He dipped his head to hers, his eyes looking reassuringly into hers. “I got this, Princess.”
Reaching up, she slid her hand up his cheeks and pulled his face down, her mouth taking his. They kissed long and deep until Cole finally nudged him. Crash broke from the kiss, twisting his head to look back. Cole tapped his wrist, indicating time. Crash’s head swiveled back to Shannon. She pulled his head down and brushed his lips again and said, “Win.”
He smiled and winked at her, and then moved off with Cole.
“Damn, girl,” Angel broke the spell. “I thought you were both going to simultaneously combust that was so hot.”
Fifteen minutes later, Green and Crash climbed into the cage. Both men were wearing small open fingered gloves. Staying true to his heritage, Green was in long shamrock-green satin boxing trunks. Crash was in a pair of black compression shorts that hugged his ass and leg almost to his knee. Shannon had to admit they made his slim hips and ass look great, but her eyes kept straying to all that bare, muscled chest, shoulders and arms. He really was quite a sight. The tribal tattoo scrolling down his rib cage perfectly framed the cut of his abs from the narrow width of his hips to the broad span of his shoulders. She wanted to run her hands over his lean, hard-muscled body.
Rusty called them both to the center, where he had them touch gloves, and then back apart. Then he blew the whistle, and the clock started. Shannon studied the two men as they circled each other, bouncing on their feet and jabbing at each other. Green was shorter and stockier, his thighs thicker and his shoulders powerful, but Crash had the height and therefore the reach advantage, with both his arms and legs.
He nailed Green with a kick to the head that had him staggering for a moment, and before he regrouped, Crash hit him with a right hook, followed by a knee to the ribs.
They circled each other like two predators. Shannon wanted to look away, but she couldn’t take her eyes off them. The fear began to return. God, she didn’t want anything to happen to Crash. Could she actually stand here and watch him receive blow after blow. She didn’t know how Crystal had managed to watch Wolf fight. It was so nerve-racking, but the girls were surrounding her, giving her support and showing her that they were there for her.
“It’ll be over soon,” Angel whispered, sensing her tension.
“What if he gets hurt?” She watched Crash. The look in his eyes was focused entirely on Green. It was a look that said he was determined, focused on one sole purpose, putting his opponent on the ground and making sure he stayed there. The scariest thing of all was…Green looked just as determined to win as Crash did.
The two men moved in and grappled with each other, slamming into the walls of the cage. Green threw his powerful shoulders into Crash, pushing him up and back. Crash hooked Green’s leg and Green stumbled, but regained his footing quickly.
Crash’s body shone with a sheen of sweat, as he hit Green with a fist to the face and brought his knee up into Green’s ribs. Green retaliated with a series of blows to Crash’s midsection.
The pummeling went on, back and forth. Shannon had to stand there and watch it, her eyes continually going to the digital clock ticking down the seconds. Oh, God. This was only the first round, and she was going to have to struggle through two more of these. She didn’t know if she could bear it.
Mack strolled over to where Cole stood watching the fight. His eyes slid to Shannon standing off with the women, and he said to Cole, “You need to stop bringing in every little lost good girl you find.”
Cole’s eyes cut to Mack. “You got in my personal life once before. I gave you a pass on that when I shouldn’t have. You get in my business again, it’ll be you and me in that cage, ‘ol man.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Besides, what’s your problem? It worked out fine for me and Angel. You don’t always know best.”
“Ain’t worried about you.”
“Crash is fine. He’s got Shannon well in hand. What are you worried about?”
“We got a lot of shit goin’ down right now. Shit that doesn’t need to get fucked. And I don’t need her problems comin’ round to bite us in the ass.”
Cole blew out a breath and went back to watching the fight.
Red Dog sidled up to Shannon. Hooking his arm around her neck, he pulled her close and leaned to her ear. “Have a little faith in your man, there, darlin’. He’s got this.”
