CHAPTER FIFTEEN
DEX
The Kingsman frat boasted a new logo and merch in their campus and online shop in short order. Once Zinzi started, she was a whirlwind powerhouse that was a genuine joy to watch. Falcon and Nelson, however, had the dubious joy of working with her. Dubious, because they had to keep up and neither of them did so well on lack of sleep or being told what to do around the clock.
Beau seemed to find the whole thing hilarious and was a lot more personable with Sylvie back by his side, though thanks to Nelson's delivery service and gifts to his girlfriend, he now also was the unhappy owner of a teapot wall that Sylvie had installed in his bedroom.
“You’re happy?” I asked Zin, lifting her hair to press a line of kisses along her shoulders where she worked on her laptop in a nightie, perched on my bed, sharing my desk space. I still had a lot of work to catch up with from being off with broken bits and chasing a wounded heart, but having her with me helped. A whole hell of a lot.
“Happy?” She raised a glowing face to mine for a kiss I happily provided. “Are you kidding? Beau throws me challenges at every turn. I love it. It’s like fighting with someone who actually has a brain. Not that you don’t have a brain, but he is…aggressive. I enjoy the challenge.”
“You enjoy working and having something to do.” I kissed the top of her head.
“Yep.”
“Good. As long as he doesn't take all your time up.” I lifted her body and slipped beneath her so she straddled my lap. “Because I still need time with my girl.”
“Not right now.” She wiggled her ass temptingly in my lap.
“Nope.” I kissed the top of her head, then the corner of her mouth as she frowned. “For luck?”
“Why do you need luck?” Her attention successfully severed from her laptop, she tipped her mouth back, seeking mine. “What are you doing?”
I kissed her back, threading my hands through hair and made it deep and long until her whole body softened on my lap. “That’s what I was after, sweetness. I’m fighting Beau.”
“What? Now?” she shrieked in my ear. “Are you fucking insane?”
I shrugged. “Jury's out. I’m probably deaf after that, but who really knows. It's safe, Zin.”
“Safe, my ass. He held me in a locked room until you got there.”
“Without the twins.”
She glared at me. “They told me you were going to die.”
My hand curved around her face. “Didn’t happen, Zin. Won’t happen today, either.” I hoped. Because if I passed Beau’s little test then we had an extra side deal I needed him for, very soon. “No blades. No weapons. Just our hands and feet.”
She gritted her teeth. “It’s Beau Bennett. If it was anyone else I wouldn’t be worried.”
“Aw, you’re worried? You are a sweetie.”
She batted my hand away. “Fuck you, Dex,” she huffed.
“Later, sweetness. Save some energy for me. Because I want you to drench this bed when I fuck you tonight.” I kissed her again until she was breathless, massaging her nape, then I let her go and slipped out the door before she could argue.
And no way in hell did I want her anywhere near the impromptu fight ring in that scant little nightie that I loved on her. The frat boys were horndogs and my girl was mine. Falcon might be all for sharing, but I didn't have those proclivities. My girl was mine alone, and I needed to get this fight done so Beau held up his end of the bargain.
Because his connections could get us where Nelson, Falcon and I fell short.
That I needed his help irritated the shit out of me. But being able to bang it out together—albeit at each other—evened the field somewhat. Plus, I was interested to see if the man was as brutal as myths surrounding him suggested.
The grassed area out the back of the frat house had been cleared of furniture, and a rope pulled about in a circular shape. I knew Zin would be able to see us from my window so I gave her a little wave as I walked backwards out of the house that she didn’t return, but she did plant her elbows on the windowsill, and didn’t move.
I sighed. So much for her being distracted with work while Beau and I beat the shit out of each other.
I found Falcon nearby, holding wrapping in his hands. I shook my head. “Never used it in the ring. Not about to start.”
“And if he uses glass?”
“Then he’ll have a short fall to the dirt and a brutal ending.”
I wasn’t about to pull my punches with this one. The deal was no weapons of any sort. I wasn’t in for cheating and I’d made that abundantly clear. I also made it clear that if I found out Beau took assistance, I’d be putting him down—in the hospital bed variety.
“Then let’s hope to fuck he doesn’t cheat, because Nelson’s shit in a fight,” Falcon muttered. “And there’s a whole lot more of them than us.”
“This is us, man. We do this right, we have more of us to go around.” I held his gaze.
He nodded slowly.
