by Jaymin Eve
“Give me his name,” Nathan said. “I’ll make a few inquiries.”
Melodee nodded. She wrote down the man’s name and phone numbers. Nathan shoved the paper into his pocket. It was nice to be able to share a problem. Sometimes it was overwhelming only being able to rely on herself.
“So are you ready for tonight?” Charles was stuffing his face with a steak sandwich he’d ordered in, bits of food going everywhere. “Have you ever lost a fight?”
Melodee fed Jewel a spoonful of mashed vegetables. She raised her brows at Charles. “Of course, I’m not invincible. I’ve fought around a hundred cage fights in my life. I’ve lost three.”
She didn’t mention they were all to the same man, Garrett, the fighter she’d been involved with. He was as highly trained as she was, and had more muscles than should be humanly possible. They’d fought six times before, and it was always a close battle. She wiped Jewel’s face with a washcloth. A thought crossed her mind that with a prize pool this large, she could be fighting Garrett again tonight.
“So what do you do to prepare?” Nathan asked.
Melodee shrugged. “Not a lot: stretch, focus, go through my fighting exercises and stances.”
Nathan shook his head. “I think it’s the … the hottest damn thing I’ve ever known that you fight. But you don’t have to do this. In fact, what if I give you thirty thousand right now, not to fight?”
Straightening in her chair, Melodee narrowed her eyes at him. “I believe we’ve had this discussion about charity before.”
“It’s not charity,” he said. “What if you faced Charlie in a fight, winner gets the money?”
Charles held his hands up. “Leave me out of this,” he said. “I still have bruises from the last time she smacked me around.”
“Just stay home, Nate. I can totally understand you not wanting to watch me fight.” Melodee focused on him. “It’s normal to be nervous.”
“Dee,” he said in warning, “it will be a cold day in hell before I let you go into an underground fight club on your own.”
Melodee managed to stop herself before she rolled her eyes. She’d been going into them alone for over five years, but Nathan wasn’t from this world. She hoped tonight wasn’t the thing that would tear them apart. It wasn’t as if she had to fight forever, but right now it was part of her life.
They caught a cab into the industrial area that was to house this night’s fight. From the outside of the building there was not much happening, and if you didn’t know the drill you’d think you were in the wrong place. But Melodee knew that the front was the façade, the action would be on the other side. They exited the cab.
“Are we in the right place?” Nathan asked. He was dressed all in black, his coat hugging his large frame and muscles, his tattoo just visible on the right side of his neck. Despite the fact he looked clean cut and rich, his take-no-shit attitude would have him fitting in fine.
“Yep, follow my lead,” Melodee said. Her bag was over her shoulder, and for once she’d have someone to leave it with.
They walked up to the double doors. Melodee didn’t attempt to knock, she just pushed the doors open. As she expected, there were people on the other side, milling around, and the next set of double doors were barred with a beefy security man on either side. Their firearms were visible and Melodee doubted either of the weapons were registered. But if one wanted to stay alive, one didn’t ask questions here.
The men recognized her and didn’t stop her from entering. Nathan got a pat down, but no questions were asked; he was allowed to follow her. The room was huge, the octagon cage dominating the center. Around it were the many people who fought, gambled and encouraged the fights. Melodee’s gaze was drawn to Dwayne near the back bar. He had four burly men behind him, which made sense as he held the money. Melodee pushed past a few bikers and businessmen to make her way up to Dwayne.
“Hey, Songbird.” He was a small, wiry man. His hair was thinning on top, his eyes were small set and rat-like, but he was without doubt the most powerful person in the room. And for this scene he wasn’t too bad to deal with.
“Here’s my entry.” She flicked the envelope into the basket. No one counted anything here. Trust was implied, and if anyone was found to be taking advantage of this system, well, they disappeared.
“Here’s the schedule.” He handed her a sheet of paper. “We start at nine, no delay.”
