Chapter 13
Salem
“Hello, there, sexy.” A shifter slides up next to me, batting her eyelashes. Does she have something in her eye?
“What the fuck do you want?” I ask her, scowling. I glance over her to check what Peach is doing, but she’s serving a customer and not looking over here. After I made Peach come with my mouth, I came outside for some fresh air, and this is what I get.
A fucking conversation.
“I saw you at your last fight. I couldn’t stop looking at you. The way you just beat the shit out of your opponent. You made it look so easy, too! Anyway, I just wanted to see if you wanted to—”
“Stop talking. Whatever you have to say, I’m not interested,” I bark. It’s not the first time I’ve been recognized, but people are usually smart enough not to approach me.
What happened to when people were so scared of me they left me the fuck alone? I miss those days. Maybe I need to kill someone in public to remind everyone who I am. Although my cousin, King Raiden, might have something to say about that.
I lick my lips, still tasting Peach on me, which calms me down a little. I can’t wait to get her home and fuck her properly. I’ll get her to hold onto the headboard while I take her from behind. Then I’m going to—
A hand reaches out and touches my forearm.
Without thinking, my reflexes kick in, and I grip her wrist and flick it backward.
The female gasps, holding her arm to her chest. “What the fuck is wrong with you? When a beautiful woman comes up to you, you should be grateful.”
She should be grateful I haven’t ripped her heart out yet.
Peach comes out of the store, glancing between the two of us. “What’s going on?”
The shifter points at me. “I went to touch him, and—”
“And next time you won’t fucking touch me. I hate people touching me. Only my mate can do that,” I snap, stepping closer to Peach. “Now get the fuck out of here.”
“Are you okay?” Peach asks the woman, frowning. “Do you need a healer?”
“I’m fine,” she replies, lifting her chin. “This is why I don’t date alphas.”
She storms off, and Peach mutters something like, “Well, that answers my question about that.”
“What?” I ask her, my hands circling her waist.
“I wondered how you’d handle a female hitting on you,” she explains, smirking. “I guess the answer is… not well.”
“I’m yours. And you are mine. No one else exists.”
“That easy?” she asks, her expression gentling. “You really do only want me, don’t you?”
“Since the moment I laid my eyes on you.”
She smiles and pulls me down for a kiss. “I need to get back to work, but tonight, after dinner with Jagger, I’m going to come to your house, and I want you naked and waiting for me.”
My lips curve into a grin. “That I can do.”
It’s cute that she thinks I’m not going to be around her house, keeping an eye on her.
I don’t trust her brother, and he may love his sister, but he hates me, and sometimes the hate wins out.
Jagger better not do anything stupid, or he’s going to end up dead.
I’ll just have to make sure I have a good alibi.
Looking into Peach’s emerald-green eyes, though, I know that I don’t want to upset her. And the death of her slimy brother would do just that.
“Okay, little one, you get back to work. I have somewhere I need to be, but I’ll see you tonight.” I kiss her again, deeper and hungrier, before I zip away to Chaos in the Incubus Kingdom.
“Ahh, there he is.” Prince Axe smirks, pushing away from the cage’s metal bars and stalking toward me.
His brown hair sits at his shoulders, and his green eyes are filled with secrets.
I’ve always said never trust an incubus.
Although I don’t really trust anyone besides my mate and those blood-related to me, so there’s that.
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to show. ”
“I said I would,” I reply, stretching my neck from side to side. “You’d better have someone good for me. The last fight night was fucking boring.”
The incubus heir smirks before dipping his head to a large goblin male. “That look like enough of a challenge for you?”
“He’ll do.”
He’s bigger than me in height and weight, so maybe he’ll be more of a challenge. I took up underground cage fighting when I lost my job as an assassin. I make even more gold now than I used to, but this is the first fight I’ve accepted since I met Peach.
I want to let some of my aggression out. Probably a good idea, so I don’t kill Jagger with my bare hands. Gripping my T-shirt at my nape, I pull it off and remove my boots, leaving me in a pair of loose pants. We do bare-knuckle fighting. No magic. Just pure physical strength.
And so far, I’m undefeated. Thirty-six to zero.
I wonder what Peach would think if she saw me right now, in my element, about to pummel the shit out of some goblin. She’d probably hate it, which is why I won’t tell her.
Stepping into the cage, I ignore the cheers and catcalls from the audience.
I’m not here for any of that. My opponent steps in from the opposite side of the ring, flexing and showing off.
It doesn’t bother me. I like to let my fists do the talking.
I’m not here to put on a show. I’m here for the beautiful violence.
He comes for me straightaway, trying to catch me off guard with a right hook. I step back to dodge it and then duck his next punch, before plowing my fist right into his face. His nose breaks, and blood starts to pour out. He ignores it, and I can respect that.
We go back and forth a few times, a few of his hits connecting, but only because I let them. When I get bored, I stun him with a right kick to the head. When he gets back up, a little slower than he should, he rushes for me with a war cry.
He wants to win.
Shame I’m not going to let him.
He tries to get me in a headlock, but I twist his wrist until I hear a sickening crack, and he roars in pain. One final punch to his head, and it’s lights out for Mr. Goblin.
Axe is waiting for me when I exit the cage, holding my bag of gold. “You want another one?”
I tilt my head to the side, considering. Peach is probably still at work, so I have more time until I need to go over there and listen to what Jagger has to say about me.
“Yeah, all right,” I agree, bouncing on the balls of my feet.
Why the fuck not?
I’ll still have enough energy to fuck Peach all night long.
I need her to agree to bond with me.
Then I’ll have everything I want in my hands.