When I’m about to give up and start socializing, a large group of men in black suits step out of the way and my eyes are drawn to a purple fabric like a moth to flame. I let them roam up the length of her legs, over the curves of her body, and onto the side of her face. How does someone look perfect from every angle? Of course only she can manage something so mind blowing. I see her and the two guys she’s talking to.

She spots me stalking toward her from her peripherals and angles her head slightly to look at me. A nervous blush flashes across her cheeks and she seems almost scared. Shit. Am I really that bad? Am I that much of a jealous asshole? The answers to those questions I know myself, but I’m sure as hell not going to admit them.

I walk toward her, proud by the way I keep my cool, and on my approach, when I slow to a stop beside Olivia, she abruptly hooks her elbow around mine. Her fingertips brush against my arm in a soothing gesture…am I not doing a good enough job at looking calm?

“This is my boyfriend, Seth,” she says, introducing me to them.

Boyfriend. Boyfriend is not enough for me. It seems childish—high schoolish. I want to be referred to as her fiancé, better yet, I want to be called her husband—so others know she has given everything to me and there’s no chance in hell for them to get closer to her. They eye me closely and one—the one wearing a tan suit and has blond hair and blue eyes to match—seems intimidated, but the other—the one with the sharp features and shaved head—seems almost territorial. He eyes me up and down like he can take me, no sweat. I wouldn’t fight either of them. Both seem barely twenty-one.

“How long you guys been dating?” His thick Texan accent comes through loud and clear…and it irritates the shit out of me.

“What’s it to you?” I demand, inching closer.

Olivia subtly elbows my ribs, but I hardly feel it.

“A couple of months,” she tells him

“That’s not too long,” he states, his eyes flaring suggestively at her.

“You’re right, it is short. Undoubtedly shorter than your stay in the hospital if you keep going with your unsubtle bullshit.” I don’t know what it is about him that irks me. It could be the way his hair juts outwards or the way his lips curl crookedly when he speaks—or maybe (just for added craziness)—it’s the way he’s talking to my girl in front of me. His blond friend—the smarter one—mutters for his friend to relax, but he ignores him. The idiot.

“You think you can put me in hospital?”

I smile because I know I can put him in hospital.

“Jesus Christ,” O snaps at him, tugging on my arm. “Don’t challenge him.”

I don’t move, although I know I should. I’m just not finished here. I can see it in his face how badly he wants Olivia, how desperately he wants to impress her and I want to take that away from him. Without taking my eyes off him, I snatch Olivia’s waist and pull her to me.

“You want to fight me for my girl?” I ask, narrowing my eyes on him. He doesn’t say anything, only glares as I continue. “You see, Olivia here likes men, not boys.” I wrap my hands around her waist, feeling the subtle curves of her body. “Your hands are small and inexperienced. I feel sorry for every girl that has ever been with you and has strangely given you the confidence to even blink at a woman like this. My hands, however…” I feel my lips curl devilishly. I know I shouldn’t say it. “…are experienced. They’ve made her come more times than you question your sexual orientation, which—judging by your outfit—I assume is a lot. Go away and come back when you know how to treat Olivia like a real woman.”

“Or better yet,” Olivia growls, pulling away from me. “Don’t.”

She stalks off and I don’t follow her right away. I want to, but I want these to assholes to disperse first. With the dirtiest look I’ve ever received in my life, the douchebags turn and disappear.

Good.

“Making friends everywhere you go, as always.” Darryl exhales behind me.

He’s getting pretty good at watching me from the background without my knowledge and I smirk over my shoulder at him.

“I’d go and get her before she leaves.”

My smirk fades. Fuck. Now I’ve got to find Olivia and apologize for being an idiot. It’s like one big vicious circle, but I can’t help it—how many times do I use that excuse? It’s true, though. I see someone that wants her and I feel the need to crush their souls. The thought of a mental image of Olivia popping into their brains pisses me off. I can’t explain it…and I know it’s pure, crazy selfishness that has me acting this way, but I’ve never felt the way she makes me feel. I’ve never had the stomach churning, chest levitating love before and now that I have it, I can’t let it go. I won’t.

