Brave

by Natalie Gayle

  He hugged me tight to his body. “Oh yeah, definitely in need of some TLC but you might need to be gentle with me.”

  I giggled back and nuzzled my mouth into his ear. “I can be gentle. Let me know when you’re ready to start the TLC.”

  He made a sexy growling sound in the back of his throat and every single nerve ending in my body twitched in readiness.

  “That works for me. Let me see if we can bail,” he whispered back.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  The “flies” around us had started to disperse when they realised the BBQ was over.

  Reed moved up to us and winked at me. “Most effective bug spray around.” Then he turned to Xander. “They need you for the press conference man.”

  Xander let out a pained sigh. “Really?”

  “Yep, really. Last one.”

  “Okay, if I really have to.” He sounded like a little kid that was complaining over eating his vegetables.

  “You really have to,” Reed confirmed. “Part of the contract.”

  We started to make our way to the door.

  “Would have almost been worth getting knocked out to avoid it,” he grumbled.

  “Don’t say that,” I chastised. “Don’t even think it. It’ll all be over soon.”

  “Then I get some TLC?”

  “Yep, then you get some TLC.”

  “Awesome. It’s been a very long two weeks,” he said nibbling on my ear lobe.

  I couldn’t have agreed more.

  * * *

  Eden

  We were escorted from Xander’s dressing room by security to a large room that was filled with the waiting press. Xander had kept his arm around my waist the whole way. Reed, Len and the boys were right behind. This room was set up a little different to the one at the hotel yesterday. This meant Xander had to walk down a central aisle to take to the raised podium stage at the front of the room. There was a table and two chairs on the little stage with microphones behind both. Parker Cook was already sitting on one of the chairs.

  Xander turned to walk down to the front and I baulked. Xander was still holding on to me as he turned and looked at me with a question in his eyes. I wasn’t supposed to be up there in the open with him.

  “I want you with me,” he confirmed, pulling me close.

  “But it’s about you,” I protested.

  “I would never even be here to take that podium if it wasn’t for you. Please?”

  How could I resist? I nodded and the butterflies returned to my stomach. We started the walk down the aisle and cameras clicked and flashed like crazy. Reporters kept thrusting microphones in our faces and asking questions. It was a mob scene. I glanced behind me nervously and noticed Len and Reed were hot on our heels. Len winked at me as if to say, “I’ve got your back, Girl.” And I knew it was true and I felt so much better for their support.

  At the end of the aisle Xander took me over to the side of the room level with the podium and dropped a light kiss to my lips and whispered for my ears only. “Looking forward to that TLC, Gem.” I heard the cameras go wild and I knew that there was a warm glow heating my face. Len moved to one side of me and Reed the other. Dane and Seth stood behind me forming a solid wall of support.

  Xander sat down at the table. Parker leaned over and said something to Xander. He turned and glanced across at me and I wondered what Parker had said. Then Xander nodded and said something back.

  The press all seemed to be just as interested in the exchange. The place had hushed considerably. Parker turned on his microphone.

  “Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming tonight. First up I’d like to congratulate tonight’s winner by knockout, Xander “Pretty Boy” Todd.” There was applause, cheers and whistles before the press settled down again as Parker went on to talk about what an overwhelming success the night had been and how the fight had really lived up to all that it had promised.

  Then the questions started.

  “Xander, how do you feel about tonight’s win,” a reporter from a news station asked.

  “I’m very pleased with the result. I’ve achieved what I set out to do. I’ve trained incredibly hard during this prep to achieve the win and I got it,” Xander said modestly. He wasn’t one for a lot of hoopla. “But I couldn’t have done it without the support of my team. Reed as my trainer, Dane and Seth as my training partners and, of course, Dad to keep everything running smoothly. Thank you all so much. Their support means the world to me” They all nodded around me. Then his eyes found mine. “But I’d like to give a special thank you to my girlfriend, Eden. This whole prep has been completely new and very challenging for her, but never once has she faltered in supporting me even when she’s had to endure what no one should. Thanks, Gem. Your support, courage and commitment is what got me across the line tonight. You reminded me how to be brave again.”

  My heart was fluttering and squeezing and I couldn’t love him anymore, could I? An attractive woman in a suit asked the next question. “You took a few heavy hits tonight; have you sustained any injuries as a result?”

  Xander grinned. “Ah yeah, I got myself into a few situations I shouldn’t have. But no, I don’t have any injuries.” He motioned to his forehead. “I’ve got a few bruises and this little war wound that I’m sure, Reed my trainer, is getting a laugh out of. This one might leave a bit of a scar and mess up my ring name.” Xander shot Reed a cheeky grin. “But on the whole I’m fine, nothing that a few days rest won’t heal.”

  A reporter from down the back yelled out, “Were you expecting him to be so tough, Xander?”

  Xander nodded. “Yeah I expected it. I knew this fight was going to be insanely tough. Luke’s a great fighter and he’s got massively better since we last met. He had every advantage with a home town crowd and heaps more recent experience, but I wanted this win badly. I guess I should be apologising for ruining your party shouldn’t I?” Xander gave them a mock grimace and they all burst out laughing and responded to his easy personality.