Swell the ranks. That was the whole point of this endeavor. Falcon needed allies away from his father. I needed assistance on a little side job. Nelson needed…well, Nelson needed a lot of things. I wasn’t sure what topped the list, but a lifeline came first if he kept flirting with Sylvie and buying Beau’s girlfriend teapots.
“Time to go.” Nelson skidded to a stop beside me, no teapots in sight, strangling his bowtie, and grinning like a loon.
“What’s made you so happy?”
I shoved the second offer of hand wraps away from Falcon.
“I just met the other lord.”
“Who?” I raised my head from running through everything I knew about Beau Bennett.
Left handed, vicious bastard, captain of the lacrosse team, aggressor from the get go, likely had a huge depth of stamina. He had a proclivity for BDSM—apparently the pretty Sylvie played up as his sub/brat. Falcon eyed her off one too many times, and the frat head had a word in his ear. He weighed in with less muscle than me, but I wouldn’t out last the asshole. Which meant I needed to end this quick, and early.
Nelson drew a deep breath. “Barclay Augusts Chesterfield, famously involved with his French manservant and another female fling at the same time, just asked his crush on a castle date, Earl of?—”
“You’re up.” Falcon tapped me on the shoulder and saved me from what I suspected would be a long winded explanation of a lineage that only one person in the crowd apart from the person who belonged to it cared for.
“I’m happy for you, mate.” Nelson’s Brit was rubbing off on me.
“Kissy for good luck?” He puckered up on cue.
I face palmed him, shoving him back with a snort. “Thanks for the offer.”
I turned away, feeling Falcon's clap against my back but my gaze was on Zinzi where she hadn’t moved from my window overlooking the lawn area behind the house. Her gaze locked on mine as I kicked my knuckles and raised them to her. For you, sweetness. She didn’t know it yet. And she might get pissy with me later, but also I knew she’d understand.
Eventually.
“Ready?”
A different voice broke into my reverie.
I nodded, and turned to face Beau who faced me bare knuckled and bare chested. Lean muscle, ink and scars decorated his chest in a jigsaw that I spent the next thirty minutes studying at various angles, having failed to do what I intended and put him down early. What my opponent lacked in musculature, he made up for in speed, agility and quick thinking.
My respect for him grew through my patience for his games waned.
“I’ll be glad to get this done,” I said to Falcon on my third and final break. We’d agreed to limited rounds, and the next to fall down, stayed down.
“If it works out in your favor.” Falcon doctored the damn cut over my eye that refused to stay shut. Neither my hand nor my ribs played up, though something on Beau cracked with the last blow I landed to his side.
“Thanks for the heads up. I’ll remember you for my next positivity Ted X talk.” I clasped hands with Falcon and nodded to Nelson who texted quickly from his seated position. I suspected he played both sides of the fence, chatting alternately with Zinzi and Sylvie to keep them in the loop and not worrying.
“Look after the girls,” I said quietly. “We’ll be done soon.”
He nodded, and didn’t look up.
I turned back to the temporary ring and walked in, rolling both shoulders and taking stock. No part of me wanted to get cold and while the frat boys might want this event to take all night, I was used to knocking through fights a whole lot faster.
“Come on, old man,” I called to a round of ribald cheers.
Beau watched me with a strange smile on his face, and I knew at that moment what the outcome of this round would be before he stepped foot back in our impromptu ring.
Hell, I even started counting out the blows we traded.
He made it look good, that was certain. I didn’t know if I had cracked something on him earlier, or if he’d always intended to reciprocate, but just over what should have been halfway through our third round, I swung hard into his jaw in a blow he should have dodged, and he dropped.
Straight to the grass, and stayed there.
“Out cold.” Falcon checked Beau, who didn’t move. To his credit, his friend, Crush called it the same without any other reaction, like they’d planned it.
“He’s done. Your winner.” The captain of the ice hockey team held my hand above my head, and I knew he was as full of shit as his friend.
I raised my eyebrows and said nothing as the slightly stunned crowd of loyal Kingsman boys who were well past drunk at this stage. The entire frat watched the unexpected outcome, then broke into cheers, stamping around Beau who was dragged off to the side of the grass and babysat by Crush and Nelson who took up residence on his other side, checking his pulse occasionally and slapping his face lightly until he roused a moment later.
I shook my head as he offered me a sloppy grin for show, taking the bottle of water Crush offered, the two of them speaking softly. Even Nelson had a thing or two to say, and Beau surprised me again when he embraced the young lordling and even straightened his bow tie.
“Beau Bennett threw a fight. Who the fuck knew,” Falcon muttered in my ear.
