vodka martini, trying to decide where it all began to go wrong. She replayed the last year of her life for the thousandth time and once again failed to pinpoint a specific moment. After twelve years of marriage, the relationship was dying a slow death. It wasn’t Henry’s fault, she told herself. They were simply two people with little in common, drifting apart, stuck in the humdrum of predictable routine existence. Sure, there were things about him that irked her, and she knew he found her type A assertive personality annoying. The communication dwindled without either one noticing, while the mutual frustration slowly proliferated.
There was the day a few years ago that all that changed. Little did Henry know he would completely turn around their languid marriage by suggesting a hobby – couples wrestling, of all things. They would seek out other couples to engage in wrestling matches, usually male vs. male, female vs. female. Body vs. body. Spirit vs. spirit. One will vs. another. Contests of flesh and blood to determine superiority and dominance, with only the four of them present. Husbands witnessing wives. Wives witnessing husbands. It sounded crazy. It sounded absurd. But it also sounded so…appealing. After all, Kelly was competitive, most would say very aggressive. Many would call her short tempered. Wrestling? She had so much to learn. Henry, on the other hand, was an experienced college wrestler. She considered it. She tried it. She loved it. The physical and mental struggle against another woman, dominating her into submission, or pinning her body to the floor against her will was an exhilarating high like no other. Having her husband watch her establish superiority while the opponent’s husband could only helplessly view his wife’s defeat resulted in the most violent torrent of endorphins imaginable. Not to mention the most intense buildup of sexual tension she ever experienced. After she and Henry, a 6’0” 260 lb. brick of a man, decimated the other couple, the two of them, retiring to the bedroom as the alpha couple, joined together with the sexual energy equivalent to the collision of two meteors. Their sex life, and marriage was flying high.
It didn’t last. Couples were hard to find. Most husbands, learning of Henry’s size declined. Matches were infrequent. Often, only Kelly wrestled alone. The doldrums returned. She found him dull. He couldn’t stand her shrillness. The communication dropped. The magic wilted. There’s got to be a better life, she thought. But what?
First, it was Ahmed, an old acquaintance from her previous job as a medical coder. They met in a grocery store, chatted, laughed, flirted, and exchanged numbers. Then came the texts, the phone calls, the hookups. Then the awkward arrangements, the excuses. It couldn’t last. Next was Carlos, her trainer. The affair was inevitable. His body, the charisma, the magnetism. It was intense. It was passionate. It was brief. Finally, came Derek, her coworker. She should have known better. Her friend warned her. He was using her. She took all the risks for him. He stepped on her to advance his own career. She planned a getaway weekend with him, telling Henry she was attending a work conference. She traveled out of town for the scum bag, only to get dumped and humiliated, sent home, hurt and embarrassed.
That was seven months ago. The weekend would be a turning point, the weekend she walked into her home and encountered Holly and Sean. She heard voices in the den; sounds of male grunts and groan. There they were, two men in shorts locked up on the mat, and a lone woman watching. What the fuck, she thought. We’ve been trying to arrange a match with this couple for months. And Henry brings them in when I’m not here? It was too much. All of her frustrations and anger bubbled over into an acute fit of rage. I deserve better, she thought. I’m taking control. Of my house, my marriage, my LIFE. Glaring at Holly, she saw the pretty blonde looking demure in her cute blouse and khaki slacks. Kelly promised herself, someone is about to get punished.
*****
In the morning following their latest victory, Holly and Shaun checked out of motel and began the three hour drive home. They would have plenty of time to rest up and spend a romantic dinner together. They had much to be happy about. Their marriage was as strong as ever. Their strange hobby was successful. Shaun remained undefeated while Holly won her third match since her loss to Kelly….Kelly….yes, the defeat still stung. Yet, there was a silver lining. She would no longer fear letting down her husband, all her doubts that he’d be with her
through victories and defeats vanished. Picking each other up is what marriage is all about. He said it. He proved it.
“Shaun,” she asked, “How did you really feel when I lost to Kelly?”
“I said it before, it hurt,” he answered. “But it only hurt because I knew you hurt.”
“You didn’t feel embarrassed or humiliated?”
“Of course not,” Shaun responded. “Wrestling is like life and marriage. We all have our down moments. And when we do, we stand by each other. And look at how much your wrestling has improved. You got a winning streak going, babe.”
“I know, it’s just that sometimes I think about what Kelly did to me…and…I feel the hurt again.”
“I know, babe. No one gets through life without scars. We can’t always be the best. All we can do is try our best and build each other up no matter what.” Shaun tenderly holds his wife’s hand as Rachel Platten sings through the Blue Tooth speaker.
