8. Simon #2
At least intrigue is a better sign than her being ready to leave already.
“Just watch, Miss Impatient.” I twist the cap off my water and down some of the contents. “And drink that, you need to stay hydrated.”
She rolls her eyes. “What are you, my mom?”
I glance over at her. “I can baby bird it if you’d prefer.”
“You’re going to…spit in my mouth?” June blinks at me and it’s moments like this I wish like hell I could read her fucking mind.
My cock twitches at the thoughts that run wild in my head.
“And his opponent,” the announcer says into his mic. “The four-time undefeated Axel Covington.”
"Shit," I mutter. I hadn't looked at the roster for the evening, not even entirely sure if I would have been able to pull this off at all.
But the stars aligned when the guys told me they were going to be occupied, and that June would need to be watched.
She's had a hankering for a little bloodshed, and what better than some gruesome underground fighting?
Axel is one hell of a brute, and he’s bound to put on a damn good show—making this the perfect setting for a bloody good time, giving my girl exactly what she wants. Or at the very least, a taste of it.
“He kind of reminds me of Magnus.” June watches the tattooed man as he strolls into the center of the room.
He punches his right fist into his left hand and jumps a few times. His feet bare and his knuckles wrapped in white tape.
“Axel’s a good fighter,” I tell her. A damn good one, actually.
And I hope he continues that streak because we can’t afford to lose someone like him, not like this.
“It’s a pretty even fight.” I’d know for sure if I paid attention to the lineup when I decided to bring her here.
But the betting wasn’t even a blip on my radar then, and still isn’t now.
June presses her palm against the glass and watches the men circle each other in the makeshift ring. “Why aren’t we out there?” She nods toward the thick crowd of people.
“Too many prying eyes.” These aren’t the type of men who are hungry for only blood.
They crave carnage in any capacity, and having a beautiful woman like June in their vicinity is a recipe for disaster.
I wouldn’t dare threaten her safety by having her out there with those vile creatures.
Instead, I keep her tucked away in here with me, where I can manage the level of monster she’s around.
I’m no better than them, but the difference between them and me is that I actually care about the dark-haired vixen in this room.
I’d rather die than let anything happen to her.
Bradshaw throws the first punch, landing his fist across Axel's jaw. Blood goes flying, and Axel turns to Bradshaw with a shit-eating grin on his face. Axel keeps his arms low, not blocking any of the blows that Bradshaw sends his way. The crowd goes wild, people screaming at Axel to react.
June stays firmly in place, her gaze glued on the fight unfolding in front of her.
We aren't super close, but we're elevated from the rest of the people, making this the perfect vantage point to watch from. Only a few people have a key to this room, and three of them are occupied with something else tonight.
Bradshaw shoves Axel but all Axel does is laugh at him. That guy is a fucking lunatic. He’s got nearly every person in this place on edge, clutching their fucking balls and wondering if their bets were appropriately wagered.
Something shiny skids across the concrete to Bradshaw, and I hear someone shout through the speaker, “Fucking finish him off!”
June looks over at me. “Is that allowed?”
I step closer to her, our bodies just a few inches apart. “Yep. No holds barred.” I press my hand along the edge of the window and brace myself.
Bradshaw does a double take but grabs the knife, gripping it in his hand and swiping it at Axel. He manages to slice the blade across Axel’s forearm, blood splattering onto the floor. He aims at him again, but Axel manages to dodge the attack.
Axel bounces on his toes and shoves his arm forward, blasting Bradshaw in the throat with the heel of his hand.
June latches onto me, her fingers wrapping tightly around my hand.
Whether it was a conscious action or not, I don’t bring attention to it out of fear that it will end all too soon.
Bradshaw recovers from the hit and jabs at Axel with the knife.
The crowd screams, their demands impossible to make out through the incessant chatter.
They collectively roar when Axel spins and kicks Bradshaw in the stomach, sending him backward and clutching at his gut all in one fluid movement.
Bradshaw takes a few steps to get away from Axel and regain his composure.
He lands a punch across Axel’s face, his blade nicking Axel’s brow.
Blood trickles down and Axel whips his head to rid himself of the obstruction in his line of sight.
Axel wipes at it and glances down at his crimson-soaked hand.
He laughs and spits some of the blood that trails down into his mouth.
