46. The Winner
The Winner
Eli
Harper ducks her head to avoid watching them fight. I smooth my hand over her hair. She’s not used to any of this. The parties. The fighting. Us. Not used to being the center of attention.
I’ve seen the girls watching, drooling over us, and Harper saw them too. What she didn’t notice were the guys watching her. Wanting her. They may think she’s a little freak in the sheets, but I don’t think that’s all of the appeal of Harper Davidson, even for them.
She’s beautiful and shines bright now, instead of hiding in the shadows. She’s soft and loving. Her devotion to us is obvious. Anyone would want what we have. They’d be a fool not to want it. Not to want her.
She’s ours, and we’re not giving her up. It’s hard to imagine her not being part of our lives. I don’t know that we were truly living before we claimed her.
Caden and Luke back away from each other, gauging the other’s weaknesses. My sweat dries against my skin. I’m ready to fight the winner for the chance to have Harper in my arms all night and my cock buried inside her.
It’s possessive and primal. And a prize worth fighting for.
I assess each of them. We’ve been fighting for years, but each of us learns something from every fight we’ve been in. Caden drops his left hand every time he’s going in with a hard right.
Luke is fiercely protective, which makes sense given his upbringing. But once he lets loose, he’s an animal. Caden might have more power behind his punches, but Luke is controlled until he wants something.
Then there’s something feral about the way Luke fights. He releases that cool exterior. It’s terrifying and beautiful to watch.
Harper should be watching this, learning more about us, but she only sees the violence.
I glance around the audience. Mostly football guys, which makes sense. Our game was interrupted. There’s a bunch of adrenaline begging to be released. The girls are talking to the guys, their eyes only half on the fight.
Maybe the girls are looking to get laid. Maybe they’re just hoping for their turn at us. I shake my head. It’s not an option even if we didn’t agree to exclusivity.
There’s no one that could draw me away from Harper.
There are some guys who don’t play sports hanging around. Most of them are either taking bets or placing them. A couple might actually fight. A few guys from the basketball team stand off to one side by themselves, watching.
“Nico.”
Nico looks at me. I gesture with my head toward the guys.
“Are they part of the crew?” I ask. Zach’s crew that meets at the drug house is what I mean.
Nico narrows his eyes as he looks at them. He shakes his head as he sits back.
It’s not unusual for the players to be at a party. The question is whether they’re spying for Zach or just enjoying the party? I don’t know what they’d learn watching us fight each other, but they may be looking for intelligence more than anything.
“Want me to go talk to them?” Jack asks.
I glance at Jack. He’s back to almost full energy without the assistance of caffeine. I give him a sharp nod.
Jack wanders that way slowly, talking with people along the way. I return my attention to the fight. Caden and Luke are sweating, but they’re far from winded. There are red marks on Luke’s side and Caden’s chest.
They’re still taking it easy. I glance down at Harper, who still isn’t watching them.
“Don’t you want to see who wins, kitten?”
She lifts her head and doesn’t even skim Luke and Caden but meets my gaze.
“No.” She looks a little pale.
“You okay?” I ask and lift her chin and study her face. Is she getting sick? Or is this just too much for her?
She swallows and wets her lips. “Yeah. I guess I’m really not into fighting when it’s two of mine.”
Smiling, I stroke my thumb across her cheek. “We don’t fight much. These are fun for us. None of us really wants to hurt the other.”
She nods.
Nico shrugs. “Our girl is more of a lover than a fighter.”
Yeah, that might need to change. If Zach can get to our girl without us, I need her to be able to defend herself against his attack. Caden’s been working with her, but if she pulls her punches...
I blow out a breath. Tonight she looked so fucking relieved when we got there. That we saved her. And I want to be her hero just as much as the others do, but I can’t be everywhere. Eventually, Zach will get to her.
My chest tightens as I turn back to the fight. There’s this impulse to take him out before he takes her, but I don’t know what that looks like. Destroying his social status will only accomplish so much.
That’s easy to do. Making him a social pariah until he has no choice but to go to another school is almost impossible. Eliminating him as a problem could create more problems. Ones we aren’t equipped to handle at this point in our lives.
Jack stands next to the basketball guys. Fortunately, they’re on the other side of Caden and Luke fighting. So watching them looks like I’m watching the fight. Luke’s stepped back while Caden gives him a grin that would make a lesser man piss himself. It captures my full attention.
One of them is going down this time.
Luke comes in low while Caden comes in high. Harper makes a little shriek. Caden’s head turns toward her right as Luke punches him in the abs and Caden’s fist misses Luke’s face.
Luke hits him again, and the air rushes out of Caden as he steps back and holds up his hand in surrender. As soon as he does that, Luke’s gaze goes to Harper with a devilish smile.
Caden bumps Luke’s fist as Jack comes out to declare Luke the winner. Caden heads our way. His gaze never strays from Harper as he closes in and lifts her up.
“Hey!” She puts her hands on his sweaty chest.
“You made me lose, little nympho.” Caden leans in and rubs his face against her neck.