Even if we can’t find heaven, heaven, heaven, heaven
Hands, put your empty hands in mine
And scars, show me all the scars you hide
And hey, if your wings are broken
Please take mine ’til yours can open too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
“Someday, love, I’ll need you to pull me up,” Shaun continued. “Someday, you will watch me lose.”
“Yeah, right,” Holly responded. “Like, who is ever going to beat you? I don’t even want to THINK of you losing. I know I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I’d rather lose a hundred times than to see you lose once.”
“I don’t know. There are a lot of tough guys out there.”
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
“And,” Shaun added, “One day, we may both lose…and we’ll need to pick up each other.
Yeah, you’re all I never knew I needed
And the heart, sometimes it’s unclear why it’s beating
And love, if your wings are broken
We can brave through those emotions too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
………
Kelly browsed through the electronic still photos from that day seven months ago. It seemed like seven years but she remembered it well. Walking into her house, used and humiliated, fuming, seeing them in the den. She arrived just in time to see her moose of a husband defeated in front of her eyes by a smaller man. That man’s wife was about to pay.
Poor Holly didn’t stand a chance. Unprepared for the onslaught, she endured Kelly’s wrath, finding herself, slapped, thrown, tied up, then finally pinned in front of her husband. And Kelly loved it.
It would be a watershed moment in Kelly’s life. In the aftermath, she felt bitter and confused, keeping her husband at a distance. What now? It took several weeks for the revelation to hit her. The best life for me, the best man for me, she thought,..is the one I have now. How could I be such a fool? She loved Henry. Everything would be different now. Bitterness was replaced by brighter hope, anger replaced by guilt. Henry would wonder about her turnaround, about the reason for her newfound attention. She would make up for it, she thought. She wrestled again, even when he injured his leg. The sexual magic was back. She even booked a weekend female wrestling match with the owner of a hunting lodge. The woman’s husband would take Henry boar hunting. It was perfect. Life was perfect – until she realized she just booked a match with her old boss…Paula The Poacher.
……
Holly clicked through the slide show of the Kelly match. “That bitch,” she said, “attacking me like that when I wasn’t prepared for a fight. Fuck, Shaun, she threw me off a pool table.”
“But look how much you’ve improved since then,” he tried to reassure her.
“But it still grates on me sometimes. I just wish I could erase that day.” A parade of images flowed across the screen; Holly getting slapped, her head turned, the blonde hair flying; Holly’s face twisted in a punishing chin lock, Holly thrown from the pool table, Holly grapevined and pinned, her husband feet just inches away.
“Shaun,” she asked. “How do you feel about a rematch?”
“Be careful, love. Sometimes it’s best to not pick at all wounds.”
“I know,” Holly replied, “it’s just that it was my only loss. Sometimes, I think I want another chance at her. You know, I’ll be better prepared next time…..Shaun, do you think I should ask Kelly for a rematch.”
“I don’t know sweetie. We should think it over carefully. I think you will know when you’re ready. And when that time comes, I’ll support you. I’ll be ready to stand by you.”
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
**********
Six months after the event, the memory of her disastrous catfight with Paula still festered in her mind like a fungating tumor. She recalled how she remained in a state of shock during the entire ride home, and Henry….Henry said very little. Then the following day, came the bombshell…Henry wanted a divorce, confronting her with text messages with her lovers. It was over. He moved out of the house the following day. The irony. She changed, she tried to tell him. The affairs were a thing of the past. They can start over. She begged. She pleaded. Finally, she got him to agree to marriage counseling. Then he agreed to move back home for a trial run.
I want this to work, she said. Things were looking up…but one very serious problem remained. That infected wound inside. The wound they don’t talk about. The wound they failed to reveal to their therapist. A wound eating her inside. A wound that will inevitably doom their marriage. An ugly wound in the shape of …Paula The Poacher.
“Henry, we need to talk. About that fight.”
“Which one?” He asks.
“Oh fuck, Henry. Like I have to tell you which one. I’m still hurting and we need to resolve it.”
“OK, what do you need me to say?”
Her voice rose, increasing in pitch, “Do I need to say it? Like you don’t know? Why didn’t you say something, do something.”
“As I recall, Kelly, you and Paula created the stakes yourselves. Jim and I came back from hunting and you sprung those stakes on us.”
Tears streamed down Kelly’s cheeks. “Oh God, Henry, I was naked, she finger fucked me, they tied me to a pole like an animal carcass, then left me tied and gagged. And you…you didn’t give a SHIT!”
“Weren’t those the agreed upon stakes? It hurt me seeing you so humiliated. I really did feel bad for you.”
