When I arrived home just after nine, I found Sharon and Tracy flaked out in the living room, most of their way through a bottle of red wine. Several mostly empty containers of Chinese food littered the coffee table. “Anything left for me?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t yet had supper.
“Help yourself,” said Sharon, and I went into the kitchen to get a plate and a clean glass for myself. “How did your meeting go with Patricia?”
“Great,” I replied. “Got myself a job.”
“Good for you!” said Sharon.
“Who's your partner?” inquired Tracy.
“Rosie. Apparently her old partner's pregnant, so she's given it up, at least for a while.”
“Yeah, I heard a rumour about that. Well, her loss is your gain.”
I grinned. “I s'pose.”
“Did Patricia get you to fight Rosie?” asked Sharon.
I nodded as I spooned some sweet-and-sour chicken onto my plate. “She's a weird one, isn't she?”
“Did you win?” added Tracy.
“Yeah...finally. I nearly had to break her back to make her submit.”
“Don't worry,” said Sharon with a laugh. “She probably enjoyed it.” She filled my glass, then topped up Tracy’s and her own.
“How d'you mean?”
“Rosie gets off on pain...that's her thing. She's some sort of masochist. She likes to win, all right, but she likes to take a beating while she's doing it.”
I arched my eyebrows and shrugged. That matched what Patricia had told me, and it certainly made sense, given the way Rosie had fought. What the hell, I thought. I’d still won.
“Got any plans for the weekend?” Tracy asked, leaning forward to pick up her glass.
“Not really,” I replied. “Why?”
“The group's getting together. I thought you might like to come along.”
Excitement gripped me – another chance to fight. “Love to!” I looked across at Sharon. “Are you coming too, Shaz?”
She shook her head. “I think I'll give it another week or so before I start up again,” she said. “Tracy and I went a few rounds tonight at the Y and I'm really feeling it. Don't want to push it too hard and hurt myself.”
I laughed. “That's good, coming from you.”
She stuck her tongue out mockingly, then laughed along with me. “Maybe I'm getting smarter as I get older.”
“About bloody time!” I retorted, then turned back to Tracy. “So…what's the plan?”
“I'll pick you up from work tomorrow night, and we'll drive straight out there.”
“Straight out where?” I asked. Sharon and Tracy had been on several of these weekend retreats before, but they’d never told me where they went or what happened. I’d always made a conscious decision not to be too curious, but now I was going too, so I felt I had the right to ask.
“Berkshire,” replied Tracy. “There's a hotel...sort of a convention centre really, where we all meet up. We won't be back until late Sunday night, so make sure you bring enough clothes for the whole weekend.”
“So what goes on, at these things?”
“Basically, we fight. You'll have a couple of matches against different girls. It'll be good practice for you.” She paused and took another sip of her wine. “Anyway, I'll go through all the details with you tomorrow night, on the way out there.”
“What should I bring?”
“Just your workout gear, some casual clothes...oh, and maybe a swimsuit if you like. The place has an indoor pool, heated so it's nice and warm. I like to have a swim in the morning.”
“Sounds good. Pity you won't be there, Shaz. Still, you've only been back in training for a week.”
“Yeah. It's a shame it has to be this weekend. Give it another week, and I'll be ready to get back on the mat again.” She shrugged. “Still, that's the way it goes. Next time the group gets together, I'll be out there too.”
We spent the rest of the evening watching the video Sharon and Tracy had rented on the way home from the Y, before weariness finally got the better of me and I trudged off to my room.
*****
Tracy met me outside work a bit after five-thirty the following afternoon, huddled under the front awning of the shop, out of the drizzling rain. “I left a bit early this afternoon,” she explained, “and did some shopping. Come on, the car's parked around the corner.” I put up my umbrella and followed her down the street, lugging my big black hold-all on my shoulder.
“The boot's already full with my stuff,” she said as we reached the Mini and she unlocked the passenger-side door. “Toss your bag on the back seat.” I did so, and slid into the car while she dashed around to the driver's side.
“It'll take us ages to get there in this traffic,” said Tracy as we pulled out from the kerb.
“M25?” I suggested.
“The A4's probably quicker,” she said. “We need to get out to the M4...the hotel's just north of Reading.”
I shrugged. “You're the driver.”
We headed into the city, making quite good time for the moment since most of the traffic was going the other way. After about fifteen minutes, I couldn’t contain myself any longer, and asked, “So what's this place we're going to?”
“Like I said last night, it's a conference centre. Apparently a lot of big firms use it for seminars and so on, during the week, but most of the time it's empty on weekends. The lady who owns it is a member of the group, so she lets us use it...usually about one weekend a month, depending on whether they're booked up or not.”
“What happens when we get there?”
“Well, tonight will be pretty relaxed...just a quiet get together, usually. It’ll give you a chance to get to know the rest of the girls.”
“How many will be there?” I asked, and then grinned. “Sorry to ask so many questions.”
Tracy laughed. “Don't worry about it.” She paused while she steered the car through a roundabout, then went on. “We usually get about a dozen women...no men, that's the rule. Some of them don't get there till late, so that’s why there’s nothing organized on a Friday night. That’ll start in the morning, after breakfast.”
“So we get to fight tomorrow?”
