by Amity Cross
He said it was like he’d forgotten how things worked, that his senses were all out of whack. Much worse than jail had been. He said that inside he’d had human interaction, no matter how fucked up it’d been.
It’d been about six months since I’d seen Seth and even longer since I’d laid eyes on the owner, Joseph. They’d welcomed us with open arms and smiles and Ash met Seth for the first time, properly, on equal ground. Last time Maverick was being a jealous asshole...a quality which I now found endearing because this time around he was all mine.
Sitting at the coffee shop had an ulterior motive attached to it, which was letting things cool off at Beat. It’d been an emotional cluster fuck of a day for everyone and distance from it was the only thing that seemed logical. They’d come round, I was sure of it, but first they all needed time to get with the program.
The thought had crossed my mind that Ash would become a beast again the moment the lights went out. Being in a place that had sparked such an explosive response in him and after being cooped up for so long, it had to mess with his mind. He’d been okay with it during the day, but the worst thing that had happened between us had happened at Beat at night.
Things had been going so well with his anger and with us, that I was afraid it was all an illusion. Maybe this would be his trigger.
As we approached Beat through the lengthening shadows, my worry began to change into a full blown concern. Beat in the day time with the real life consequences of his actions were one thing, but going back in the dark? I wasn’t so sure. Darkness brought all kinds of feelings and memories to the surface and Beat was full of them. Good and bad, but that’s the thing about memories…the bad ones always threatened to overwhelm.
Images of Hammer pinning me against the mirrors, Hammer chasing and dragging me to the mats, Hammer touching me… Before I could stop it, I shuddered, my hand tightening around Ash’s. What was my problem? I’d been living and training here ever since it’d all gone down… I was okay with this.
Ash glanced at me, a frown creasing his forehead.
“Spitfire?”
“I’m alright,” I said as I dug in my pocket with my free hand for the key to Beat. “It’s just been a big day.”
“We can give tonight a rest if you want.”
“No, we need to start training in a real gym. You don’t have the full set up at your place. This will be better.” I unlocked the door and shoved inside, punching in the alarm code as I went.
As expected, it was dark and silent. Everyone had gone home a while ago and it was just us….and our demons but who was counting those? Me.
Flipping on the back set of lights, the shadows became even longer, the orange glow dappled by the yellowness of the overhead bulbs. I kicked off my boots and walked across the mats, wishing I’d thought this through a little more. I could’ve been a little more sensitive about training here at night.
“When do you want to go back to The Underground?” I asked trying to distract myself. “The new season starts in a week. It’d be good to get in on the ground floor this time. Start to finish.”
“We’ll go tomorrow and convince them,” Ash said, pulling off his T-shirt and stuffing it into his gym bag.
I tried not to drool as his impressive body came into view, but I didn’t have a choice. Distraction obtained. I shook my head as if I was trying to clear it and said, “I hope you know what you’re gunna say, because I don’t have the foggiest.”
“I’ll think of something,” he muttered as he shoved his jeans off his hips.
Fuck me. I stared at his ass in his boxer briefs and couldn’t believe he was mine. Glancing up at me, he smirked. So no Hulk smash beast, just the sexy caveman beast. I could deal with that.
He pulled on his trademark shorts and began stretching his arms across his chest. I watched carefully as his gaze scanned the studio and his expression slowly changed from cocky asshole to troubled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, not sure if I should go to him or not.
He grimaced before turning toward me. “It’s just this place has a crap load of memories. Good and bad ones.”
We stared at each other for a moment, letting the notion sink in. The last few months, spending time getting to know one another, had done Ash good. He seemed to be able to voice his feelings a lot better than before.
“I know,” I whispered. “Same.”
“It didn’t register before, when we came in. Now that it’s dark...”
“There’s too many good memories to let the bad ones stain this place.”
“Right there.” He pointed to the spot on the mat where he’d taken me from behind, the memory of his cock consuming my entire body sending tingles through my nerve endings.
I sighed, clenching my thighs together and Ash stepped into me from behind. He clamped his hands onto my hips and began rubbing his erection against my ass.
“Wanna recreate it?” he asked, fisting his hands into my hair and tugging.
“What about training?” Shut up Ren. “I need to get changed…”
“We’ve got a big day tomorrow Spitfire,” he murmured, his lips grazing against the shell of my ear. “I could use a stress reliever.”
“Fiend.”
He covered my mouth with his, grazing his teeth against my bottom lip, his erection pressing against my ass. Fuck, I’d missed this. I’d missed his uncontrollable lust, his possessive kisses, and his raw passion. I missed it all, but I had it back now. We had it back and I found myself grasping onto him with both hands, never wanting to let go ever again.
I twisted in his arms, running my hands down his back and underneath the hem of his shorts.
“How am I more naked than you?” he asked, his voice rumbling deep in his chest.
Before I could retort, he yanked my T-shirt up over my head, my hair spilling everywhere in a wild mess, then his fingers were fumbling at the clasp of my bra. Reaching behind me, I shoved his hands out of the way. Unhooking the clasp, I let the annoying piece of material fall to the floor.
