Flow (The Beat and the Pulse #6)

by Amity Cross

  I straightened up as Hamish strode into the cage, my heart beginning to flip-flop in my chest like a circus performer on a trapeze. I’d never seen him fight before. Over the years, I’d caught bits and pieces from my limited vantage point behind the bar but never the full show including the previews.

  When the fight began, my heart moved its performance to my throat as the two men clashed. They grappled and punched, inflicting damage on one another in their attempts to make the other tap.

  As Hamish landed an impressive punch on the side of Blaze’s head, I wondered if he’d ever been knocked out. I’d certainly heard and seen a couple of times were he’d rendered guys unconscious, but had he ever been bested like that? Thinking about Goblin’s strike rate, it was a pretty damn impressive ninety-four percent.

  As the fight progressed, I began to sit up straighter, my gaze following all of Hamish’s movements like a hawk. He was really something to watch. Powerful and commanding, a real sight when he was in full flight. Blaze was currently going down like a ton of bricks, in no way fast enough to keep up with his opponent.

  Then something strange happened. Hamish’s gaze caught on mine, and he stumbled…

  It gave Blaze enough time to bring his fist around, and he smacked Hamish right in the face. Direct hit.

  The crowd let out a collective ohhh as he staggered backward, and Blaze moved to attack again, but Hamish recovered quickly. Ducking low, he rammed his shoulder into Blaze’s stomach and heaved…

  With a mighty roar, he flipped Blaze over his shoulder and slammed his body into the ground. The crowd began to go crazy as Goblin struck, slamming his knee into his opponent’s chest. As he raised his fist, his eyes wild with unrestrained fury, Blaze tapped.

  Hamish stood, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth and began backing away as the referee called time. Blaze rolled onto his side, coughing and spitting blood onto the ground, as men who I assumed were on the medical team came over to check him out.

  A commotion drew my attention to the cage entrance, and then the scene began to move, people parting as Hamish came into view. Stupidly, it took a few seconds to realize he was coming straight for me, and I began looking for an escape route.

  I’d just come to see him fight, not to cause any trouble. I just wanted to have a sneaky peek at him and then leave without him ever knowing I was there. Why did he have to look up?

  Finally, he stood before me, grabbed my wrist, and pulled. Startled, I fell forward, and he caught me against his chest while the ring of people around us began to tighten. Vultures waiting for another show.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I exclaimed, trying to shove away from him.

  His grip tightened, and he turned, practically dragging me behind him while the whole world stared at us. I tried to twist my way free, but his hand was like steel around my wrist, and I was afraid if I yanked any harder, I might snap it in half.

  Hamish shoved open the double doors, and for the first time in over three years, I was out the back. The illusive fighter-only area that was shrouded in mystery. Not even Storm had brought me out here for a quickie. People were always talking about the casual sex that happened out here, but as my gaze ran the length of the hallway, I didn’t see one single couple going at it.

  “Hamish,” I said again. The noise level had dimmed significantly, so there was no way in hell he hadn’t heard me, but he went on like he hadn’t.

  Opening a door, he dragged me through into a darkened storage room and flipped on the light, which illuminated rows of boxes and a table.

  He slammed the door closed, the lock clicking into place, and I sank back against the wall, knocking over a box as I went. I was trapped, and I didn’t know what to do or think about it.

  “You almost cost me that fight,” he snarled, his eyes blazing. “What the fuck, Lori?”

  “I was… I was…”

  “I can’t lose,” he went on, oblivious to the fact I was cowering like a little mouse while his version of the lion was swatting his paw at me. “I can’t lose…”

  “I just…” I began, my mouth feeling dry. “I’ve never seen you fight… I just wanted to watch. I didn’t mean… I know you said…”

  He stared at me, his gaze pinning me against the wall, and I wasn’t sure if I should run or wait for the axe to fall. He was so mad I began to panic, my entire body trembling.

  “I can’t…” His lips thinned. “I can’t do this anymore.”