“Keep it down. They seem to have bought that bullshit,” I grunted, looking around at the hockey boys who drank and fucking drank until the house ran dry. The lacrosse team might be a different story but maybe they knew their captain better than the rest of the Allstars. I wasn’t completely up on the frat house interrelations just yet. Something told me I was about to be.
“That mean he’ll help us?”
I shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out. We don’t seem to be on his shit list anymore.”
Who knew about the twins. As long as they stayed the fuck away from my girl, I was good for now.
“Go shower. She’s waiting for you.” Nelson appeared at my side.
“Are you done hugging the enemy?” Falcon growled.
“Not the enemy. We have a date.” He flashed his screen. “So do I. Before my new friend heads off to his castle in France for a quick see-his-evil-stepmother holiday, I have coffee with an Earl.” He emitted a high pitched noise.
“Did you just squeeee?” Zin rubbed her eyes, sliding beneath my sweaty arm. “And did Beau really pass out when you bitch slapped him?”
“Yes and no. Let me tell you a story because you sure as fuck should not be down here wearing that.” I eyed her in the nightie that should never have left my bedroom, and certainly not with her inside it.
“I wore a robe,” she protested, waving to the completely transparent piece of material that only highlighted her curves and drew every eye in the vicinity.
“Too many drunken dicks down here for my liking, sweetness.” I kissed her mouth hard, needing her. “Come on. We need to let Nelson fangirl, schedule us in, and I need a shower. Then I have a promise to keep.”
I swore she fucking glowed back at me.
“Alright,” she whispered, just loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear.
Falcon and Nelson both groaned.
“Offer’s open to share, my brother.” Falcon slapped my back for the last time that night.
I shook my head. “Not my game, my man.” I looped an arm around Zin, towing her upstairs. “I’ll be a second. Get naked for me?”
She nodded and slipped the gown off her shoulders once we were safely inside my room, dropping the straps for her nightie too. “Hurry?”
I’ve never showered so damn fast in my life.
The aches earned during my fight with Beau—and all the hits from the first long two rounds that weren’t faked whatsoever—could start come morning. Right now, I had a few other things on my mind, starting with one very naked Zinzi in my bed.
I pulled my door open to find her curled completely bare, as requested, in the middle of my bed, the covers pulled back. Her black hair hung straight down her back, and her shoulders arched where she leaned on her hands, her head tilted to one side.
“You weren’t too long,” Zin murmured.
“I didn’t want to leave you waiting.” I tossed my towel to the floor and was on the bed in two strides, my arms around her.
She arched when I nuzzled her neck, pressing her pert tits into my chest. I took the hint and dived down, sucking her nipples into my mouth one by one until she moaned and leaned back for me, spreading her legs with my palms and finding her tender places to work open until she gushed hot and ready.
“I fell asleep before. I thought you might be a while,” she admitted.
“Did we bore you?” I nipped the side of her breast and she gasped, batting at me.
“Ow,” she whispered.
I sucked on the same spot until she whimpered, then pulled back to admire the bruise I'd left. “Too much?”
“No, I just… we never played like that. Before,” Zin bit her lip.
I leaned up for a kiss, sucking her lip into my mouth and sliding my tongue deep as she reached for me, fisting my cock and working me hard. My own groan fell from my lips as she smiled into my kiss.
“Fuck, I love you,” I muttered.
“I love that I can make you groan like that,” she whispered. “And that you get hard from playing with me.”
“You’re the biggest turn on in my world, baby. Let me mark you up a bit. If you don’t mind the pain?” I pulled back to look into her eyes.
She shook her head after a moment. I took it slow, nipping her other breast below her nipple, then sucking lightly at the flesh to ease the pain as I fingered her hard. She came the second time I bit her, mixing pain and pleasure together as I reprogramed her body to like me marking her.
The third time, I worked on the inside of her thigh, and followed up with playing with her perfect pussy. Her thighs wrapped around my head after that, and I stayed there, rewarding her for taking the pain I gave her, licking and touching and teasing until she trembled on my tongue all over again.
And when I thought she’d fall apart from pleasure I forced her to straddle me, holding her up and drove her onto my dick, fucking her hard and fast from below. Her screams redecorated the walls of my new room with their echoes. I leaned back, reveling in the feel of her riding me, the pleasure of her body trembling as she struggled to take me, cumming over again until I let myself fill her and crushed her to my chest, her name written in the last breath that emptied my chest cavity.
And then we slept, our bodies tangled, my dick still lodged inside her hot little body. The girl I thought would break me apart but instead, knotted us closer together.