“The fuck you did!” Kelly cried. “I’m tied up like a roasted pig while you feast, drink, and laugh it up with those…criminals!”
“You don’t think I hurt too?” he replied, “after my…you know,….discovery.”
Kelly fought back tears, her lips quivering as the beautiful haunting voice of Annie Lennox filled the room. “Oh, God, Henry,” she sobbed, “are you going to bring that up again? How can I convince you that’s all behind me?”
How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I’m sorry for the things I’ve done
But when I start to try to tell you
That’s when you have to tell me
Hey, this kind of trouble’s only just begun
“Henry,” Kelly choked, “do you still want to try? Are you really committed to giving us another chance? Do you want to be married to me?”
I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you’re thinking
And I’ve heard it said too many times
That you’d be better off
Besides
Why can’t you see this boat is sinking
This boat is sinking
Henry’s face fell as there was a moment of awkward silence. Kelly spoke in a low voice. “I need to do something to help me move on,” she breathed. “To help us both move on. We can’t stay this way. We need to deal with this.”
“Yes,” her husband answered, “I’m willing to do what it takes to start over again. To put the past behind us. To get over the pain.”
Let’s go down to the water’s edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out
“How?” Henry asked. “Do you want a rematch with Paula.”
“No, dear,” she answered sarcastically. “She’s in prison. Remember?” Kelly paused, biting her lip. “Here’s what I need. I need to fight again. Either a catfight or a catty wrestling match. Against someone who will be a stand in for Paula. Someone I can strip naked and hogtie after I defeat her. I need a match with those stakes. I need to be on the other side of what Paula did to me. Just to prove that I’m still an alpha female.”
“Well,” replied Henry, “if you can find a woman willing to accept those stakes, I’ll be there for you. I’ll support you.”
“No, Henry, I need you to do more than watch and support me. I need you to prove you’re really with me. I need you to take on the same risks that I’m taking. We are fighting for the same stakes together. If I do it, you do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean a couples match. Losers get stripped and tied. That goes for you too.”
“Good luck to us finding another couple,” Henry responded. “It’s hard enough for me finding opponents for regular matches. Guys are afraid of me.”
“I know someone who isn’t.”
“Who?”
“Oh please, Henry. Are you in denial? Do I need to show you the tape? Shaun. Remember? The guy who kicked your ass in our house.”
“Shaun and Holly? I doubt they would accept those terms. Especially after the way you treated Holly.”
“We’ll just have to persuade them.”
**********
Holly was shocked to have received the call. “Shaun, guess who called me, today. I still can’t believe it.”
‘Who?”
“Kelly…She and Henry are asking us back for a couples rematch.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. It seemed so weird. She was pleasant and cordial. Not like the first time we saw her. She said she felt bad for being a terrible hostess last time. She said she had a lot of personal issues going on that put her in a bad mood. She wants to make it up to us this time by inviting us back for a rematch.”
“Alright,” Shaun said, “Maybe she’s not as much of a bitch as we thought. What did you tell her.”
“I said we’d think about it and get back to her.”
Over the next few days, Holly and Shaun mulled over their decision of whether or not to accept Kelly and Henry’s offer. “I’ll tell you one thing,” Holly asserted, “she won’t walk all over me this time. I’ll be ready. If anyone is going to be thrown off a pool table this time, it will be her.”
“Yes, I think you’ll be a much better, smarter fighter this time,” Shaun offered. “But are you ready psychologically? Remember how afraid you were of losing?”
“I never want to lose again. I used to think getting beat in front of your eyes would be the worst experience imaginable. And it was awful. But knowing you were there, seeing the look in your eyes, knowing you were supporting me, loving me actually made me feel better. You gave me power to endure the humiliation. Knowing you and I would always be strong.”
Holly paused and swallowed hard. “But you know what really scares me? The thought of seeing you lose. My worst nightmare is hearing you verbally submit, seeing you pinned and counted out, seeing you knocked out in a boxing match. Or watching another man stand over you in a victory pose. I know I couldn’t handle that.”
Shaun smiled softly, “Nobody stays undefeated forever. If the time comes when someone else is the better man, I know you’ll stand with me like I stood by you. I know you will.”
Holly let’s slip a sly smile. “Let’s go pay Kelly and Henry a visit and kick their asses.”
The following day, Shaun returned home from work. “Forget the rematch, Shaun.” Holly said. “It’s not going to happen…I called Kelly to accept their offer. After beating around the bush, she finally gets to what she really wants…stakes.”
“Stakes?” Shaun asked.
