Fight For Her Heart: Tattooed Seduction (Rock Hard Doms) (5 page)

“
I'll try to get over there after work. Never
thought I'd be going to a fight like this, but I guess there's a
first time for everything.”

And if it weren't for you, William, I wouldn't be.

I couldn't shake my feelings. They didn't disappear the
second he snapped his fingers and told me things wouldn't work out.

Part of me wanted to be with him, however unlikely it
was now. And if that meant going to his stupid fight, then I'd be
there with bells on. Or whatever the hell a girl wore while sitting
in a jeering audience as two oversized, sweaty warriors threw punches
at each other.

“
Great! I'll be looking for you, Rosie.” The
bus' roar was his signal to begin walking back to the studio's
entrance in the alley. “And if I don't say hello before the
fight, come to the back room later on. I'll have security put you on
the VIP list.”

My lips quirked up in a smile. I'd never been a Very
Important Person to anyone.

As I stepped onto the bus, my heart mended, even as the
terrible ache lingered in my loins, horny and wet as ever. If I
couldn't be his girlfriend, then maybe I'd at least get to be his
best friend.

And why not? Given enough drinks or a seizure of
loneliness, sometimes best friends ended up fucking, and becoming
full on lovers.

I pushed my way deeper into the smoky darkness. I cursed
myself for arriving so late, ten minutes or so before William's match
was due to begin.

A big middle aged man and his ten year old boy slid
their legs back so I could find a seat. I took the empty space beside
them, grateful that the chatter in the huge audience drowned out the
sounds of them slurping on colas big enough to satisfy a giant's
thirst.

“
I can't wait to see Will the Kill knock that ogre
out, Dad!” The little boy squirmed excitedly next to me.

“
He better,” big papa said. “I've got
a couple Benjamins riding on Will in this fight.”

I smiled to myself. I wasn't sure what I expected, but
it never crossed my mind that William actually had fans.

An old timey bell clanged in the distance. The crowd
erupted.

My ears were still ringing when a huge man stepped onto
the stage. Orange Coal lived up to his silly name in a very serious
way.

He squeezed his large bulk through the ropes, into the
ring, hopping up and down like an oversized kangaroo. His orange-gold
trunks sparkled in the spotlight, and I saw the bright orange paint
lining the black ink sketched on his back.

When he had his back to me, it looked like he was a
walking pile of coal, with flames ready to leap off his skin. His
tattoos were a lot like Will's, except sloppier and showier.

The announcer's voice rang in the speakers, high and
excited. “Put your hands together for South Minneapolis'
undefeated champion, the coal miner from Kiev, who worships at the
altar of kicking ass...Orange! Coal!”

I held my breath as another lean shadow stepped through
the opposite side of the ring. Two deadpan faced aides pulled the
long towel off William's back, and he raised his fist as soon as he
plowed through the ropes.

“
And over here, we have the upstart, the underdog,
the man with the fire in his eyes and in his fists. Please welcome
Will the Kill, the city's Prince on his way to a throne!”

I put my hands together. The roars were deafening,
punctured only by a few ragged boos from Coal's outnumbered fans.

The announcer's voice was replaced with loud, savage
techno as the men approached the center of the ring. The referee in
his pinstripes grabbed one fist from each man and made them touch,
high above his head.

Lights flickered. The whole place was possessed by
impatient expectations.

Needles swirled through my blood, and I nodded my head
in awe. The theatrics of the big fight were far crazier than anything
I'd expected.

“
Before you tonight stand two equally determined
champions.” The booming music faded and the announcer's voice
cut in. “Hold onto your seats as the rafters start to shake,
'cause this fight isn't over until one man punches, kicks, and
grapples his way to victory! One round. One hour 'til victory. Go!”

The referee peeled back to the furthest corner and
leaped just beyond the ropes. When he was out of the way, Coal moved
in.

The big Ukrainian was bald, determined and snorting like
a bull. I balled my hands into fists as William circled him
cautiously.

It looked like my hero was going to get off some early
punches. But then Orange Coal flopped onto the floor, spun, and
lifted his enormous body with just his flat fists.

His legs shot out. William whirled.

“
No!” I shouted, gasping with the rest of
the crowd.

Orange Coal missed, but only barely. I winced as I
imagined what getting nailed in the chest would've felt like.
Probably just one notch below getting run over by a train.

Coal narrowed his eyes. He looked annoyed that he'd
blown his surprise, wasting precious seconds trying to get back on
his feet.

William saw his opportunity. He moved in a flash,
darting around the big Ukrainian. His fists shot out and connected
with Coal's blocky head, battering him back to the ground.

Coal's fists moved, arcing like torpedoes. The tattooed
heap on his back rippled, orange lines dancing, fierce aftershocks
curling through them. In his confused movements, he was searching for
William.

One hooked fist found William's beautiful knee. He
absorbed the blow with a crinkle to his face and ran backward,
regaining his poise as Coal lumbered back to his feet.

The Ukrainian was enraged. He charged William, hoping to
catch him by surprise.

My man held his ground. I almost covered my eyes,
shaking as he bowed up his shoulders and planted his feet on the
ground. The gorgeous dark flourishes on William's shoulders twitched
like angry cobras.

Surprise! William bounced, wheeling around as he jumped
aside and let his opponent overshoot his target.

I cheered. The crowd rumbled excitedly, like a thousand
kettles getting ready to scream.

When William's fists began raining down on Coal's fiery
back, the chamber exploded in screaming echoes. William punched,
kicked, and nailed the same spot in a fury, shocking Coal with the
furious hammer blows on his spine.