She nodded. Nathan was at her back, and despite the fact she’d never shown up to a fight with a person, Dwayne had not shifted his eyes. He knew how to keep his personal curiosities separate from his business. Melodee didn’t bother to scan the list. It didn’t matter who she faced; it was too late to worry about it now.
“So what do we do?” Nathan asked, with his arms crossed over his chest. His hard eyes, height and muscles had everyone giving him a wide berth. They would think he was the fighter and Melodee the girlfriend.
“Now we get you a drink and find a seat.” She led him to the temporary bar area, where they were served immediately. Then with beers in hand they strolled to one of the free tables.
“Mel Lee.” A deep voice had her spinning. Melodee pursed her lips, wondering how this was going to go down.
“Hi Garrett,” she said. He looked exactly the same: black hair, coffee-colored skin, and piercing green eyes.
He scooped her up in a hug and she heard and felt Nathan growling behind her.
“It’s fucking good to see your gorgeous face.” Garrett dropped her back to her feet. He wasn’t a tall man, just under six feet, but he was so heavily muscled that if you didn’t know him, you’d think he was a steroid junkie from way back. But his muscles were hard earned.
“I hope you’re ready for me to kick your ass though.” He grinned, his right eye-tooth was chipped, but this only added to his charm.
Nathan stood, his front pressing against Melodee’s back.
Garrett tilted his head back. “Who’s your guard dog?”
“This is Nathan, my–”
“Boyfriend,” Nathan interrupted.
Garrett examined him for a moment. He must have approved of what he saw, because he extended his arm to shake, the multitude of colored tattoos standing out against his dark skin. Nathan reached out and gave him a strong, manly shake. They didn’t linger overly long in a pointless display of male aggression. Melodee was glad that Nathan didn’t seem to be stupid possessive, just normal man possessive.
“Do I know you from somewhere?” Nathan asked, his eyes narrowing on him.
Garrett shrugged. “I’ve been around the New York scene for a bit, you’ve probably seen me somewhere. See you in the cage, beauty.” He gave Melodee a head nod before striding off into the crowd.
Melodee turned to explain to Nathan. “Garrett was a professional MMA fighter. He has a lifetime ban now, so this is where he competes.”
Nathan was staring out into the crowd. “I think I’ve seen him at my friend’s club before.”
“We used to date,” Melodee felt compelled to add. She guessed it was better than Nathan finding out some other way.
Nathan growled again. “I kind of figured that. But everyone has a past, and as long as he keeps his hands to himself now, we shouldn’t have a problem.”
“That’s very enlightened of you,” Melodee said. She swirled her beer around. She hadn’t had a sip and wouldn’t before she fought, but it was part of her ritual to nurse a beer.
“There’s a large part of me that wants to beat the shit out of him,” Nathan sighed. “But you’re fucking beautiful, and I can’t blame any man for wanting you.”
Melodee had given up on stopping that curse word. Besides, it didn't seem to bother her as much as it used to. Nathan was mellowing her out or something.
“So will you have to fight him?” Nathan’s expression was serious. “Because I know fighters and that guy is deadly.”
“It depends,” Melodee said. “Generally, when I fight it’s just against a pre-determined opponent and m
y winnings depend on how many rounds I can draw it out. This fight’s a knockout grand prize.” She glanced down at the list. “I don't face Garrett in my first round, and you don’t know how the second round falls until the first is done.”
“If you win, how many fights will you have?”
“Four,” Melodee replied.
His brow wrinkled as he surveyed the crowd. “I don't like it, Dee, but good luck, baby. I know you can do it.” He kissed her on the mouth, his lips soft but demanding as he drew a low moan from her.
“Almost,” she whispered. “You almost had me convinced we should forget the fight and go back to bed. But I need to do this.”
Nathan nodded. “As I said, I don’t like it, but I understand your independence is important to you.”
First names sounded over the loudspeaker, and Melodee needed to go warm up. She got to her feet, kissing Nathan again before turning to leave.
“Oh, and Dee...”
