Page 30 of The Devil's Dream

Her cheeks flushed that pretty pink I loved, but her eyes were dark with desire.

Good girl.

I crossed the room in three long strides, cupping her face and claiming her mouth in a hard kiss. It’d only been a few hours but fuck, if I hadn’t thought of her every second since we left her at the brownstone.

Nova melted against me instantly, her small hands cool against my bare chest.

When I pulled back, her lips were swollen, and her eyes were glazed.

“You good?” I asked. I knew this place wasn’t her jam, but she’d come anyway. For me. I swallowed the lump in my throat. She had no idea what her coming to my fight meant to me.

“Not really.” She laughed nervously. “I don’t want you getting hurt.” Frowning, she lifted her fingers to my cheeks as if she could see the future.

“Don’t gotta worry about me, baby. Promise. I got this.” I dropped another kiss onto her lips, hoping to take away her worry but it was pointless. She’d worry until it was over.

“Haze is going to take you to your seats,” I told her. “I've got a fight to win.”

Nova nodded, lifting up onto her toes, and I met her halfway. “Be careful.”

Fuck.

She was too fucking sweet.

Transferring her to Haze, I grinned as his hand settled possessively on her lower back. She was safe now, and I could focus on my fight.

Dragon appeared in the doorway just as they turned to leave. “Ready?”

I cracked my neck, feeling the familiar pre-fight adrenaline starting to coil in my muscles. “Fuck yes. Gonna beat the breaks off this fucker.”

Dragon grinned. “That’s what I wanna hear.”

The opening riff of “Bodies” by Drowning Pool started pumping through the warehouse speakers as we made our way towards the cage.

The crowd was louder than it’d been in months, and from the looks of it, there was a full house.

Hell yeah. That meant there’d be one hell of a payout once I took this fool out.

Dragon and I stepped through the corridor into the main area and the roar of cheers hit me like a physical blow. This was my house, and these were my people. If Mad Dog didn’t know before, he sure as fuck knew now.

Glancing over my shoulder, my eyes locked onto where Nova sat between Haze and Banner in the VIP section.

Even with the distance between us, I could see the worry etched on her beautiful face. I threw her a wink as I climbed into the cage, hoping to ease her fears.

I meant it when I told her that she didn’t need to worry about me. Part of me hated that she was about to see this side of me, but I couldn’t hide the monster that lurked beneath the surface forever. This was part of who I was, and she’d have to accept it all if things were going to work.

“Get out of your head,” Dragon growled from beside me.

He was right. Time to focus.

Closing my eyes, I pulled in a deep breath and held it before slowly letting it out.

Silence the distraction.

Instantly, everything around me went deathly silent and everything outside of the cage faded away.

My whole focus was now on Mad Dog as he paced the opposite side of the cage like a rabid animal, living up to his name. His eyes were wild, and I smirked. Dumbass was probably hopped up on something.

Didn't matter.

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