“Yes, stakes, and are you ready for this…the stakes are that both losers get stripped naked and hogtied. I told her we don’t do those things. The match is off. Imagine. I should have known that bitch was up to something. Naked and tied up…what the fuck?”
“It’s about dominance and humiliation,” Shaun explained. “That’s what she wants. She’s pushing the envelope.”
“Well she can push it with somebody else. I’m texting her now to say ‘No.’”
When Shaun came home the following day, this time he had shocking news for Holly. “Henry called me. He said the match and the stakes are very important to them. Kelly is not supposed to know we talked.”
“What did he say?” Holly asked.
“Well, their marriage has been on the rocks for quite some time. They were about to divorce but decided to give it one more go.”
“What’s that have to do with us?”
“Apparently Kelly sees the stakes as a test of their love. A risk that they both take together for each other.”
“Well I’m not taking a risk for their marriage,” Holly responded. “Did you tell him to forget it?”
“I did,” Shaun explained, “but…
“But what?”
“He’s offering us $3,000 just for showing up. He really wants to do this for Kelly. He said money is not an issue. They already spent a fortune on marriage counseling.”
“And you accepted?”
“No, I didn’t….Then, he upped the offer. We get $3,000 for showing, then an extra $2,000 for each of us that wins for a total of $5,000. And $10,000 if we both win.”
“You’re kidding”
“No, I’m not….I told him we’d think about it.”
“I want to fight Kelly again. But the possibility of being nude? Tied up?”
“Henry insists that’s all it will be. He swears there will be no funny stuff. Nothing will happen to the losers beyond that. I believe him.”
“Shaun,” Holly said, “I think I’m ready to take Kelly on this time. I wasn’t prepared last time and I’m a much better fighter now. And there’s no way you’re going to lose. So that’s $5,000 guaranteed right there.”
“So you want to accept their challenge?”
“I’ll give you an answer in the morning. Let’s go to bed.”
In her nightgown, Holly watched her husband undress. At age 48, he was still fit. The graying hair made him look mature but yet still virile. She gazed at the powerful shoulders and chest as he removed his shirt. “Shaun,” she asked, “if I lose to Kelly again and end up naked and tied up…um…you’ll still stand by me…right?”
“Of course, honey,” Shaun spoke softly. “If that happens, I’ll be right beside you.”
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
“And what if I lose?” Shaun asked with a gentle smile. “Will you be by my side?”
“Forget it, Bud,” Holly replied. “Ain’t gonna happen.”
The pretty blonde felt a twinge of excitement peering at his bare back; the thick trapezius muscles, the sinewy lats. Her eyes fixed on his cute butt as he shook off the briefs. That butt. That beautiful butt with its dimples. Stealthily, she approached her unwary husband from behind, her fingers transformed into pincers, each one zeroed on a dimple, one on the right and another on the left.
“Ow-,” Shaun jumps as his wife lets out a mischievous laugh. She fell into his chest as their lips merged, the tongues coming together, each one alternatively pushing the other back and forth, then twisting around the other. Shaun embraced her, holding on to her back as Holly lowered her hands, stroking the beloved dimples. He reciprocated, cupping his massive hands around her sweet ass. Picking up his cue, Holly bent her knees, allowing her husband’s hands to support her weight, lifting her up off her feet. With his wife’s legs legs wrapped around his waist, Shaun walked forward, depositing his beloved’s back on the bed as he remained standing by the edge. Holly gasped, feeling her nightgown lifted up and her knees spread apart. Her breathing now rapid, her face flushed, she felt the familiar body tingle as her labial lips split, welcoming her husband inside her.
“Oh my love,” she whispered. Shaun expertly held his wife’s pelvis at the edge of the bed as he pumped her from a standing position. Holly moaned with each thrust. “Oh my love, my warrior, my king. Mate with me forever, your wife, your fellow warrior, your queen….”
******
Kelly rejoiced at the news Holly and Shaun accepted their challenge, unaware of her husband’s added incentives. For her, the match was an opportunity to reclaim her life and marriage, a chance to recover her self-esteem. In the two weeks leading up to the match, she refocused her training on aggression. She overwhelmed Holly before. She’ll do it again. I’m an alpha female, she told herself. I’ll prove it to everyone.
Holly promised herself this match would be different. She needed to avenge the ugly blemish on her record. Sure, Kelly is stronger and aggressive. Holly conceded that. But she will win with technique and speed. The indignity of being thrown off the pool table haunted her as she trained. Kelly has no idea she will be facing a different Holly, she thought.
