Page 16 of Saving Blood

“I’m warning you for the last time, back off.”

“Fuck you, bitch. I saw you fighting today in those ass-baring shorts. You’re nothing but a dick-teasing slut, so don’t act all high and mighty just ‘cause you won a few fights.”

The female shadow against the wall shifts, pushes against her assailant, and in two swift moves, has the guy on his knees.

I move in closer, and as she drags the guy’s arm up his back at an unnatural angle, the light shines across her face. Maxine.

“Hey, c’mon, knock it off,” the guy whines. “I was only playin’.”

“The fuck you were.” Maxine twists harder, and the guy yells out.

“What the hell is going on?” I storm forward, and Maxine’s head jerks up.

I glare down at the guy on his knees, then drag him up by the collar of his t-shirt. “You wanna take me on instead of her?” I slam him into the wall, wedging my forearm against his windpipe. “Not so tough now, huh?”

“No, no, I was just?—”

“I don’t ever wanna see you on this property again, or I won’t be so nice the next time.” I step back and drive my size-fourteen boot into his balls. He shrieks, doubles over, then collapses into the dirt. “Now, get the fuck outta here.”

He crawls away, and I give him another kick in the ass for good measure, then I pull Maxine under the lights. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You shouldn’t be out here after the gym is closed.”

“I was handling it.”

I cock my head. “Nobody touches the girls at The Tropics or here at the fight club.”

“Again, I was handling it just fine, and I didn’t need your help.”

“What are you sayin’?”

“I’m saying I would’ve been fine.” She puts some distance between us. “I didn’t need or want you coming in like my savior.”

A heat creeps up my spine. “You are one fuckin’ piece of work. I jump in and save your ass, and you can’t even say thanks.”

“First of all, you didn’t save me, but okay, fine. Thanks for inserting yourself where you weren’t needed.”

Maxine moves around me, and I grab her upper arm harder than necessary. “You are one ungrateful bitch. Do you have any idea how fast shit could’ve gone bad?”

“And you are one pain in my ass.” She yanks her arm out of my grasp. “Like I’ve already said, I was handling it, or did you miss the part where I had that moron on his knees?”

“You know, you don’t always have to be so tough.”

“Yeah, I do.”

We eye each other in some kind of weird-ass standoff. The thin material of her tank top shifted dangerously low in the scuffle, and her ragged breathing accentuates the swell of her breasts.

“No, you really don’t, ‘cause the Royal Bastards look out for the people who work for them. Kinda like you’re under our protection.”

She slams her fists on her hips and arches her back. “I don’t need protection from the Royal Bastards or you.”

“Well, you got it anyway.”

Her lips twist in a combination smirk/grin, and fuck me, but it’s sexy as hell. Even my dick agrees as it hardens to the point of pain.

She sidesteps around me, but when she opens her mouth with what would probably be another bitchy remark, I frame her head with my hands and smash my lips against hers. I hadn’t planned on doing it, but I can’t hold back. She doesn’t fight me off, so I angle my mouth, cornering her to the wall, laying my body flush against hers. I sneak my tongue between her lips, and my dick pulses harder.

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