Unbearable Cage (The Grizzly Next Door 3)

by Aya Morningstar

  Soon he heard each thrust, as his cock was drenched in their combined wetness. The wetness dripped down onto his balls, which slapped loud across her body with each thrust.

  He wanted to turn her around, to make love to her eye-to-eye, but his animal instincts had taken him too far, and it was impossible to pull out of her for the few moments the change in position would require. There was always next time...and the time after that...and the time after that.

  He sped up, feeling the inevitable climax coming ever closer. Ren bucked her hips against him, and the pleasure exploded in an icy-hot wave across him. He grunted and flexed his muscles, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

  A torrent of moisture washed across his cock, warm and wonderful. Ren squeezed tight around him in rhythmic pulses, and she screamed out—her words barely discernable—“I’m coming!”

  And indeed she came, in powerful blasts of cum all over him. He was able to thrust only a dozen or so more times until he too lost control.

  “Fuck!” he yelled as his balls gave up their struggle. Twenty-something years of pressure and pent-up desire for Ren let loose in streams of thick, warm cum. They blasted up inside her as the most welcoming blanket of well-being and contented bliss sizzled up Cage’s body and into his brain.

  They came together in unison, their pulses matching each other just as they matched and complimented each other in so many other ways.

  He pulled out with regret but knew he’d be inside her again soon. He’d found his mate, and he would not let go.

  CHAPTER 16

  REN

  “You’re not fighting without me,” Ren said.

  “This is a shifter league,” Cage said, “and you’re not a shifter. You’re not even supposed to know that shifters exist. Besides...if you’re in the crowd, I’ll get too distracted.” He grinned, and the trick almost worked.

  “Nice try,” Ren said, “but I know about the perfume. So you’re going to get me some, and I’m going to go watch you fight. I want to see every single fight, but especially the one where you kick Mal’s ass.”

  “The perfume?” he said, tilting his head.

  “Oh, come on!” Ren said. “Lisa told me about it. Stop playing dumb. She said you had her use it a few times to make her smell like a shifter.”

  “So you’d smell like one of us,” Cage said, “but what if there’s a riot in the crowds or something and I’m too far away to protect you?”

  “This isn’t a debate, Cage. I’m with you 100 percent, and if you think about it, I’m probably safer at the fight. If Mal is as bad as you say he is, and if he doesn’t hold to the deal, when do you think would be the best time for him to send someone after me? When you’re locked in a cage and fighting someone. When it’s guaranteed you won’t be able to protect me.”

  Cage sighed. She knew she’d won. Her physical training was progressing, but she’d probably never beat Cage hand-to-hand. That was okay, because she’d beat him in no less than three arguments in the short week they’d officially been together. And she’d managed to come later than him a handful of times too, so she’d even defeated him in bed. She giggled thinking about it.

  He riffled through a drawer—they were at his place—and pulled out a small spray bottle. “One spray will last about three hours,” he said. “No fight is going to last longer than three hours, so one spray before you go inside will do it. Do not double spray, or you’ll get some horny snake dudes all over you.”

  “Snakes? Are you joking?”

  “It’s one of the only shifter scents they could get distilled into a spray like this. So you’re a snake woman, got it?”

  “Can’t I be something cool, like a dragon...or something sexy, like a panther?”

  “You are cool,” Cage said. “You’re Ren, and you are sexy.”

  She liked that, and she took hold of him and kissed him.

  When she let go, he repeated, “But tonight, you’re a snake!”

  Dammit.

  The fight was in an abandoned warehouse well on the outskirts of town, and it was far away. Neither of them had a car, and it was forbidden to take cabs anywhere near the place, so they had to get the cab to drive them about a mile away and then walk the rest of the way. As they walked, Cage filled her in about the fight.

  “I’m fighting a werewolf tonight,” Cage said. “He’s got his own kind of mutt fighting style. Favors punching like a boxer, but he’ll kick if he needs to. He tends to go for knockout punches, but if he sees an opening to take it to the ground, he’ll go for it. He’s a total fucking animal when he’s grounded...biting and clawing, just totally ravenous.”

  “And your style?” Ren asked.

  “My coach was not partial to any one style. He felt every fighter should find their own strengths to overcome their weak points. I’m huge, bigger than most any shifter. That means I’m not the fastest, but I can really take a punch though. While some people use their speed to get in, I let them land a solid hit just so I can get in. Once I’m in, I like to take it to the ground. If I get on top of you, it’s pretty much over.”

  Ren giggled. “Mm, yeah. After you get on top of me, you usually last at least twenty minutes though before it’s over.”

  Cage laughed. “Rounds are only five minutes, so if I waste two minutes getting in on someone and knocking them down, I only have three minutes left to try to get them to submit or knock them out.”

  “You’re not going to get hurt too bad, are you?” Ren asked. “You’re talking about intentionally taking a hit...from a werewolf who is a trained fighter. I’m not sure I like this.”