  I opened my mouth to hurl abuse at him, but the words died in my throat as he launched himself across the room and slammed his lips against mine.

  I was dazed for a split second, but then my instincts took control and I was shoving my hands into his damp hair, not giving a damn that he was sweaty and bleeding from the cut that had opened up in his eyebrow again.

  His strong hands clamped down on my hips, and he jerked my body against his as his tongue dove greedily into my mouth. It was fast, hard, and passionate like a volcano erupting, his touch sparking bolts of pleasure between my legs.

  I could feel his hard cock rubbing against my stomach, and the realization that I had done this to him made me picture the moment when he would bend me over that table and thrust into my slickness…

  “Hamish,” I said through a moan as his mouth moved from mine to my neck.

  His hands grasped my breasts through my top and began kneading as his tongue licked at my skin. I couldn’t take the pressure of his hold anymore and stumbled back against the wall, my back hitting the plaster with a thud.

  His hands moved from my chest to my face, his fingers tangling into my hair. Holding me firmly in place, he caught my mouth again, and we kissed for what felt like an age. Emotions I could hardy comprehend seared through my body as I pulled him deeper, his taste making me drunk to the point of addiction.

  “Lori,” he rumbled against my swollen lips.

  My only response was to run my hands down his back and shove them into his shorts. I dug my fingernails into his ass cheeks, relishing the feel of his muscles as he flexed his cock against me.

  “We’ve got to stop now or…” He lowered his gaze, his chest heaving with tight breaths. “I didn’t want to… Not like this…”

  My eyes flew open, and the haze that my lust for him had cast over me began to clear.

  “What?” I asked, my voice still heavy with desire. “You were getting what you wanted…”

  “I didn’t…” He closed his mouth but didn’t move away from me. His body was still against the length of mine, his cock still hard against my belly.

  “You didn’t what?”

  He grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head, forcing my breasts to jut out and press against his chest.

  Lowering his lips toward mine, he whispered, “I lied.”

  I was too high to ask him why, so I just closed the space between our mouths and kissed him. He responded instantly, but then we broke apart just as suddenly as I pulled him in.

  “I want to take you home,” he murmured against my lips. “Now. Only if you want to… I won’t make you. You can come, but only if you want.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath, already imagining being naked against his muscled body, my legs wrapped around his waist as he pounded into me. I wanted it that bad I could already feel him.

  “Fuck, Lori,” he said through a strangled moan, his hands running down my raised arms and cupping my face. “I want you so bad.”

  “Take me home,” I blurted. “I need… I need…” It felt forbidden to tell him the things I was thinking right then. Forbidden and dirty.

  “What do you need?” he asked, his eyes locked with mine. “Tell me.”

  His words hit me like a command, and in the state I was in, I was powerless to disobey. “I need you inside me. I need your body against mine. I need… I ache.”

  He hissed and ran his fingertips over my lips. “Wait here.” As his body parted from mine, I let out a disappointed moan. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

 
The door opened and closed behind him, and I was alone, the room still full of unstable sexual energy.

  What the hell was I doing? Getting exactly what I wanted.

  A few minutes passed, and the door opened again. Hamish appeared, dressed and with his bag in his hand. Holding out his hand, he gestured for me to come. Threading my fingers through his, he tugged me out into the hall, his body commanding mine to put one foot in front of the other. He stood beside me, his stance full of the promise that he would take care of everything. No matter what I needed.

  He didn’t have to say anything, he just leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on my lips like he was sealing the unspoken deal.

  Then he led me through The Underground toward something unknown and very dangerous.

  Something that I couldn’t resist.

  I didn’t realize where we were until Hamish opened the door.

  He’d practically carried me into his apartment, and the moment we were locked inside, he began stripping clothes from my body. There were a million questions I wanted to ask him, but as his mouth and hands worshipped my body, they were all forgotten in the haze of desperate attraction he’d ignited.