Axel motions for Bradshaw to attack and Bradshaw does exactly that.
He lurches at Axel, the blade poised in his grasp. Axel dodges him at the last second and sends Bradshaw falling into the crowd. They shove him back into the center of the ring and scream obscenities and demands at him.
“Come on you fucking pansy!” some guy screams loud enough for me to make out above the rest of the noise.
Bradshaw runs at Axel, tackling him and causing everyone to yell even louder. Bradshaw pins Axel to the concrete and punches him in the face over and over again. He traps Axel's arms under the weight of his body and does not budge when Axel tries to buck him off of him.
“Fuck,” I whisper. If Axel doesn’t do something soon, Bradshaw is going to win this fight and we’re going to lose one hell of a soldier.
“When do they call it?” June doesn’t move her hand from mine but shifts her gaze slightly to glance at me before returning it to the match before us.
I bite at the inside of my lip, unsure of whether or not I’m ready to tell her this part just yet. The real reason why I thought this might satiate that hunger she’s been craving lately.
Bradshaw grips the knife firmly in his grasp and raises it dramatically in the air above Axel. With one hand around Axel’s throat, he readies himself to end this fight once and for all.
“He’s going to fucking kill him.” June digs her fingers further into my skin. What should be pain only floats through me as pleasure.
The crowd screams louder than ever—people angry over their wagers about to be lost, and people begging to win their bets.
But, just like everything else in this world, it’s not over until it’s over.
And when another weapon is tossed into the battle, Axel frantically scrambles to gain an inch and reach the lifeline he was given.
He tries to buck Bradshaw in an attempt to advance even slightly toward his target.
He drags his legs up, bending them at the knee and throwing his weight into moving the man pining him down.
Bradshaw laughs at Axel’s attempt but doesn’t quite realize why he's doing it.
He must assume Axel is just trying to get free, not latch onto the other knife tossed onto the battlefield.
And when his cockiness finally gets the best of him, Axel digs deeper, his fingers ultimately wrapping around the handle of the blade.
Another smile forms across Axel’s face, and a split second later, he drives the knife into Bradshaw’s side, yanking it out and slamming it back in.
Once, twice, three more times. Blood fucking splatters everywhere and Axel doesn’t let up, not even when Bradshaw falls off of him and stops moving.
Axel continues to jab the sharp edge into his chest, making damn sure that Bradshaw can never recover.
It's not until three men from the crowd grab his shoulders and drag him from Bradshaw’s dead body does he finally stop.
“Holy shit,” June mutters. “That was…”
I hang on to that last word, dying a little myself waiting for whatever it is she’s about to say. The one word that will alert me to whether this was a mistake in bringing her here. The word that will tell me if I got this all wrong and I don’t actually know her after all.
But June doesn’t continue that sentence. She doesn’t say the single word that has the power of making or breaking this entire night. Instead, she turns toward me, a sort of glimmer in her eyes that wasn’t there before.
“Is there another fight?” She asks me.
A hopeful glimmer, that’s what it is.
“Two more, yeah.”
June grabs my shoulder, shaking it and then turning toward the crowd, her gaze expectantly waiting for things to start again. “I wish we could be out there.”
“Maybe another time, love.”
“Yeah, maybe.” June cracks open the bottle of water I gave her before the first battle to the death and takes a drink.
I settle onto the couch near the window, throwing my arm over the back of it. “You can sit while they clean up and prepare for the next one.”
June glances back and laughs. “I didn’t even notice the couch.”
“You were a bit preoccupied.”
She joins me but not as close as I’d prefer. Hell, she could have chosen my lap as a seat and it still wouldn’t be close enough.
“So like…” June turns toward me, pulling her leg up onto the couch and putting her arm over the back, too. “Are you dating anyone?”
This time it’s me that lets out a chuckle. “What?”
She shrugs. “It’s a reasonable question.”
“What do you think, love?”
“I think you’re a relatively attractive man with a solid set of teeth and a prominent hairline. According to the current dating pool, I’d imagine you have a plethora of women suitors.”
I trail my finger along her hand. “You think I’m attractive?”
She swats at me. “That’s really all you heard?”
“It’s what you said.”
“Still doesn’t answer my question.” She rests her head in her hand.