by Fine, L. J.
Contents
Relentless Liberation
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Review Request
About the Author
Want More?
Excerpt from Seduced by the Anti-Hero
RELENTLESS LIBERATION (Serano Brothers, Book 1)
By L.J. Fine
www.ljfine.com
[email protected]
Cover by: K-Lee Gaffney
Editors: Julie Naughton / Ryan Meyers
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
I would like to dedicate this novel to my mother. You’ve always encouraged me to follow my dreams and you never stopped believing that I could achieve them. I love you more than you’ll ever know.
Chapter One
Every time Mina Roper entered this building her nerves kicked into high gear and her palms started to sweat. Nevertheless, she kept coming back for more week after week, faithfully showing up every Tuesday night like clockwork. And each and every time she did, it felt like an unseen hand yanked all the oxygen out of her lungs. She had no choice but to take shallow breaths otherwise she might asphyxiate.
The crowd didn’t entice her here. In fact, shifting and pushing through the sea of bodies, the sheer proximity of all these people set her teeth on edge. The caged violence in the center of all the jeers and shouts didn’t do it for her either. The rush of chance that went along with the high stakes betting that could be found in all corners of this vast yet cramped room had nothing to do with her racing heart and the electric tingles shooting along her nerve endings. Certainly, the smell of stale sweat mixed with fresh blood and antibiotic cream couldn’t be blamed for making her face flush and her panties damp.
No, her body’s reaction and the almost religious compulsion to be here could only be attributed to the dark, menacing man currently squaring off with his opponent inside the ring. Tyler Serano. It was all about him. Pathetic really considering that she had never even spoken to him. She had forced her libido into submission a long time ago so the actual physical excitement he inspired in her, above anything, had her interest piqued.
In fact, her sex drive had been numb for so long that she had gotten used to its absence. No matter what her friend Chloe might think, its resurgence would only prove detrimental to her mental well-being. Someone like her lusting after someone like him? These kinds of things never ended well. For her.
The first time she had set foot into the gym she had felt so out of place, like she had stepped into an alternate reality and didn’t know the laws of the land. The sights, sounds and even the smells had been alien to her. As Chloe had pulled her through the crowd to find a spot with the best vantage point of the ring, she hadn’t been able to escape the impression that everyone was looking at her, wondering why such a drab, mousy girl dared to linger in their midst. Despite her best efforts to exude a confident don’t-give-a-shit-what-these-people-think attitude, she found herself fidgeting with her subdued sweater and smoothing a hand over her long medium-brown hair. Rationally, though, she was fairly certain no one even noticed her.
Few ever did.
But then the fights had started and she had been entranced, momentarily forgetting her insecurities. Never before had she witnessed anything like it, and the pure aggression took her breath away. Blatant and unmitigated, it lacked the subtle put-downs and veiled insults she had known her whole life. This was fresh, almost like a relief. No hidden subtext, no ulterior motives, just raw human emotion displayed in its simplest form.
She had stood mesmerized by what she saw until the main fight. That’s when Tyler stepped into the ring and she had lost sight of anything else. All former sense of relief had dissipated, as if someone had lit her on fire from the inside out.
That had been it for her. She had needed no other reason or further coercion to come back. As lame as it sounded, just watching him was the most excitement she had gotten in - well, years probably. Maybe even her whole life. And no matter what she did or how she tried to force him out of her every waking thought, he stuck to her mind like Gorilla Glue. She couldn’t shake him off or get enough of him. He was like a drug and she had been addicted from the first moment her eyes landed on him.
Not that he noticed.
It was what it was, though, and she honestly hadn’t expected anything else. He wasn’t even the type of man she usually found herself attracted to.
Well, she thought with a frown, that wasn’t exactly true. For the last few years she hadn’t actually been attracted to anyone, so she couldn’t say that she had a type anymore. But she felt certain that if she did he wouldn’t be it. While he was still completely out of her league, he seemed too abrasive and unrefined. Animalistic. The type of guy who would chew her up and then spit her back out without a backward glance. Yet here she was, for all intents and purposes salivating over a man who “didn’t do it for her”.
Even now his graceful movements as he danced around his opponent inside the ring hypnotized her. The beautiful muscles in his powerful arms and back flexed and contracted with every hit he landed, the black ink of the tattoo spanning his broad shoulders rolled with his movements. The sheen of sweat coating his skin made his well-defined body glow under the jaundiced light shining down on the fighters.
The bout had been in progress for a few minutes and Mina held her breath, waiting for it. She dreaded this part every time she saw him fight but knew it was inevitable. It had to happen at least once before he would finish the fight. She saw the moment he made the decision and knew it was coming.
And here it was.