  I’d seen him almost naked before. Only an hour before, he’d been standing in the cage at The Underground, fighting in nothing but a pair of shorts that hung deliciously low on his hips. There wasn’t much left I hadn’t seen. I’d felt the last remaining frontier, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes.

  The moment he shoved his boxers down, freeing his erection, my mouth began to water, and I reached out. Curling my fingers around his length, I began stroking up and down. I’d never understood cock talk. I mean, when other women, Bel especially, talked about how perfect one could be. I’d been with guys before who knew how to use theirs—and some who didn’t have a clue—but I’d never thought about it other than it being in me. As I stroked Hamish’s cock, I began to understand. His was perfect.

  He clucked his tongue and pulled my hand away, but before I could complain, he practically threw me down onto the bed with him on top.

  His hands lingered on the swell of my breasts before moving over my waist and down between my legs. His fingers circled around my clit with an expertise that had my hips jerking against his touch. When he slipped further down, I widened my legs and began riding his palm, not giving a stuff what I looked like.

  Hamish moaned as he slipped his finger inside me, my wetness obviously pleasing to the point he thrust a second thick finger in with the first.

  “Lori,” he murmured, pulling his fingers away. “You’re so… Fuck, I need you.” Shoving my legs open wider, he rolled on top of me, his weight feeling heavenly. “I don’t think… I don’t think I can be gentle.”

  “I don’t want you to be,” I replied, hooking my legs around his.

  He moaned softly, grinding against my clit. “Why did it take me this long?” he mused. “Why didn’t I develop a drinkin’ problem three years ago?”

  “Shut up,” I whispered, mirroring his movements. “Shut up and take me.”

  He pushed into me then, his cock filling my slick channel until we were joined completely. He held firm, circling his hips and grinding against my clit with an expert precision that had a strangled moan bursting from deep within me.

  His eyes sparkled in the semi-darkness, and his lips parted as they brushed against my cheek. His breath tickled my oversensitive skin as I ran my hands down his back and grasped his ass. Squirming against him, I let my body beg for what I needed, the words too far away for me to grab hold of.

  Hamish fisted his hands into my hair and twisted, and as his lips latched onto my neck, he drew his cock back, the emptiness he’d left behind aching even more. Then he thrust, driving home with a grunt that had me crying for more.

  More, more, more, more, more…

  We’d have time to explore each other’s bodies later, but for now, we just needed release from the pressure that had been building for far too long.

  He didn’t slow his pace. If anything, he let his control slip and pounded into me harder and harder with each thrust of his hips. I dug my fingernails into his ass cheeks, relishing the flex of his muscles as he moved. Each time we joined, I rose higher, my orgasm building and building until I wasn’t sure I could take it anymore.

  Garbled words spilled from my lips, and the world fell away. Then I felt the pressure uncoil and burst forth, ripping through my body.

  Hamish grunted above me, the stubble on his chin rasping against my shoulder as he thrust erratically, my body tightening around his cock tighter and tighter until he came. I was so aware of him I could feel his release empty into me, and like mine, it seemed to go on forever.

  His body trembled, his lips searching for mine in the haze. Lifting my hands, I guided him to me and caught his mouth with mine. We kissed slowly and then pulled apart to take deep breaths in the wake of our exhaustion before touching again.

  Everything we’d done over the past six weeks—our attempt at a normal friendship—had been leading to this. I’d been attracted to him from the get–go, but I’d just disregarded it because I’d thought it was purely physical. It was, oh God it was, but the more I saw of the real Hamish McBride, the more I fell until I was spiraling down the rabbit hole. I seriously felt like Alice in Wonderland with the whole ‘eat me, drink me’ mind games thing.

  That was the thing with Hamish—especially the scene at the hospital I wasn’t meant to have seen—I’d only read the first chapter, and I was already hooked.

  I curled around his body like he was a giant pillow, and he tightened his grip with a sigh.

