Page 80 of Golden Eagle

But.

She’d never watched him fight before.

Stripped to the waist, already sheened with sweat, he circled his opponent, toying with him, grinning savagely.

She knew the way his sweat tasted. The way those bunched muscles on his back felt beneath her hands, when she dug her nails in. But she didn’t know him like this, drunk on his own strength and electric with violence.

He was magnificent.

His opponent feinted, but he didn’t fall for it. Moved in close, and struck like a snake. His opponent’s blow glanced off his ribs, but he ignored it, shook it off, struck again. It was over in a blink, and a rat-faced little man came out to lift Lanny’s hand and declare him the winner, extolling the audience to get out their wallets and make their way toward the table.

Sweat running down his face, hair plastered to his head, Lanny was beaming…until his nostrils flared, and he turned toward them, and the smile froze.

Trina gave herself a firm mental shake. She wouldnotbe swayed by her libido.

“What a stupid fuck,” Nikita observed, mildly, and they moved toward the cage.

Alexei intercepted them. Popped up like a jack-in-the-box. “Wait.”

“Don’t feel like waiting.” Trina stepped around him.

He was faster than her, already in her face again. He made the mistake of putting his hands on her shoulders. “Trina, I can explain.”

She gave him a look that had him lifting his hands and taking a step back. “I want Lanny to explain. Explain why he’sbeating up people for money.”

“He’s just been having some fun,” Alexei defended. “Letting off steam. You know he has” – he dropped his voice, conspiratorial – “aggression issues.”

“He’s about to have kicked-ass issues,” she growled. And her own words pulled her up short. “Wait.” Alexei’s eyes widened tooh shitlevels. “His face. There’s no way one of these clowns did that to him.” She gestured toward the ring, where Lanny’s next opponent looked truly miserable at the prospect of fighting him. “What happened?”

“He got–”

“Don’t say mugged.”

“He fought a vampire,” Nikita said. “In the ring.”

She whirled to face him. “What? How do you know that?”

“There’s one over there.” He nodded, and she followed his gaze toward…a truly huge guy, the kind whose muscles had totally overtaken his neck. His nose had been broken more times than Lanny’s, and his face hadn’t been pretty to start with.Ruggedwould have been too great a compliment.

“You know him?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Feel like making yourself useful?”

“Nope.”

She glared at the side of his head. “Thanks a lot.”

“Let’s go watch the fight.”

“Are you serious?”

He finally turned to regard her, eyes the color of frost, expression calm. “Lanny’s gotten himself in trouble because he’s an idiot. I’m not going to wade in and pull him out just yet.” When she didn’t respond, he leaned in and said, “Tell me you don’t want to watch him get his nose smashed in. He deserves it right now.”

He did have a point there. “Fine,” she huffed.

They found places near the chain link fence that enclosed the ring. Nikita flicked his fingertips at a few people, and Sasha growled, and Alexei did some staring, and they had prime spots in the front. Trina wasn’t in the mood to chastise them about compelling anyone. All her anger was reserved for Lanny right now.

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