She twisted her head to look up at him. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“Crash got his name by throwing motherfuckers through plate glass windows. He’ll get Green. He’ll get him to the mat, and when he does, the fight’s gonna be over.”
She nodded, wanting to believe him, wanting this fight to be over. Her eyes returned to the fight. It was somehow terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. It was electrifying, gripping and scary-intensity all wrapped up in male testosterone overload. A brute show of strength, force, brawn and power. A battle for dominance.
Suddenly, Crash charged Green, getting a hold of his legs, and driving him up and back, and then down to the mat, where he pinned him to the ground and brought his elbow down into Green’s face twice in quick succession. Blood went everywhere.
Crash was able to get in several more punishing hits to Green’s head before Green broke the hold and was able to scramble to his feet. He staggered, wobbled, swung.
Crash got him against the cage and punched and kneed him in the gut. When Green naturally bent forward in protection, Crash was able to get his arms wrapped around Green’s neck from above, locking it between his bicep and forearm, pulling Green’s neck up with his arm and hip, a move Red Dog whispered in her ear was called the guillotine. Green attempted to break the hold by taking them both to the ground. Crash outmaneuvered Green by wrapping his legs around Green’s body and keeping pressure on the headlock. Green, being stubborn, refused to tap out, and it wasn’t long before the choke hold that Crash had on the carotid artery in Green’s neck had him slipping into unconsciousness. Rusty blew his whistle, and Crash released Green. Getting to his feet, Crash’s arm was jerked skyward by Rusty, declaring him the winner.
The crowd roared. Angel and Crystal were jumping up and down, screaming and cheering. Shannon stood stunned. It was over. He’d done it. Angel grabbed Shannon’s forearms and shook her.
“He won! He won!” she shouted in Shannon’s face.
One round. Crash had finished him off in only one round! Her eyes moved from Angel’s elated face to the cage. Crash’s eyes were zeroed in right on her, and suddenly the rest of the room, the noise, the crowd, it all faded away. There was nothing but Crash and the way he was looking at her, his eyes boring into her. And then she smiled at him, and a little grin pulled at the corner of his mouth.
Crash made his way out of the cage. He poured a bottle of water over his head that Cole passed to him and wiped his face and chest with a towel Red Dog tossed to him. While Cole pulled off his gloves, Crash’s eyes searched the crowd trying to find Shannon. “Where’s my girl?”
His girl. It sounded nice. It sounded right.
Just then she pushed through the crowd, stopping four feet from him. She was breathing hard, having to have fought through the mob to get to him. They stared at each other across the space. “There’s my girl,” he whispered, a smile breaking across his face.
He’d been denying to his brothers, and maybe if he was going to be honest, to himself as well, that she was his. That bullshit was over. He wanted to claim her, right here in front of every fucking one of his brothers and every other guy here tonight.
Shannon dashed the last few feet, and Crash swept her up, his arms wrapping around her thighs and lifting her up. She looked down at him and laughed, “You won! You won!”
“Told you I would, Princess.” He stared up at her, and the rest of the room faded away. And then her hands cupped his face, and she lowered her mouth to his, and he got lost in the sweet taste of her mouth, his head tilting to better fit their mouths together. His t
ongue delving inside.
He could hear the reaction of the guys around him and the crowd enfolding them. The whistles, the cat-calls. He didn’t give a shit if everyone saw. She melted against him, making little mewling sounds against his mouth, and every punch he’d taken, every blow he’d borne had been worth it. Oh, hell yeah, this was worth fighting for.
Green stumbled from the cage, dazed and looking beat to shit. The look on his face said he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“Walk it off!” Red Dog growled with a grin.
“You never had a chance, Green,” Wolf advised him with a laugh.
“Yeah. Serves you right for getting in the ring with a man that had as much riding on the outcome as he had,” Red Dog expanded emphatically as he handed him a towel.
Green took it and wiped the blood from his face. Frowning, he questioned, “Why, what did he have riding? He make a big bet?”
Wolf nodded toward where Crash held Shannon. “You’re lookin at the prize.”
