Page 14 of Falling Hard

“Th-thanks, I’ll try to be more careful,” I stuttered out. I quickly turned around and rushed away from him. When I glanced back to make sure he wasn’t following me, I saw him staring at me with such a determined look on his face that it made me want to vomit. It almost looked like he recognized me, but I had never seen this man before. I made my way to the opposite side of the ring where there were fewer people. Once there, I paused and leaned over, pressing my hands against my knees. Taking deep breaths, trying to soothe the feeling of nausea that had crept into my stomach due to my rising anxiety over the encounter with that man, I zoned out and tried to compose myself and think rationally.

I shook my hands out, trying to ease the tension, then once I’d somewhat calmed down, I looked up and glanced all around me, trying to catch a glimpse of Grit or Critter in the crowd. Standing on my tiptoes, I turned toward the ring, and my breath caught in my throat, not at all prepared for the sight in front of me.

In the center of the ring, stood the most feral man I had ever seen. He was tall, at least six-foot-three, with long messy blond hair that was completely buzzed to the scalp on the sides and back, then there were his eyes, cold, dark, and calculating, almost crazed. He had an unkempt longer beard that you just wanted to run your fingers through and tug on and his body… His broad, chiseled body was tattooed from head to toe, and you could hardly see the color of his skin through all the tattoos that covered his perfect, deliciously toned arms, chest, and abs. As my eyes trailed down, following every contour of his beautiful abs, I bit my bottom lip, mouth going dry as I reached the waistband of his black and red shorts, which had hints of tattoos peeking out, leaving no doubt in my mind that his body was indeed a work of art. There was something about this man, this beast, that completely pulled me in.

I found myself trying to get closer to the ring to get a better look at him as he completely annihilated his opponent with precise movements.

After a lot of pushing and shoving, I made it to the front of the ring just as the beast of a man shoved his opponent to the corner right in front of me so hard you could feel the force of the wind as his body bounced off the ropes. Before the guy could recover, the man was already nailing him with hard punches to his ribs, and for a moment a brief moment, his hard, dark eyes latched onto mine, and he smirked slightly. I swear, it felt like everything and everyone had vanished besides him and me.

Our souls connected through invisible ties, and I knew right then and there that this man was going to change my life forever.

I watched in awe as the two men fought viciously, both men had sweat dripping off their bodies, and blood covered their hands and faces. It was unlike anything I had ever seen, terrifying yet thrilling all at the same time.

Adrenaline, alongside fear, coursed through my veins, causing chills to run up and down my spine. As I continued to follow their movements, a loud bang and several shouts could be heard from outside.

Everything went silent as everyone froze, then more shouts could be heard getting closer and closer, and a man burst into the warehouse, shouting, “Cops, everybody, clear out!”

Chaos broke loose as everyone scrambled to get out.

I screamed frantically for Critter or Grit, getting pushed from every direction as people bolted for the exits. I couldn’t see any sign of either man, and tears stung my eyes as I was knocked to the ground by a large, burly man, my hands flailing forward catching myself just before my head hit the concrete.

A rough hand grabbed my elbow, yanking me to my feet and pushing me forward toward the exit. “Don’t scream.” The man squeezing my arm roughly snarled while his other hand pressed a blade into my side just enough for me to get the message.

Wincing in pain from the fall and from the grip he had on my arm, I struggled to move forward through the stampede of people, my eyes wide as they scanned the crowd for any signs of a familiar face, anyone to help me get away from this man.

Brushing past several people, the man led me out the side exit, heading toward the forest. My adrenaline spiked as I realized if I didn’t get away from this man soon, that would be it.

I had no idea who he was or why he was doing this, but the sickening feeling in my stomach was a huge warning bell that this man really wanted to hurt me. Once we reached the forest, darkness consumed us, sending all my senses into overdrive. I scanned the area around me, trying to see if anyone had followed us, but there was no one.

“Keep moving, bitch. Got a lot of walking to do,” he spat, nearly dropping the blade as he stumbled forward again. Regaining his composure, he cursed before putting the blade in the holster on the side of his pants.

