by Amity Cross
The only person I wanted there was Ren. How I could put her through that, watching the fight that would either kill me or brand me a murderer, was beyond the pale. I told myself I needed her, that she was the only person I wanted to share this insane journey with.
Love could get pretty fucked up if you asked me.
Ren sat with me and bound my hands, she helped me stretch out, digging her strong little hands into my muscles, kneading out any knots she found. Hammer sat on one side of the change rooms while we prepared, two security guards manning the space between us.
I could see the tension in Ren’s body as Hammer stared at her, so I kept him at her back, moving as she did. Every so often she’d smile up at me and it was all I needed from her to know that she understood and was thankful.
Max wandered in and eyed us both, nodding once at me. “Time boys. In the cage and make it count.”
Ren grimaced and I reached for her hand, the silence between us stretching into infinity. The calm before the storm.
We walked through the crowd in Hammer’s wake, letting him milk his moment, and when we reached the point of no return, Ren tugged on my hand. She stood up on her tip-toes and kissed me hard. I tasted her against my tongue and realized she was crying.
I pulled away and caressed her cheek with a bound hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” she murmured.
“Of course not.” I smiled, but I knew she didn’t believe me.
I could’ve stayed there all night staring into her eyes, but the time had come. I kissed her one last time as I heard my name being called. I kissed her with everything I could gather from inside me.
“I love you Ren,” I murmured, brushing a tear from her flushed cheek.
“I love you,” she said firmly.
I let my hand fall away and stepped backwards.
“See you on the other side,” she said with a smile, but her eyes didn’t light up with their usual sparkle.
I nodded and pressed my fist against my heart, then I was inside the cage and the door closed with a slam that seemed all too final. Ren curled her fingers through the chain-link and I had to tear my gaze away or risk losing it myself.
Fuck, she knew what I was going to do. She had to know, right? If she didn’t, then she was about to realize which made it worse. It was too late to stop it now.
“Fuck, you’ve become soft Fuller,” Hammer drawled and I was jarred into the present.
My mind cleared from its haze and I narrowed my eyes. I toed the line, squaring up against Hammer and closed my heart off from my mind. Game fucking on.
He smirked, raising his fists into the guard position.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this Fuller,” he said and the undercurrent in his voice was unmistakable. I’d handed him his ass time and time again, shown mercy and paid for it. If he got the upper hand tonight, he was getting his own brand of revenge.
There was no fuckin’ way I was letting that happen. We’d worked too hard…I’d worked too hard to be beaten now.
The rules were called, but neither of us seemed to hear as we stared each other down. The rules were a formality, a show, nobody was following them tonight.
Hammer lunged before the referee’s hand had even dropped an inch and threw a right hook at my jaw. I was caught off guard and roared in pain as his fist connected. I stumbled, hot jagged throbbing searing through my face. Fucker.
I came back at him a split second later with my own right hook and the crowd roared as my fist connected with his eye. My arm jarred as the impact shot through my arm, but I tuned the pain out, keeping my head in the game.
Hammer stumbled and almost fell, but he righted himself just as I grabbed him around the shoulders and sunk my knee into his stomach. He doubled over as the force of the blow pushed the air from his lungs and I raised my right elbow up and brought it down hard onto his spine, right in between his shoulder blades.
Hammer fell face first onto the mat and the crowd thundered their feet against the bleachers, the din almost earth shattering. I reached down and went to bury my fingers into his hair, but his ankle connected with my shin with incredible force, knocking me flat on my ass.
I jumped to my feet, moving my bulk with incredible fluidity as Hammer scrambled upright like an ungraceful piece of shit.
He didn’t give me any room to breathe and collect myself as he lunged and our arms locked together. We pushed against one another, trying desperately to get the upper hand.
“It’s only a matter of time before I have her,” Hammer grunted.
I shoved him and we broke, circling each other like lions fighting over a scrap.
“How is it Fuller? How does her cunt feel?”
His fist connected with my face and stars burst through my left eye. I fell to the mat, landing hard on my shoulder.
“Does she squeal? Does she swallow?”
The crowd gasped from someplace far away as Hammer straddled me, raising his fist.
“I’m going to fuck her mouth, then I’m going to fuck her cunt, then I’m going to fuck her ass.”
His fist connected with my jaw.
“Does she like being tied up? Maybe I’ll give everyone a go after I’m done.”
I spat a mouthful of saliva and blood at him, pain burning through my self-control. I felt my rage building as Hammer taunted me with visions of him raping my Spitfire. Breaking her, hurting her, humiliating her.
This was what he’d done to her… He’d taunted her with words, tried to rule her with fear, but Ren had fought back. She’d fought and won. I could do the same. I couldn’t let my anger rule me anymore.
It was that moment when I realized that beating him wasn’t going to be enough. Revenge, doing it the right way… There was nothing right about what I was about to do, but it was the only way that would set us free. Free from this constant turmoil, this constant reminder of my ruined life… A way to be free of the repercussions of my actions… Max had given me permission after all.