“Yep. When you check in, Saskia…that's the owner of the place…will enter you into the computer...height, weight and experience. The computer will work out some opponents for you, and they'll post your matches on the notice board in the morning. Oh, and make sure you tell her you're a novice, not a beginner, otherwise you'll never get a decent match.
“You'll get two fights tomorrow, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. You get another one on Sunday morning and if you want, you can have one on Sunday afternoon. I usually do. Just let Saskia know you want one, and she'll match you up.”
I frowned. “Doesn't this cost us something?” I asked. “Surely we have to pay for our accommodation, at least.”
“Oops...I forgot to tell you. Yeah, it costs you fifty quid for the weekend. That covers room and board. Oh, and you have to buy your own drinks at the bar.” She grinned. “Actually, it's a really good deal. The rooms are nice, and the food's terrific. Saskia's actually paying for most of it...I think she just charges us a few quid to make us all feel better. Have you got enough cash on you?”
“Yeah, I think so.” I still had most of the two hundred pounds Tracy and I had earned the previous weekend, from our matches against Angie and Jenny. “So what do we do when we're not fighting?”
“There's a pool and a really nice gym at the hotel, so you can work out if want.” She laughed. “Not that you'll need the exercise. Two matches a day should give you all the workout you'll need. Besides that, there's the lounge and bar, so if you're not fighting, you can watch the others who are, or just hang around and chat with the girls.”
“What would you suggest?”
“I'd suggest watching the other fights. You'll always learn something.”
We made slow progress until we got past the M25 intersection, west of Heathrow airport, but it gave me the chance to ask the hundred and one other questions that had been running around in my head for the past day, and Tracy did her best to answer them without becoming too exasperated with me.
After the traffic thinned out, we made better time, getting off the A4 and taking several turns on a number of different roads. I was completely lost, but Tracy seemed to know where she was going, and eventually she slowed as we approached a sign that read Berwick Manor – Hotel and Convention Centre.
“Remember what I told you,” said Tracy as we turned off the road and headed up the tree-lined driveway toward a lighted building, “just relax and be nice to everybody. Some of the girls will probably try to needle you, but don't let them get under your skin. It's just their way of sizing you up.”
“Okay.” I was a bit nervous as she slid the car into a space in the carpark at the front of the building. I tried not to show it though, as I pulled my bag out of the back seat and followed Tracy up the steps to the front door.
Despite its stately home name, the hotel was a modern glass and concrete structure. I could see the main foyer, visible through the glass doors and full-length windows, along with what looked like a restaurant and bar to the right. This part of the building was single-storey, but there were wings to the right and left with a couple more floors, and I assumed those were the hotel rooms.
The foyer was all white tiles and glass and chrome, with a couple of white leather couches in the middle around a coffee table. We walked past them and up to the front desk, where two women stood watching us. One was about our age, short and slim, with blonde hair pulled up into a carefully messy bun with bits of hair trailing down to frame her cheeks. The other was older, about the same height as Tracy so an inch or two taller than me, with dark red hair and blue eyes that seemed to bore right into me as we approached the desk.
“Donna, this is Saskia,” Tracy introduced us. She pronounced it ‘Sasha’ but she’d told me in the car on the way down that it was spelled with a K. “She runs the group. Saskia, this is my friend Donna…the one I told you about.”
Saskia smiled and extended her hand across the desk to me. “Nice to meet you, Donna. Welcome to the group.” Her voice held a slight hint of an accent. Tracy had told me she was Danish. She looked from me to Tracy and back again with a smile. “Let’s get you checked in, shall we?”
She had a laptop computer on the desk in front of her, and she began to ask me questions. I told her I was five-foot seven and a hundred and twenty pounds. “No lying about your weight,” Tracy had told me earlier. “No vanity in this group…be honest about everything.” I did what she said. I told Saskia I’d had a few fights before, won most of them, but I wasn’t a veteran fighter either. She nodded and made entries into her laptop.
“You can have up to four fights if you want,” she said, “two tomorrow and two on Sunday, though most of the girls like to pace themselves and only do two or three. We have divisions…from fourth to first, depending on your experience and your record here. Since this is your first time here, but you’ve had a few fights, we’ll start you off with a couple of fights in division three tomorrow. Then, if you do well…and if you want to…we’ll put you against a division two opponent on Sunday morning. Sound okay to you?”
I looked at Tracy who gave me a very subtle nod. “Sounds great,” I said to Saskia.
“Good.” She turned to the younger woman next to her. “Emily honey, you have Donna’s and Tracy’s room keys.”
The blonde handed us each a little paper folder with our room keys. “North wing, second floor,” she said. “Lifts are over there, though the doors.”
“Dinner’s already being served in the restaurant,” added Sasha, “and we’ll see you both in the bar afterwards for a drink.”
We walked away, through a set of glass doors and along a short passageway that led into one of the wings. Tracy pressed the lift button and we waited. “Wow,” I said quietly now that we were alone. “This place is really swanky.”
Tracy grinned. “It’s something, isn’t it?”
“So’s Saskia. It felt like she could have eaten me alive and not broken a sweat.” We stepped into the lift, and I felt a sudden shiver. “I wouldn’t like to face her in a fight.”