  She thought she could see the warehouse ahead now, and she felt more and more nervous the closer they got. Why had she asked to see this? She’d feel every hit Cage took as if it were hitting her. She realized the alternative would be sitting at home for a restless hour or two...not knowing what was happening. Waiting for Cage to call. She sighed. It was best to watch.

  “Shifters heal,” he said. “It’s what we do. Anything that doesn’t quite literally kill me, I’ll heal it off in a day or two. If Lisa were a shifter...she’d have walked out of the hospital after a few days.”

  Ren swallowed. “You’re not allowed to kill people in the cage, right?”

  Cage didn’t look at her and said, “There’s only two rules. No shifting and no head butts.”

  ***

  Cage helped her to the stands, told her where to sit, and advised her not to speak to anyone. Snakes were generally not talkative, and at night when it was cool like this, they were especially inactive. He didn’t want to attract any attention, and staying still and silent was her best option.

  He kissed her goodbye and went down to ready himself for the fight.

  Her nervousness surged, and she thought she had already been at peak anxiety. He was really going to fight a werewolf? And there were almost no rules?

  She fidgeted, biting her nails and twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Fidgeting was probably not very snake-like, but she didn’t care. She was a fidgety snake.... Just like there were surely slow rabbits, there would be fidgety snakes.

  She was surrounded by huge men and strong, beautiful women. All of them were shifters, she knew, and looking at the woman to her left—whose features were elegant and regal—she could take an easy guess that she was some kind of feline. The man on the other side of her was huge and wide, and Ren worried that if he got overly boisterous, he could simply crush her. He stamped his feet as the lights cut off in the stands, and she felt the force surge through her body. Was he a hippo? A rhinoceros?

  The darkness overtook them for a moment, and then spotlights turned on one by one with a loud thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk. The cage was illuminated, and a fourth light flipped on just outside the cage.

  A booming voice filled the warehouse, and the rhino man became a one-man stampede beside her. “LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND WOLVES AND BEARS, ARE YOU READY FOR TONIGHT?”

  Explosive cheers nearly blew out Ren’s ears, and
she was too busy covering her ears to cheer herself.

  “Where’s your excitement?” Rhino asked her. “Cage Castor is back! The Unbearable Cage! The Rage in the Cage!”

  “It’s my first fight,” Ren said. The Unbearable Cage...seriously?

  “Wow!” he said. He shoved the man next to him with his shoulder. “She’s seeing Castor for her very first fight. Castor’s gonna pop her cherry!” He turned back to her. “You’re in for a treat!”

  It hadn’t been Cage that popped her cherry...but it was a treat when they finally did it.

  “Why’s he so good?” Ren asked, wanting to hear more about her beautiful bear man from the mouths of strangers.

  “He’s got drive!” Rhino said. “A lot of these fighters, you can tell they’re in it for the money, you know? Or maybe they want to win, but for all the wrong reasons...like maybe to use it as bragging rights to pick up chicks. Not Castor. He was undefeated until his fight against Malachai Metzer. If you’re new, you have no idea who that is, but just imagine a total badass who goes for the throat. No honor from Metzer, but just raw power.”

  She knew Mal, and he went for the balls, not for the throat.

  Rhino continued. “So they were gonna fight each other in the finals years back. Clash of the titans and all that, and rumor has it that some shady bookies threatened Cage’s family if he didn’t throw the fight. So what do you think he did?”

  Ren remained silent.

  “Yeah! He refused to throw the fight! The dude is a fucking monk. He’s willing to risk his own sister to give guys like me a good fight.”

  The announcer’s voice drowned out Rhino’s before he could continue. It hadn’t been like that...Cage had thrown the fight. Eventually.

  “...TANE ORBSEN! The lupine Frankenstein! The steppin’-on-your-head wolf! Combining every fighting style you’ve ever heard of to tear apart his opponent and step on the pieces. Tane Orbsen will be no easy win, even for someone as renowned as his infamous opponent.”

  Tane was bald as an...orb, and he was already soaked in sweat. He leapt no less than six feet into the air and shifted as he leapt. He hooked his claws onto the outside of the cage and roared. The crowd cheered and stomped.

  Tane shifted and climbed down. Then he worked the crowd a bit, punching the air and grandstanding, but it came off a bit desperate, and the cheers died down to hushed murmurs and scattered applause.

  “And who will Tane be facing tonight?” the announcer boomed, “Surely the answer to that question is the reason you’re even here tonight. The Rage in the Cage, It’s CAGE CASTOR!”

  Rhino stomped so loud that Ren was forced to her feet. Otherwise she’d have risked being knocked over and rolling under his stomps. She tried to psyche herself up to fight the dreadful fear that had taken hold of her. She cheered and clapped, but she was barely audible next to the incredible roar of a shifter audience.

  You’re going to win. I believe in you, Cage.

  She hoped he hadn’t exaggerated shifter healing to calm her fears. He’d be okay, wouldn’t he?

  The doors exploded open, and a gargantuan grizzly bear roared through. It stood on its hind legs and towered up. Then it slammed its claws together. Deafening applause rumbled from the stands.

