by Tia Lewis
Revived
A Bad Boy MMA Fighter Romance
Tia Lewis
Contents
Mailing List
Books by Tia Lewis
About This Book
Warrior Zone Fighters Series
Revived
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Julia
Sneak Peek: Reckless: Warrior Zone Fighters Book 3
Coming Soon!
Thank You
Mailing List
Books by Tia Lewis
About Tia Lewis
Copyright
Copyright © 2017 by Tia Lewis.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
First Published in February 2017.
First Edition.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please contact: [email protected]. www.AuthorTiaLewis.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of the book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic, or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 (www.fbi.gov/ipr/).
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Published by Salted Pen Publications, Minnesota.
Revived: A Bad Boy MMA Fighter Romance
Edited by: Charity C.
Beta Readers: Jackie, Vickie & Summer
Cover Designed by: Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by Design
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FULL BOOK CATALOG BY TIA LEWIS
Books by Tia Lewis
Redemption: A Bad Boy MMA Fighter Romance
Draw Play: A Sports Romance
Stadium of Lights: A Second Chance Romance
Draft Day: A BWWM Sports Romance
Threat: A Blood Riders MC (Book 1)
Reveal: A Blood Riders MC (Book 2)
Creed: A Blood Riders MC (Book 3)
The Hitman’s Possession: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 1)
The Hitman’s Property: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance (Book 2)
The Hitman’s Duology Series Bundle
Dirty Hacker: An Alpha Billionaire Romance
Dirty Money: A Dark Mafia Romance
Misled: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance
The Journalist: A Sexy Contemporary Romance
Zarak: Scifi Alien Invasion Romance (The Mating Games Book 1)
About This Book
I'll stop at nothing until Julia Chase is safe in my arms.
I had it all—fame, fortune, a woman who loved me, and the start of a family—until one tragic night took them all away...
Now, only my nightmares keep me company. I haven't stepped in the cage since, keeping my distance from everything I once loved to avoid the pain of losing anything or anyone again.
Then a fateful night brought her to me...
She was running for her life—afraid for her safety. No matter how much I wanted to turn away from Julia Chase, her courage and mesmerizing blue eyes drew me in.
To keep her safe, I have to fight my own demons and conquer hers—then I'll claim her as mine.
Author’s Note:
Revived is a steamy MMA fighter contemporary romance novel. It's only recommended for audiences 18+. Standalone. No cheating. No cliffhangers. HEA. Revived is the 2nd book in the Warrior Zone Fighters series.
Warrior Zone Fighters Series
Redemption
Revived - Free on Kindle Unlimited!
Reckless - Coming March 2017
Restrained - Coming April 2017
Chapter One
Travis
I walked through the quiet gym, marveling at how loud this thing could be during the day but dead silent at night. The smell of rubber and sweat still hung heavily in the air, and I wondered if I needed to get the entire place cleaned again. The Zone was my life, the only life I had left now that I had turned my back on fighting. When I had found out about some of the guys starting up a gym, I had plunked down my part in cash, wanting in. It was a chance to still be connected to the sport without actually fighting, as well as a place for me to start over. I needed a chance to start over.
"Trav. What are you still doing here?"
I looked over to see Benji walking toward me, already dressed in his street clothes. "We have an engagement party to make tonight."
I thought about Tony and Hannah, the baker from next door and how they had just gotten engaged a week prior. I was happy for Tony. He had really found something in Hannah, and all of us would be happy as hell to have a woman like her, present company excluded. I never wanted to go down that path again. "I'm not going."
"What?" Benji asked. "But you gotta. It's Tony and Hannah. Everyone is meeting up at Jim's."
I shook my head. I wasn't the partying type anymore. "Go on. Maybe I'll stop in later."
Benji looked at me then shrugged, clearly not too fucking worried about getting me to the party. "See you later then."
"See you," I said, rubbing a hand over my face. I was tired, though these days I rarely slept anyway. The nightmares were enough for me to only catch a few hours of sleep before I was due at the gym, where I was mainly in charge of the books. It was a safe profession.
I looked up at the cage, the familiar feelings of anticipation and adrenaline coming back in my mind. There was a time in my life that I fucking loved climbing in that cage, beating the shit out of the other guy and getting my hand raised high in the air. I had grown up fighting, taking in every move I could find to make myself nearly invincible. But that was all in the past, another time, another Travis. Now I struggled to get into the cage without throwing up.