Tracy gave me a serious look. “No…you wouldn’t. Me neither. I’ve seen her fight and she’s…well, she’s really…intense.”
We got out of the lift and walked around the corner and along the corridor to our rooms. The two wings stretched back from the ends of the front building, so the whole place was a ‘U’ shape. My room was about halfway down the corridor on the inside of the U, and Tracy was a couple doors further down on the outside.
The room was just as nice as the rest of the hotel. There was a big queen-sized bed, a desk and a little two-seater couch. Plush cushions decorated the bed and there were pictures on the walls. The room had its own private bathroom with a bath, an in-bath shower and a toilet. It was a far cry from the place Sharon and I had holed up in, after our run-in with the Millers.
I dumped my bag on the couch, hung up my jacket in the wardrobe right inside the door – I hadn’t brought anything else that needed hanging – and met Tracy out in the hallway a few minutes later. We retraced our steps back down to the lobby and then through to the restaurant, which was next to the lobby and overlooked gardens in the middle of the U-shaped complex. The pool was there too, but in its own separate building like a conservatory.
The place was really big but mostly empty – only half a dozen people were there, all women, in a few groups dotted about. Tracy walked over to a table near the bar where two women sat, both about our age. “Hiyas!” she greeted them casually.
One, coffee-skinned with a cloud of curly black hair that framed her round face, greeted her back. “Hi Tracy. Who’s your friend?” She looked me up and down with huge dark eyes.
“This is Donna…Shaz’s sister. It’s her first time.” Tracy turned to me. “Donna, this is Dominique…and this is Maria.”
The other woman was more slightly built, with an olive complexion and a mass of ringlets that tumbled over her shoulders. She smiled. “Hi Donna. Welcome to the group.” She nodded to the two empty seats at their table. “Grab a drink and join us?”
“We’ll grab some grub too,” replied Tracy, nodding to the long buffet table against the far wall. “Come on, Donna.”
A few minutes later we were back at the table with plates of food and a glass of wine each, and we fell into an easy conversation. Everyone was dressed casually – jeans and jumpers or sweatshirts – and acted the same way. By the time Tracy and I finished our food, it felt like we’d all known each other for ages.
Dominique – she told me to call her Dom – and Maria had been joined by another girl named Samantha, who looked Asian or Eurasian. She was smaller than Tracy or me, even smaller than Dom or Maria. “Don’t let that fool you though,” Tracy warned me with a grin. “Sam’s been around a while and she’s no pushover.”
Sam grinned. “What I lack in size, I make up for in speed and cunning!”
“Not to mention being an evil bitch when you feel like it!” laughed Maria. “She had me pinned to the mat in no time, when we fought last month,” she explained to me.
“So who’s here this weekend?” asked Tracy. “Any word on who’s showing up?”
Dom tilted her head to the right. “There’s those two,” she said, nodding toward two women in the back corner of the room. One was a redhead and the other a brunette but otherwise, they looked very much alike. “Wendy and Julie,” she went on, again to me as an explanation. “They’re sisters.”
“We call them the boobie twins,” grinned Sam. “You’ll see why, when you see them with a bit less on.”
“Not exactly the friendliest couple,” added Tracy, “but they know their way around the mats and they’ll give you a good workout if you go up against either of them.”
“No sign of the bitch brigade,” said Dom. “Maybe they’re not coming.”
“Here’s hoping,” agreed Tracy. She looked at me. “Bunch of bitches who think the sun shines out of their arses. With any luck, they won’t turn up.”
“You spoke too soon,” Sam interrupted her with a nod toward the door. I followed her eyes and saw three women enter – two blondes and a brunette. One of the blondes and the brunette were tall – probably as tall as Tracy and me – while the other blonde was a few inches shorter. All of them were dressed to the nines in short skirts, jackets and heels, dripping with gold jewelry.
The taller blonde was clearly the leader, and she walked a step ahead of the other two as they strode over to our table like they owned the place. I guessed all of them were around forty, but they all looked fit and “Look what the cat dragged in,” said Tracy, loudly to make sure they heard her.
“Look what the cat threw up,” the taller blonde shot back, looking directly at Tracy. She didn’t even glance at the rest of us.
Tracy’s eyes narrowed. I noticed the muscles in her neck tighten. “You’re such a cxnt, Vicky.”
The blonde – Vicky – sneered down at her. Her two companions had stepped up other side of her, and the three of them stood over us. “You’re such a little bitch, Tracy. I plan to make you my bitch, next time we fight.”
Tracy’s eyes flashed. “You wish, slag.”
Vicky winked mockingly. “If you’re up to facing me, that is. If you’re not afraid. I know you haven’t forgotten last time.” The other two smirked.
“I’ll ruin you, you old Tom!” snarled Tracy, her voice low and menacing. “You think you’re all that, just because you married money, but you’re still a cheap whore.”
Now it was Vicky who tensed up. Her face went black as thunder. She drew her hand back and I thought she was going to slap Tracy, but then she relaxed and smiled coldly. “We’ll settle it on the mats.” She turned and headed for the bar with her friends in tow.
Everyone at the table was silent for a minute. “Wow,” I said finally. “No love lost, there.”
“Not one fucking bit,” replied Tracy with venom.