  I didn’t know what we were doing or what the weather would be like tomorrow, but for now, I was treading water in the deep end with every shred of energy I had left. Everything we’d just done…it was purely physical, and that was the thing that worried me. I didn’t want to go from friends to friends with added benefits. I wanted it all.

  I wanted him in every way he came, no matter his baggage.

  It was far too late to try to stop this now. I was a goner. Past the point of no return.

  I’d fallen hard for Hamish McBride.

  19

  Hamish

  Maybe it was the hit to the head, or maybe it was everything my ma had told me, but when I saw Lori watching me fight, I knew I couldn’t take it anymore.

  The fighting, the pushing away, the secrets and lies… I was so fucking tired of shouldering the burden. At that moment, right before Blaze punched me in the face, I saw her sitting in the sea of people, and I’d just let go. If I was going to come clean to anyone, it was her because she could be the one where Josie wasn’t. It was what I’d wanted all along.

  Fame, glory, riches…that shit was empty. Those things were nice, but they weren’t what I wanted. Not really. What I wanted was somebody.

  That somebody was Lori Walker.

  She wriggled in my arms, her skin soft and warm against mine, the scent of sex clinging to our skin. Talk about some addictive shit right there.

  She turned, twisting around so we were face-to-face, still half-asleep. Her cheek was creased with marks from the pillow, the lines crisscrossing like a patchwork of terrain on a map. Her skin was soft and pale, which made the colors of her tattoos stand out brightly. She was a kaleidoscope that made me want to keep turning her around and around so I could see every shard that made up the whole.

  “Hey,” she whispered, her eyes still hooded with sleep.

  “Hey.”

  I’d never really stopped to look at her tattoos. They were just part of her, so I’d never thought twice, but now that she was naked in my arms, I could see all the marks that were usually hidden by her clothing, and I began to study them. Every word, image, color, and shape.

  “What?” she asked, her skin heating under the force of my gaze.

  “You have so many…” I ran my hand over her chest, tracing the lines of ink that swept between her breasts. “Why?”

  “Lots of reasons.” S
he shrugged, her lips parting as my thumb brushed against her tight nipple.

  Lowering my head, I brushed my lips against the place my hand had just been. “I want to know them all.”

  “Right now?” She gasped as I pulled her nipple into my mouth and sucked.

  Rolling over, I pushed her legs apart with my thigh and began paying closer attention to two of my many favorite things about Lori.

  “You’re insatiable,” she said, her hands fisting into my hair. “Number six for the high score.”

  “I’m treatin’ you,” I muttered, feeling my cock begin to harden. “You don’t have to be anywhere until tonight, right?”

  “Right…”

  “So quit your complainin’, and let me have you again.”

  She widened her legs, and I settled between them, thrusting the length of my cock against her clit. She arched into me, her breasts rubbing against my chest, and I moved my hips backward. I hissed softly as I pressed against her opening, the slight pressure threatening to take every last shred of my control.

  “Hamish,” she murmured, her gaze meeting mine. “Don’t be such a tease.”

  My lips curved into a smile. “But it makes the next part so much more satisfyin’.”

  I slid into her and began moving slowly, our bodies shucking off the last remnants of sleep and waking up to one hell of a good morning.

  Just like the first night I’d spent hanging out at her place, everything about this was easy. Which made everything else I wasn’t telling her so much worse.

  I just wanted this moment of uncomplicated happiness before I dropped the mother lode on her. Then I’d take the test to see if I had a chance at getting the same cancer as Ma…if I didn’t have it already.

  I’d tell Lori the truth tomorrow.

  Then if she was still in this, we’d figure it out.

  20

  Lori

  Casting my gaze out across The Underground, I sighed.

  I was positive people were staring at me. Randoms who’d never paid any attention to me were now whispering and throwing glances, keeping the gossip mill in business. It had everything to do with Hamish ‘Goblin’ McBride and his showy display of ownership after his fight with Blaze. That and his constant barrage of attention since.