Thank You, Janie Ch. 02

He was in tears as he returned to his place along the line of competitors. A part of Jason was sympathetic to him; they had all spent hundreds of hours training and doing the same movements over and over. Then to have a year's worth of hard work evaporate due to a mental lapse seemed crushing.

The next three performed. Jason saw they were good, but he mentally nitpicked them apart.

"Jason McGlinn!" the Mr. Okunda called.

Springing to his feet, he only vaguely heard people cheering for him. Janie's voice stood out in his mind. He sprinted around the perimeter of the ring to the spot directly across from the judging table, then out to the center of the ring.

He bowed. Closed his eyes.

Breathe in.

"Ready?"

Breathe out.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Jason's left foot stepped, and his arms fell to his sides.

"Begin!"

His movements were crisp. Practiced. Relaxed.

He didn't think. Didn't count.

Jason just moved. His arms flowed from punch to block.

Jump kick. Knife-hand strike. Outer-forearm block. Counterpunch. Pause. Sweep kick, low block. Roundhouse kick.

Everything faded away.

His body moved with a feline grace. Automatic.

Eighty six moves complete, he held his final position.

"Return!"

Assuming the ready position again, Jason breathed in and blinked himself out of the trance.

The judges were scribbling notes on their clipboards. At a regular tournament, they would have announced score right then. But this was different. Probably to build tension and make everyone sweat a little more.

"Dismissed."

He bowed, then backed out of the ring before sprinting back to his spot.

Jason steeled a glance over a Janie, whose smile beamed with pride. His heart raced, but he willed himself to calm down.

Five competitors later, Jason was confident that he was better than most of the others. He just didn't know where he fit into the grand scheme of things.

The judges were conferring among themselves. The head judge had collected the scoring cards and was coming to the final tally.

A red belt stood by with a large dry erase board. There was a palpable tension in the air.

Jason could hear the blood pounding through his veins.

The head judge began writing on the board. The other eight judges formed a circle around him so no one could read what was being written.

"Are we agreed?" Jason heard Mr. Okunda ask.

"Yes, sir," the other eight replied in unison.

The board was flipped over so it was facing down on the table.

"Fall in!"

The ten young men lined up.

Mr. Okunda stood. The other judges remained seated. His deep voice was firm, but surprisingly kind. It carried even without a microphone. "First of all, let me congratulate all of you on reaching this far in the competition. The scores for the forms were tallied and there are no ties in among the top three. Each of you was scored by eight of the judges on a scale of one to nine. Since this is the national championships, the scoring was more rigorous than you are probably used to. The highest score was seventy-one and the lowest was forty."

The judge paused for a moment to let that sink in.

"Step forward if your name is called." Mr. Okunda looked down at his note card. "In third place . . . Jason McGlinn, Orlando."

A part of Jason was happy to place. Another part was disappointed. But he stepped forward and smiled anyway. It meant he had a chance at actually being the National Champion. There was some polite applause, but he heard the distinct sound of Mike and Janie cheering for him.

"In second place, Jayesh Nibhanupudi , Portland." More applause. "And taking first place in forms . . . Jeremy Bechtold, Newark!"

Jason heard cheering, but the gears in his head were already churning.

"There will be a five minute break to prepare for the sparring round."

As some of the other judges began to prep the ring for sparring, Mr. Okunda set the white board on an easel. Jason saw his score was 68 out of a possible 72. The other two in front of him had scored 69 and 71.

A second easel was posted with the sparring bracket.

Even though he was the sixth seed in the national points standings coming in to the competition, two of the people ahead of him didn't make it, so he was the fourth seed in terms of the actual bracket. That meant in a ten person, single elimination bracket, he was going to get a bye.

Jayesh was seeded seventh, so he would be sparring in the first match, and Jeremy was seeded third and was also getting a bye.

With their foot pads, gloves and headgear on, the young men lined up for inspection. Mr. Okunda walked down the line checking to make sure all of the competitors's sparring gear was in order, and assuming that they were all smart enough to be wearing cups.

Jason took a seat at the side of the ring with an eye on the bracket and who he might have to face when it was his turn.

Jayesh made it out of the opening round, as did the number nine seed, but he looked sloppy.