“Are you going to fight her?”
“Not up to me. Saskia’s computer makes up the pairings and she posts them in the morning at breakfast time.”
“That’s only the formal ones though,” Sam pointed out. “You can always challenge her on Sunday if you want.”
Tracy nodded, with another dark look at the three older women. “Got to admit, I’m tempted. I’d love to show that old bitch up.”
We changed the subject and spent the rest of the evening making small talk. I got better acquainted with Dom, Maria and Sam, and found myself quite liking all three of them. After Tracy and I had both finished our second glass of wine though, we decided to call it a night. “Got to be all bright and fresh in the morning to teach one of you lot a hard lesson!”
Back in my room, I got undressed, brushed my teeth, set the alarm clock and climbed into bed. I thought about watching some TV for a while, but the long day and the wine got the better of me. I turned off the light and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.
*****
Tracy knocked on my door just before eight o’clock the next morning, dressed in a grey tracksuit with plimsolls on her feet. I was dressed almost the same – a black tracksuit – over my black bike shorts and sports bra.
When we got down to the restaurant for breakfast, the first thing Tracy did was head for an easel that had appeared in the corner close to the door. Pinned to it was a big sheet of paper and on the paper were the matchups for the fights over the next two days.
I saw I was scheduled for three fights. Two were on Saturday, with one in the morning against Dom and the second in the afternoon against Wendy. “That’s one of the boobie twins, right?” I asked Tracy.
“Yeah, Wendy’s the redhead.”
My third fight, on Sunday morning, was against somebody called Angela. I had no idea who she was.
“She’s one of the bitch brigade,” Tracy told me. “The other blonde…the shorter one.”
I remembered her – shorter than me, more solidly built. She hadn’t said anything when they’d stood over us the previous night. She’d left the talking – the insults, at least toward Tracy – to Vicky, the leader.
Tracy was also up for three fights. Her first wasn’t till Saturday afternoon, against somebody named Katie, who again I didn’t know. “She wasn’t here last night,” said Tracy. “Probably got here late.” She looked around, and pointed to where Wendy and Julie sat, with a slim but athletic-looking blonde. “That’s her.”
Tracy’s second fight, on Sunday morning, was against Julie – the other boobie twin – and her third was against a woman named Liz. “She’s the third one in the bitch brigade,” explained Tracy before I even asked. “The brunette.”
We sat with Dom, Maria and Sam for breakfast. “Looks like you and I are up against each other this morning,” I said to Dom.
She grinned. “Just because I like you, doesn’t mean I won’t kick your arse in front of the whole group.”
I grinned back. “Let’s see who kicks whose arse, shall we?” I was looking forward to fighting her. She was a bit smaller than me, but we were still pretty well matched physically, and I liked her attitude – friendly and smart without being a smartarse. I was glad she’d be my first opponent here.
We finished breakfast, popped back to our rooms to brush our teeth and visit the loo, and then Tracy led me downstairs again and through to the rear of the hotel where the conference rooms were. We all met up in one of the bigger rooms, about thirty by twenty feet, with big windows along the back wall that looked out over sloping fields to a set of woods at the bottom of the hill about half a mile away.
The room was warm and brightly lit. There was a table next to the door with tea and coffee urns, plastic cups and milk and sugar. Another table in the corner held a stack of folded towels. Chairs were set around the walls, more than enough for all of us to sit. The middle of the room was cleared out and black rubber mats covered most of the floor.
Tracy and I found seats on the far side of the room, with a good view of the outdoors. The weather was overcast with drizzly rain, but the fields and woods were still really pretty. We were joined by Sam a couple of minutes after we got there, then by Dom and Maria. We sat as a group as the others trickled in – Wendy and Julie together, followed by the three women from the bitch brigade who seemed to travel as a pack. The slender blonde – Katie – who I hadn’t yet met, arrived last, accompanied by Saskia, who carried a clipboard under her arm.
Everybody was dressed pretty much like Tracy and me – tracksuits, warmup suits, sweat pants and hoodies. We weren’t a high fashion bunch, that was for sure, but that wasn’t why we were here. I could feel my pulse quickening already. I was ready to fight.
Before Dom and me though, there was another fight. Sam was up against Maria – the two smallest women here. Neither of them was tiny, both about five foot four, but they were shorter than the rest of us. They both kicked off their shoes and wriggled out of their sweats. Underneath, Maria had a black and white print sports bra and a really short pair of pink shorts, while Sam wore even less – just a brief black string bikini trimmed with yellow.
They stepped out onto the mat, going to opposite ends well out of reach of one another to start the match. “Pity about that extra sausage at breakfast!” called out Dom, to laughter from us and the boobie twins who sat near the tea table along with Katie. The older women, on the opposite side of the room, closer to Saskia but still separated by a couple of chairs, didn’t even crack a smile.
The two began to circle each other at the edge of the mats. There was plenty of room here, certainly more than we’d had to fight in, in Angie’s living room the previous weekend, and even more than the back room at the Y. They slowly spiraled in toward one another, closing the distance as they watched each other carefully.
