Bad Boys of Chaos: The Complete Duet Boxset: Books 1-2

by Marie York

  I locked the door, slid the deadbolt into place and hung the chain in place.

  I was safe.

  My apartment, with the three locks, was my safe space. The only place I wasn’t scared. Once that door was closed, all three locks in place, no one could get to me. Or at least I’d convinced myself as much, and I had to, or I’d go insane.

  Now away from the outside world and the constant threat of danger, my mind drifted back to the gym parking lot. Back to what I had witnessed. I should have been disgusted, but I wasn’t. I was ashamed at myself.

  As soon as my eyes caught the two figures beneath the streetlight, I knew exactly what was going on, but instead of looking away, I stood there frozen and… intrigued.

  The woman’s face was twisted up in pleasure and not retched sadness or pain. She was enjoying everything that he was doing to her, taking pleasure in the act. It was something I knew nothing about.

  Sex for my own pleasure was a foreign concept, and for a moment I was jealous of the woman who took so eagerly and carelessly.

  She had no shame. A woman who knew what she wanted and took it. Her ass was bare to the world, her most intimate part exposed to the open air without a care, and there I stood in my oversized clothes, covering every curve of my body. Though not by choice. First my fashion choices were for protection, and now because the fear was embedded so far into me, I couldn’t shake the anxiety baring my skin caused. Besides, covering up helped keep me invisible, and being invisible was the only way I knew how to survive.

  Well, not the only way. It was why I was at the gym in the first place. I wanted to get strong, build my confidence and learn how to fight. There was only one person who could help me. Teach me everything he knew, and train me for the battle of my life when that moment came. Because it would come. And this time I’d be prepared.

  There was no going back for me, only forward, and there was only way I could do that.

  Nixon Bennett, the pig who was fucking a girl openly over the hood of his car, was my only hope. My chance to start living again. To stop hiding behind my apartment door in fear of the outside world.

  I wanted to feel the sun on my bare shoulders, hear the sound of my own laughter, and more than anything I wanted to feel safe.

  In these parts, everyone knew Nixon ‘Viper’ Bennett. He was an animal in the cage, skilled in many different areas of fighting. He was ruthless and cutthroat when it came to his tactics. He didn’t show weakness and thrived on victory.

  So while I should have been disgusted with him, I wasn’t. He was a man who took what he wanted, when he wanted, and he didn’t need to do it against someone else’s will. The woman’s face proved that. Having sex didn’t make him a pig. I actually admired his boldness. His give no shits persona that I’d heard so much about and got to witness firsthand when his eyes met mine in that parking lot.

  What he did in private was none of my concern, anyway. It’s not what drew me to him. Or why I scheduled a session with him. I had to learn how to fight, and Nixon was my only hope.

  I needed him.

  Chapter 3

  Nixon

  Pain exploded in my face as my opponent got a blow right to my cheek. A smile tugged at my lips because, while he thought he finally got an in to take me down, he really was only getting me started. I thrived off pain. Took energy from each forming bruise and bloody cut. The harder he hit me, the more power surged through my veins.

  I pushed him off of me and bounced back on my feet. Surprise lit his eyes, and I couldn’t stop the laugh that came out. This asshole actually thought he would beat me? I was undefeated. I sent Brian ‘Brick’ Johnson to the hospital for fuck sakes. There was no beating me.

  Thoughts of that fight made my mind wander to the fucking shitfest that happened that weekend. Finding my sister fucking my best friend.

  I expected it from my sister. Kennedy couldn’t let me have anything. She wanted all the attention, the praise, so of course she would go after the one person who held me in higher esteem than her.

  But Beckham? That lying, sister fucking asshole was supposed to be my best friend. I relied on him to watch over my sister, not to fuck her.

  Anger built, and I used it to my advantage, punching my opponent in the jaw. He stumbled back, and I continued to draw strength from my anger.

  My entire plan had backfired. Kennedy and Beckham thought I was looking out for my sister’s best interest, asking Beckham to look after her on campus. Isn’t that cute? Little did they know, I was trying to set her up for failure. Destroy her perfect little life and prove to my parents once and for all that she deserved to be drop-kicked off the fucking pedestal they kept her on. She could sit in the dirt and see the world form where I always viewed it while our parents glared down at her as they always did me.

  A few minor infractions when I was younger and they never looked at me the same. While Kennedy could do no wrong, I was the black sheep who they couldn’t wait to see gone.

  The fact that she chose the college to attend that Beckham had recently transferred to was convenient, but now I wondered if I was the one being played all along. If they’d been sleeping together long before that.

  I dodged a fist and threw an uppercut to my opponent’s side. He grunted and sweat dripped off his forehead, landing on my forearm.

  I didn’t need Beckham. I didn’t care that he was once the closest thing to a brother I had. If he wanted to jump ship and climb into my sister’s bed then fine. I could take her down without him. Except Kennedy wouldn’t answer my texts, and my parents still thought she was the golden child. But fuck her. And fuck him. All I cared about was the fight.

  In the cage, I always won.