Green looked over, his hand wiping the towel down his chest stilling. “You’re shittin’ me. Why didn’t you tell me? Christ, I didn’t stand a chance.”
Red Dog and Wolf burst out laughing. Dog turned to Wolf and asked, “I just made a shit-ton of money on that fight, how about you?”
Wolf grinned back and high-fived Dog. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Red Dog grinned. “Cajun got his ass handed to him, Green got beat to shit…I don’t know how Christmas is gonna top this.”
Crash let Shannon slide down his body until her feet were back on the ground. “I gotta go shower and get changed, so we can go.”
She nodded, but her eyes went to his bare chest, taking in his beauty. My God, he was gorgeous. “I like you shirtless and sweaty. It’s sexy as hell.”
Hunger tightened his eyes. “Babe, you say shit like that to me, and we ain’t gonna make it home.”
She gave him a saucy grin. “Oh, I think you’ll manage.”
Cole had moved off to get Angel. As they made their way back to Crash, Shannon heard Angel yell out her congratulations. “Crash, you were awesome!”
“Hey, Crash! Here. Use my room. Looks like you two aren’t gonna make it home,” Cole yelled over the crowd, teasing as he sent his keys flying through the air toward the couple.
Crash’s fist came up and caught the keys in mid-air. He grinned back at Cole, and then looked down questioningly at Shannon.
She wanted their night together to be special. There was only one place that would be perfect. That huge poster bed of his. The place she’d imagined them together in since the first night she’d crawled into it. It had to be there. She shook her head, the movement almost imperceptible.
Crash’s nod in return was almost as subtle. “I know,” he whispered. The keys went sailing through the air back to Cole. “Think we’ll pass on the room, brother. But thanks for the offer.”
Cole grinned, his look moving between them. “You sure?”
“Positive,” Crash replied as he smiled down at Shannon. He pulled her hands from around his waist, lifting them to press a soft kiss on the knuckles of both. “Be right back, Princess.”
Shannon watched him move off to shower and change. When he was gone she turned back to Angel, who was smiling from ear-to-ear and an equally smirking Cole.
“What?” she asked, playing dumb.
Cole pulled her close, his hand on the back of her head, his mouth at her ear. “You treat my boy right now, you hear?”
When he pulled back, and she saw the teasing look on his face, she rolled her eyes, embarrassed and teased back with a promised, “I’ll give it my best shot.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Crash pulled the bike into the garage, and Shannon climbed off. Excitement rippled through her. And if she was being honest, a little nervousness, too. She wasn’t sure if she would ever live up to Crash’s expectations.
They entered the elevator. Crash shut the metal accordion gate, threw the lever, and they began moving. He stood there, leaning back against the metal bars. Their eyes connected, and a split second later he was across the three feet that divided them lifting her up and slamming her back against the wall. The elevator shook with his action. Her legs wrapped around him as his mouth devoured hers.
His strong arms held her as his mouth worked down the side of her neck, and pleasure danced along her skin like an electrical charge. She shuddered from the heat of his mouth. She couldn’t believe they were actually going to do this. Tonight there’d be no more stopping. She was actually going to have sex with the hottest bad boy she’d ever met. No, not boy. Man. He was all man, make no mistake about that. With a man’s desires and a man’s hunger.
The elevator came to a shaky halt on the upper level. Shannon moaned as Crash let her down, his hands going to the bars above and to the side of her head. His arms spread high and wide, caging her in. Her breathing accelerated as she saw the heat in his eyes. He leaned into her and brushed her lips softly. Pulling back, he whispered, “Feels like I’ve waited for this night forever.”
Shannon looked up at him, wondering why he was waiting. The hunger was written plainly in his eyes. It was a powerful lure, to be wanted that way. She hadn’t been this aroused in a long time. He must have seen the anticipation shudder through her, for his eyes moved over her face as he muttered, “You have, too.”
A statement, not a question. But she answered it anyway. “Yes.”