  “Xander, you seemed really slow to get going tonight,” someone to the side called out, but I couldn’t work out who.

  “You might say that! The ring rust was damned thick. I won’t deny it. I know I was lucky to survive a couple of times, but I guess instinct and training kicked in and I got home tonight.”

  Then one of the reporters that had been niggling at the last press conference stood up and my stomach dropped with dread. “You seemed really rattled after “Lights Out” hit the canvas. What was going through your mind? It looked like you were reliving your last fight.”

  I saw Xander’s jaw work and I knew this question was one that cut deep. “Yeah, I’d be lying if the past didn’t cross my mind. We all know the risks when we step into the cage but that’s why we train, to minimise them. I’m just really glad Luke’s going to be okay. Regardless of our differences, no fighter wants to see his opponent badly injured or worse.”

  “Not even when he trash talked your girlfriend?” someone piped up.

  Xander didn’t speak for a moment and he looked royally pissed. “Trash talking is part of the fight scene. Sometimes it goes too far. Luke majorly crossed the line with his comments, but that’s on him.”

  A young woman in the second row stood. “What are your thoughts on the social media storm that’s been blowing up the web since your posts yesterday?”

  Xander shrugged nonchalantly. “I really have no comment because I haven’t looked. I turned my phone off as soon as I made those posts. To win tonight’s fight I needed to fully concentrate on my job.”

  “Well then, let me give you a few stats.” She looked down and read from her notepad. “The video footage of your press conference has been viewed over twenty million times. Your hashtag Brave has been trending on all platforms since about an hour after you posted it. You’ve received over one hundred thousand tweets of support, your fan numbers have quadrupled on both twitter and Facebook and just about every major media outlet in the country and overseas has
picked it up!”

  Oh my God! Was this true? I’d been living in a self-induced bubble. If I didn’t know about it, then it couldn’t hurt me.

  Xander laughed a little in disbelief and stared at the woman. “Are you serious?”

  The woman grinned at him obviously enjoying being the one that broke the news to him. “Absolutely. What you said at yesterday’s press conference then what you posted last night seems to have really resonated with people. How do you feel about that?”

  He sat back in his chair and ran his hand through his short cropped dark hair. “Wow.”

  “Did you mean to start a social media tsunami? Because that’s what has happened. It seems people are sick of the social media trolls and are posting that hashtag Brave in response to and on everything they see as being derogatory, hurtful or degrading.”

  The room was silent except for the cameras that were all focused on Xander looking stunned. “I never realised. I just felt so helpless last night. Eden was coping all this backlash she didn’t deserve because of me and I’d had enough.”

  “But isn’t that exactly the point?” the woman insisted. “You gave a voice and support to everybody that has ever felt or been bullied and been unable to stand up to them.”

  Xander looked shell shocked. None of the hits he’d taken tonight seemed to have left him as dazed as this. The press and every person in the room were waiting patiently for him to respond as was I.

  Finally after a few long seconds he spoke. “I guess… As I said, I did it because I felt frustrated and helpless that people were being cruel and were taking cowardly pot shots from behind the protection of their screens or phones at Eden. To me, that said so much about them as people since they were attacking others that they didn’t even know. If what I did gives people hope and support to fight their own demons and the courage to go on when some insecure people will knock them down for being brave enough to have a go, then I guess I’ve had an even bigger win with those posts last night, than I did tonight.”

  What happened next shocked the hell out of me.

  A woman from the back of the room stood and started to clap. Every head in the room turned and looked then another and another stood clapping until every person in the room was clapping in support of what Xander had said.

  Somewhere in the whole surreal experience my hands had joined as had those of the men around me. Tears streamed down my face and I grabbed at Len’s arm. I’d been so proud of Xander when he won tonight. I couldn’t be prouder now. Xander was the type of person that made a difference by just being himself and doing what was right.

  He knew what it was to be brave and he’d shown me and the rest of the world.

  Chapter 36

  Xander

  I was stretched out on the bed naked. It was a forward and in your face move but Eden and I were way past freaking out over a little nakedness now—it was just another little reminder of how far our relationship had come. How much she had grown.

  Adrenaline had left my body a long while back. Now the bone weariness had overtaken me, but no way was I too weary for my girl. After the press conference, the doctor had put a couple of stitches in my head. Then my dad, Reed and the guys had come back here for a few quiet drinks. We’d finally managed to kick everybody out of the suite ten minutes ago. I was still struggling to actually believe the events of the night.

  This fight and the prep had been tough mentally and I just felt like I needed some time to decompress and relax my body and mind. All I wanted to do was chill out and hang with Eden for a bit. I’d had enough of being on show for the last few weeks, particularly the last two days. I feared my life was going to be a three ringed circus for a while after the events of the last couple of days. Some people loved being a celebrity; I was a reluctant celebrity, at best. I found it more to be a necessary evil and part of the territory, than something I craved or needed.

  I didn’t have any more time for contemplation, because every functioning brain cell I had suddenly focused on Eden crossing the floor from the bathroom to the bed. Fuck she looked like a runway model as she glided across the floor to me.