At most, Jason would have to spar in three matches.

His first match was against a kid named Lambros Petrakis. He was a tall, lanky kid who was surprisingly agile for his size. He had a long reach with his arms and legs, but wasn't nearly as fast as Jason. They exchanged points for a couple of rounds, but Jason won by a score of five to two.

Jeremy also won his opening round. Carlus Benardo was the number two seed and he easily beat the number nine, a kid named D.J. Covington.

Going last in the first round was Quan Nguyen, who was ranked first by points coming in to the tournament. He finished fifth in forms and knew he needed a lot of help to win out.

He was ferocious against Jayesh, and scored his five points quickly.

One down, Jason thought to himself. Jayesh could finish no better than fifth in sparring, while Jason could do no worse than fourth.

He hated to actively root against anyone, but on the inside, Jason cheered for Carlus to beat Jeremy, which happened in the next round.

Two down.

"You control your own destiny," Jayesh congratulated him as he got ready to face Quan. "Do well."

"Thank you, sir," Jason clasped the other young man's hand and bowed. Then he jumped around a couple of times to loosen himself and get his blood pumping.

"If you could control it, they wouldn't call it 'destiny'," he said to himself.

"Next up: Jason McGlinn, Orlando. Quan Nguyen, Beaufort."

They bowed in, first to the head judge, then one another. One of the judges tucked a red piece of cloth into his belt, marking him for scoring purposes.

Quan was short and compact. Jason also got the distinct feeling that the other boy didn't like to lose, and not placing in forms had left a bad taste in his mouth.

"Ready?"

Jason dropped into his sparring stance, his right foot forward and his hands up.

"Begin!"

As expected, Quan immediately lunged forward, but Jason anticipated this and stepped back, then rushed forward with a quick counter combination, scoring with a kick to the head.

"Two points red!" the chief sparring judge called. The judges were rotating, so that no one from the same region as one of the persons in the ring was in a position to award scoring points.

"Ready? . . . Begin!"

Jason again backed out, relying on Quan's aggression to be his weakness, and it paid off with a punch combo to his chest, and another point.

Quan scored a point, but Jason closed out the match by switching his tactic and getting two points with a jump kick to the shoulder, winning five to one.

As they bowed own, Quan was formal and courteous, and Jason could tell that the other boy's anger was directed inward at himself for not placing in forms and getting beaten in the sparring ring.

"There will be a five minute rest before the final match," Mr. Okunda called from the judging table.

Jason dared to glance over at his friends, who were seated in the first row of the arena's lower deck. Mike and Janet waved, and shouted encouragement though he could not hear them. His heart raced as Janie blew him a kiss and winked.

Taking a deep breath, he shut out the rest of the world around him. Then noise. The lights. The other judges. It all faded away.

"Jason McGlinn, Orlando, red! Carlus Benardo, Dagsboro, white!" Mr. Okunda called the finalists forward.

He bowed in and shook hands with Carlus. The other young man was half a head taller with thick muscular arms, the opposite of Quan.

"Ready?"

Inhale.

"Begin!"

Jason let out a fierce yell, intended to startle his opponent, then jumped forward, both feet springing off the ground.

He caught Carlus just above the belt.

"Point!" all three judges yelled. Jason and Carlus returned to their starting marks.

"Score?" There was some hesitation from the judges, who were probably trying to decide whether Jason's kick counted as a jump kick or not. "Two points red, two points red, one point red!"

The three scoring judges huddled up. Mr. Okunda clearly wanted there to be a consensus in the final match. They talked for a long moment, but came to an agreement. "Jump kick above the belt: two points red!"

"Ready?"

"Way to go, Jason!" Janie's voice cut through the noise of the crowd. He was distracted enough that Carlus got the drop on him when the signal to begin came.

He fought off a flurry of punches.

Carlus was strong and powerful, and certainly not slow, but he wasn't as fast as Jason. He was taller, too, which meant he had greater reach.

"Point!" one of the side judges called.

"Score?"

"One point white, no see, one point white." Mr. Okunda looked to the scoring table. "Score: one point white."

Jason chided himself for allowing Carlus's foot to brush his shoulder.

"Ready?"

Inhale.

"Begin!"

