Concern wrinkled her face. Worry clouded her pretty eyes. She could tell I was losing, and about to give up.

No. f.u.c.k that. I couldn't let her keep looking at me that way. I couldn't let her see me fall. Not like this.

Parker had fought tooth and claw for me, and now I had to do the same for her.

Tutera, noticing I'd lifted my head, got in a good hit to my cheek. This time, I didn't even feel it. Seeing Parker had given me the adrenaline rush I needed to get my second wind, and with all the force I had in me, I launched myself at Tutera and wrapped my arms around him, dragging him to the ground.

Off-balance, he fell and landed hard on his side. It was easier to deal with him when he wasn't swinging at me, and as he turned to get up on his knees, I jumped on his back and pulled him back down. I had him on top of me on his back, and sliding across the mat in my own blood, I used it to my advantage to get one of my legs over his face.

Tutera grabbed at me, but in a second, I had my other leg across his chest and under his arms. Then my fingers were around his wrist, pulling his arm hard toward me, my ankles locked, and I had no intention of letting go.

The crowd around us went berserk. I pulled hard on Tutera's arm, bending it back in an arm-bar I knew had to hurt. Even as c.o.ked up as he was, there was no way Tutera could ignore this agony. Arm-bars hurt like a b.i.t.c.h no matter what you were on. I could tell by his snarling and struggling that he was feeling it.

Good. Payback's a b.i.t.c.h, ain't it, kid?

I held onto him tight while he bucked, trying to push me off him, but there was no point. I had his arm locked good and tight, and the more he flailed, the more pain he caused himself. Bending backward, I yanked, feeling his joint strain. Tutera froze, his whole body contracting in a spasm of excruciating misery, then with his free hand, pounded the mat. The ref came to our sides and knelt down.

"Tap out, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d," I gritted. "It's over. I got you."

Before the ref could call it, I gave another hard yank and Tutera pounded the mat again, grabbing for the referee. He blew his whistle and I let go, Tutera rolling onto his side to cradle his nearly broken arm.

I lay there on my back as I heard those sweet syllables I never thought I'd hear again.

"Killer Kellan wins!"

Holy s.h.i.t. I laughed, covering my face with my hands as the world exploded into chaos around me. Lights flashed, people cheered, and above it all, I could hear them chanting: Killer! Killer! Killer! Killer!

When I let my hands drop, the ref was offering me his hand. I let him help me to my feet and leaned on him bodily, raising one fist in the air the same way Parker had when I'd seen her watching me. Everyone else in the room faded away until there was just her face again, smiling broadly, cheering, her lips moving in a way that let me read them. Out of everyone gathered around me, she was the only one who was actually calling me by name. Kellan! Kellan! Kellan! Kellan!

And then, shaking her head, tears sparkling in her eyes, she screamed something else: I love you!

Warmth blossomed inside my chest, nullifying all the pain I'd been keeping there. I couldn't wait for the winner's room to be with her. I had to have Parker in my arms. Now.

I broke away from the ref and made my way over the ropes, then jumped down from the mat and pushed my way through the crowd. Most of them parted for me, but not before touching me, totally in awe of the n.o.body who'd beat Johnny f.u.c.king Tutera in an illegal match. I could hardly believe it myself, but that wasn't what I was focused on right now. Right now, all I could see, all I could think about, was Parker. My Parker.

I reached her and swept her into my arms, swinging her around heedlessly, pressing my damaged face into her beautiful, golden locks of hair and inhaling her scent. That was the only thing I wanted to smell for the rest of my life. I could die happy, here in her arms. But I wanted to live. For the first time in d.a.m.n near forever, I wanted to choose life over death, pleasure over pain. I wanted to be the man Parker believed I could be.

I leaned up for a kiss, closing my eyes as I tasted her sweet breath on my tongue. Then I cradled her in my arms bridal-style and pushed my way through the crowd again, this time toward the hall that would take us to the winner's room.

"Wait!" she laughed, gingerly touching my bruised and bloodied face. "Don't you have to get your winnings from Vic?"

"Trust me, I didn't forget," I told her, kicking open the door. "But you and me have something to settle up on, first."

Parker blushed, and I grinned back as I stepped inside the room and shut the door.

~ Twenty-Two ~

Parker

Kellan's face was a mess. He looked more like he'd been through a meat grinder than an MMA fight. But that didn't stop him from kissing me, from running his hands all over me, from pulling off my clothes at lightning pace and pushing me onto the bed so hard it took my breath away. And I didn't care that I was covered in his blood-there was time for a shower later. And I wanted him now.

