Chapter 60
LEX
The Pit. About to make fucking history.
For tonight’s Donor Fight, they’ve separated the fighters—our side versus Bella’s mysterious imports. No sneak peeks. No scouting your opponent. None of the normal shit. Usually, we get to see who we’re up against. Watch their style, size, and see if they’re more speed or brute force.
Not tonight. Rez and Bella have been on lockdown about this shit for weeks. Between the lighting, the music, and the crowd, it’s been anarchy in the best way.
I love that Bella and my cousin are finally getting close. Feels like she’s becoming a real part of my family. We’ve spent so much time at The Row and at Wexley, that being back at Northvale feels almost like coming home. Gritty. Raw. Real.
Across the room, Chase is stretching his neck while DeShawn throws combos into the air like he’s already in the ring. Hollow Kings warming up. Focused. Silent.
There’s a whole-ass table in the corner loaded with protein bars, fresh fruit, sandwiches, and electrolyte drinks. Knox might run the lights, but Ellie made sure the bodies holding the lights aren’t going pass the fuck out.
Rez walks in, wiping his hands on a towel and claps both palms down on my shoulders. “You ready for tonight?”
I crack my neck and roll my shoulders back. “Born ready.”
He nods once, then starts to turn, but I catch him with a look. “Seriously… gimme a clue, Rez. Who the hell am I fighting?”
Rez laughs. “Nah, man. It’s better if you don’t know.”
“You say that like I’m not walking into a damn blindfolded brawl.”
“You’ll be fine. You’re Lex Barinov. Punch first, ask names later.”
I snort. “That’s not inaccurate.”
“Plus, your girl scares the shit out of me,” Rez adds, tilting his head toward the door. “She may be small, but if I even thought about snitching on the lineup, she’d probably castrate me in my sleep.”
“Jesus, Rez.”
He grins. “And smile while doing it.”
“Sounds about right,” I mutter, shaking my head with a half-smile. “She’s terrifying.”
He leans against the wall, looking almost proud. “Seriously though, B’s been busting her ass for this. She’s got half the city wrapped around her finger and the other half begging for scraps.”
Before he can continue, the door creaks open. “Okay, boys. Out. I need to talk to my boyfriend.”
Rez whistles as he grabs his water. “Alright, I’m gone. Try not to get him too worked up, B. He’s still gotta fight later.”
She walks toward me, hips swaying, those steel eyes already locked and loaded. I drop the protein bar and wrap her up the second she’s in reach, arms caging her tight like I’ve been waiting all day to breathe her in.
“Hey, baby, about fucking time you got back here.”
She tips her head back, flashing a grin that could raise the dead. “I can’t stay long. Rico needs me in hair and makeup, and I still need to check on my fighters. Make sure they’re all ready to go.”
I groan, dragging my hands down her spine. “Baby, who are these guys?”
She leans in, lips brushing my jaw. “Let’s just say they’re the kind of men who’ll bring in big money from your donors.” She rises on her toes and kisses the tip of my nose. “And put on one hell of a show while doing it.”
I narrow my eyes. “That sounds like code for not your normal Row boys.”
She lifts her chin, eyes gleaming like she planned this whole damn ambush. “It is. So, you better be ready, baby.” Then she slips out of my arms with that lethal little wink that always scrambles my brain. “Because they are. And I’ll make you a deal…”
She pauses. Lets it hang there. “If you make your fight a fight to remember… if you win, if you beat my fighter. I’ll do what you’ve been asking of me for weeks.”
My heart stops.
“I’ll come home for good,” she says softly. “I’ll move in, Lex.”
I swear to God, I forget how to breathe. One second, I’m standing there like a cocky bastard about to go punch someone’s face in, and the next? I’m a goddamn wreck.
My chest expands like I just took my first breath in years. I rake a hand through my hair, trying to process the words that just left her mouth.
She’ll come home. For good. To us. To Cade. To me.
“Fuck,” I whisper. “You serious?”
“Just win the fight, Barinov.”
She turns to leave, but I grab her by the wrist, tugging her back into my space.
“No, no. You don’t get to walk away from me like that.”
She smiles, slow and sinful. “Oh baby, I’m not walking away.” Her fingers trail down my chest, slipping beneath the hem of my shirt, tracing the lines of muscle as she drops to her knees in front of me.
“Bella…” My voice is hoarse, breath catching. “What are you doing?”
She glances up, eyes dark and playful. “Oh, you know, just helping you work out a little pre-fight stress. It was Cade’s idea.” She pulls my shorts down to the ground and her eyes widen as she bites the side of her lip.