The match would again be held in the spacious play room at Kelly and Henry’s house. The women agreed to wrestling with a few catty rules including hair pulling for control. Holly and Kelly would wrestle in bikinis and the guys in gym shorts. All four combatants would wrestle at the same time, strictly adhering to male vs. male, female vs. female. Losers would be stripped and hogtied immediately after each submission or five count pin.
On the road, Holly and Shaun were in a relaxed casual mood as they sang songs and played word games to pass the tIme on the highway, Holly felt the looseness of spirit give way to nervous tension when she recognized the roadside landmarks just a few miles from their hosts’ home. A sense of heaviness in her chest developed as they turned into the residential neighborhood road leading to the destination. Shaun noticed her rapid shallow breathing as they pulled into their hosts’ driveway. “Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she answered. “Just a sense of deja vu. I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes to block out the negative memories. It’s a new Holly and a new match.” The pretty blonde closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “There,” she sighed….”I’m ready.”
Holly repeated her mantra of no negative thoughts when the large front door opened and there stood Henry and Kelly, face to face for the first time since their last match.
“Hi, welcome back,” beamed the smiling hosting couple. “Please come in. Take some time to unwind from your trip.” Kelly’s demeanor was in stark contrast from their last meeting. She came across as pleasant and gracious.
“I really wasn’t a good hostess last time you were here,” she said. “Let me get you something to drink and I’ll show you around.” Holly was quiet as Kelly led her and Shaun from room to room chirping about the history of the house and their remodeling plans.
As they entered the game room, Holly fought back anxiety as she saw the familiar mats, the cleared away furniture, and at the far side of the makeshift arena…the pool table. The very sight of it made her gasp. No negative thoughts, she said repeatedly to herself. Block it out. What she saw on the large leather chair nearly made her shriek – coils of rope draped across the back of the chair with two red ball gags rested on the seat.
“So this is where we’ll have our battle today,” Kelly continued. “Thanks for agreeing to the stakes. Why don’t we sit down and chat, then you can tell us when you’re ready.”
Holly and Shaun sipped sparkling water as the two couples conversed about their jobs, their other hobbies, places they’ve lived and visited. After about thirty minutes, Holly looked at Shaun. He nodded. “Guys,” she said, “I think we’re ready.”
“Very well,” said Kelly, “I’ll take you to the guest room where you can change.”
Stripped nude, Holly paused for a moment gazing at her husband’s naked body. The former college football star kept himself in great shape. She watched him slip on his gym shorts. “Stop,” she ordered, before he could pull the shorts waist high. “I want to see those cute dimples first. “There,” she said, as she pecked a kiss on each dented buttocks. “For good luck.”
“Thanks for doing this with me, Shaun,” she whispered, looking at her husbands eyes. “I want to prove that I’m better than last time. That I can beat Kelly. You and I fighting together means everything. As long as you’re with me, everything seems so right in the world. She slipped on her red bikini bottoms and positioned the top straps.
“Wait,” said Shaun, as he stooped slightly, positioning his face to her chest level, planting a kiss on each nipple. “For good luck,” he said.
Holly smiled “Let’s go kick their asses,” she uttered.
Kelly tied her black hair into a bun and adjusted her dark brown bikini as Henry tied the waist string to his gym shorts. The couple was silent as they changed. Finally, Kelly spoke, “Thank you Henry, I appreciate you doing this with me. It means a lot that you’re willing to accept stakes with me. I just want to start over. I want to find myself again, Find us.”
“Now,” she added, “let’s destroy our guests and tie ‘em up.”
Holly strolled confidently back to the game room alongside her husband. Her bare feet felt the soft firmness of the mat. Across the 20’ x 20’ battle ground, stood Kelly and Henry. At 5’7” and 130 lbs, Holly was 2 inches but 10 lbs lighter than her opponent. She noted Kelly’s supreme look of confidence and her strong build at age 42. Kelly’s 36D chest was a bit larger than Holly’s 36C. No negative thoughts she told herself. Her eyes shifted to Henry. Although 50 years old and balding, he was a very powerful man at 6’0” and 260 lbs. He had some extra girth around the middle but had the body of a weight lifter.
The two couples spent about twenty minutes stretching and warming up before agreeing to begin the battle. Holly no longer felt intimidated by the pool table. In fact, the sight of it gave her an added motivation, a sense that retribution is needed. The four combatants took respective positions at each corner of the mat; male facing male, female facing female. On the leather chair, the rope and the gags were ominously still like an impartial executioner.
“Let’s count together,” Henry instructed. “On the count of three, let’s start.”
“One…two…three,” the four wrestlers shouted. “FIGHT!”
(To be continued)
Stand By You
Lyrics by Rachel Platten
Why
Lyrics by Annie Lennox
The End