Nathan’s voice had her spinning around again.
“After this fight you’ll be in my bed all fucking night. We’re together from now.”
Melodee nodded. She was finally at peace with this decision.
Chapter 11
Nathan wasn’t sure if it was the club or the meeting with Garrett, but he was on edge. As Melodee walked away to prepare for her fight, he had to clench his fists and restrain himself from throwing her stubborn ass over his shoulder and dragging her out of there. Hell, he’d give her a million dollars to not fight tonight. It probably seemed strange, but there was so much darkness down here, enough to taint even the lightest of souls, but somehow Melodee seemed to have escaped much of that. Maybe because she treated fighting like a job, not a life. But despite her parents, and despite how damaged she thought she was, he saw her with Jewel and her soul was so fucking light it glowed. And he would be doing his best to keep it that way.
At 9pm exactly two men entered the ring. In typical underground fashion, they had aliases and wore masks to hide their identities. Nathan sat forward in his seat, his half full beer pushed away. Every person who entered the cage was a possible competitor for Melodee. The first fight was over almost instantly. The bigger man had rushed straight in with big swings. The smaller had waited patiently, and in the last moment a roundhouse kick to the head rendered the big man unconscious and sporting a broken jaw. The next few fights were similar. The unskilled who were greedy for the big prize were almost beaten to death by veterans of the cage. There were no women yet, and Nathan wondered if Melodee would be the only one.
“Next to the cage: Gazman and Terror,” the speaker echoed around the room, and the crowd went crazy at these names.
Garrett, aka Gazman, was the first to enter. He was shirtless with just a pair of MMA shorts on. Nathan shook his head at the massive bulk of the man’s upper body. Of course Melodee would attract someone like that. He needed to lock her up and throw away the key, she was too enticing for her own good. The second man looked nervous and Nathan couldn’t blame him. It was clear Garrett was a favorite to take out the competition. The fight started fast and furious. Garrett didn’t even allow the other man to breathe, let alone stand any real chance. And while the second man looked to be pretty skilled in Kung Fu, there was no real competition. Garrett walked from the cage, the other man was dragged out unconscious.
“Next to the cage: Songbird and Crusher.”
Nathan could feel his pulse start to race. He never got nervous at his own games or fights in the gym, but right now he was worried. More than one person had been dragged from the cage tonight. And then she was walking past him, and with a clang of the gates she was inside the cage. Her opponent was a medium height man, not too bulky, with the build of a long distance runner.
“Man, I would give anything to bury my dick in Songbird.”
Nathan spun his head to find three men eye-fucking the shit out of Melodee. Shaking his head, he forced himself to ignore them, she was attractive and a fighter, a wet dream to men like these. Besides, he didn’t have time for that, he could barely take his eyes off her. She was wearing a cropped tank top and fitted shorts. Her toned body was on display, and Nathan felt his usual hunger for her roar to life. It was tempered though by his worry that she would be hurt. The fight started. Melodee was silent, staring at her opponent, waiting for him to make the first move. But the man seemed wary, bouncing at little, not coming at her.
Nathan saw more than heard her sigh before she started to move. Two strides to the left and she ran up the damn side of the cage and, reaching out, gripped her fingers into a groove and flung herself at Crusher. He was way too slow for her, and clearly had not expected her to be an elite gymnast, because he only flicked his eyes in her direction in time to receive a straight punch to the face. Before he could even stem the flow of blood from his nose, she side-kicked his knee, dropping him to the floor, and with two knees into his chest knocked him unconscious with one last well-placed right hook.
Melodee got to her feet, wiping her hands down the sides of her pants. Without having even broken a sweat, she left the cage. Nathan’s body was humming with adrenalin. She was the most stunning thing he had ever seen. Her grace and beauty was perfectly matched by her skills and strength. He swallowed. Fuck, she was too good for him. What could he offer her that was better than what a million other men also had? He was the same as everyone else, but she was spectacular. Well, for whatever reason she wanted him as much as he wanted her, so he’d just do his damned best to prove he was worthy of everything that was Melodee Lee.