“Ew, Caden!” She pushes against his chest, but he doesn’t relent.
“I’m going to punish you tonight.” His lips are next to her ear when he says, “Luke or Eli might get you later, but I’m fucking you everywhere, little nympho.”
He lifts his head and narrows his eyes on hers.
“You were going to hit Luke in the face.” She narrows her eyes back at him. “We have pictures tomorrow. These are my only Homecoming pictures.”
Caden softens a little and nods. “I would have won, but I understand your reasoning.”
I arch an eyebrow. “Really?”
Caden smirks as he releases Harper. She wipes his sweat from her neck the best she can.
“I’m still going to punish and fuck her.” Caden shrugs when Harper makes an indignant noise. He shakes his head and glares at her. “You made me lose. I’m going to make sure you’re overflowing with my cum tonight. It’s only fair.”
Her cheeks are bright red as she sits down next to Nico.
“I have a whole fight to come up with your punishment.” Caden rubs his hands together. His other punishment was ingenious, fucking her on that ottoman while she was immobile and ours to do with what we please. I’m game for whatever Caden has in mind.
I clap him on his shoulder. “If you need ideas...”
“I might.” Caden grins.
“You guys are impossible.” Harper crosses her arms as she pouts.
Luke comes over. “Thanks, princess.”
“Don’t mention it,” Harper grumbles.
“She’s just sore because I’m going to make her ass sore tonight.” Caden chuckles and slaps Luke on the back. “You’re lucky she distracted me.”
“We just know who her favorite is now.” Luke puffs up like a peacock.
I laugh. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Death.”
Luke grins. “You ready to lose?”
“I wouldn’t know. I never lose.” I wink at Harper, but she’s still upset about the punishment heading her way. “You always enjoy your punishment, kitten.”
I tip up her chin and lean down to brush my lips against hers. She parts them when I don’t fully kiss her. Her dark eyes search mine.
“I know how good you taste,” I say softly before pulling away. “Your lips will be mine when I win.”
Luke snorts in disbelief.
We stride out to meet Jack in the middle of the crowd.
“Which will take your breath away first?” Jack yells to the already riled crowd. “Pestilence or Death?”
The crowd roars as Jack backs away from us.
“Death brought an end to War, but can he do anything but succumb to Pestilence?” Jack smirks at the crowd. “Do you want it?”
“Yes,” the crowd yells back.
I glance at Harper. Her knuckles are white as she holds her hands in her lap. I could call this off. Let Luke win.
“You know how tight and warm that pussy is.” Luke stands next to me, looking over Harper. “Having it clench on your cock while she dreams is the best feeling ever.”
“If our girl shrieks, I’m not going to be distracted like Caden.” I turn to look in Luke’s pale blue eyes. “No punching in the face, agreed?”
Luke arches an eyebrow, but nods.
“Let’s do this!” Jack yells as he backs toward the basketball players again.
Luke and I circle each other.
“Do you know what Hutchins, Miller, and Perkins are doing here?” I feint a hit at Luke.
He glances their way before shrugging. “Enjoying the fight? Do they need a reason?”
He weaves in and punches my side where Adam hit me earlier. I groan at the hit but take it. Adam was right about that. I can take a hit, but he underestimated me. Luke won’t.
“Are they friendly with Zach?” I already know they weren’t at the drug house, but I need to know if they pose a threat to our girl.
“They play on the same team.” Luke glances around us. “We’re friendly with our teammates, but we don’t trust them like we trust each other.”
Maybe they’re just enjoying the fight. Luke jabs me in the ribs again.
I still and study Luke. He has some bruises from the game and he’s holding his left arm more against his body. Protecting an injury?
When he comes in for another hit, I bounce back. “Didn’t you sleep with Miller’s sister last year?”
“Nick Miller?” Luke comes in, and I block him from hitting me.
“Yes, Olivia is his younger sister.”
Luke glances toward Harper. “She was a virgin I fucked last year.”
“How many sisters have we fucked?” I ponder that as I close the distance between us and hit Luke in rapid succession before backing off. Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong. Maybe we need to be looking at who these guys are friends or relatives with.
“Fuck.” Luke spits on the ground. “What’s your point?”
“Just considering what Tanner did and comparing it to what Zach is doing.” I press forward again and hit Luke in his sore arm and side. Tanner went after Ava to get back at us.
He glares at me before punching me in my gut. When I don’t go down, he holds up his hands. “Fuck, man, I think I might have dislocated a rib.”
“Harper can kiss it and make it better before I claim my spot for the night.”
Jack walks up to us and raises my arm. “Pestilence!”
The crowd goes wild. I lift both arms and yell.
“I challenge the winner,” a voice rings out from the sidelines.
We turn, and Nick Miller stands there. His blue eyes are locked on mine. I assess my ability to do another round. I’ve taken a few hits. Later I’ll hurt, but later, I’ll also have my kitten as a blanket.
I nod and Jack yells, “Brewster and Adams are ready to fight, but after that, Miller and Jacobs will take the ring!”