  Then the bear was Cage, and he grabbed hold of one of the doors, spun around in three or four circles to gain momentum, and threw the entire door right into the crowd. She noted that the door flew in the completely opposite direction of her, which she was sure was intentional.

  Four or five shifters punched and slammed at each other to fight for the door, and a woman with huge breasts and huge hair grabbed hold of the door, hugging it. That bitch could have the door. Ren would have the Rage in the Cage himself.

  Cage turned toward her and nodded. It was a muted nod next to his exaggerated grandstanding, and she interpreted it as saying something like, Don’t worry, I’m going to be safe. This is all just for show.

  Cage and Tane got into opposite sides of the cage, and Ren noticed that Tane had a coach while Cage didn’t. She’d have to ask him about that. Wasn’t that a disadvantage?

  ***

  The two men circled each other, and Ren realized she had no idea what was going to happen. They’d just hit each other? Cage had said that Orbsen was a total animal on the ground, but he’d also said that no one could get out from under Cage once he was on them. Did she want to hope they wouldn’t end up on the ground, or was it better if they—

  Tane charged at Cage, and his fists flew so fast that Ren couldn’t even count the number of punches. Cage’s hands were up, guarding his face, but the punches all hit him. Did getting hit on the arms like that hurt? Jesus, Ren had never been punched in her entire life, and Cage had just taken something like ten punches in the blink of an eye.

  Cage’s leg swung low, and Tane landed a solid hit right into Cage’s jaw. But Cage’s sweep sent Tane stumbling, and despite the damage to his jaw, Cage roared and charged.

  Tane stumbled backward to near the end of the chain-link cage, but he found his balance a few steps from the edge. He kicked right at Cage’s gut, and abs of steel or not, it took the wind right out of his sails, because Tane was right back in his face with a flurry of punches.

  “Shit! Man!” Rhino screamed. “He’s already punched the rust off ya! Time to wake up!”

  Was it that bad? Cage’s super fan was telling him to wake up? Ren’s heart sank into her stomach.

  She noted there were three minutes left in the round, and it looked like Cage was losing. He had time to turn it around.

  Cage elbowed Orbsen upside the head, and he staggered back, right up against the chain-link. When Cage went in for the kill, Orbsen jumped at the last minute. Cage reached up to snag him, but Orbsen held fast to the cage—but only for a moment. Just as Cage’s attempt to snag Orbsen’s ankle missed, Orbsen let go and dropped right onto Cage like a bomb.

  He landed on Cage’s shoulders, and his own mass and gravity pulled Cage down. They crashed to the ground, but Tane’s legs were wrapped around Cage like a spider, and his hands were on his throat.

  Two minutes. Jesus.

  Tane squeezed Cage’s neck, and Cage slammed his fist into the side of Tane’s ribs over and over, but it didn’t seem to do anything. Cage’s face was turning blood-red. Could he even breathe?

  Cage stopped his barrage of punches. He was still. He’d submit before Orbsen choked him to death, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t leave Ren alone like this.... She didn’t care if he won a fight or not as long as they could be together. If Mal was the problem, they could leave town...run from him.

  The red was draining from Cage’s face, and his body began to convulse in agonizing twitches, and still he didn’t submit.

  Cage’s body went slack, and Orbsen smiled wide, flashing a thumbs up with one hand.

  The moment Orbsen’s hand left Cage’s throat, Cage’s legs kicked up, and both men went flying. Cage flipped Orbsen over his shoulder and into the chain-link. Before Orbsen could catch his guard or react, Cage let loose a flurry of blows into Orbsen’s stomach and ribs. When he lowered his guard to protect his rib cage, Cage slammed him hard in the head, and then the buzzer went off. Round one was over.

  “Holy shit!” Rhino said. “That motherfucker faked his own death to play off Orbsen’s ego! Dumb wolf couldn’t resist showboating, and Cage punished him for it. You never let go until your opponent submits, or until you’re one-hundred percent sure they’re dead.”

  Cage had taken a risk like that, and only in his first fight? How bad would things get as he faced stronger opponents?

  Orbsen’s coach was screaming at him, and Cage was chugging water and huffing for breath.

  “You think he’ll recover in time for next round?” Ren asked.

  “Yeah,” Rhino said. “His neck will be sore, but once he gets his breath again, he’ll be good to go. More than I can say for Orbsen. That bastard took a serious beating right at the end there.”

  Round two started before
Ren was mentally prepared, but it turned out to be much shorter and much more decisive than round one.

  Orbsen danced around, ducking and shuffling his feet. He threw feints and half-punches in Cage’s general direction, and Cage simply approached with both hands held out, as if getting ready to swat a mosquito.

  Cage ran in—and it seemed to Ren a totally careless charge with no consideration for defense—and Orbsen kicked.

  Cage’s right hand grabbed Orbsen by the back of his heel, and then Cage jumped and fell backward, not letting go of Orbsen’s leg.