With a sigh, I walked past the cage and shut off the rest of the lights, locking the door behind me as I stepped into the biting cold of the wind. The weather was turning freezing ass cold, winter fast approaching. It would mean more time at the gym for those who were trying to get into the cuts for the first of the year, and while we weren't hu
rting for business at all, I didn't know how many new clients we could take on. All of us had our hands full as it was and Benji would have to drop off the first of the year to start training for the title. That meant his clients would be split between the rest of us and I doubted Tony would be doing much of anything that didn't involve Hannah. I would have to suck it up and step into the cage soon, or the guys would start wondering what the hell was wrong with me. I wasn't ready to tell anyone where I had been over the last two years or why. That was my fucking business, not anyone else's.
I rounded the corner and spied Jim's bar halfway down the block, the nondescript building home to past and current fighters of all types. The guys liked to congregate down there because Jim was a fighter in his day and a damn good one. After retirement, he had opened the bar and catered to fighters of all kinds. Normally I liked to go in there and shoot the breeze with him, but tonight I wasn't feeling it. Tonight, I wanted to go home and crash, wait for the nightmares to take over. I turned away from the bar and headed up the block, my hands in my pockets to keep my fingers from falling off. The cold weather was when my body ached the worst, as all fighters struggled with, the pain in my hands nearly unbearable. No amount of warmth was going to ease the ache, massaging them the only way to get the kinks out of them. I had found it hard to hold the pencil today as I worked on the books, my hands cramping more than normal. Nothing on me was normal anymore. My nose had been broken more times than I cared to admit, every part of my body displaying a bruise or cut at some point in my life. I was the oldest out of the guys, the one who had fought the longest before my sudden departure. Hell, I had fought Tony a time or two and each time he had kicked my ass.
"No, no, no! I hate you. This is not a love-hate relationship. This is a hate-hate relationship."
I looked up the street to see a woman kicking a tire with her boot, her hands on her hips as she stared at it. Snow was starting to fall lightly, no doubt covering the streets before the night was over. I contemplated turning the other way, not really wanting to engage in any conversation tonight, especially not with a woman. But I couldn't leave her stranded either. That wouldn't be right. Shit. I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place with this one.
Gritting my teeth, I walked over to the woman, who was giving the tire a death stare. "Can I help?"
She turned, and I felt sucker punched, her bright blue eyes reminding me of the blue water I had witnessed in Belize, her face slightly rounded under the hood of her coat. "Yes," she said, her breath causing a cloud. "I could really use your help."
I shook out of my thoughts and knelt down at the tire, seeing that it was flat. "Looks like you have a flat."
"No shit, Sherlock," she stated, annoyance in her voice. "Do you know how to change a tire?"
I rose and looked at her, wondering who peed in her cereal this morning. "I do know how to change a tire. The question is, do you have all of the tools to do it with?"
She bit her lip. "I don't know. I've never changed one before."
I sighed inwardly, holding out my hand. "Give me your keys." I had changed a tire or two in my life. This one would be a piece of cake.
She shook her head, and I was alarmed to see tears in her eyes. "I don't have them."
"You don't have keys to your car," I repeated, thinking this was getting weirder by the moment.
She sighed, and I noticed that she was wearing pants with rubber ducks on them, tucked into her boots. What the hell was going on here? "Listen I don't have keys to the car. I, it's not mine."
Okay, this had just gotten too fucking weird for me. I dropped my hand and rubbed it over my face. "Um, well I guess I will be leaving then."
She grabbed my arm, her fingers clenching onto it tightly. I shook her off instantly, hating when people touched me. "Please," she said, her eyes watery as she looked up at me. "I need help. I'm in trouble."
That was an understatement. "Listen," I started. "You're not making this easy."
She sniffed. "I know. You know what? Just screw it. I don't need you, I don't need anyone."
Dumbfounded, I watched as she turned her back and started to walk away, those damn ridiculous duck pants glaring back at me, mocking me. Shit. I should have walked away at the first sight of her. I couldn't deal with this right now. Why did I care if she didn't want any help? She was just a chick, a stranger.
But it was the way she had said she was in trouble. And those damn tears. I didn't do tears. Fuck I couldn't let her walk away. "Hey," I said, jogging toward her. She was almost to the corner of the block now, and as I tried to reach her, a dark SUV pulled up beside her, the doors opening and two guys jumping out. She saw them and turned back toward me, terror now in her eyes. My adrenaline kicked in as I sped toward her, my hands balled into fists. One of them put their hands on her, and I saw red. Oh hell no. This was not going to happen on my watch.