I see her pushing her way through the throng of people and I march after her, catching up in no time. I reach out for her, grabbing her small, fragile wrist and forcing her to stop and turn around. Her cheeks are flushed pink—with embarrassment or anger, I have no idea.

“I told you to stop using me against people after you did it with Mason,” she whispers harshly, avoiding attention.

“I know.”

“So why’d you do it?”

I don’t think she or anyone will ever understand that I don’t have reasons for anything that I do. I do it. That’s it.

“Because that guy was a douchebag.”

“Seth—”

“Let me show you something.”

She frowns. “What? Now?”

I nod as excitement begins to pool inside me. I grit my teeth against a smile that threatens my lips. Now is the perfect time to unleash what I want to do on her.

“Is it going to make up for what you just did?”

“I promise.”

She studies my face for a few seconds and I wonder if she can read my thoughts. I’m taking her to the Garden Arena where I’ll fight Junior Moset and I’m going to let her in the cage…then I’m going to ask her to be my wife.

Chapter Twenty

Olivia

He leads me away from the gala and nervousness replaces my previous frustration. Are we even allowed back here?

“Where are we going?” I wonder aloud as he escorts me up a corridor, his hand low on the small of my back.

“You’ll see,” is all he says as he glances sideways at me.

In that quick glance, I saw it. I saw his eyes flash with indecent excitement and heat spreads through my organs. The wild gleam in his eyes doesn’t pass me by, and as he pushes through some double service doors, I follow behind him. After a few more steps I’m suddenly standing in the Garden Arena looking down on the intimidating cage. My chest tightens and I grip the black metal railing for support. I haven’t been in a stadium in a few months and being back both terrifies and electrifies me.

Seth clears his throat and I snap my attention to him. His hand is extended and his eyes clearly reflect the positive emotions he feels.

“We’re going down there?” I ask, taking one step.

He doesn’t say anything, only nods. The weak lighting barely filters off the plastic chairs and to think in two weeks this place is going to be as bright as day and filled with thousands upon thousands of screaming people bewilders me.

Seth walks with purpose, pulling me along behind him as he leads me through rows of seats and down concrete stairs. The closer I get to the cage, the larger it seems, and the larger it seems, the more the apprehension of what Seth does settles in. I’m with a fighter…How the hell did that happen and what the hell is wrong with me? I don’t like fighting and I never have, so how the hell did I fall for a fighter?

The tall cage looms over me, distracting me from my thoughts. I gape up at the monstrous structure. I’ve never been this close to a cage before—a real cage, I mean. I’ve seen Seth’s training one plenty of times, but it doesn’t intimidate me like this one does.

Seth moves from me and up the small steps before opening the cage door. He smiles down at me with those gorgeous goddamn lips and says, “After you.”

He gestures for me to enter the cage with one gentle swipe of his hand.

“Me?” I almost glance over my shoulder. “Am I allowed to go in there?”

“We can do whatever we want. Who’s going to know?”

The way he says it—with such promise—has my stomach doing flips and I inch forward. When the tip of my shoe hits the bottom step of the ring, I halt and look up at him.

“Scared?” he asks.

“Should I be?”

His irises flare at me and his mouth curls into a cocky smirk. “Absolutely.”

My body reacts as if he said, no, I shouldn’t be scared. It’s like he has me under some kind of spell. I ascend the steps and inch forward until I’m standing firmly on the vinyl flooring. The floor doesn’t bounce or bow underneath my weight. How hard do these guys slam each other to make it bounce so much? I do a full circle, taking in the view from this spot. How amazing would it be to see the arena filled with people from where I’m standing? Even now, when it’s just Seth and I, adrenaline flows through my veins like rapid-fire, making my head spin. I circle the ring slowly, letting my fingers glide over the vinyl baked wiring. Halfway around, I run out of breath. Not because I’m tired, but because I’m overwhelmed by the size of it all. I rest against the cage, letting the cold metal cool my burning skin. I drag my eyes around the ring before settling on Seth’s face.