"I need you, baby," Kellan mumbled between kisses. I ran my tongue over his lips, tasting his blood, shivering as he exposed my b.r.e.a.s.t.s to the cool air. "I need to feel you. I need to know this is actually happening. That this is real."

Kellan crawled on top of me and I used my feet to slide his shorts down off his waist. "Then take me, Kellan. I'm yours."

He grabbed a fistful of my hair and jerked my head back, my lips parted, throat exposed. His snarl was wolfish. "Say 'please,'" he demanded.

"Please," I breathed, very gently touching the side of his face. "Please f.u.c.k me, Kellan." I bit my lip. "Claim your prize."

Kellan chuckled. Without letting go of my hair, he situated himself between my legs. "You're not a prize, Parker," he said. "You're the best G.o.dd.a.m.n thing that's ever happened to me." Then he pushed inside my p.u.s.s.y without any warning, thrusting right up to the hilt, and I cried out in both pleasure and pain as his girth stretched me wide.

"Oh, f.u.c.k!"

"Come on, Parker," Kellan rasped, pulling my calves over his shoulders. There seemed to be some pain in his voice, too. It was amazing what he could do once adrenaline flooded him, how he was able to push past his injuries to take me the way he was clearly aching to. "You can scream louder than that." Then he rammed into me again, bucking into me so hard and fast I saw stars.

I writhed all over Kellan's c.o.c.k, arching my back and screaming for him like I knew he wanted me to. It wasn't just for his benefit, though. The things he did to my body deserved this kind of volume. The pleasure was so intense I almost wanted to get away from it. I couldn't handle it. It was driving me crazy.

Spreading my p.u.s.s.y lips with his fingers, Kellan spit on my slit and spread it around my little bud, coaxing it from underneath its hood. Then he rubbed mercilessly, smirking as he felt my toes curl, angling his d.i.c.k up so that it crashed into my inner sweet spot with every stroke.

"You remember the first time I made you squirt, baby?" he asked, picking up the pace on my c.l.i.t. My eyes rolled and I wailed, clawing at the sheets. "Well, I'm gonna make you do it again, only this time, you're gonna make a real big mess. I'll make sure of that."

I moaned and babbled as he spread his knees to pound into me harder, the sound of our flesh slapping sending shivers up and down my spine. I raked my nails down one of his arms and he grimaced, grabbing that hand and pinning it next to my head.

"Bad girl. This body is mine. It does what I want it to. And right now, baby, I want you to squirt on my big, fat d.i.c.k. Come on, Parker. Drench me. I know you want to. I can feel you fighting it."

I bit my lip. He was right; I was. I'd never known I was a squirter before, not since that time at his apartment where it had only come out as a little dribble. But now Kellan was pushing me closer and closer to a bigger o.r.g.a.s.m, one I wasn't sure I could contain. The sheer power of it terrified me. I wasn't sure I could come back from it, if he pushed me over the edge.

"That's it, baby," he cooed as I startled to whine. "Let it go. c.u.m for me, Parker." He released my hand to flick his thumb over one of my nipples. "Now."

Between his thumb dancing on my c.l.i.t, his d.i.c.k pummeling my G-spot, and his fingers tickling my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, I couldn't take it anymore. The sensations were all just too much. Tears of ecstasy in my eyes, I threw my head back and screamed as I drenched Kellan with my desire, my p.u.s.s.y squeezing his c.o.c.k tight, milking it for all it was worth.

Kellan slowed his strokes to draw out my o.r.g.a.s.m, letting me feel every single inch of his c.o.c.k as it slid in and out of me. He made a low, gravelly sound in his throat like he was just barely holding back his own climax, his gaze fixed on the mess I'd made all over his hips. He was soaked in me, and as I whimpered and flailed, he grinned. "That's my girl, Parker. Now, bend over so I can f.u.c.k you right."

He let my legs down off his shoulders and I quivered, trying to find the strength to get onto all fours. Kellan helped me, manhandling me like I was just a rag doll as he positioned me so that I was grabbing the headboard, my legs spread, my a.s.s against his c.o.c.k.

The harsh sting of his palm meeting one of my cheeks made me moan. "That's for being a bad girl," he snarled in my ear. "You were late, Parker. What happened to you?"

I licked my lips, savoring the rush of relief and desire that came after the pain subsided. "I was meeting with the senator," I told him. "He agreed to champion the veterans' bill."

Kellan spanked me again, then pried apart my cheeks and sawed his d.i.c.k between them. "Mm, then maybe you were a good girl, after all," he said, pushing his tip against my tight little star.

"Kellan," I breathed, turning over my shoulder to look up at him. I'd never let anyone do that before, and with as big and thick as Kellan was, I wasn't sure I could take him. Kellan only smiled and brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Don't worry, baby. I'm not c.u.mming anywhere but that p.u.s.s.y tonight." Then he pulled his hips back and slipped his tip inside of me, working it in and out of my c.u.n.t as I blushed.