There was a grunt and a swing as his challenger landed a right hook along Tyler’s jaw. Mina winced. The force snapped his head back but he quickly recovered, pinning his foe with a smile. More like a feral baring of teeth, made all the more menacing by the crimson stain of blood coating his pearly whites and the manic look in his dark eyes. She could practically hear his deep, predatory growl over the noisy crowd before he spit the blood out onto the once white floor of the ring.
Then it was game over.
Watching the strength in his agile movements as he completely obliterated his adversary never ceased to amaze her. She found it fascinating and admired his determination and resilience. From what little she could learn about him, it seemed like these traits combined with strength composed his personality to make him the fierce man she saw in the ring. How she longed to posses even half the nerve and self-assuredness that radiated off him in waves. How different her life would be.
With one last jab to the temple, Tyler took his opposition out and the crowed went ballistic. The excitement in the air a palpable thing as some cheered, some cursed and money exchanged hands. Why anyone would ever bet against Tyler mystified her, though. The man hadn’t lost a single fight in the time she had been coming here to watch him. Her gaze flicked over to his hard, lean body and she marveled that he barely seemed out of breath.
Yeah, it didn’t look like his winning streak was going to take it on the chin anytime soon. He was seriously in some kind of shape.
Chloe elbowed her playfully in the
side and gave her a knowing smile, snapping Mina out of her ogling. “When are you gonna let me introduced you to him?”
Just the thought of being in any kind of situation where she might be expected to speak to him had her heart in her throat and her blood running cold. If the mere knowledge that he was in the same room with her could cause her to become hypoxic - even if said room was huge and filled to bursting with rowdy patrons separating them - she couldn’t bring herself to contemplate what would happen if he focused his actual attention on her. Even for so brief a time as an introduction would take. Might be enough to kill her.
Anytime Chloe pressed the issue Mina gave her the standard “no, absolutely not” response. Still, Chloe’s persistence threw her for a loop. Never in the past had she ever been encouraged to pursue any man - or really anything - she desired, but Chloe’s confidence in her appeared completely genuine. It boggled her mind that her friend seemed to think she could attract any man, let alone that man.
“I see the way you look at him, Mina,” Chloe said as she twisted her long blonde hair over her shoulder. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that. The force of that longing in your eyes alone is enough to take the chance to go and meet him. I know for a fact he’s sing-le,” she singsonged.
“I’m perfectly happy with our current arrangement. I eat up his body and drool over him from a nice, safe distance and he doesn’t know I’m alive. It works out quite well for both of us.”
Chloe rolled her eyes and parted her lips to reply when she spotted something over Mina’s shoulder. Her eyes narrowed and her pretty bow of a mouth angled downward into a frown.
Mina followed her friend’s gaze and saw Chloe’s boyfriend Brian counting out money as one of the resident bimbos rubbed up against him and ran her manicured claws down his chest. By the looks of it, the woman didn’t care that Brian was taken and Brian seemed disinclined to set her straight.
To be fair, though, with the exception of a few charming smiles, Brian treated the woman’s advances with the same indifference that he gave all the other women that came onto him. For a bookie who managed an underground boxing ring, he was too nice of a guy to outright push her away and some of these women might misconstrue his actions, or lack thereof, as flirtation. Mina knew he didn’t mean anything by it and deep down so did Chloe. But that didn’t stop her friend from feeling possessive.
“Hang on for a second, sweetie. I’ll be right back.” As Chloe made her way over to them, Mina knew what would come next and that it meant they would be here for a while. She plopped down into a nearby foldout chair, crossed her arms and legs and waited it out as Chloe ran the other woman off with an overt public display of affection in Brian’s arms. Then, once the skank moved out of earshot, Chloe lit into her man.
Though she hated to see them argue, Mina had to admit she was glad for the shift in Chloe’s focus. That woman could be like a dog with a bone when she got an idea into her head. She knew Chloe wouldn’t let her crush on Tyler rest.
Why couldn’t she have just said no when Chloe had first asked her to come to one of these things? Then there would be no infatuation to speak of and they could all go about their merry way, no worse off than when they’d started. But at the time, lust had been a stranger to her for so long she didn’t think anything of it when Chloe had finally dragged her to her first fight.
They’d been working the same shift at the small bookstore in the equally small town of Allensville, Pennsylvania where Mina had just recently taken up residence when Chloe had first brought it up. Brian belonged to an exclusive gym that Mina frankly hadn’t even heard of until that particular conversation. Every Tuesday night the members closed the gym down and turned into an underground boxing arena.
Brian managed it all. He set up the fights, acted as a bookie and made sure the cops stayed away. It had all sounded so illicit and dangerous when Chloe had explained it to her, like something Mina would read about in one of the novels she adored so much. At the time, she wondered why Chloe even told her about it given its sensitive nature but by the end of the story her purpose became all too clear.