Melodee took a small drink of water before dumping the rest down the sink. The first rounds were done, the second about to begin. She was against ‘The Snake’ now, which didn’t worry her. He was a grappler, preferring to fight on the ground, while she spent most of her time flying through the air. Their names were called, her gaze was drawn to Nathan as she marched through the crowd. He looked tough and gorgeous as his eyes followed her. She swallowed, needing to forget him for now and find her focus. Nathan threw her off her game.
The Snake was an old-school wrestler. He bowed once and then launched himself at her. It was an unexpected move and Melodee only just hit the ground in time for him to fly overhead. She was straight back on her feet. He was quick, and she had no time to mess around. His fist came at her from the side, grazed her cheek as she jerked her head back, but he still knocked her back a few steps. Ignoring the pain, she backflipped and landed on his shoulders. She brought both hands down in a karate chop on either side of his neck, cutting off the blood flow for a second. The Snake dropped to his knees, with Melodee still riding his shoulders. She bounced off, letting him stumble to his feet. He shook his long strands of greasy hair a few times, mean little eyes narrowing on her. He came straight at her again, another dive to try and get her on the ground.
Melodee waited, counting an extra second before flipping into a backflip flash kick and clipping him under the jaw. Her kick and his own momentum knocked him straight into the cage side. She knew that he was down and not getting back up. Melodee left the cage and made her way to Nathan.
She opened her mouth to speak but before she could he had her in his arms.
“You are spectacular,” he all but growled as he captured her mouth. “I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Her heart swelled. She had never had anyone be proud of her before. No one had even cared enough to notice what she did.
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
The crowd went wild around them again, and with a glance over her shoulder Melodee saw Garrett enter the cage. They always loved when Gazman fought.
“I just came over to see if you have checked in with Charlie?” She faced Nathan. “Is Jewel okay?”
“He texted just before and said our baby girl is sleeping soundly and he’s having a mad orgy and will not be able to answer the phone for a while.”
Melodee laughed. “What was your reply?”
“I took a secret bit of foot
age of your fight and sent it to him.” Nathan grinned. “He texted back saying maybe he was a bit tired for balls-to-the-walls sex and was going to bed instead.”
With one last kiss, Melodee leaned in close to him. “I hope you’re not too tired for balls-to-the-walls sex, Nathan Sinclair.”
Nathan growled again. “You’re lucky we’re in a public place.” He glanced around. “Not that I think anyone in here would mind if I took you against the wall.”
Melodee blew him an extra kiss as she left to head back into the waiting area. It wouldn’t be too long until the third round. With just four competitors left, she wondered if she would fight Garrett this round.
Nope. They were in separate fights, and Melodee wondered if Dwayne had deliberately organized it like that to get the most out of the finals. They were the strongest fighters, although the two they were facing in this round were champions in their respective fields, so it should be interesting. Garrett was first, facing ‘Ice’, no last name. His signature move was acrylic nails filed to sharp points as a weapon. Melodee was glad she wasn’t going to fight him; he wouldn't be in the finals. No matter how skilled he was, he was no match for Garrett.
It took longer than his last few rounds, and he sustained a few nasty flesh wounds, but Gazman walked out victor again. Ice was rolled out, blood streaming from his temple. Now it was Melodee’s turn. She was facing John, which always made her laugh. He never used an alias or weird identifying outfit. In fact he looked like an accountant: glasses, button-up shirt, and unthreatening demeanor, which was a costume in itself, because he was a monster deep down. Melodee wasn’t scared to face him, but he gave her the creeps.
They entered the cage. John was calm, taking his time to remove his glasses and slip them into his shirt pocket. Melodee had watched enough of his fights to know this was one of his tactics. He acted as if he wasn’t even ready for the fight, hoping his opponent would come straight at him. But Melodee knew better than to come straight at any fighter. She liked the stealthy approach.