"You... want to c.u.m inside me?" I whispered.

Kellan nodded, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. I shivered. "Mmhm. I want to fill you up, Parker. I want to make you c.u.m again so when that p.u.s.s.y starts throbbing around me, I can give it what it needs. What it wants. I know you want my c.u.m, baby. And I know the idea of taking a risk turns you on." He met my gaze. "You want this too, don't you?"

Slowly, I nodded. I knew how rash it was, maybe even foolish, but I'd been suppressing my desire for Kellan's seed for too long. When he mounted me like this, all I could think about was him filling me completely. I wanted him to mark me, to claim me as his. I wanted to be f.u.c.ked hard by an alpha male, and only Kellan would do.

As soon as I gave my consent, Kellan pushed all the way inside me again, sheathing himself in my wet warmth. I moaned, my walls still pulsing from my previous o.r.g.a.s.m, and reached down between my legs to rub my swollen c.l.i.t as Kellan filled me with slow, even strokes.

I knew what he was doing. He was building it up, making sure that when he let go inside of me, it was the biggest load he could possibly unleash. Something about that turned me on even more, and I drummed my fingers harder on my c.l.i.t, working it in circles as Kellan pressed his chest against me from behind.

"f.u.c.k," he muttered, his thrusts becoming a little more erratic. I could tell he was close; he was starting to buck. "Oh, f.u.c.k, Parker. You feel so good. I don't think I can take it anymore..."

He laced his fingers around my throat with one hand, and with the other, he teased my nipples, alternating between the two. Kellan was already driving me toward another o.r.g.a.s.m, and the way he panted and groaned in my ear only made me more eager to get there.

"I'm c.u.mming," I whispered to him, my voice hoa.r.s.e from screaming his name. "Oh, Kellan. Baby, I'm c.u.mming. Fill me up now. Please...!"

I pressed my nose to his cheek as I came for him a second time, linking my feet over his calves to ensure he couldn't pull out. Kellan grunted as my p.u.s.s.y began squeezing him again, then reared back and pistoned into me as hard as he could. I felt his d.i.c.k throb, then throb again, only harder this time, and then gasped as I felt the warm flow of his c.u.m spurting deep, deep inside me.

"Parker!" he breathed, sucking my earlobe into his mouth. I trembled and spread my legs a little wider, eager to take all that Kellan had to give. As his o.r.g.a.s.m waned, he whimpered and said, "f.u.c.k. I love you. I love you so d.a.m.n much."

I opened my eyes to look up into his. They were half-lidded and swollen, and between them, the bridge of his nose was turning black and purple. But none of that mattered. This man was mine, scars and all, and in that moment, he'd never looked more handsome.

Softly pressing my forehead to his, I whispered back to him, "I love you too, Kellan. I don't know how this happened so fast, but I know I love you. I really do."

Kellan pulled out of me, letting me turn so that he could hold me in his arms. Kissing the top of my head, he murmured, "And we're gonna be together, baby. For as long as you'll have me. There's just one more thing I gotta do..."

~ Twenty-Three ~

Kellan

I looked for Vic the second I stepped out of the winner's room, leaving Parker in bed to enjoy the workout I'd just given her. I never found him, though. He'd disappeared, gone with the wind. For a second, I thought he'd made off with my winnings, too.

Thankfully this time, my instincts were wrong.

"Your manager said to give you this, on top of what you earned tonight," the venue owner said once I'd managed to figure out who the h.e.l.l he was. He handed me a fat manila envelope and glanced over his shades at me. "You sure you don't wanna keep fighting, Killer? I mean, the way you took down Tutera... s.h.i.t, you could go pro. You'd make a killing."

I quirked a small smile as I glanced at what Vic had stuffed into the envelope. Just a cursory flick through the bills told me there was more than fifty thousand dollars in here.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I said. "I'm really looking forward to living a life that doesn't involve killing or maiming anymore."

Besides, I added inwardly as the owner shrugged and turned his attention back to the girls swarming him from all sides, only douchebags wear sungla.s.ses indoors.

Parker and I took a cab to the hospital that night. I knew I was too f.u.c.ked up to avoid it this time, and having her at my side made things a little easier. I definitely hadn't come out of that fight with Tutera unscathed. I had a broken nose, a fractured cheekbone, two broken ribs, and a host of other hairline fractures and deep bruises that were gonna take a while to recover from. They wanted me to stay overnight, get some pain meds in me so I could sleep, but I had a better idea.

"It's cool," I said as I signed the form that said I was leaving against medical advice. "I know a guy."