My heart is hammering, my hands fisting at my sides as her fingers move slow, teasing my cock. It pulses in her hands.
“You want me to stop?” she asks, cocking her head, the ghost of a smirk on her lips as she runs her hand up the length of me.
“Fuck no,” I growl, jaw tight, eyes locked on her like she’s the only thing that exists. “Baby, you touch me like that and I’m gonna forget there’s even a fight tonight.”
She hums, pleased, and I swear I black out for a second as her mouth finds me. Her tongue glides from the base to the tip and I let out a moan. I brace a hand against the wall trying to stay upright while she ruins me.
“Jesus, baby. Mmmm…”
She takes me in and moans around me, deep and needy, and I swear my knees almost buckle.
My hand slides to the back of her head, steadying myself.
Her red nails bite into my thighs, sharp and perfect.
The sight of her on her knees, lips wrapped around my cock, and her eyes starting to water nearly undoes me.
“Fuck, baby,” I grit out, voice raw. “You’re gonna make me lose it.”
She doesn’t slow down. Just picks up her pace, sucking and licking me like she’s starving and I’m her favorite meal on the goddamn planet.
A few more strokes and I’m right there on the edge of unraveling. My hips jerk forward, and her eyes meet mine. That look? That wicked, gorgeous, wreck-me look?
It’s over.
I groan her name as I come, spilling deep down her throat. And of course, like the perfect fucking angel-devil she is, she swallows every drop. Doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t stop. Just keeps her eyes on me the entire time.
I reach down, lift her effortlessly, crashing my mouth to hers. The kiss is messy, desperate, our breaths tangled and harsh. I taste myself on her tongue, which only starts to wake Little Lex back up.
“That was fun,” I say, trying to catch my breath.
She laughs, “I knew you had some pre-fight stuff to burn off, baby.”
That word… baby? Damn it, I’m already hard as steel again, because apparently Little Lex has zero concept of self-control around this woman.
I yank her leggings off, then pick her ass up and slide my hands beneath her thighs.
She wraps around me, her legs tightening at my waist as I push into her in one smooth, deep thrust.
Her head falls back. “Lex, ah! This was supposed to be about you, not me.”
I growl into her neck, voice dark. “You are about me. Every fucking inch of you.”
I move with hard, fast thrusts that knock the breath from her lungs. That force her to feel every inch of me. I hold her in the air like she weighs nothing, like she belongs nowhere else but right here. In my arms. Around me. On me. With me.
Her nails rake down my back, leaving red trails I’ll feel for days. Her breath stutters against my ear, hot and shaky. Each drive of my hips rip a moan from her throat, each sound mine.
I can’t stop. Won’t stop. Not until she breaks apart in my arms. Not until her body screams my name.
She shatters with a cry that punches the air from my lungs.
Her legs tighten around me, and I let go, grunting through clenched teeth as I spill inside her.
We collapse into it, a tangled heap of sweat and skin.
Her head rests against my shoulder. My arms lock around her like she’s the only thing holding me together.
“I love you,” I whisper, brushing her tangled hair off her face.
She looks up, cheeks flushed, lips still kiss-swollen and smiles that damn smile that always floors me. “I love you too, Lex.”
She bends to grab her clothes, slipping her leggings back on one leg at a time, smoothing her crop top over her ribs. The second she reaches for the door, I tug her back into my arms and kiss her once more slow, deep, and hungry all over again.
“Baby,” she laughs against my mouth, “I have to go. Rico’s waiting, you need to start warming up. Plus, I still need to go check on my fighters.”
“I don’t want you to go,” I mutter, burying my face in her neck.
“I’ll see you soon,” she says, lips brushing my ear. “I’ll be the one with your name plastered on my chest.”
I stare at the door she disappeared through, already missing her, and the second I remember what she’s off doing—checking on her fighters—I swear something primal flares in my chest.
Our girl is so moving in tonight.
???
The four of us Kings sit in the warm-up room, glued to the screen like a bunch of restless wolves. They stream the event back here so we don’t lose our damn minds waiting for our fights. Usually, it’s background noise. Not tonight. Not with her out there.
The lights in The Pit drop to blood red and Knox’s voice rips through the sound system like thunder. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the biggest goddamn fight in The Pit’s history!”
The crowd ignites.
“But before we bring out our fighters, I wanna introduce my favorite ladies. I like to call them the Knockout Queens of our Hollow Kings… The Trifecta!”
The crowd damn near explodes when the girls walk out.