Too caught up with worry about what he was going to do with the knife, I tripped over a rotten log and nearly fell to the forest floor.

He yanked me up, and I took the opportunity to forcefully stumble into his chest, causing both of us to fall.

“Oy, goddammit, you stupid bitch, get back here,” he screamed as I frantically got to my feet and took off back toward the warehouse. I didn’t get very far before he tackled me to the ground, causing me to scream loudly as the weight of his body crushed me. He rolled me onto my back, and putting both hands on my neck, he squeezed hard.

“I was gonna keep you alive for a little while, make you feel really good, but you just had to go and try to get away. I can’t have you telling your little club that you’ve seen me, so I’m gonna have to kill you now. It’s such a shame because you really are a pretty little thing. The boss is just going to have to deal with only getting one of you,” he whispered against my ear.

I gagged as I scratched at his hands, trying to get him to let go of me. I felt myself weakening, the fight leaving my body as my vision began to fade, and my arms dropped to my side. My eyes flickered shut just as I felt the weight of his body being ripped off me. Gasping for breath, my hands flew to my neck, and I looked over only to see two blurry figures fighting hard. One man had the other one pinned, punching him viscously.

Blood rushed to my head as I try to crawl away. I made it over to a large tree and hid behind it. Feeling light-headed, I brought my knees up to my chest and rested my head between them, then wrapped my arms around my legs tightly and took deep breaths, trying to steady myself. I heard people shouting before everything went quiet.

Finally, I heard the sounds of footsteps coming closer, then the feel of someone’s hand resting on my shoulder had me jumping out of my skin. Sitting up way too fast, the world spun, and I slammed my head into the back of the tree. My vision was slightly fuzzy as I tried to get a look at who was in front of me.

“Fucking hell. What the fuck? Ow.” I grimaced and placed one hand on the back of my head as I slowly opened my eyes. I could barely make out the blurry figure in front of me as my eyesight cleared, and I sucked in a breath not expecting to see him so close in front of me that I could feel the heat radiating off his bare chest. Inhaling through my nose, sweat mixed with leather and some other delicious fragrance I couldn’t quite figure out invaded my senses.

My mouth opened and closed several times as I stared at him completely awestruck, muttering out a quick hello.

When he smirked at me and raised his left eyebrow, I nearly melted into a puddle right then and there.

As he extended his hand to me, I went completely red from embarrassment. It took me a moment to put my hand in his, but the second our skin touched, sparks shot from my fingertips all the way down to my toes. His hand felt soft but rough at the same time as he firmly closed his fingers around my hand and hoisted me to my feet. I stumbled forward slightly, but he steadied me quickly by placing both of his hands on my shoulders. His deep masculine voice filled my ears, making my toes curl as he chuckled slightly. The sound of him chuckling had easily become my favorite sound, not quite understanding how I could go from being extremely terrified one moment to being turned on the next. My body tensed at the sound of another voice.

“Lynx, we gotta get the hell out of here,” Grit said while yanking a bloodied guy off the ground.

My eyes widened with how badly he had been beaten, but I was relieved at the same time that someone had heard me and stopped him.

“I don’t know where the fuck Critter is. We got separated. Do you think you could take her back to the Best Western in town? That’s where she’s staying,” Grit stated rather than asked as he began to pull the man out of the forest.

Without being able to protest, Lynx grabbed my hand, sending sparks up and down my arm, and pulled me forward.

As I tried to keep up with his long strides, it really dawned on me just now much taller he was than me by at least a good foot. Weaving our way in and out of the trees, we made our way to the back of the warehouse where I was assuming the fighters parked where a lone black 2015 Harley-Davidson Street 750 sat. When we got to the bike, he let go if my hand, and instantly, I just wanted to reach for it again. He hopped on the bike and started it up, and I just stood there, staring in awe. There was nothing sexier than a man on a bike, and he was definitely all man. He revved the engine, snapping me out of my stupor, then he grinned at me, causing me to flush bright red, and nodded his head at me to get on.

I got on, wrapping my arms around his waist, and he took off.

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