Chapter Two
Julia
This could not be my life at this moment. It was like something out of a movie, complete with the ugly goons and dark SUV. One of them touched me, and I kicked out, attempting to get away from them so I could run. I wasn't a fast runner, but my life was in danger, and I was going to do everything I could to get out of this situation. "Let me go!" I shouted, hoping that someone would hear and scare these guys off.
The goon loomed up before me, and I felt the first shiver of fear as I looked into his dead eyes. And then he was gone. I stumbled back, my legs getting tangled in each other as I saw a flurry of activity in front of me, realizing it was the tattooed stranger that had come to my rescue. My first instinct when he turned the corner was that he was a dangerous man. It wasn't just the tattoos, which licked up the sides of his neck. It was the fact that his eyes were dark and soulless, with no life in them.
And now he was fighting for me. I watched as he easily took care of the first guy, smashing his face in with his fist so fast that I barely saw it happen. The second guy started toward him, and he caught him under the chin with some kind of kick, causing the guy to stumble back over his partner, shock on his face. My savior advanced on him, but he was able to get his partner up and to the SUV before they sped off, the taillights disappearing down the street. For a moment, I stood there in shock and a bit in awe that I had definitely picked the right guy tonight.
"Fuck," he said, running a hand through his short hair as he watched the SUV disappear. He was trembling though he was desperately trying to hide it, flexing his hand over and over again. Oh no, he had hurt himself because of me. "Are you hurt?" I asked, taking a step forward. He held out his hand, shaking his head. "Don't come close to me right now."
I stopped in my tracks, surprised. I was the dangerous one, not him. He had no idea what he had just gotten himself involved in. "I, um, I'm sorry you had to do that and hurt yourself."
He looked over at me, and I sucked in a breath as I saw the rage simmering just under the surface on his gorgeous face. And he was gorgeous. A high forehead, breathtaking green eyes that were as hard as emeralds, and a strong jawline with a scruff of light brown hair dusting the surface. His body was encased in a hoodie and jogging pants, but if his forearms were any indication, I imagined he worked out a lot. He straightened, and I realized he was tall as well, the darkness of his tattoos standing out against his skin. "I'm not hurt."
I looked at the hand he kept on flexing. "I would beg to differ."
"Do you always have to argue?" he asked tightly. I kept my mouth shut at that point. Yeah, I had a problem with arguing though in the last few weeks, I should have argued more, and then maybe I wouldn't be in this situation.
"Do you want to tell me what is going on?" he finally asked after a few moments.
I laughed harshly, shoving my hands into my jacket to keep them warm. I must have looked a sight, wearing my lounging pants and whatever else I had been able to throw on before I had fled the apartment. Well, everything but the keys I needed for the car that had the flat tire. That had not been my finest moment. "No," I f
inally decided on. "I don't want to tell you." I didn't know this guy from the next guy on the other side of town. The last thing I wanted to do was drag him into the hot mess I had going on right now.
His eyes flared, and I realized I had pissed him off yet again. Great. I was two for two tonight with him. "You asked me to help you," he reminded me, his eyes glancing down at my pajama pants. "Are you saying you don't need help now?"
I sighed. I needed a lot of help. I was in trouble, major trouble. When I moved to Chicago a few weeks ago, leaving behind sunny California, a good job, and all my friends, I had high hopes. Kevin had been all I thought I needed, a chance to start a new chapter in my life. Soon after moving here, though, the rose colored glasses quickly came off, and I realized what I thought was not what I was getting into. Not even close. Now I had an ex-boyfriend, no job, no money, and no idea where to go from here. I didn't know anyone save for Kevin in this city, and with no way to get back home, I was stuck. Yeah, I could call my friends back in Cali, ask them to send money, but I had bigger problems, problems that were not going to disappear if I fled back home. I couldn't put them in danger as well, so I was stuck. Horribly stuck. "No," I said, feeling despair well up in my voice. "I need lots of help."
He stared at me, probably thinking of how he had gotten involved with a crazy woman like me, and I thought about leaving, just walking away and dealing with my own problems. "This has to be the craziest night of my fucking life," he muttered, rubbing that hand over his hair again. Must be a nervous twitch, like when I liked to twirl a piece of hair on my finger. "Tell me about it," I answered with a sigh. What the hell was I going to do? "I, um, I hate to ask this." I mean he was a stranger, a dangerous stranger by the way that he had handled those goons without breaking a sweat. This was totally out of my comfort zone, totally not at all who I was or how I handled my business, but Kevin, that asshole, had put me in this situation, and I hated him for it. "But can I crash on your couch or floor tonight?"