Tracy leaned over to me. “Watch them,” she whispered. “Sam’s more of a wrestler while Maria likes to hit, so it’ll be interesting to compare their styles.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes on the two fighters. I didn’t need Tracy telling me to watch. I was riveted. Besides my own genuine interest, I knew I might have to face one or the other of them at some point in the future, so was I was eager to see what I could learn.
Sam lifted up her right hand as they got in close – the traditional wrestler’s challenge. She was a little bit shorter than Maria and though she was still slim, she was the more sturdily built of the two. Powerful was a better way to describe her, smaller in the bust – maybe a B cup compared to Maria’s small C – but her abs were amazing. Maria had wider hips and a narrow waist, and combined with her bigger boobs she looked curvier, but still slim. I’d have had no trouble lifting either of them.
Maria lifted her hand too, accepting the challenge. They each took a step forward, eyes locked with each other. Their fingers touched, then intertwined. Each of them reached out with her free hand for the other’s neck.
Suddenly Maria jerked her right arm down hard, pulling Sam in toward her. As her opponent stumbled forward, Maria sent a hard slap across Sam’s cheek with her left hand, whipping the other girl’s head sideways and sending her dark hair flying across her face. Maria didn’t stop there though. She stepped to her left, jerked even harder on Sam’s arm and spun Sam around, getting behind her and twisting her arm up into a hammerlock. “Ha! Should have had more coffee, girl! Wake you up a bit!”
Sam growled in pain and frustration as Maria jerked her hand up almost to the back of her shoulder-length hair. She counterattacked immediately though, shoving her body backwards so her bum smacked hard into Maria’s hips. Her left foot snaked backwards around Maria’s ankle, and as Sam arched her back quickly, slamming her shoulders into Maria’s chest, the other woman tripped and went over backwards with a loud cry.
The two of them crashed to the mats, Maria on her back with Sam on top of her. Sam’s left arm was still free and she rammed her elbow backwards hard, catching Maria in the left boob. Maria squealed in pain, released her hold on Sam, and the two women rolled away from each other in opposite directions. They came to their knees, then their feet, both of them breathing hard, sweeping their hair off their faces as they began to circle each other again.
I whispered to Tracy. “Gawd, they’re not messing about, are they?”
She grinned without taking her eyes off the fight. “Friends in the bar, but all that goes away the minute you step on the mats. None of the girls here are first-time nervous nellies like those two we fought out in Chiswick.”
Sam smiled at Maria as they closed in again. “Awake enough for you now, babes?” She suddenly launched herself at the other woman. Maria did the same and their bodies collided like those dueling mountain goats you see on the TV. There was a loud smack as they slammed together, chest to chest, with a loud grunt from both of them. I half expected them to fall to the mats, winded, but they stayed on their feet grappling, legs and arms straining.
They stayed like that for almost a full minute, each of them struggling to overpower the other, neither of them having any success. Sam suddenly stepped back and twisted to her left. As Maria stumbled past her, she whipped her body forward from the waist, tossing Maria over her shoulder and sending her somersaulting to the mats with a loud thud. Maria’s scream of painful surprise was joined by Sam’s own though, as Maria had a good grip on Sam’s hair and jerked her forward in a somersault too.
Sam crashed down onto the matt on her bum, between Maria’s open legs. The earlier fall had almost bounced her boobs out of her bikini top – I couldn’t think why she hadn’t worn something a bit more substantial – and the somersault finished the job, as her left boob popped right out and I could see a half-moon of dark brown aureola poking around the edge of the right side of her bikini top.
Maria threw her legs up and around Sam’s waist in a flash. Her right arm snaked around Sam’s neck, forearm underneath her chin, and she jerked back hard on Sam’s neck, getting a groan of pain out of her opponent. It not only looked painful but difficult to get out of. “Uh oh,” I breathed, “Sam’s in trouble now.”
“Just watch,” said Tracy quietly. “It’s not over yet.”
I glanced around the room at the rest of the audience. Wendy and Julie were both learning forward in their seats, smiling, eyes fixed on the fight, clearly enjoying the spectacle, as was Katie who’d moved over and sat with them now. She was pointing and whispering to Wendy. Saskia was equally engrossed, leaning forward with her knees crossed and her chin resting on one hand, watching intently. The other three – the bitch brigade – weren’t smiling. The looks on their faces were like three jungle cats watching the kittens playing. The look on Vicky’s face in particular, gave me a chill. I looked at Liz – the one I’d be fighting tomorrow. She didn’t have quite the frightening look that Vicky had, but she still made me shiver.
Maria brought her other arm over Sam’s shoulder, ready for a proper choke hold, but Sam grabbed her wrist with her right hand and jerked it forward hard, stretching Maria’s arm out. At the same time, she twisted to her right and hammered her left elbow back into Maria’s ribs – once, then twice. Maria groaned at the first blow and cried out at the second. She let go of Sam’s neck with her right arm, grabbed the Asian girl’s hair and yanked Sam hard to the right, releasing the hold with her legs at the same time. The two women rolled away from each other, getting to all fours and then up to their knees again, face to face.
Sam’s boobs had bounced completely out of her bikini top now. As they knelt there, chests heaving as they forced air back into their lungs, she reached behind her, slipped the knot that held the lower strap in place and pulled the top off over her head, tossing it toward us to land at the edge of the mats. Dom leaned forward, scooped it up and placed on the empty seat next to her.
