Stand of Redemption (20 page)

Chapter 26

Ria was lying on her bed, trying to force herself to sleep, but the thoughts of Nicholas were keeping her awake. She turned to punch the pillow next to her and jumped when she heard a knock on the door. She looked at the clock. It was after ten, and she wasn’t expecting anyone.

She slipped out of the bed and quietly walked to the peephole to see who it was.

She gasped when she saw his broad chest.

What was Nicholas doing here at this time of night?

She smoothed her features, not wanting him to know she was glad he was there. She opened the door with a stoic face.

“Hello, Ria,” he greeted. She watched his eyes travel the length of her body and could see the plea in his blue eyes.
“Can we talk?”

“Can it wait until tomorrow? I work in the morning…”

As he started to turn away, the look on his face had her stopping him. “Wait. You can come in.” She stepped back to let him through the door.

She shut the door and turned back to look at him. “What do you want, Nicholas?”

He smiled. “That’s one of the things I like about you; you don’t like wasting any time.”

His smile was infectious, but she was holding it in until she heard whatever it was he had come here to say.

He took her hand and pulled her to sit with him on the couch with his leg pressed against hers.

“Ria, I’ve been carrying the guilt of your brother’s death since I was sixteen years old.”

Ria could hear the raw pain in his voice and she started to soften.

“When I discovered how their deaths had affected your life, I wanted to help. I should have been honest and told you why.”

Ria nodded. She truly didn’t blame him for either of her brothers’ deaths after knowing what kind of men they were, but him not telling her before they had become so intimate with each other had hurt.

“I wish you would have trusted me enough,” Ria whispered.

“Me, too.” He took her hand in his, kissing the back of it.

Ria felt the goose bumps cover her body at the touch of his lips.

“I didn’t want to lose you. I kept telling myself that I would help then leave you alone. I wouldn’t try to be a part of your life. How could I admit something to you that I couldn’t admit to myself? That I couldn’t let you go.”

Ria teared up at the heartache in his voice. He had missed her as much as she had missed him these last two months.

“Ria”—he lifted her chin up to him—“I am sorry I didn’t tell you about Matthew. You have brought more joy to me in the short time we spent together than I have felt since I was a teenager. If you can find it in your heart to forgive me, I will do everything within my power to make it up to you.”

He leaned in to give her a soft kiss on her trembling lips then slowly kissed her tears away. His gentleness was more than she could bear.

“Nicholas, I’ve missed you so much. I talked to my mother earlier tonight. She told me you offered to turn yourself in. She said she forgave you, and that we should ask for your forgiveness for our family taking away your mother. I keep thinking of her not being there with Melanie on her wedding day. She won’t be able to dance with you one day at your wedding. Your children will never know their grandmother. Your father—”

“Stop, Ria. Just Stop.”

Ria continued, “I forgive you.” With those simple words, Ria saw the change in his eyes. It was as if his final burden had been lifted from both of them, and they could start fresh again.

They sat and talked for several hours before Nicholas got to his feet.

“I need to go and let you get some sleep.”

“You can stay.”

“No. This time, I’m going to do it right. Want to go out to dinner tomorrow night, Ms. Sloan?” He held out his hand to her.

Ria laughed, taking it in hers. “I would like that very much, Mr. Brooks.”

Ria knew it was time both of them let the past go to start a new future.

*  *  *

“Take him down!” Ria screamed at Nicholas.

In the next moment, Nicholas was able to get his opponent face down on the mat.

Ria was attending Nicholas’s fight, and she was completely amped up. She had attended some of his training sessions and had a better understanding of what he was supposed to do in the cage, but from what she had seen so far, it wasn’t going as planned.

He had a busted eye and a bloody nose. His opponent had gotten several good shots in. However, at that very moment, Nicholas had the upper hand. He was administering a series of punches to the side of his opponent’s head as he straddled his back, preventing the man from being able to escape.

“That’s it, baby! Don’t let him up!” she screamed again.

“Hey, lady, quit jumping up and down. I keep missing all the good stuff,” she heard a man yell from behind her.

“That’s not my problem. Buy a different seat next time!” she yelled back without turning to look. She wasn’t going to take her eyes off the fight. She didn’t want to miss a thing.

She heard laughter next to her and quickly looked over at Melanie and Zane,
who were both laughing at her.

She shook her head. She knew she was acting like a crazy person. She had gone from not being able to watch a whole fight to a crazed, bloodthirsty fan
who lived and breathed it. Emiliano was right; being forced to watch the fights in the pit had made this seem like a cake walk. She didn’t think Nicholas would agree, though, wincing when the other fighter connected an uppercut to his jaw. Fortunately, Nicholas knew what to do.

She watched him gain a hold on his opponent’s arm. She had watched him practice that move and knew
, if the man didn’t submit, he would be leaving with a broken wrist.

When she saw the ref stop the fight, she and the rest of the crowd roared.

“He won! He won!” she yelled to Melanie and Zane.

Melanie screamed back, “I know!”

Ria giggled, and Melanie laughed with her as they watched Nicholas being called the winner by submission. She would never get used to him getting hurt, but his love for the sport outweighed her concerns.

They made their way down to the cage as Nicholas exited. His father was there first, giving Nicholas a hug. From what she knew, his father enjoyed having bragging rights over his son. As she watched, there seemed to be a genuine affection between the two men, as well.