  It was time to claim my victory. My opponent went to kick me, and I grabbed his leg, twisting it behind him and dropping him to the mat with a single leg drop. I tucked my leg inside his and tightened it around his thigh, rendering his bottom half useless. He went to punch me, and I ducked out of the way. He hugged me to him, my head stuck in his sweaty chest, but not for long. He was gasping for air, and I wasn’t even breathing heavy. I pushed up and took a swing at him, knocking him dead in the eyebrow.

  Blood spewed from the nice cut I managed and dripped into his eye. The ref came close as I mounted him, landing blow after blow. He put his hands up in defense, blocking most of my hits, but I couldn’t defuse the anger inside of me, and this guy was now my punching bag.

  I finally got one good one in, and his head fell back. The ref came in and pulled me off of my opponent. I threw my arms up and listened to the crowd scream their praise.

  This was the ultimate high. Who needed family when I had this?

  ***

  The next morning, I headed into work. I had a new client and liked to get there a little early to get a workout in first. Randy was at the front desk and he looked up from checking his reflection in the picture frame that held the martial arts team champion photo. I gave him a nod.

  “Heard you won last night,” he called out, and I stopped, turning to give him a fist bump.

  “Guy didn’t have a chance in hell,” I said with a cocky grin.

  “They don’t call you ‘The Viper’ for no reason. When’s your next fight? Maybe I’ll be able to make it.”

  “Tuesday after next.”

  “I’ll check my schedule and let you know.”

  Randy made it to most of my fights, and afterwards, always swore he would start training. But when he worked out, he spent more time looking at himself in the mirror than he did lifting weights. He talked out of his ass a lot, but who was I to tell him he didn’t have what it took?

  If he ever decided to get in the cage, he’d find out real fast that vanity didn’t equal strength.

  “Your first appointment is already here,” he said, as I went to head to the weight bench.

  I looked at my phone. It wasn’t even eight yet. My first client was scheduled in for nine. “Not me. My first isn’t for another hour.”

  “Nope, it�
�s right here in the book. Looks like Cindy rescheduled someone so she can squeeze a Hayley in for the nine o’clock time slot.”

  I rolled my eyes at the name. I didn’t expect that girl to be clingy, but I hadn’t really been thinking with the right head then. I was hoping after I fucked her, I’d be done with her. Apparently not. If she was a good lay, I wouldn’t mind taking her for round two, but it was like fucking a corpse. She just lay there on the hood of the car, didn’t even cup my balls, or dig her nails into my sides. Whatever. “Where is this new person?”

  “She was wandering.” He stood up and scanned the place before pointing toward the leg press. “There she is. Brunette, big tits. Name’s Brooklyn.”

  “Thanks.” I headed over to the girl. She was bent over the machine, looking at the weights, and by the complexed tilt of her head I had a feeling she’d never stepped into a gym before. Baggy sweatpants covered her ass, and it was hard to tell if she had shape beneath them.

  “Hey there.” I walked toward her. “You ready to get started?” I put a smile on my face because girls were always intimidated by me and I wanted to get past the shy bullshit right out the gate.

  The girl turned around, and I laughed because it would be my fucking luck. Staring back at me was the girl with fuck me eyes from the parking lot the other night.

  She had on another big t-shirt, but now, being closer to her, I could see it was more boobs than fat. She was a curvy little thing. I’d give her that. Her long hair was the perfect length to tie up and yank on while fucking her from behind.

  Her pretty little lips that I could picture sliding up and down my cock, turned down in disgust. “You,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

  I shrugged, proudly showcasing my arrogance. “I know. How can you be so lucky?”

  She let out an exaggerated breath. “Lucky wouldn’t be the word I choose.” There was a hint of sorrow in her tone that made me think the sarcastic banter wasn’t sarcasm at all.

  Her hand brushed at her curls, tucking them behind her ear, and revealing more of her face. Her cheeks were clear, and I wanted to see her blush again like the other night. I stepped a little closer, lowering my voice. “You don’t seem as embarrassed as you did the other night.”

  Instead of blushing, she narrowed her gaze on me and landed her hands on her hips. The gesture pulled her shirt in, revealing her hourglass shape. A few workouts with me, and she’d be on her way to being the next Kim Kardashian.

  “That’s because I realize I wasn’t the one caught with my pants around my ankles.” The sorrow was gone, humor touching her words.

  I laughed it off and leaned over to the weights to pull the pin out, brushing her arm with mine. She jumped back from me as if I hurt her. Her eyes filled with fear, and I held my hands up. “Sorry. I was just trying to change the weight.” I motioned to the weights, and she nodded, stepping out of my way.

  I placed the weights at fifty pounds and pointed to the machine. “Get on the machine and show me what you have.” I always liked to test my clients’ strength so I could design a workout that best fit their abilities, especially when I had douchebags come in telling me they could deadlift three hundred pounds when it looked like the only thing they were lifting were cheeseburgers.

  I wasn’t here to stroke anyone’s ego or put them in the hospital. Inside these walls I was a trainer, not their mother or their opponent in the cage. I was paid to get them in shape and as long as they were honest with me, I was good at my job.

  She stood there like a damn statue like I had all day to wait for her to decide if she wanted to sit her ass down. “Sit,” I said with a little bite in my tone.