Parker was, at first, furious. I couldn't really blame her. I mean, she'd heard the diagnosis loud and clear while she was sitting there holding my hand. Not only had I left the hospital without much more than a splint for my nose, but I wanted to take a road trip? Now? In the dead of night?

Like I could sleep, anyway. I was too amped up. I could see all the possibilities of my life lain out before me now. No way a man could sleep when he'd just realized he had a future.

I'd planned on driving, but Parker insisted I sit the h.e.l.l down in the front seat and relax. Which meant I had to tell her where we were going, which kind of ruined the surprise. She'd had the good sense to tell me to call ahead, though, which worked out in my favor, because when we pulled up to Iris and Slade's new house, they weren't nearly as annoyed with me as they could have been. Especially not Iris, once she saw who I'd brought with me.

"Oh, my G.o.d," my sister whispered. She looked up at me with wide eyes. "Is this her? Parker?"

As if Parker wasn't standing right there in front of her. I smiled. "That's her. And she speaks English, by the way, so you can say 'hi' yourself."

"Hi," Iris said, wrapping her arms around Parker in a hug my girlfriend obviously didn't expect. "Welcome to the family."

All the blood rushed to my face, making it feel even more swollen than it had before. "f.u.c.k's sakes, sis, she's my girlfriend, not my wife. d.a.m.n, you're gonna scare her off."

Inside, Slade did his best to get me situated for the night, but he said I was gonna have to go to the hospital again in the morning. I could go to the one he worked at, which I knew would work with me and my odd request of "no pain pills, please," and Parker and I were free to stay with them until I'd healed a little. We ended up making a weekend out of it, which was a nice way to get Parker introduced to everybody. I even let her visit with my mom and stepdad, which was not an experience for the faint of heart.

"I don't know what you were so worked up about," Parker said to me on the drive home. "Everybody was really nice."

"Yeah, now," I snorted in reply. "You should've seen us a few years ago. Incest, drugs, and rock n' roll were all the rage."

Parker rolled her eyes at me, which was a gesture I got used to over the next few months. She and Thom ran their story on me and Senator MacFarlane, and by extension, the illegal fighting rings I'd been a part of. I was a local celebrity for a bit after that, and the senator himself made it a point to have a photo op with me, once my face didn't look like chopped liver. I heard a few weeks later that there'd been a whole bunch of raids that went down at the same time, a blitz on the underground fighting world. Vic hadn't been part of it. Apparently, he'd skipped town. a.s.shole.

Karma eventually caught up with him, though. Apparently Thom had been keeping his eye out for any news, any new fighting circuits popping up in neighboring states. About half a year after I quit fighting, Vic f.u.c.ked with the wrong ex-SEAL and got his head bashed in. He was trying to run the same scam he'd run back here, only now that there was a story about it out there on the Internet, his next victims figured it out before he could get them under his thumb. Vic ended up a vegetable rotting in a hospital somewhere, and it took a little while, but I eventually felt sorry for the guy. If he was dead, that wouldn't have been so bad. But trapped in your body, unable to think, unable to do all the things you used to do, just p.i.s.sin' and s.h.i.ttin' and droolin' all over yourself day in, day out? That wasn't living. That was h.e.l.l.

I wouldn't have wished that fate on my worst enemy. But there was nothing I could do. I'd tried to warn him, in my own way. And some leopards just never changed their spots.

The money I'd saved up, plus what Vic had left me with, gave me some time to think about what I wanted to do with my life. After a lot of thought, I realized that the reason I'd enjoyed my time in the Marines so much wasn't because I was out there fighting for my life, but because I was making a difference for people back home. I was impacting lives with my service, ensuring that a new generation of Americans could enjoy the freedoms I always had. Or at least, that was what I'd told myself out in the desert all those years. When you were living the reality of a tour of duty, you didn't really dwell too much on politics. You just towed the line.

I wanted to feel that way again, and this time, I didn't want to get anyone hurt or killed. But I was still a fighter at heart, and I always would be. So what could I do?

Parker introduced me to the idea of teaching others how to defend themselves. And after a little research, I'd landed myself a job as a mentor teaching at-risk youths the fine art of boxing. I had to modify the program a little, of course-some things I was just better off not teaching to kids-but it ended up a huge success, both for the kids and for me. My cla.s.s was the most popular one the local rec center offered, and my students all seemed to be getting a lot out of it. That was enough for me.

s.h.i.t, though, it was so weird to think of myself as a teacher, when a year ago I'd been convinced I would never do anything but destroy people. Now I was building them up, making them into better versions of themselves every day. I was their rock as much as they were mine. We were all just taking it one day at a time.