  I loved her long loose, limbed figure, with all those soft curves that just called to my hands. I needed to be with her, in her, on her more than I needed my next breath. She wore a little camisole top and loose satin shorts in a shining dark grey colour. The contrast on her golden skin tone and hair looked incredible. Her hair was all thick and falling in lush waves around her face and shoulders. But her eyes? There was something new there. There was all the beauty of Eden I was so used to seeing now, but that wasn’t it. It was something deeper.

  She took another couple of steps and then it struck me. It was a confidence in herself as a woman. My woman. God, she did it for me. Other guys might like the cheap, the obvious and the fake. I’d take Eden every time. I loved the genuine integrity that was an essential part of her soul. It wasn’t there on show for everyone to see, but it was there if you bothered to look.

  Not for the first time, I thanked whatever higher power had prompted me to get off my arse that day in the café.

  “Are you ready for some TLC?” She looked at me with a sultry and suggestive smile.

  “Oh yeah, Gem. Come love me up, sweetheart.” I held out my hand to her.

  She moved around to the end of the bed and crawled up over me on all fours. Her hair draped down around us like a silken curtain and the light from the lamp threw shadows over her face as she looked down at me.

  “You’re so beautiful Gem—inside and out.” The words caught in my throat with emotion. I meant every one of them.

  “Thank you.” She smiled and lent down to press her lips to mine. This time she went carefully. Her lips brushed mine in a caress that was so soft it could only be described as a tease. She pulled back a fraction and ran her tongue along my bottom lip. It still stung in places.

  I must have winced a little or something.

  She pulled back. “Does that hurt?”

  “It stings a little but I’ll gladly pay the price to have you kiss me, Gem.” I reached up and pulled her head back down to mine. Her lips found mine again softly. Then she drifted to the sides and kissed both corners of my mouth. Then she placed little kisses along the line of my jaw, and around my eye.

  “What are you doing, gorgeous girl?” I wriggled and chuckled a little under her ministrations.

  “I’m kissing all your booboos better. Where else did you get hit?” Her silky lips had just about covered all my face and were making their way down my neck to my chest. She ran her tongue around the dragon on my chest and I couldn’t help the shiver that ripped through my body more than any punch “Lights Out” had landed tonight.

  Her head dropped to the side and she found a few bruises that were now visible on my ribs. They’d be black and blue tomorrow before turning a rainbow of colours over the next week. It was all part of the game.

  Once she’d kissed and petted all over the right side of my ribs she headed for the left. I couldn’t resist it anymore. Her beautiful breasts were right there teasing me from under that floaty little top. I slid my hands down her back and grabbed the hem of it, sliding it back up and over her head.

  “I love that colour on you, Gem, but nothing compares to seeing your beautiful skin.” I trailed my hands up and down her rib cage. I loved running my hands all over her. My hands briefly found one of my favourite places to rest —her breasts, until she dropped lower and started trailing kisses across my abdomen.

  I was so turned on. My cock was so hard and now cradled between her breasts as she draped herself over the lower part of me.

  “What are you doing to me, Gem?”

  She looked up with mischief in her eyes. “I thought that would have been perfectly obvious. I’m showering you with tender loving care.”

  “Is that what it is? All I know, Gem, is that I’m so hot for you right now.” There was a pained tone to my voice.

  A knowing little giggle escaped her throat and the br
eeze tickled my stomach. “Is that right? Then I guess I’d better do something about that.”

  Before I could say another word or even figure out what she had in mind those silky lips wrapped around my cock and her tongue stroked around the head. It was some kind of heaven. The little minx seemed to hit every sensitive spot with laser like precision.

  She sucked me down deep and caressed her tongue up the underside of my cock and I sucked in a hard breath to keep from coming. My hips rocketed off the bed and I tried to blank my mind to the exquisite sensations she was reeking on my dick. It had been too long and now I was so close.

  Once again she did it and my reaction was just the same, but this was not how I wanted to finish tonight.

  “Gem,” I pleaded in a strained tone. “Baby, you’ve got to stop or I’m going to come like this. I want to be buried deep inside you when I do.” To emphasis my point I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up.

  My rock hard cock left her mouth with a distinctive “pop” and she giggled a little. She pressed up to her hands and knees again over me and I wriggled down the huge bed a little more so I could pull one of those rosy nipples of hers into my mouth.

  I lapped my tongue across the hardened peak and her back arched, then I circled my tongue and a little moan escaped her throat. Enjoying this game I grazed my teeth across the bud and this time I was rewarded with a little squeal and she pressed her breast harder into my mouth.

  “Oh, you like that, Gem?” It wasn’t really a question. Her answer had been obvious but she let out a breathy “Yes” anyway. I slid my hands down over her back until I found the fabric of the cute little shorts at her hips. I hooked my fingers in and pushed the fabric over the curve of her butt and down her thighs. Eden kicked them off the rest of the way. My hands returned to that rounded butt I loved so much and squeezed the globes tight in my fingers. I loved everything about this woman but I needed more than just my hands on her. I wanted her wild and wanting.