Oh god. My body clenches at his words and I feel them, literally feel his words roll through my body.

“Is that what you want? You want my hard c**k inside of you, don’t you?”

“Yes.” My voice is raspy and needy. I push myself back harder against the wall of the tub, my ass rubbing up against the cast iron. I pretend it’s Nico behind me. His hardness behind me as I sit between his legs and he watches me. Watches me touch myself.

“Take two fingers and slip them into that wet pu**y. I need to be inside of you.”

I hesitate for only a second before I do as he commands, plunging two fingers inside of myself deeply. There’s an ache inside of me that I need to reach, but it’s just out of grasp. A sound escapes my throat that is a cross between a moan and a word and I’m not even sure what the word was supposed to be.

“That’s it, Babe. In and out. I’m inside of you. Harder.” Nico’s strained voice sounds as desperate for release as I feel. I picture him. His wide shoulders and straining muscular arms. His beautiful green eyes on me. Watching me. His hips thrusting down toward me. His long, thick cock. God, his cock.

“Oh God.” I moan as I feel the unmistakable pulse pound through me as my orgasm begins to take hold.

“Come for me.” Nico’s firm, commanding tone detonates my climax and it spreads over me. I feel the spasm surround my fingers as my body begins to pulsate uncontrollably.

I hear Nico’s name being called over and over, but it doesn’t register that the sound is coming from me. It takes over me. I’ve completely surrendered to my orgasm and I pump my fingers in and out of myself as I ride my release until I’m chasing the last wave with small tremors in the aftershock.

A few minutes later both our voices sound different. They’re hazy and loose and I wonder if we both may sleep better tonight. “Did you…” My voice trails off. I want to know if he finished. I’m not completely sure what I would do if he didn’t, but now that I’ve found my bliss, I suddenly realize I have no idea if he was touching himself.

Nico chuckles at my non-question. “Yeah, Babe. We’re both going to sleep good tonight.”

Chapter 31

Elle

I find our seats at the fight and my stepbrother Max is excited at how close we’re sitting. Ringside. Or, would it be cageside since technically there is no ring, but instead they fight in a cage? We weren’t sitting this close at the first and only fight I’d been to, yet I still cringed with each blow. Violence is something I have steadfastly avoided since I was old enough to control my own path. Yet here I sit, about to watch someone I care about pummel another human being. Or worse, be pummeled himself. I barely slept a wink last night, fretting over coming here. Yet, I feel like my body is wide awake, oddly on high alert.

Lily, Nico’s sister-in-law, arrives with her entourage and there is no doubt that the man standing next to her is Nico’s older brother Joe. They’re the spitting image of each other, only his brother is slightly shorter and carries a bit of a belly. Whereas Nico doesn’t have an ounce of fat on his body. Lily introduces me to her husband and he smiles. It’s Nico’s smile, sans the dimples. Seeing it on another man’s face is almost odd, but somehow it makes me warm to the man quickly. There’s a sense of familiarity that puts me at ease because of the likeness.

Lily also introduces me to a teen named Vinny. I’ve heard Nico talk about him before. Actually, quite a bit. Nico’s family have all unofficially adopted him, taking a strong interest in the boy with the bad home life. They seem to rally around him as a family, each providing different support where they can.

Vinny is wearing a shirt with a picture of Nico on it and he notices me checking it out.

“I took the picture.” He holds up a camera proudly when he speaks.

“Well, it’s a very cool shirt.”

“You really like it?”

“I do.” I smile at him. I can see Vinny has the same teen struggle going on that I often see in Max. He wants to be laid back and cool, but sometimes he has trouble hiding his excitement. It’s adorable.

I think he assesses my sincerity. Then he nods his head once and continues. “I’ll make you one. Nico will be all over his chick wearing a picture of him.”

We all laugh at Vinny’s comment, but I can’t help but think the boy is right. Nico would so love me wearing a picture of him across my chest to ward off the other lions when he’s not around. He’s a smart kid, knows Nico well.

Vinny and my stepbrother become instant friends and I’m glad that it gives me some time to get to know Lily better before the fight starts. Plus, the boys will have more fun without me sitting between them and cringing at every blow.

I don’t even realize that I’m fidgeting in my seat, but Lily does. “You nervous?” She smiles at me. It’s a genuine smile and I get the feeling she finds my inability to sit still amusing for some reason.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Well, I figured it was either that or you have to go to the bathroom pretty bad with the way that leg’s shaking.” She motions with her head pointing to my leg, which is frantically tapping up and down. I hadn’t even realized I was doing it. I smile at her and will my leg to steady.

“Fighting has never been my thing.” It’s the understatement of the year.

“Well, don’t worry then.” She pauses and sits up taller in her chair, a silent declaration of the confidence in her next words. “This isn’t going to last more than thirty seconds. Nico can take this clown with one arm tied behind his back.”

***

It’s almost a full hour later before the opponents are called into the cage. I’ve sat through girls in skimpy bikinis holding up advertising signs, commentators giving their predictions on the fight, and Max and Vinny have each downed three hot dogs. Lily and Joe try to get me to have a beer with them. I know they’re trying to help, get me to relax a little. But I’m aware of the effect alcohol has on my emotional state and I’m way too afraid to lose any control. I’m about to watch the man I’m crazy about do things that I’m nervous will dredge up bad memories. Memories I can’t allow myself to associate with Nico Hunter.

***

“Ladies and Gentlemen, in the red corner, standing six-foot-three-inches tall, weighing in at two hundred and twenty-one pounds, he is the former heavyweight champion, he needs no introduction to the ladies…I give you Nico ‘The Laaaaaaaadddyy Killlllllllllllllllller’ Hunter.” The crowd goes crazy, but not half as crazy as Vinny, who is jumping up and down and screaming so loud I can see the veins popping from the sides of his neck. Lily looks at me, then at Vinny, and then back to me and we both laugh, but no one can hear us standing next to Nico’s number one fan.