The big man swerved. William wasn't so lucky.

Coal's huge right fist uppercut William's strong jaw. I
rubbed my own face sympathetically as I watched him absorb the
impact.

William staggered away from the Ukrainian. Coal grinned,
moving toward his dazed rival with a wicked grin smeared across his
face.

“
No fucking way,” I whispered hoarsely,
trying to remember to breathe. “It can't go down like this.
It's too soon to be over...”

My knuckles went white as my fingernails scratched at my
palms. William fell against the ropes and the elastic bulged with his
weight.

Coal was right behind him, preparing to land the death
blow. Suddenly, William shoved himself deeper into the ropes, pushing
them with all his might.

He sprang backward, giving his lean body the momentum.
Nearly two hundred pounds of lean, developed muscle slammed into the
Ukrainian's oversized gut like a human cannonball.

The crowd roared. So did I, making myself a little
hoarser as I realized the cunning trap William had waiting all along.

Damn! There's really more to this than big muscles
and quick movements after all. It's a chess game for men...

Seeing a little brains in the fighting made me admire
the game even more. The little boy next to me looked up from his
super-size cola and laughed. I flashed him a smile.

But Orange Coal was getting up, smacking his huge gloves
on the ground, a big white gorilla trying to force himself up.
William was still circling him, hurling punches that were rebuffed by
Coal's surprisingly nimble fists.

I bit my lip. William had the upper hand. I knew things
could change in the blink of an eye with these fights, but if he
squandered the edge he had now...

Coal switched from blocking to attacking William's legs.
He got one good shot near the calf. William jumped like he'd been
stung by a scorpion.

Through the horror, my eyes fixed on his sculpted back.
Victorious or defeated, he really was magnificent.

He had an ideal man's shape. No, more like a Greek
god's.

His muscles bulged, flexed, and rippled furiously as he
struggled for control, ordering the fine body he'd worked for years
to listen to his commands.

Mm. What else can he order those muscles to do?

William turned in slow motion. He was slick with sweat,
flushed beneath the spotlights as his blood did overtime to feed
those powerful muscles. Heat of battle or not, I imagined he didn't
look much different when he was deep in lust, smothering a lucky lady
with his hard body, taming her flesh the same hard way he'd fought to
control his own strength.

I shook my head. My nerves trembled faster, and not just
from the raw fear and adrenaline at watching the fight.

I wanted him. I wanted to touch, taste, and scratch at
his muscles more than I'd ever wanted anything. I wanted it so bad
that I knew if I got one more chance, I wouldn't let a few crossed
wires ruin everything again.

One more chance. Does anyone get a second wish in
this world after squandering the first?

My thighs shifted. Raw heat moved into my core like a
low flying storm, sending out streaks of lightning that turned my
pilot light into a crackling fire. I clenched my jaw, focusing on the
fight, trying to ignore the wet magma building in my core.

Coal's fists connected with William's chest several
times as my hero leaned over him, trying to get closer punches.
William jumped back, realizing the big man was more effective at
blocking than it had seemed.

The Ukrainian eyed him suspiciously. But every second
was precious in this sport, and he soon planted one fist on the
floor, pushing to get back on his feet.

William charged. One swift kick in the side sent Coal
flying to the floor again, but not before the Orange man caught
William's leg and pulled.

I gasped as they both went down. For a second, they
rolled like wild beasts on the ground, snarling and punching with a
lion's drawn out, dirty fury.

Coal reared up, puffing out his walrus body to keep
William on the ground with him. His punches sailed out again and
again, but missed William's lean, muscular, and much faster body.

They were both panting and slick with sweat. Something
had to give soon. I knew it, and so did the rest of the crowd. We all
waited expectantly with hushed breath.

Orange Coal's fist went a little too far on his next
punch. He almost fell flat, giving William an extra second to spin.

My eyes went wide as I watched William hook his legs
around the big man's shoulders. Coal recognized his mistake and moved
fast, shaking from side to side, trying to throw the skinnier man
off.

It didn't work. William held on, raising himself with
his powerful abs.

He rode on top of Orange Coal's huge body, battering his
head from above. My mouth dropped open in amusement. I watched
William's fists swooping toward his rival's head, determined hawks
landing again and again, even as the huge head beneath his fists
snorted and wobbled.

William hoped off as Coal fell. The fire on the huge
man's back wasn't so impressive anymore. It resembled dull embers, as
if someone had doused his glowing coal.

“
One! Two! Three!” The announcer began to
count as the referee stepped into the ring.

Yes, that someone was William. My hero stalked around
his prey like an uncertain tiger, keeping his fists up as Orange
twitched on the ground. He'd doused the giant's fires, but they had
to stay smothered for several more seconds.

The rumble in the crowd grew more restless. I barely
heard the announcer hit the magic number. Everyone erupted at once.

High fives, childish laughs, whistles, and roars of
anguish cluttered up the air. I added my own happy applause, clapping
and clapping through the din until my palms ached like William's
ragged muscles.

“
Hi, I'm Rose Merchante. Uh, maybe Mr. Gaulle has
me under Rosie...” The cold stare the security man behind the
stage used made me uncertain about everything.

He scrolled down the list glowing on his tablet, and
finally nodded. The beefy man stepped aside, giving me access to a
long hall with doors every ten or so steps. The building looked like
an old school that had been turned into a sporting arena.

I walked past the room that must've belonged to Orange
Coal. Loud, boisterous voices yelled in Slavic rage. I didn't know a
word of Ukrainian, but I would've bet top dollar they were swearing
their lungs out.