When they approached the men, she heard Melanie say hello to both Nicholas and their father.

“Melanie, I think you can use that last move when you fight,” their father said with excit
ement.

Ria smiled at the interaction between father and daughter. She knew there had been a huge rift between the two, yet they had finally talked through their issues, and now Melanie and Rex were rebuilding their relationship.

She saw Zane and Nicholas smile at one another as they watched Melanie and Rex discuss some of the moves Nicholas had used during the fight.

“Okay! We can work on my techniques later!” Melanie exclaimed.

She turned to her brother. “Great job, big bro!”

“Thanks, Mel,” he replied and then turned to Ria.

“That was amazing. I’m so happy for you,” Ria said to him and reached up to kiss him, trying to avoid some of the blood on his face.

Nicholas laughed as he wiped his face off. “He caught me by surprise a few times,” he said as he looked at the bloody rag.

“You did great,” Ria said with pride.

He had been impressive tonight, and she looked forward to rewarding him for a job well done later. She had teased him with a few pictures before the fight, telling him, if he won, she would give him a special reward afterward. He didn’t know it, but she had fixed a special dinner before she had left her apartment. All she had to do when they got there was light the candles.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at her. “I had an incentive.”

She blushed bright red, hoping no one else noticed. Nicholas did and laughed while the others looked on in curiosity.

He pulled her to him and spoke softly in her ear. “Have you looked at your phone?”

Ria shook her head as she dug her phone out of her purse. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the picture he had sent her.

“Did an emergency come up?” Melanie asked.

“No, but there is about to. You need to call nine one one because I’m going to kill your brother.”

“She doesn’t mean it, sis. I’ll see you guys later. Ria’s promised me some hot sex if I won tonight.” He put his arm around her, leading her struggling body away.

“I am going to kill you. I can’t believe you just told them that!”

Nicholas shrugged, unconcerned.

“And that picture. You showed your face! You’re not supposed to show your face.”

“Baby, if that picture gets out to the media, it’ll make me a star.”

Ria looked down at the phone still in her hand.
She had to agree with him.

They drove back to her apartment in record time. The dinner she had cooked had to wait because Nicholas rushed her into the bedroom.

“Wait, I fixed us a romantic dinner.”

“You want romance? Give me five minutes, and you’ll be seeing stars,” he said, tearing his clothes off.

Ria laughed at his confidence then gave a small scream as he tumbled her to the bed.

Unsnapping her shorts, he started sliding them and her panties off to toss them on the floor. He gazed down in appreciation at the sight between her legs.

“The picture didn’t do it justice.”

She ran her hand over her now clean-shaven pussy.

“Cogerme,” she purred, feeling naughty at telling him to fuck her.

“I don’t suppose you want to tell me what you just said?”

“Te amo, mi Nicholas.” She held out her arms to him. She would tell him another night she loved him. Tonight, it was still a secret she kept to herself.

Nicholas laid down on the bed, pulling her over him.

He wasted no time in curling one hand around the back of her head as he pulled her down for a kiss. Her legs straddled him and held him tightly as their kisses deepened. Their passion for one another had been held at bay while they had spent time learning more about each other.

She rubbed her breasts against his hard chest.

“God, I’ve missed you.”

Ria could only nod in agreement as his tongue slid back between her lips, playing with her tongue and sucking on it, inflaming her desire.

He slid over and positioned their bodies to where they were both on their sides, facing one another. He then pulled one of her legs over his body and slid one hand between her legs. He continued kissing her as his fingers stroked her lips. Ria could feel the blood rushing to her pussy as he first tugged then started running his fingertip across her clit. She whimpered as the desire spiked inside of her.

Taking his finger, he slid it between her open lips, causing Ria to jerk from the sensation.

“Dios,” she moaned as he slid his finger in and out of her.

She ground her body against his finger and felt the loss when he pulled it out, but that fee
ling quickly disappeared when she felt the tip of his penis.

He wasted no time in thrusting himself fully inside her, making her gasp at the sensation. He wrapped his hand around her ass as he fucked her while Ria curled her leg around his thigh.

He slowed down briefly as he rolled onto his back, keeping his dick inside of her as he settled her on top. Ria dropped her head back as the full length of him filled her. He grasped both of her hips and started pushing her body back and forth on his dick. Once Ria started doing it herself, he took her breasts in his hands as she ground her body against his.

He rolled one of her nipples between his fingertips and slid his other hand up to her neck, lightly holding it while keeping Ria sitting straight up as he tugged on her nipple.

The excitement in her rose with the pressure on her neck, and she started lifting up and down on his dick as he held her up. As she adjusted to his length, she started slamming down harder as he met each one of her thrusts.

As he sat up, she wrapped her legs around him. He encircled her with his arms, pulling her tightly against him, kissing her fiercely.

Ria slowly rocked back and forth, both enjoying the slower pace, as he kissed down her jawline and her neck. He reached for one of her nipples with his mouth, and she held her breast so he could latch on to it with his teeth. When he tugged on her nipple, she wrapped her legs around him tighter.

It didn’t take long for the excitement and passion to build them back into
a frenzy as Ria started moving faster on his dick. He growled and turned them around so she was on her back with him above her.

He easily slid back into her.

“Fuck, that feels good,”

“You should be a gymnast, not a fighter,” Ria moaned.

He laughed as he started slowly then increased his pace until she was panting and whimpering at the same time.