Ash went straight for my breasts, palming each in his hands. ”Fuck, I love your tits,” he moaned as I pushed my jeans off.
Grabbing his hands in my own, I guided them down across my stomach and he hooked his thumbs through the sides of my knickers and shoved them down roughly.
Leaning over, he hooked his hand around my knee and tugged. I crumpled to the mat, laughter on my lips and Ash covered me with his body, spreading my legs apart with his other hand. He pressed his weight against my clit, his cock rubbing against my skin. He felt like he was burning up, the heat radiating from his body sparking mine into life.
“How do you want it Spitfire?” he murmured, his eyes sparkling in the half-light of the studio.
“Wild and hard with you deep inside me, Maverick.”
He grasped my wrists with his big paw of a hand and wrenched my arms over my head. Crying out, I jutted my breasts against his chest, my nipples aching just as much as my pussy. I couldn’t touch him, but he didn’t leave me wanting.
He began sucking at my neck, teasing with his tongue as his cock rubbed against my clit. Fuck, it was so powerful, raw...demanding… How could something so unbearable feel so fucking good?
“Ash,” I gasped, writhing underneath him.
He pushed inside me, easing into me slowly, his body trembling against mine. It was an effort to go slow when you wanted someone so much it burned you from the inside out. I wanted him to devour me, I wanted it all.
I circled my hips against his, driving him deeper and he moaned loudly into the crook of my neck, his muscles tensing.
“Spitfire,” he gasped, the stubble on his jaw rasping against my shoulder.
I remembered the moment he first entered me, in this exact spot, and how overwhelming it had been then. This time, it was exactly the same. This thing that entwined us together was raw and the realest thing I’d ever felt. I never thought I’d have this life, the one where I loved and was loved just as much in return. I knew how easily all
that could be taken away and I was determined not to have it happen again.
“Fuck, so tight…so warm…” Ash pulled back and thrust, slapping hard against my clit.
It wasn’t the rough animal sex we’d had our first time together, it was missionary on the same mat, but it was just as explosive. It was like we were claiming this place back for ourselves after it had been brutally torn away. We were sharing something much more meaningful and deeper in our souls…something that no one could touch but ourselves.
Ash stroked into me again and again, pushing my orgasm to the surface. It swelled and dipped with each thrust, the pressure against my clit keeping me right on the edge. We were together, a team, we came together or not at all.
Heat prickled my skin as I clawed his back and his mouth came over mine, devouring my moans. Our tongues entwined as he thrust, his cock pulsing inside me.
“Fuck,” he hissed, pulling his mouth from mine. “Give it to me Spitfire. Let it go.”
His thrusts became relentless as he pounded into me, the roughness of his movements igniting my orgasm. My body tipped over the edge and the world seemed to explode.
“Ash,” I gasped, and I was gone, lost to him and everything else. All that mattered was the release, the pleasure and the pain.
I felt his orgasm as it erupted hot inside me, his teeth grazing against my shoulder, hands clutching me to his sweaty body. I answered by wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, locking him to me.
“Fuck,” he moaned, his grip starting to relax.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the last of the sensation ebb through my nerve endings, breathing his scent deep. We smelt like sex and sweat, musky… He was mine.
“You’re…” he muttered as he flexed his cock inside me.
“Incredible?” I asked, shivering as the movement stirred my overloaded senses.
“If there’s a better word, I don’t know it.”
His lips grazed against my forehead as our bodies began to cool in the afterglow.
“I’ll be there to help you with your anger,” I murmured. “Whatever you need.”
“I’ll be there to protect you. My life is yours.”
Shivering as Ash pulled out, he scooped me up into his arms and carried me across the studio and into the showers. A lazy grin pulled at my lips as I remembered what had happened that first night after the rabid animal fucking.
Shower sex.
Yeah, shower sex.
25
Ren
Standing in the darkness outside The Underground, I clutched Ash’s hand.
People passed us on their way inside, casting glances our way, and I shifted nervously. It’d been well over six months since I’d set foot inside the run-down warehouse that had changed my life. I’d floated through the few months after Ash’d gone with blinkers on, hardly noticing the people around me, but now it felt different.
Hammer was inside. Hammer was here. Hammer was fighting.
I felt sick.
“Okay?” Ash asked, pulling me against him.
“Nervous,” I admitted.
“You’ll be okay. I’m with you.” He stepped forward, practically dragging me with him. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Rip it off like a Band-Aid?”
“Exactly.”
Taking a deep breath, I tightened my grip on his hand and we walked into the warehouse. It was filling quickly for that night’s bouts, even though the new season hadn’t even started yet. Through the dull lighting, I could make out a banner hanging on the top of the cage that read ‘Exhibition Match’. Which was just code for ‘fighting for fun’ until the real game began.
I couldn’t help but notice the stares as we weaved through the throng of people. The din seemed to mellow as we made a beeline to the referee’s office out back. It’d been much longer since Ash’d been here and that was the fight that he’d almost beat that guy to death. The one who’d tried to force himself on me out in the change rooms. I cast my gaze down, feeling more isolated than I had when I’d been here on my own.