Hammer’s fist connected with my nose and hot, sticky blood burst forth, coating my lips and dripping into my mouth.
This wasn’t anger talking, not by a long shot. No, in my heart this…this to me was the right thing to do.
Hammer punched again, his knuckles splitting open my eyebrow.
I had to move.
Hammer raised his fist, a manic glint in his eyes. It was now or never. We’d reached breaking point.
My body began to sear with adrenalin and I roared as Hammer let his fist fall and bucked against him with all my strength. His fist flew to the side, missing my face by millimeters and he fell to the floor with a surprised grunt.
I rolled over and straddled him this time, reversing the roles completely. Hammer’s eyes widened as he realized how deep in the shit he really was as I raised my fist and struck like lightning.
I punched and punched, my fist smacking into his face, pain and blood the only thing I could see. Nobody tried to stop me. The cage door didn’t open. The referee didn’t try and force us apart. They wanted him dead too. They all wanted Hammer to die and I was the man for the job.
Flesh minced into flesh, hands clawed at me, but not once did he even try to tap out. He wanted me to die too much; it was anger that was ruling him this time. The same thing he used against me, the same thing he used to ruin my life and the lives of the people I loved, it was the same thing that was destroying him now. Sweet fucking irony.
“Ash!”
A scream ripped through my mind and my heart twisted as I saw what I’d done. It was her piercing cry that broke the spell. She was the fuckin’ beast whisperer and it was my name on her lips that halted my fist mid-punch. The one voice through the chaos that I would recognize anywhere.
Spitfire.
Dazed, I fell backwards off Hammer and landed hard on my back. I stared up at the floodlights, light searing into my retinas, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.
I wasn’
t a murderer. I wasn’t a monster. I couldn’t do it.
His blood was still on my hands. I felt my skin tighten as it dried across my knuckles. I felt the blood oozing from my face. I felt the throb across the bridge of my nose and knew that it was broken. I used the pain to keep my eyes open.
Noise rung in my ears as my vision began to blur and I moaned, reaching out for something, anything…reaching out for Ren.
“Ren…” I muttered. “Ren…”
“I’m here.” Hands caressed my skin.
“Ren…”
“It’s over,” she murmured, cupping my broken face in her hands.
“Spitfire,” I moaned, fixing my darkening vision on her brown eyes.
She smiled and I realized she’d been crying. She was crying. “It’s over. You won.”
I sighed like I was letting out the last of my anger, hurt, pain…all of it. The rage was gone, Spitfire had my heart and now I was fuckin’ reborn. Then her lips were against mine and I knew everything was going to be okay.
We’d won. We’d fuckin’ won.
Then, I let go.
Chapter 38
Ren
Six months later...
I sat in the passenger seat of Ash’s car, holding on for dear life. There were a lot of things that man was good at, but driving was not one of them. All I could do was hold on for dear life as he zoomed us through the streets of Melbourne, weaving in and out of traffic.
The heater was up full bore and my fingers were still curled into the sleeves of my hoodie. Melbourne’s winter was a wet and wild one this year. After such a scorcher of a summer, it was like having whiplash.
“Where the hell are you taking me?” I declared. “And do you have to go so fast?”
“I’m on the speed limit Spitfire,” he said with a laugh.
It was intoxicating seeing him so happy after all the shit we’d been through and I almost caved. “There’s at the speed limit then there’s ’the speed limit’.” I air quoted the last part and rolled my eyes.
“I love you,” he said with a grin.
“Luckily for you, I love you right back.”
The last six months had been the happiest we’d both been since the night we’d first met at Beat. We didn’t have this looming threat hanging over our heads and we finally had room to breathe and sort out our shit.
I’d been hanging out with Josie ever since my glamorous BFF had come back from Sydney and we’d been doing more and more things outside of Beat. That bit was me getting a life outside of fighting.
I’d introduced Josie to Violet, with Ash’s blessing on account of him being so overprotective, and they’d taken to each other instantly. It was good for his sister to have an extra person to support her and every time I saw her it felt like her spirit was becoming stronger, little by little. She was definitely a Fuller and Fuller’s were fighters through and through.
Ash parked the car on a side street, one wheel running over the gutter and crashing back onto the asphalt. “We’re here,” he declared. “Now, close your eyes.”
“Close my eyes?”
“Close ‘em Spitfire or you won’t get to see.” He jumped out of the car, rounded the front and opened my door. “Out!”
I slid from the car and stood on the footpath and glanced around as he locked the door. All I could see were high brick walls and a lot of nothing. Where the hell was he taking me?
“No peeking,” he said, stepping behind me and covering my eyes.
Yeah, I liked playful Ash a lot. He was currently acting like a five year old in a toy store and I was content to roll with whatever he had up his sleeve. This had to be good.
We needed some good to counteract all the crap that was The Underground.
