Page 43 of From Best To Bested

“Sorry,” he growled. “I know there’s an audience. Just can’t help myself with you.”

“The only audience I’m concerned about is you.” Roman turned Ezra’s head, locked eyes with him, and kissed the man with a fiery passion.

Heat and rage he’d surrendered months ago, but somehow Levi managed to ignite the spark, the fury. It created a carnal desire, an all-consuming hunger of lust and want and need. Roman thrust against Ezra, lifting himself, adjusting himself, and offering himself, and it didn’t take long for Ezra to catch the hint.

Ezra yanked down Roman’s sweats and then his own. Roman wriggled loose of his pants, spreading his legs and wrapping them around Ezra’s hips for easy access. Ezra spat on his hand and stroked himself until he’d poorly lubed his cock, and then he shoved into Roman with such rough force, he screamed, dragging his nails across Ezra’s back and pulling the man into a tight hug. Ezra was too big, too rough with his strokes, to go in unlubed, but all the same, Roman called out for more.

“Fuck me,” he moaned with hazy vision.

Roman allowed Ezra to bury himself in him, caressing Ezra’s back, gripping Ezra’s hips, encouraging Ezra to rest his face in the crook of Roman’s neck. Each time Ezra plowed into Roman, they grunted in unison. It didn’t take long for Roman’s grunts to turn into desperate panting. Roman barely held back his furious tears, taking the entirety of Ezra. All the while, he let his head fall backward, staring upside down at Levi, who watched Roman get fucked.

Levi’s anger built as his breathing hastened. Roman didn’t blink, didn’t look away. He studied every inch of Levi’s sweaty body, the slight bulge of his crotch, and the rage in Levi’s striking blue eyes. Roman held onto his own rage as Ezra pounded into him faster and harder and meaner. Roman imagined Levi with each new thrust; he envisioned their bodies entwined from messy combat; he wondered how much anger Levi could bury inhim, how merciless he could be with Roman, how much he’d like to use Roman.

Roman begged for more, giving Ezra permission to ruin him, wreck him, and leave him a broken mess on the mat, all while glimpsing Levi in his thoughts. It was a dirty secret he couldn’t divulge, a craving he couldn’t satiate.

Levi’s angry expression finally cracked and fell apart, leaving a somber man whose blue eyes held a yearning for Roman. Not to fuck him—no, Roman didn’t believe that. Levi merely wanted more for Roman, more than this path. But there was nothing left of Roman to be salvaged, and he wanted to show Levi that, show him he would be okay all the same, show him that even in the primal lust of submission, Ezra did care for him.

“Roll over.” Ezra slipped off Roman and grabbed him by the hips before spinning him over.

Roman’s face slapped against the mat, and he rested his arms in front of his head, then raised his ass to meet Ezra. He groaned when Ezra reinserted himself forcefully.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” Roman gritted his teeth.

“Too much for you?” Ezra asked, hand pressed to the nape of Roman’s neck as he pinned him in place and plowed.

Roman eyed Levi one more time. “It’s never too much.”

And with that, Levi took his leave, and Ezra railed Roman until he cried and begged for Ezra to finish.

“Please cum,” Roman whimpered.

Ezra snatched Roman by the jaw, craning his neck to face him as he banged into him from behind. With a fierce kiss, Ezra climaxed, bucking desperately into Roman’s sore hole. Roman kissed back, muffling his cries into Ezra, who growled with a bit more assertive strength the weaker Roman became.

“You’re so fucking perfect.” Ezra kissed Roman with heavy panting breaths, stealing the air from his lungs. “I think it’s time you take a bigger role in things.”

“How much bigger we talking?” Roman jested, helping slip Ezra’s softened cock out of him. “I don’t think I can handle much bigger.”

“You can handle anything, so long as I want it, right?” Ezra’s green eyes were fixed on Roman, the pleasure on his face didn’t mask the malice in his gaze. This was less a question and more a demand, an understanding between them, and Roman sheepishly nodded.

“What do you need from me?”

“I’d like you to join me during a meeting,” Ezra said. “I’d like for you to see the full extent of the champion’s responsibilities, to see the power of this title.”

Power Ezra held. Power meant to remind Roman that, despite everything he did to stay on top, he’d never fully grasped what his role in life was. Now, he’d never be on top again, and Ezra helped Roman understand that a little more each day.

Chapter Fifteen

Roman held his head high—but not too high, nothing an onlooker would notice, but enough to lift Roman’s spirits—when he followed Ezra through the hallway past the library and to the adjoined rec room between cellblocks C, D, and E. Given its close proximity to the library and the overlap in inmate use, those not technically supposed to be in the rec room often went unnoticed.

Roman suspected few guards would comment on those in attendance, though. Ezra stopped a few feet from a poker table, a friendly game with no sanctioned gambling—not that anyone bet on cards when the fights in the basement arena held the real cash flow.

“Stay close, stay quiet, stay stoic.” Ezra smirked, giving Roman a light pat. Nothing to fawn over him or show him off. Roman understood this wasn’t that type of meeting, and he wanted to impress Ezra.

He’d hoped for something a bit less intimidating than a meeting with the crime syndicates that ran Marlow Penitentiary. Well, the gang leaders who ran pieces of territory Warden Sadler permitted since Roman knew he was the most corrupt person in this prison.

“Welcome.” Daniel Sullivan shook Ezra’s hand. Daniel handled all the imported tech in and out of the prison, so if anyone so much as slipped a cell phone inside without hispermission, they either handed it over or offered him a piece of the profit.

Paying for unmonitored texts and calls went a long way for convicts.

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