The two fighters didn’t even bother to rise to their feet this time, and just lunged at each other again while they were still on their knees. They locked hands, pressing into one another the muscles on their arms and shoulders bulging and rippling as they each struggled to force the other back.
Evenly matched as they were in raw strength, it was Sam’s experience that mattered in the end. She suddenly stopped shoving and leaned hard to her right. Maria lurched forward, smacking into Sam’s left shoulder, but Sam twisted left at the same time and Maria’s sweaty body slid past her. With a loud cry, “Shit!” Maria went down hard on her belly.
Sam was on her in a flash. As Maria pulled her arms out from under her, bracing her hands to push up, Sam leapt astride her waist. She grabbed both Maria’s wrists, jerking them backwards and pinning her arms.
Maria screamed and twisted violently as she tried to pull free. “Owww!!! Let me go!”
Sam laughed. “Not this time, babes!” She pulled Maria’s wrists up high, and I winced at the thought of the strain that must be putting on Maria’s shoulders.
Maria struggled a bit longer, but there was no way she was getting out of that hold. At last she relaxed and cried out, “Okay! Okay, I give up! I submit!”
Sam let her go immediately, and climbed off her as the rest of us applauded her victory. She reached out a hand to help Maria to her feet, and the two embraced, hugging each other just as hard as they’d done in the fight. Maria kissed Sam on the cheek. “Good fight, girl. I’ll get you next time though.”
“You can try!” teased Sam, as the two of them came back over to where we sat. She picked up her bikini top and put it back on.
There was a break of about fifteen minutes while the two of them toweled off and put their sweats back on. Many of the others grabbed tea or coffee, but I was all fired up for my fight against Dom. I hung back and started stretching to warm myself up. The adrenalin was already pumping through my veins, and I couldn’t wait to get on the mats.
Our time came soon enough. I took off my shoes, slipped out of my tracksuit and was ready to fight in black lycra bike shorts that hugged my hips and bum, and a sturdy matching sports bra. I don’t have big boobs but they’re still big enough to need some control when I’m exercising or fighting.
My eyes widened when I turned and looked at Dom. She wore lavender leggings that were skintight on her curvy hips and came partway down her calves. Her legs were slim but muscular. Her body was slender too, with well-defined abs. What caught my attention though, was her chest. Her boobs were massive, at least a double-D, and kept in place by two sports bras – a purple-and-white print one over a plain white one. Last night in her bulky jumper, and this morning in her loose-fitting hoodie, I’d had no idea she was so busty. Even with the double cover, her boobs jutted way out from her chest.
She caught my eye and grinned. “They need a lot of controlling,” she said, as she seemed to stand a little straighter, pulling her shoulders back.
“No kidding!” I retorted. “Girl, you are stacked!”
She laughed as we walked out onto the mats. “I was planning to be a gymnast when I was a little kid. So much for that idea!”
The buzz of conversation – no doubt the others comparing opinions on Dom and me – dropped to silence as we began to circle one another. I watched Dom carefully. She moved in a slight crouch, her bare feet sliding over the mats, never lifting too high, making sure she’d be ready for any attack I made. Her arms were out from her body, her hands just above waist height, ready to attack or defend. She kept her eyes on me, looking wary but confident. She’d obviously done this before.
Her confidence didn’t throw me though. I might be new here, but between my sparring matches with Tracy and my fights against Angie and Rosie, I wasn’t exactly a raw beginner. I kept circling, looking for an opening as the two of us slowly closed in on each other.
I attacked first, leaping forward, aiming a slap at Dom’s right shoulder, but I was just feinting to see how fast she was. Pretty fast, as I found out – she brought her right arm up quickly and smacked my hand away. I darted back out of reach in case she counterattacked immediately but she didn’t, and we went back to circling, our eyes locked on one another now.
Trying not to betray my thoughts with my eyes, I jumped forward again, throwing my arms out to get my fingers in Dom’s cloud of jet-black afro curls. She was too quick though, and as I lunged she ducked low, coming in close under my extended arms. Before I knew it, I was stretched out over the top of her, and I grunted hard as her shoulder slammed into my bare belly, half winding me.
Dom wrapped her arms around my waist and shoved forward and upward with her legs. I cried out in shock as she actually lifted me off my feet, legs kicking in the air. I squirmed frantically in her grip, her hold loosened, and I found myself sliding down her back. I got my own hands around her hips as I went down though, pulling her over backwards. I landed on my right shoulder and rolled away, while Dom went down hard on her bum with a yelp of pain, as even the well-padded mats didn’t do much to absorb the impact.
I ended my roll by twisting up to my knees facing back toward Dom, who was facing away from me, her back arched as the pain was still washing through her. I made the most of the opportunity, lunging at her, and this time I succeeded in getting my fingers in her hair. She let out another, louder yelp as I yanked her down onto her back and threw myself on top of her. Her cry turned into a breathless “OOOFFF!!!” as the breath rushed out of her.
She showed what she was made of, though, as I lay there stretched out over her, with her boobs pressed against my belly and my head right over her hips. She jerked her legs up and wrapped them around my head, locking her thighs tight around my neck. Her legs might have been slim but they were powerful, and I gasped as I felt the sudden tight pressure.