  She shook her head and stepped back. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake.”

  Jesus, she looked like she was going to cry. We hadn’t even got started yet. If she couldn’t handle me telling her to sit then maybe she was right. Maybe this session was a mistake.

  She went to walk away, and for some reason I couldn’t let her go. I wrapped my hand around her forearm and she jolted. I released slowly, realizing she didn’t like to be touched. We’d have to work on that. I moved in front of her so she couldn’t run out on me,

  Her eyes met mine, taking me by surprise for a second. I’d seen them before, but never this close. They weren’t just fuck me eyes, they were the most insane shade of gray. She smelled of flowers and innocence. She glared at me, and I had the urge to bend her over the machine, and shove my cock deep inside her. That would never happen, if I let her walk out that door.

  “Look,” I said trying to control my tone. “You’re obviously here because you want to get in shape, tone up, whatever, and I’m the best trainer you’re going to find. You don’t have to like me; you just have to listen to me. You do that, and I guarantee you’ll see results in no time.”

  Curvy girls weren’t usually my thing, and neither were brunettes, not that I’d ever kick them out of my bed. I preferred rail thin blondes, but there was something about this girl that I couldn’t shake. I kept imagining what she would look like naked on my bed spread opened wide and waiting for me to fuck her.

  I shook the thought off and watched as her lip lifted like she was about to tell me where I could shove it, but then it flattened back into place. She crossed her arms under her tits, giving me a glimpse of how big they were, ‘D’ cups if I had to guess. What I wouldn’t give to bury my face into them. She lifted her chin. “Fine. What’s your name?”

  “Viper.” I never told girls my real name, and they never cared enough to ask what it was.

  “Viper?” she said as more of a question. “I’ll work with you on one condition.”

  Normally, I’d walk away. The only conditions I worked under were my own. But I was intrigued. “Shoot.”

  “I’m not and never will be one of your whores. Don’t ever expect to fuck me in the parking lot.”

  I slowly moved closer to her, so I wouldn’t startle her again, and leaned into her ear. “Oh baby, if I was going to fuck you, I’d bring you somewhere fancier than a parking lot.”

  She jumped back.

  I smiled. “You need me. So what do you say? Deal?” I held my hand out and waited, expecting her to hightail it out of there and never come back. It would be for the best because there was no way I’d be able to keep this promise.

  She shocked the shit out of me when she grabbed my hand, causing my dick to harden at her touch. “Deal.”

  Fuck, I was screwed.

  Chapter 4

  Brooklyn

  After my first session, I checked the backseat of my car then got in and let out a breath. It felt as if I’d been holding it from the minute I walked into the gym. I didn’t want Nixon to know that I knew exactly who he was. I didn’t need his ego getting in the way of our training sessions, so I played the clueless girl.

  I was used to playing a role anyway and it was easy. Until his arm brushed mine, and the panic I’d spent months trying to suppress, bubbled to the surface. He was going to touch the weights, not me, but my mind imagined his hand wrapping tightly around my arm. His fingers digging into the sensitive flesh, leaving bruises in his wake.

  The way he held his hands up, the flash of confusion and hurt on his face when I flinched away from him, calmed my unsettled nerves. But the panic had already set in and it wasn’t something I could easily fight. The walls felt as if they were caving in on me and I needed to leave.

  I thought I was too damaged to move beyond the past that broke me. Then he stood in front of me, dark eyes determined, the slightest tilt of his lips when that determination met my gaze full on. A softness appeared then before slowly drifting to something I never witnessed before. He looked at me like I was there, living and breathing in front of him. I was so used to people looking through me, and for years that’s exactly what I wanted, but today someone saw me, he saw me, and it felt good to be noticed.

  It reminded me that I was here for a reason. That fear is what started me on the journey and by jumping off the pa
th before I even began would be me completely giving up. I was done giving up, done letting fear win and one look from Nixon reminded me of that.

  He was everything I wanted to be. He was strong and confident and I wanted him to teach me how to be both, I wanted him to show me everything he knew. In order to do that, I needed to crawl out of the frightened pit that consumed me. I needed to let Nixon do his job and in order to do that, I needed to trust him.

  It was a hard pill to swallow. My recent encounters with men didn’t give me much hope in the gender, but thoughts of my father filled my mind. Dad was a good man and God did I miss him. He was proof that not all men were scum. He tried to warn me, tried to protect me and I didn’t let him.

  I inhaled, pushing the memories to the back of my mind. The past was done and over and there was nothing I could do about it. The future on the other hand hadn’t been written and I had the chance to make it my own.

  The gym door opened and I watched Nixon walk to his overly flashy orange Mustang with black racing stripes. He bent in and grabbed something before straightening. His eyes caught mine and the old me would have quickly snapped my attention away, pretended to be focused on something else, but I didn’t want to be her anymore.

  Instead I offered a wave and pulled out of the parking lot, hopeful for a future as bright as his car.

  Chapter 5

  Nixon

  My phone rang, and I looked down, smiling when I saw my agent’s name flash across the screen. It was about time he got back to me. I only had one fight on my schedule and I wasn’t happy unless I had at least three to look forward to.