Filthy (New Adult Romance) - #3 Fierce Series (7 page)

I take a wash cloth from the stack and dip it in the water before wiping her face.

“I thought you said I had to take a bath because I was dirty. Now I’m even filthier.”

I chuckle. “Yes … yes you definitely are.”

Her jaw drops, and then she splashes the water in my face. “Ass.”

“Okay, I deserved that.”

“Yes, you did. You’re lucky to have a girl like me.”

“Now look who’s boasting.” I smirk. “But you’re right, I am fucking lucky. God, Lin, where did you learn to do that? I feel like the luckiest man on the planet right now.”

She giggles and blushes. “Oh, stop it. I didn’t mean to sound so stuck-up, I was only making a joke, so don’t acknowledge it.”

“It’s true, though. I do feel very lucky I got to see you again, and have this … thing … with you.” I chortle a bit. “Whatever it is.”

She rubs her arms, biting her lip. “Hmhm … Let’s talk about something else. I already feel embarrassed enough.”

“Why?” I ask, laughing a bit. “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We had fun, didn’t we?”

“Yes … but what now?”

I crawl forward in the tub, grab her hands, and squeeze. “I don’t plan on letting you go again.”

“But what about Bobby? He won’t let you get away with this.”

She’s right, he won’t. He’ll probably come after me soon, once he realizes I’m the one who took her away from the club. I bet he’s already searching for her right now, demanding to know where she is. I won’t let him get his hands on her. Now that I finally have her back, I don’t intend to let go. No matter what it takes.

“I’ll deal with him.” I smile, trying to take the tension away. “But before that time comes, let me kiss those beautiful lips of yours again.” And then I turn on the jets in the bath to make it a surprise kiss.

All or Nothing

The next morning …

Bacon and eggs are sizzling in the pan when her phone rings. I watch her pick it up and listen as she sits down on the couch. Her mouth slowly opens, her eyes widening. Her face turns completely white. This doesn’t look good.

“What?” She seems in shock. “O-okay …” she mumbles. “Please … no, tell me … no, don’t do it! Please, I promise I’ll make it up. No!” Her yelling suddenly stops and she takes the phone away from her ear, staring at it in total silence.

“What happened?” I ask, walking to her.

“It was Bobby …” she utters. “He’s going to kill you.”

I frown. “What? What do you mean?”

Tears start to well up in her eyes. “I can’t…” She shakes her head, so I step in and pull her up in my arms, hugging her tight. “He wants to fight you, Jaret … for taking me.”

“How the fuck did he know?”

“He said he had someone follow us, and now that he knows he wants to fight you in the same club he first saw you. He’s going to kill you, Jaret! I can’t let that happen.”

“Shh …” I caress her back with soft strokes. “Don’t worry, I’m not that easily scared. Besides, why would I ever accept his challenge?”

“He threatened to … hurt my parents.”

“Fuck …” I say through gritted teeth.

“He’ll do it. I know what he’s like, he’s done it before to another girl. He doesn’t take no for an answer, and he doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. He won’t let this rest. I can’t …”

I grab her shoulders and push her forward. “Listen to me. I’m not going to let him do that to you or your family. I might be a selfish, dirty bastard, but I care about you, and I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to the people you love. I will fight for you.”

She whisks a tear away with her finger. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Yes, I’m sure. If there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s the fact that I’ll do anything for you.” I lean my head against hers, looking into her eyes. “If this is what it takes to make you feel safe again … to keep you with me …”

“I don’t want to be responsible for your pain.”

“You’re not,” I growl. “Fuck, Lin, do you know how much I’ve dreamt about having you back in my life? I spent years of my life wasted on random shit, because I felt like a nobody, like I didn’t matter, like nobody wanted me. You’re the only one who ever liked me for being me, not for having money or a big, hard cock. You make me feel needed. You need me to help you out of this mess, and I want to be the one to do so. Let me do this for you. Just once, let me be someone I can be proud of.” I caress her cheek with my index-finger.

“I am proud of you … I don’t care about all the shit you’ve done. It makes me feel less shitty about the crap I’ve done, too.” She laughs a bit. “What I mean is that I know you want to do your best for me, which is what matters most. What you just said to me … it make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.” She swallows, visibly shaken. I smile and tentatively lean in, planting a soft kiss on her succulent lips. She’s shivering, still upset by what’s going on. I need this to go away, so I’ll do the only thing I can do to make it stop.

“But what are you going to do? Fight him? He won’t quit.”

“I’ll fucking tear him to pieces.”

♥♥♥

The crowd is roaring as I step into the cage and the ref closes the door behind me. Hunter is watching me from a distance, frowning, signaling to me that he’ll keep his eyes out for any foul play. I gaze through the crowd until I find Lin and give her an air-kiss as a way to promise her I’ll make this right.

“You fucking dick wad,” Bobby spews. “You fucked my girlfriend.”

“She’s not your girl. She never was.”

“Bullshit!” he growls. “I own her.”

“She’s not a piece of furniture for you to sit on, you asswipe.”

“I do what I want when I want, and you don’t get to intervene. She’s mine. She made a deal. I will make you both pay for trying to take it away from me.”

“No deal. You want money? I have it all, so if that’s all you’re looking for, come and get it.” I open up my arms and taunt him. “We can pay off the loan now and you’ll have all of your money back, no problem. You’ll be on your way and she’ll be free.”

He spits on the floor. “I don’t want your fucking money. I want your blood.”

I shrug. “Fine, suit yourself. At least I offered it, but too bad for you it’s too late now.”

He laughs. “Too bad my fucking ass. I’ll kill you and take the money off your dead corpse.”

A smile creeps onto my lips. “We’ll see about that.”