“I see why you love being on this side of the wire,” I wonder aloud, feeling a hot flush flow through me as he pushes himself off of the cage door. “It’s amazing from here.”

The door closes behind him with a light slam and I watch as he hooks a finger around his black tie, loosening it. I swallow hard and subtly squeeze my thighs together as a familiar pulsing starts—the pulsing only Seth can arouse. Only he can provoke such feelings with one painfully normal act. I expel a slow, heavy breath as he saunters toward me. There’s no mistaking the way he walks—he wants me and he wants me now.

Seth stops once his hard body grazes mine and his hand wraps around my wrist, pinning it above my head. Being within a foot of him, I feel my body come alive, humming as pure sexual energy starts to take over. Our eyes stay locked as he pulls his tie from the collar of his white formal shirt. The soft silk of his tie glides against skin and I frown. What is he doing? The fabric bites into my wrist and I lurch forward, rebounding off his large torso and ending flush up against the cage again.

“Seth!” I gasp, tugging at my wrist and getting nowhere. “What are you doing?”

He works the fabric around the wires of the cage, ignoring me. The whole time I watch him, panicked by what’s happening, he has a mischievous, smoldering gleam in his eyes.

When he’s done successfully tethering me to the cage, he runs his rough fingers up my sensitive forearm, sending heat inducing tingles tearing through my body. I can just make out his features under the glow of security lights and exit signs as his hands slide onto the nape of my neck and his lips crash to mine. My body melts to his as he presses me hard against the wire and all is well and fun until his fingers slide across my waist and clasp the zipper to my dress. I pull away from him, breathless.

The zipper begins its painfully slow descent and my nerves rise. I flinch away from his hand in an attempt to get him to stop.

“Easy,” he scolds me. “I’m already trying hard not to rip this thing at the seams.”

“Someone will see us…”

He stops and looks me dead in the eyes. “You think I’d put you on show for someone else to see? No. You’re all mine.”

Using my free hand, I squeeze it between us and reach to untie the tie, but I’m stopped as he yanks my hand away. I squirm as he presses it against the cage above my head, right next to the other and his free hand slips into my dress, clamping on my bare hip.

“Why here? Why can’t you wait until we get home?”

He lowers his head, bringing his full lips to my ear. His breath hits my face and it’s like fire lapping at my nerves, singeing and burning my insides.

“Why wait?” he breathes, his hand tightening around my hip. “I fight here and I want to fuck here.”

I don’t have time to react—or even frown—before his mouth claims me for a second time. I shiver as his rough hand skims my bare flesh. He tugs my dress down and it pools in a purple mess at my feet. Kissing me harder than I’ve ever been kissed before, his hands roam my body, harshly grabbing and squeezing everything and eliciting moans from me every time.

I can’t say I ever pictured myself bound to an MMA ring in my underwear…but that’s how it is with Seth. If he wants something, he gets it, and he gets it any way he wants it.

His fingers curl around my underwear and he snags it, snapping the flimsy fabric and leaving me bare. Too consumed in his mouth, it takes me a while to register what he’s doing…until the lace of my underwear tightens around the wrist above my head.

He catches my lip between his teeth and I wince as he rakes them over it before taking a step back. His eyes linger on my breasts, long enough for my cheeks to burn from the scrutiny as he admires me, giving no indication if this is to his liking or not. Seth steps in close again and reaches round me, unhooking my strapless bra. I feel my eyes widen as the cups fall to my feet, landing on top of the fabric.

I try and cross my legs, but he jams a hand between them, chuckling deeply. “I don’t think so. I didn’t lure you all the way up here and tie you to the ring only to have you shy away from me.”