“I’m tryin’ to slow down here. Don’t want to rush this. I want to make this good for you, Shannon.”
“You will.”
He smiled at the faith she had in him. “I want you to tell me if I do anything you don’t want. You just say the word, Princess, and I’ll back off. Understand?”
She nodded.
“I can do you fast. I can do you slow. I can do you rough. I can do you sweet. Whatever you want. Whatever you need.”
“Yes,” she bit out breathlessly.
His lungs expanded with his indrawn breath. “Yes to which?”
“All of them.”
She watched the grin spread slowly across his face. “Oh, darlin’, this is gonna be one hell of a night.”
Ducking under his arm, Shannon pulled the elevator door open and stepped out. His arms still on the bars, Crash twisted his head, his eyes tracking her. She paused by the wall, flipping the switch, and a couple of dim lights came on. Turning to him, she began walking backwards as his arms dropped, and he followed, moving toward her like a predator. She shivered, unable to take her eyes off him as he advanced on her, stalking her across the room. As she watched, he pulled his cut off, tossing it toward the green felt of the pool table. Next came his tee shirt. He yanked it over his head, dropping it to the floor.
She kept moving backwards.
“Your turn.” He nodded toward her tank. “Take it off.”
He stopped advancing, and she stopped retreating. When she hesitated, her chest rising and falling, he whispered, “Not a good idea to keep a starved man waiting, Princess.”
She watched his gaze drop as she slid her hands under the hem of the draping silver sequined tank, the fabric gathering as she lifted it, obeying his command. She watched his eyes track every movement, taking in every inch of skin revealed to him as she slowly dragged it up and over her head.
She let it fall, dropping softly to the floor and met his gaze, suddenly nervous. His eyes dropped to take in the pretty bra revealed. Deep purple lace with a little bow.
He came toward her, stopping just a foot away from her. “You’re so damn pretty, Shannon,” he told her quietly. His eyes held the conviction his voice revealed.
She lifted her hand and touched him hesitantly, running her palm down his chest, over his rock-hard abs and perfect six-pack. His head dipped as his eyes followed the movement of her hand, watching her fingertips trail over his skin. He blinked slowly, and his eyes lifted to hers, his head still bent low.
“You’re playing with fire, baby,” he warned, a
split-second before his hands slid to her waist, the heat of his touch burning through her skin, and he began walking her backwards. She assumed toward the bedroom until he changed direction suddenly and backed her up against the wall between the kitchen and bathroom. She gasped as her skin came in contact with the smooth cool surface.
His head dipped to the curve below her jaw, his close beard brushing the vulnerable underside of her chin, and his tongue moved over her skin as he pressed kisses down her throat. Moving lower, past her collarbone and breastbone, trailing along the edge of her bra, his mouth warm and wet on the skin of her exposed cleavage.
He dropped down, squatting, one knee hitting the floor. His grip on her waist tightening as his mouth worked its way down her body. He paused at her belly button ring, exposed by the low waist of her jeans, and his tongue toyed with it, flicking it several times before dipping inside her navel. She inhaled sharply as she remembered the last time he’d done that. Memories flashing back to the belly shot he’d taken from her on the pool table.
Her eyes followed the movements of his hands as they moved to the button of her low-cut jeans, popping it open and dragging down the zipper. And then his hands were hooking in the waistband at both hips and dragging her jeans slowly over her hips and down her thighs. His eyes fell to the matching lace panty revealed.
“So pretty, baby.” He pressed a soft kiss just above the tiny bow in the center of the top edge, his lips warm against her skin and his soft beard brushing seductively. He touched her as though she were precious, as if he cherished her. It made her feel treasured and adored, a feeling that made her heart soar.
He pulled the jeans free of her legs, leaving her heels in place. Taking an ankle gently in one of his big warm hands, he lifted it and studied her shoe. “Those shoes are sexy as fuck, baby. I think I’ll leave them on.”
CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) Page 30