Jason's jump kick was fast. His back foot pushed him forward as his lead food snapped up towards Carlus's headgear. It missed by a fraction of an inch, but Jason followed it with a quick series of punches to the chest.

"Point!"

"Score? . . . One point red, one point red, one point red! Score: one point red. It is now three to one, red!"

Two more points. The notion that he was two points away from being national champion made Jason's heart skip a beat. He could still win if Jeremy lost, but Jason would prefer not to need anyone's help.

"Ready?"

Inhale.

"Begin!"

Letting out another yell, Jason's foot twitched, drawing an involuntary flinch from Carlus, whose arms reflexively blocked down.

A fraction of a second later, Jason jumped into the air again, his foot snapping up high. His toes brushed the side of Carlus's sparring headgear.

"Point!"

"Score?" Mr. Okunda gave Jason a congratulatory smile. It was all a formality now. "Three points red, three points red, three points red! The score is six points red, one point white!"

Both young men bowed to one another. Mr. Okunda took both their hands before raising Jason's. "Winner, Jason McGlinn, Orlando!"

Cheers rose from the section around Mike, Janet and Janie. There was a smattering of applause from the rest of the arena.

The nine other competitors in his division stood to give him high fives and pats on the back. Placing third in forms and first in sparring ensured him the national championship.

Jason stripped off his sparring gear as Quan and Jeremy fought for the third place trophy, which Quan won.

"Fall in!" Mr. Okunda's clear voice rang out in the arena once all the scores were tallied. "Congratulations to you all for making it this far at the National Championships. Unofficially, the First Degree Black Belt Men's National Champion, age eighteen to twenty-nine, is Jason McGlinn, Orlando, Florida!"

A cheer went up around the arena, and no one's voice was louder than that of Janie Collins.

Jason grinned sheepishly, immensely proud of himself, but also humbled by the recognition of his peers.

The group bowed out, and Jason made sure to thank each of the judges individually.

"I'll watch for you next year in the second degree ring!" Mr. Okunda clapped him on the shoulder. "I've got a couple of kids who will give you a run for your money."

"I'm sure they will, sir," Jason replied with a smile.

He gathered up his gear and left the tournament floor. Janie jumped into his arms.

"You did it!" she laughed with pure joy. She pressed her lips against his. Jason spun her around and squeezed her tight.

"We did it!" he spoke loud enough that everyone around him could hear clearly. "I couldn't have done it without you!"

Janie only winked.

Setting her down only to greet the others from their school, Jason navigated through the crowd of well-wishers.

They left the arena, and headed back to their hotel room. His phone buzzed as news of his victory made its way around Facebook and text message chains.

He and Janie held hands all the way.

"There will be a formal presentation this afternoon after the fifth degrees finish up. Master Robertson said it's casual," Mike said. "After that, we just need to get packed up for the flight home tomorrow."

Jason changed out of his uniform and into a pair of comfortable paints and one of the school's polo shirts.

They grabbed a quick bite to eat then headed back to the arena to watch the higher ranking black belts compete.

Janie didn't say much, but the smile never left her face. Her fingers intertwined with his.

The formal presentation was held on the arena floor. Like the others, Jason was presented with a black belt with his name embroidered on one side and "National Champion" in both English and Korean on the other.

"We're going out for dinner," Janet said as the arena. The National Champions for the higher ranking black belts were being announced, so most of the first degrees took that opportunity to slip out the back. "Our treat."

They didn't go back to their room. Janie slipped Jason's new black belt into her purse and they caught an Uber outside the arena. They went to Broadway Oyster Bar, which had come highly recommended by one of Mike's business associates. It was just down the road from the arena, but it would have been a long walk.

"To our National Champion!" Mike raised his glass and the others follow suit.

Jason blushed and smiled appreciatively. He was overloaded from the day's events, but still happy to share the moment with his friends, even if they were all older than he.

After dinner, they got another Uber ride back to their hotel.

Janet winked as soon as they were through the door. Mike just laughed. They retreated into their room.

"So now that you won the National Championship, what can I give you?" Janie threw her arms around Jason's neck.

"You don't have to give me anything," Jason said quietly. And truly, in that moment, he wanted for nothing.

Janie pressed him up against the door. They kissed gently at first. Then harder.