I reacted instinctively, and my knees clamped tight around Dom’s neck too. We lay there, head to toe in a mutual head scissors, as Dom bucked her hips hard, trying to rock me off her, and I struggled hard to stay on top, trying to keep whatever advantage that gave me. I slid my hands up along the insides of her legs, past her knees to the bare flesh below her tights, grabbing her legs hard and straining to unlock her ankles, to reduce her leverage and maybe give myself a chance to escape the grip of her thighs. I groaned as I poured all my strength into my arms, and Dom growled as she did the same to retain her hold.
Unable to get enough leverage to separate her ankles, I wracked my brain for another idea, as I felt my head starting to throb as Dom’s thighs cut off the blood to my brain. I wrapped my hands behind her knees and heaved, lifting her feet up off the floor. That changed the angle of her hips and I found my chin grinding into her crotch. I had to tilt my head back to give myself space to breathe.
I couldn’t maintain that position though, and Dom’s feet thudded back to the mats a moment later. I gritted my teeth and heaved again, lifting her higher this time, her hips coming up too this time, and I put all my weight back onto her as she slammed down again. I heard her gasp as the impact knocked some more breath out of her, and I repeated the move.
This time her grip on my neck slackened momentarily. I let out a breathless cry of extreme effort as I jerked her hips up again, and when I slammed them down a third time, she slackened the pressure enough so I could jerk my head back and escape. I let go of her neck too and rolled away, gasping, feeling the burning in my cheeks, my head pounding.
We both lay there for a moment, getting our breath back, before we clambered to all fours, and then to our feet. We circled again, but not for more than a few seconds before we went for each other. Dom surprised me by throwing a punch, and I didn’t have time to dodge or block it. Her fist drove hard into my ribs under my left arm, and I groaned. The girl knew how to punch.
So did I, though, and my answering blow slammed into the outside of her right boob, flattening it against her chest. She gasped but didn’t have time to do anything else before my other fist drove into her abs right alongside her belly button. She groaned and hunched over, her forehead smacking into my chest. I grabbed her hair, jerked her down lower and rammed my knee up into her belly as hard as I could.
I heard a cheer from the far side of the room, but only vaguely registered that it came from the bitch brigade. The force of my knee lifted Dom up onto her toes, and then she collapsed to her knees with my fingers still twisted in her hair. I resisted the urge to use my knee again, into her chest or up under her chin – I liked the girl and didn’t want to really hurt her – so I yanked hard to my left, hurling her away from me by her hair.
Dom went sprawling on her side, rolled over and came to her knees, staring at me with a grim smile, her eyes alight as she got to her feet, one hand holding her belly. “Ouch!” she winced, but she straightened up, took her hand off her abs and came at me again.
I expected her to punch again, or to grapple, but she suddenly threw herself at me with a roar. I didn’t have a chance to step back or duck aside as she slammed into me, arms around my chest, and I went over backwards, crashing to the mats with her on top of me. This time it was my turn to gasp out loud as Dom’s weight squashed the air out of me. I stiffened as a wave of pain surged through me, struggling to breathe as Dom’s big chest crushed mine.
Bucking my hips up, I tried to knock her off me, but she spread her feet out wide and stayed on top of me, pushing up to straddle my belly, reaching forward and grabbing for my arms to pin me. I twisted hard left and right, flailing my arms wildly to keep away from Dom’s grasping hands. If she got hold of my wrists and forced my arms down to the mats, she would shuffle up higher over me and get me in a position where I’d have no choice but to submit. I couldn’t let that happen.
I did my best to grab her hair so I could jerk her sideways and roll her off me, but she kept pulling back and twisting away. It was only a matter of time before she got lucky and got a hold of my wrists. I changed tactics, pulling my hands back to my chest and then ramming them up between Dom’s arms. The heels of my hands sank deep into Dom’s boobs, flattening them against her ribs.
With a loud cry, she lurched backwards, just as I whipped my legs up, got my feet under her chin and slammed her down on her back with her legs bent backwards under her. I tried to get my own body up to a sitting position, but Dom’s bum was still pressing down on my belly, holding me down.
I brought my arms up and then slammed both fists down in a hammer blow on Dom’s firm tummy. She let out a pain-filled groan, and her hips jerked up in the air before dropping back down onto me. I shoved hard at her hip with my right hand, twisting my body and jerking my legs which were still hooked under Dom’s chin. I managed to throw her off me this time. We each rolled away, coming to all fours again.
Dom glared at me across the few feet that separated us. There was pain on her face, and exhaustion too. I knew just how she felt. Sweat was running down my face and neck, between my boobs, and I shivered as a trickle of it ran down my spine. My chest was heaving, my heart thumping, but the adrenalin was surging through me. I knew Dom felt the same way. I could see the fierce light in her big brown eyes. She was just as determined as I was.
She threw herself forward again with a loud cry. The fatigue was taking hold on her though, and she wasn’t fast enough to surprise me this time. I rocked backwards on my knees, and Dom slammed down on her belly with an even louder cry of pain and frustration, her head almost between my knees.