His nose starts twitching, his lips contort, and an annoyed growl escapes his mouth. Then he charges at me in full force. I narrowly escape his attack, jumping to the side while giving him an elbow in the side. He stumbles on the floor, but quickly catches himself before falling.

“Fuck you,” he says.

“Yeah, Lin did indeed.” I raise an eyebrow.

A roar comes from his mouth as he tackles me from the front, catching me by surprise as we both slam to the floor. He’s right on top of me, stomping my face, but I fight him off by giving him a knee to the sack. He makes an oompf sound and rolls on the floor, hissing.

“I’ll kill you!”

“No, you won’t.”

“You fucking twat! You didn’t even fight back when I hit you yesterday.”

“That’s because I didn’t want to upset Lin.”

He tries to stand up, but I punch him in the jaw, making him fall down again. Wiping the blood off his chin, he gazes at me with contempt. “Bullshit. She’s watching us now, so that’s a lie.”

“Actually, it isn’t. After you threatened her parents on the phone, she seemed to be pretty okay with the fact that I was going to punch some holes into you. So I have a free pass now.”

“You motherfucker!” he yells, throwing a fist at me. I narrowly escape, grab his arm, and twist. His screams make me smile. “I don’t often do this, because I hate random violence … and I hate having to make an effort … but you know, sometimes the situation calls for it.”

The crowd cheers me on as I smack him hard, pounding on him over and over again. Sweat trickles down my face while I knock his teeth out and throw him to the sidelines after I’m done making him bleed. Towering above him, I say, “Up for some more, or are you done now?”

“N-no … no more … please,” he stammers, panting heavily.

“I’m not going to let this rest so easy. You see, you threatened the only girl I’ve ever really cared for. You hurt her. You betrayed her trust. You got your punishment now, but you should be sorry, too.”

“F-f …”

“Ah, ah, be careful about what you say there.” I cock my head, gazing at Lin who’s smiling broadly at me. “Apologize to her.”

At that exact moment, her eyes widen and her jaw drops. She screams something I can barely hear.

“Watch out!” Hunter yells.

Suddenly, a searing pain causes me to drop to my knees. I roar in agony as the blood flows down my leg, my muscles feeling torn apart. I look to my side and see a knife stuck in my lower leg. Bobby is right in front of me, pulling me down as I struggle to stay upright. His arm is around my neck, suffocating me. I fight him with my hands, but it’s no use. Power is draining quickly.

Squeals and yells burst from the crowd. People run to the cage and force the key inside. It’s taking longer than I expected. That, or I’m seriously losing consciousness. I’m thinking the latter. Fuck me, they won’t be in time before I faint. I’m not going to let this bastard do that to me. In a last attempt to save myself, I reach for the knife. It’s far away from my hands, but if I can grab it, I can defend myself with it. Forcing my muscles to extend themselves beyond their limit, I grab ahold of the handle and take it out in one go. I scream in pain as the knife leaves my flesh, blood staining the metal. Jerking it back, I bury the knife deep into his ribs. He gasps, screaming out loud, and his power over me wanes and his eyes turn. I scramble away from his grasp, holding my own throat as I try to catch my breath. My lungs inhale as much as they can before I turn around to look at him. His face has gone blank and he lies motionless on the floor of the cage, blood seeping from his wound. The knife is stuck in his chest, exactly where his heart is. He’s done for. He’s gone.

I killed him.

I drop down on the floor, resting, while people storm into the cage. Help has arrived. It’s much needed, although I will never admit that. Sometimes I do have a little pride in me. And fuck me, I am proud that I beat that motherfucker into oblivion.

From the corner of my eye, I spot Hunter rushing into the cage along with the medical team. He slides to his knees beside me, holding my head up. “You’re okay now, buddy,” Hunter says. “They’ll take good care of you.”

“Is that bastard dead?”

“Yeah. But you still should have let me fight him in your place.”

I laugh. “No way, dude. I had to fight.”

“For her … right?” He winks.

I smile. “You see right through me.”

♥♥♥

I cringe as the nurse pats down my blanket a little too harshly. My leg is still aching when she leaves the room, but seeing Lin come inside with a giant smile on her face suddenly makes it much easier to cope with. She throws her jacket on a chair in the corner and walks up to me.

“God, I’m so glad you’re all right.” She sits down on my bed, making me groan from the pain as my leg shifts in place. The muscles are still torn up from the knife and it fucking hurts, but having her near soothes the pain a bit.

“Sorry!” she mumbles. “Jesus, he really hurt you.”

“It’s just a flesh wound.”

“He could’ve stabbed you in a much worse place, that’s for sure.”

“Well, I’m just glad I got off easy.”

“Me too.” She smiles. “I was terrified when I saw him draw it.”

“I still can’t believe nobody noticed he was carrying it around. You’d think they’d search the motherfucker before he went into the cage.”

“Yeah … it’s pretty sickening. I’m glad I’m rid of him for good.”

I swallow, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Yeah …”

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Apart from just having killed someone, I’m pretty fucking awesome.”

She chuckles. “Big-head.”

“You know me, I have no pride.”

“Hmm …” She smiles. “Well, I’m proud of you. That should count for something.”

I smile back with a stupid grin, feeling happier than ever, even though I’m in the fucking hospital. “It’s all that matters to me.”

Her cheeks turn bright red. It makes me laugh. She punches my shoulder. “Don’t laugh at me.”

“I’m not. I just think it’s adorable.”

“Adorable?” she scoffs. “No, nu-uh.”

“Well then what do you want me to call you? Cute? Sweet?” I lean forward. “Delicious …”

She squints. “You’re going in the right direction.”

I lean in some more. “And what direction would that be?”

“Closer.” She grins. “Even closer …”