As far as I knew, Hammer never fought again. No one had seen him since he was taken away from the cage on a stretcher and word had it that he was still eating through a straw.
I could still remember that night as vividly as ever. The moment I realized what Ash was planning to do, I almost clawed my way through three bouncers to get into that cage. Nobody was raising a finger to stop it, which also brought another truth driving home…. More than one person wanted Hammer dead. The biggest realization was if Ash didn’t win, then that fight was ending with Ash on the receiving end. Only one man was coming out of that cage alive.
Ash wasn’t a murderer. I knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he’d gone through with it. He’d tried twice, but both times something had stopped him. Only he would ever know the answer to that one, but I liked to think it was the goodness inside him. The love he had for his family.
Ash Fuller was never a beast. He just loved too much.
“Let it be known that I hate surprises,” I declared as he walked me forward, his hands covering my eyes.
“Have a little patience Spitfire,” Ash murmured in my ear. “You’re gunna love this.”
He guided me down the street and into a building, telling me to step and turn as we went.
“Okay,” he said, stopping suddenly. “Are you ready?”
“Oh, just get it over with,” I declared with a laugh.
Ash let his hand drop from my eyes and I blinked hard at the sudden burst of light. We stood in the middle of a run-down building, a cold draft coming in from a broken window.
All I saw was an empty shell. A warehouse space with crumbling walls and a set of stairs leading to a second level.
I furrowed my brow. “What am I looking at?”
“It’s ours,” Ash declared and I turned to stare at him. “I know it’s not much to look at, but just you wait.”
I saw the pride in his features and my heart swelled and almost burst. Suddenly, I understood what he wanted to do.
“You-”
“I’m going to reno the whole place, smash out a couple of walls, invest and make this the best damn fighter gym in Australia.”
“Fuck that,” I declared. “How about the world?”
“That’s my Spitfire. Go hard or go home.”
He grabbed my hand and began leading me through the place, telling me his grand plan. A state of the art gym, a fully loaded kitchen, showers at the back, a ring on one side and upstairs… He said that upstairs he was going to make it into an apartment. It was mine to do whatever I wanted with. We could live there together or we could find our own place.
The future was looking finer and finer with every step we took through the warehouse.
“How the hell could you afford this?” I asked, my eyes widening with every corner he lead me around.
Ash shrugged, a stupid grin on his face. “Well, there’s this place-”
I launched myself forward and clamped a hand over his mouth and smiled. “Shut up.”
“First rule about The Underground, is don’t talk about The Underground?”
“Something like that.”
“I kept putting so much money in the bank they suggested I see a financial planner,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. “I told them how much I wanted and they gave me a twenty year plan, but that wasn’t good enough.”
“Did we step into the space time continuum?” I asked with a laugh.
“No, I won this thing-”
Pressing into him, I covered his mouth with mine and kissed him stupid.
“What are you going to call it?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “Pulse Fitness.”
I cocked my head to the side. “Pulse?”
“Well, there’s Beat where you made my heart beat again…”
I laughed. “Soppy.”
“And,” he said, covering my mouth with his big paw, “there’s everything that came after. That’s the bit that gave me my pulse back.”
I felt like crying. The good kind of crying.
“I wanted to name it for us,” he whispered.
Pulling his hand from my lips I said, “It’s perfect.”
Because it was. It was perfect in every way.
The Beat
and The Pulse.
Thank you for reading PULSE. I hope you enjoyed it.
Please consider leaving a review at the retailer you purchased this eBook from. Reviews help and inspire indie authors more than you will ever know.
Pulse is the second full-length novel in The Beat and The Pulse series by Amity Cross. Ash and Ren's story might be complete, but we met so many amazing characters in both books.
The Beat and The Pulse was only ever meant to be two books, but here's the part where you get to tell me if you want more! There is a chance that I will write another book for late this year, but only if you guys want it. So, tell me… Who do you want to hear from?
Dean? Lincoln and Violet? Hamish? Josie? SETH?
Come and visit me on my website or Facebook page and let me know.
xo
Amity Cross
Royal Blood (Royal Blood #1)
Erotic Romance
18+ due to mature sexual content
OUT NOW!
A hit gone wrong, an impossible contract, revenge and the ultimate kicker… falling in love.
Mercy Reid is a runner.
She found the perfect place to hide, until it wasn't.
Xavier "X" Blood always gets what he wants.
He had the perfect arrangement, until it wasn't.
X is the mysterious tough guy from Royal Blood MC who gets shit done. Cross the Club and you get a visit from X. Only one person walks away at the end of it...and it isn't you.
Mercy is hiding something. Something big. Looking to get lost, she runs from one hopeless situation right into the clutches of a monster.
When X and Mercy meet, something more electrifying than sparks fly. Something dangerous, passionate and forbidden.
When you deal in death, there's only one way things can end...
Or is there?
ROYAL BLOOD is out now!