I surged forward too, before she could move, pinning her down with my legs over her upper arms. She scrambled with her feet, trying to get her legs under her so she could topple me off, but I slammed down on top of her, knocking her hips and bum back down onto the mats. As she tried to rise again, I grabbed for her legs, getting my hands around her ankles, jerking them up off the mats and heaving myself upright, dragging Dom with me.
Dom screamed as I rocked back on my knees again with her legs held tight in my hands, lifting her hips off the mats, bending her back like a bow. My hips were pressing down hard into the backs of her shoulders, squashing her chest into the mats. My bum rested against the back of her neck, keeping her head down. There was nothing she could do. I felt the thrill of victory and I yelled out loud. “Got you now!!!”
She writhed underneath me, wriggling her body back and forth, her legs flexing and straining as she tried to pull free. Her arms pinned, her fingers clawed at the mat, but my full weight was pressing down on her and she had no leverage at all. “Give it up, girl!”
She didn’t tap out though, nor did she call out her submission. She kept struggling vainly, even as I leaned back further, putting more strain on her back, and she cried out in pain. “I…can’t…move,” she gasped, a strange tone in her voice, like she couldn’t quite believe what was happening. “You’ve…got me…pinned…helpless…over…powered.” Each word came between tortured gasps for breath.
“Too bloody right I do!” I answered her sharply, keeping a tight grip on her legs, but raising myself up just enough to let her breathe a bit more easily – not enough to her move though. “Now let’s hear you submit!” I bounced my hips down onto her again, just briefly, to make my point.
Dom kept writhing, even though her struggles were getting weaker as she exhausted herelf, and she didn’t have a chance of escaping my grip. “At…your…mercy…” Her voice was a muffled whisper. I could barely hear her. It was like she was amazed that the new girl had gotten her into that position.
“Oh you are! Now give up!” I gave her another bounce with my hips and she gurgled breathlessly.
She tensed up again, and took a deep breath – or as deep as she could with my full weight pressing down on her. I was wondering just what it was going to take to get this girl to give in. Fights here in the group were submission only. I could keep her pinned all day but if she didn’t want to submit, it wouldn’t do me any good. Then she cried out, louder than before, “You got me! You beat me! I…surrender!”
With a sigh of relief, I dropped her legs right away and swung myself off her. I knelt beside her for a few moments, then rose to my feet, my body trembling from the exertion, every muscle burning.
I waited for Dom to rise but she didn’t, not at first. She lay there on her belly, her arms out, her shoulders shuddering with each gasping breath. I was afraid she was crying, that I’d really hurt her, but then she pushed up onto her elbows, turned her head toward me and grinned wearily. “Damn, new girl. You can fight.”
I grinned back, extended my hand and helped her up. She wobbled a bit – she’d literally given everything she had in the fight – and I supported her with my arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me for a second, before she found her balance and stood up on her own
Saskia came over. “Good fight, both of you!” she congratulated us. Then she threw her arms around me and hugged me tight against her chest. I felt the power of her arms – she was a lot stronger than she looked. She released me, holding me out at arm’s length with her hands on my bare shoulders, smiling. “Welcome to the group, Donna. You’re going to fit in well, here.”
I smiled back. “Thanks, Saskia.” I was still buzzing with adrenalin and the rush of victory from my win. I turned away from her and Dom, went over and grabbed a towel to wipe the sweat from my face and chest, then poured most of a bottle of water down my throat.
When I turned back to face the room, I noticed Vicky, Liz and Angela – the bitch brigade – watching me intently. I stared back, my eyes looking from one to the other. My elation at my win washed away in a second under their gaze. I felt like an animal in the zoo, or maybe one of those lobsters in a tank like they have in fancy restaurants. The look in Vicky’s eyes, in particular, made me shiver.
I turned away and went back over to where Tracy, Maria and Sam stood. Tracy gave me a fierce hug. “Good job, Donna. You showed us all you belong here.” She kissed me on the cheek as the other two added their congratulations.
After I put my clothes back on – I really wanted to duck up to my room and take a shower, but I also didn’t want to miss the next fight – I needed to pee, so I headed to the ladies’ loo, which was outside and down the corridor. There was no shortage of empty stalls so I did what I came to do, then went out to the row of sinks to wash my hands and splash some water on my face.
I was standing there grinning at myself in the mirror and feeling pretty good, when the stall at the far end of the row opened – I hadn’t even noticed it was occupied – and Dom came out. She was still in her fighting outfit of tights and sports bra, her tummy bare, her flesh reddened a little where my fists had pounded it. Her face was still flushed from the fight. She started when she saw me, our eyes locked, and her eyes were alight just like they were when she faced me on the mats.
I turned to face her as she walked up to me, never taking her eyes off mine. I tensed, not knowing what was going through her mind but ready for trouble if that was what she wanted. I stiffened even more when she threw her arms around me and pulled me close, her boobs mashing into mine. An instant later though, I realized she wasn’t attacking me, but hugging me tight.
She relaxed a little, but kept her arms around me, and grinned at me from a few inches away. “Great fight, girl!” She leaned in again and kissed me, not quite on the cheek but not quite on the lips either – kind of in-between. “Can’t wait to face you again.” She let me go then, stepped past me and walked out.
TO BE CONTINUED…