Chloe somewhere along the line took it upon herself to find Mina a man. She had often commented in the short time they had known each other that she found it surprising that Mina was single and even in the beginning Mina could see the wheels turning in her head.
But Mina knew very well why she was alone. Men just didn’t see her like that. Never had. She was too plain, too awkward and too shy. Then to top all that off she was invariably attracted to men who were hopelessly out of her league. The few times she tried to put herself out there she had been slapped back into place so hard it had knocked the wind out of her.
Especially the last time. That had been the most painful experience of her life and she had no desire for a repeat.
So no, she had long ago resigned herself to the fact that the fairytale happy ending that so frequently occurred in those beautiful yet fanciful novels she loved to read just wasn’t in the cards for her. She was built more for a supporting role anyway, like the heroine’s best friend. Someone had to play that part. It might as well be her.
Thinking she could use a little excitement and knowing that Chloe’s plan to hook her up with someone would be fruitless, Mina had agreed to go with her to the fight that week. Well that and the fact that Chloe was relentless. Mina more than likely couldn’t have gotten out of going if she had wanted to and thus her aforementioned obsession had developed, which had led her here, to this moment.
Pinning away for a man who never noticed her while she waited for her friends to quit arguing long enough to give her a ride home.
Slowly the crowd tickled out of the gym until only pockets of people remained chatting or cleaning up. About ten minutes had passed and Brian and Chloe were no closer to a resolution. Mina sighed, wondering how late it would be when she got home.
The shifting of the air beside her and the sound of metal sliding against linoleum plucked her out of her thoughts and had her turning her head. Immediately her heart started to beat out a rapid staccato in her chest, her limbs tingled with that pins-and-needles sensation and she almost choked on her own spit.
Tyler sprawled out on the chair directly beside her, his long legs, encased in gray sweatpants, spread and stretched out before him. He had put on a white zip-up hoodie and his short dark-brown hair was damp and messy from a recent shower. She had never seen him outside of the ring and she couldn’t decide if he was sexier all sweaty and bloody or cleaned up and lounging next to her with the lazy grace of a jungle cat.
He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his attention from Brian and Chloe to her. The weight of his dark, intense eyes finally, finally settling on her was so heavy she had trouble pulling in air. The corner of his full, luscious lips kicked up into a wry grin as those near-black eyes scanned her face and landed on her mouth which, to her utter mortification, hung open.
Quickly she snapped her mouth shut and swallowed hard. His eyes tracked the movement, then dipped a little lower before once again meeting her stare. “Your name’s Mina, right?”
The deep sound of his voice traveled along her body, caressing places he had never seen. The way her name rumbled out in his gravelly baritone plucked at her nipples and suddenly her pussy lips felt heavy and swollen. How could her traitorous body react like this when he had done nothing more than say her name?
Wait. “You know my name?”
He grinned and her heart just about stopped. “I wish you could see the look on your face right now.” Oh she could just imagine, poleaxed more than likely defined it best. “Yeah, I know your name. I’ve seen you hanging around with Brian’s girl.”
Dear God - he knew her name and he’d seen her around? He had actually noticed her? Before her mind could put the cart way out in front of the horse, she reminded herself that his learning her name hadn’t happened because of some sort of interest in her. She had been coming here for three months and he had never onc
e approached her. No, he was just observant, that’s all.
“I guess I never really thought you’d pay attention.” His expression darkened and she didn’t know why but she felt the need to hastily clarify. “I mean, since every time I see you you’re busy beating the crap out of someone.”
The corners of his lips twitched. “I notice way more than you’d think.”
A feminine grow of frustration diverted Tyler’s attention back to Chloe and Brian. “They fight too damn much,” he murmured.
She couldn’t help her snort of agreement. She knew that they loved each other but it was this kind of thing right here that made her glad she was single. “I know, right? They’ve been at it for, “she glanced at her watch, “fifteen minutes now.”
“Did you ride here with them? That why you’re still sitting here listening to this bullshit?”
His gruff tone made her smile and she nodded.
“Shit, you could be here all night waiting for them to figure it out.” He looked at her, considering for a moment. “I’ll give you a ride home if you want.”
She might have actually swallowed her tongue and she knew that her eyes were as big as saucers. Oh what a great first impression she was making here. By the time this was over, he’d think there was something wrong with her. But the thought of being alone with him, let alone in such a confined space as a car, made her stomach bottom out.
Of course, he completely misread her stunned silence as disinterestedness and stood. “I get it, though, if you’d rather wait for your friends than take a ride from a complete stranger. So no worries.”
He hauled his bag over his shoulder and started to walk away.
And she let him get the whole way to the door before her brain finally got back on line and screamed at her that she was about to pass up an amazing opportunity. Even if deep down she knew it was a bad idea and probably wouldn’t go anywhere, she might at least get the chance to get to know him a little.