Ash squeezed my hand as the noise around us began to raise again.
“Don’t let them see that you’re worried Spitfire,” he murmured into my ear. “They can smell it.”
“How are you so calm?” I retorted.
He grimaced. “I’m not.” He tugged on my hand. “I know what they’re thinking and I definitely know what they’re saying behind our backs, but they’ll see.”
I hoped so because right now I was feeling overwhelmed.
We walked through the crowd, trying our best to ignore the whispers and the gossip that was beginning to spread like wildfire, and disappeared into the fighter only area. Security eyed us with caution, but let us pass into the hall.
Ash knocked sharply on the door that I knew was the referee’s office before opening it. I’d never been inside, and it was a stretch calling it an office, because it was just a room with a desk, a couch and a fridge. It looked more like a break room at some dirty construction site than anything else. A slap dash attempt at looking legit.
The head referee was sitting behind the desk, a beer in front of him and a whiteboard covered in messy scrawl. It looked like the draw for the opening round of the new Championship.
“Fucking hell,” the ref drawled when he laid eyes on Ash. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
“Nice to see you too, Max.”
I rose an eyebrow. The guy’s name was Max? Nobody gave their names out here, except for Ash, but he’d had a death wish. That could only mean that the two men had been on good terms once. Well, at least good enough for real names to be exchanged.
I stepped back and closed the door, trying to get my head on straight.
“We thought we lost you for good,” he went on, nodding at me. “Are you coming back?”
“Yes,” I replied, glancing at Ash.
The ref narrowed his eyes at me and turned back to Ash. “No fucking way Fuller. You know how much trouble you caused us with that stunt you pulled in the cage? We had the cops breathing down our necks.” He snorted, shaking his head. Sometimes I really liked how men got straight to the point.
“I want in,” Ash said through gritted teeth.
“Reign, you’re in as far as I’m concerned. Sign your life away. Fuller is out.” He didn’t even glance at Ash.
“We’re a package deal,” I retorted. “Both or none at all.”
“This ain’t a negotiation Sweetness.”
“We’ve been in here two seconds,” I exclaimed. “You don’t even want to hear what we’ve got to say?”
“In lieu of a police raid?” Max asked. “That’s what we risk when we let loose cannons into the ring, Reign. Can’t afford it.”
“Fuck, Max,” Ash said, pounding his fist on the table top. “I’m right fucking here.”
“Case in point,” he said to me.
“I made you hundreds of thousands of dollars right up until the moment I left,” Maverick went on. “You can’t tell me that any one of those fuckers out there has made half as much as I did for you through the season. Fuck the Championship. That’s motherfuckin’ peanuts.”
Max narrowed his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Ash was probably right, but I’d never focused on the money that had exchanged hands in this place. I fought, collected and went home. Rinse and repeat.
“You want those people out there to spend their money? You want them to place their bets? They won’t for Ash Fuller, I totally agree with you on that one. That guy’s a loose cannon, but they will spend it on Maverick.”
I rose my eyebrow at him.
“You want a name now?” Max asked, looking as surprised as I felt. “How do I know I can trust you Fuller?”
Ash stood back and raised his hands. “New Championship, new leaf.”
Max’s lips curved into a grin. “You want to take on Hammer, eh? Get a rematch?”
“I want to take him down in the Championship fight. No holding back.”
Max glanced at me, his eyes shining with dollar signs, then back at Ash. “What assurances do I have that you won’t fly off the handle again?”
“I’ve been away for a year,” Ash said, his voice wavering a little. “I’ve been taking steps to get a handle on it.”
“Like what?”
Ash narrowed his eyes, clearly uncomfortable with telling the head referee his business.
“Therapy, training, natural remedies…” I interrupted. “If I can see the change in him, then so should you if you give him the chance.”
Max sat back in his chair and regarded us. “Fine. But you get a three month probation period Fuller, and we put you on the board as Maverick.”
Ash grunted, which was his unspoken code for ‘I’m pissed’.
“Get out and don’t make me regret this.” Max waved his hand at us as Ash grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me out into the hall. Seeing it was empty of witnesses, he grabbed me around the waist and leaned in close, his eyes flashing.
“I don’t like you speaking for me,” he hissed.
“I told him what he needed to hear,” I said, curling my hands into tight fists. “It just happened that it was the truth.”
Ash bit his bottom lip and turned away.
“Don’t,” I said, running my hands over his back.
“I don’t want them knowing.”
“Ash…”
He shrugged my hands off his shoulders.
“You guys were friends once, yes?”
“How do you know?” he asked.
“Because you knew his first name. Nobody gives out names here. Not unless they’re cocky assholes like you.”
“We weren’t friends,” he said, the tone in his voice lightening slightly. “We had an understanding.”
“Then consider that understanding reinstated.”
Ash turned, his gaze meeting mine. “I still don’t want you speaking for me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s not fair.”
Ash grunted, signaling that he was done discussing it.