He reached around and cupped her perfect rear end.

She nuzzled up to him, her lips grazing his neck.

"What do you want?" she nibbled on his earlobe, sending a chill from his head to his toes.

"I want you in my mouth," Jason gasped.

"And I want you in mine."

They began undressing one another on the way across the room.

Janie pushed Jason down on the bed, her naked body pressed against his. They kissed eagerly. Hungrily.

She began to stroke his cock. He was already tumescent.

They maneuvered into the middle of the bed. Jason ran his hands over his lover's body, lingering in all the sensitive spots.

"Eat me," Janie whispered. She kissed him gently, then pulled back and swung one of her legs over his chest.

Jason reached up and cupped the globes of her perfect rear end and brought her pussy to his mouth.

She straddled his face, her hands grasping the headboard on the bed for support.

Lapping at her labia, Jason listened to Janie purr with delight. Her hips gyrated slowly as Jason sucked on her clitoris. His tongue entered the soft folds of her pussy.

Both were in heaven.

Reaching up, Jason gave one of her breasts a gentle squeeze, then pinched her nipple. Janie let out a surprised squeal.

She smiled, her eyes hooded over with desire.

Jason continued to pleasure her with his tongue. He bathed the nub of her clit with soft kisses.

Janie pressed herself down on Jason's face until she shuddered.

"Oh, Jason," she gasped. Janie rode out the orgasm, then sat back on his chest, her breathing heavy.

Reaching back, she grasped his still-hard cock in her hand.

Then, carefully turning over, Janie presented herself to Jason again as she moved into a sixty-nine with him.

Jason's body shivered as she took him in her mouth. He turned his attention back to her clit, wanting nothing more than to make her cum again.

His hands dug into her backside. He felt Janie cup his balls with hers.

They lay like that for a long time, making love to one another with their mouths.

Several times, she brought him to the brink of orgasm, only to back off.

He continued his oral ministrations until his face was covered in her juices. Her thighs were coated with a thick layer of her pleasure.

"That feels so good," Janie mumbled. She continued to stroke Jason's cock, but from the dreamy tone in her voice, she sounded content to let him continue to eat her out.

"Right there, baby," she purred. "Just like that . . . yes! Yes! . . . Don't stop!"

Janie's thighs tensed around his head. Then her buttocks clenched.

He never let up.

Sucking. Licking.

"Oh, god!" Janie cried out, then collapsed on top of Jason.

Kissing the insides of her thighs, he let her down slowly.

"You are so good at that," Janie kissed his cock, which was still hard in her grasp. "Give me a minute and as soon as I can move, I'm going to fuck your brains out."

He gave her a smack on the backside. She let out a surprised yelp and laughed. "I guess that means you're tired of waiting for your turn!"

"I'll wait forever for you," Jason nibbled along her labia.

"Don't start that or I'll make you eat me again!"

Janie drew her body up so she was on her knees, then scooted forward, so she could rub the head of Jason's cock against her sex.

His hands immediately grasped her ass. It was firm from the regular sparring and working out. He caressed her gently, lingering on the birthmark on the right cheek.

Both inhaled sharply as she sat down on the rigid cock in her hands.

"You're so tight after you cum!" Jason breathed.

Janie slowly slid down his length until he was all the way inside her.

She reached back and spread her cheeks apart, showing Jason her pink little rosebud. Janie turned and smiled mischievously over her shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to put it in my butt?"

"You're an evil woman!"

"I'm your evil woman," she returned. "You didn't answer my question. Do you want to put your cock up my butt?"

Jason groaned and dug his fingers into Janie's backside. He didn't answer. Instead he started to push Janie's hips into a rocking motion.

Back and forth.

Her pussy slid up and down his cock.

She leaned forward, supporting herself with one hand. Jason felt the other brush the underside of his cock as Janie began touching herself.

His gaze settled on the hypnotic motion of Janie's perfect ass. With each stroke, he watched as his cock disappeared inside her, then came out on the return, slathered in her juices.

Her hips moved faster, alternating between forward and back strokes with a circular motion here and there.

"Oh, Jason," she whimpered, working herself over with her fingers, even as she held Jason's cock inside her.

"Cum for me," he moaned. "Cum all over me!"