Page 99 of Bound

Putting the jacket on, I walk over to Loki, kissing him on his adorable pouting lips, pulling back before he can deepen it, then doing the same to Jax.

“There you are, everyone has had a kiss.”

“Not the fucking same, Pretty Girl,” Loki grumbles.

“Come on, grumpy gills,” I tease, taking his hand in mine, and leading him to the front door of our dorm. “Let’s go watch Jax beat the shit out of some poor sap.”

It takes about forty minutes to get to the fight location, and I’m surprised to see we’re approaching what looks like an old abandoned warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

“What is this place? I ask as we pull up at the end of a row of cars. There must be over a hundred parked up here.

“This is one of the homes of King of the Streets, an underground fight club,” Ash says into the dark interior. He turns to face me from the front passenger seat as Kai puts Jax’s truck into park. “Don’t fucking wander off. Don’t fucking speak to anyone. Understood, Princess?”

I glare at him, feeling a little bratty, but Jax grips my hand tightly next to me.

“Fine,” I say with a sigh, earning an eye twitch from my fiancée and a growl from Jax. “I’ll be good.”

I smell vanilla and cocoa before Loki whispers into my other ear.

“I won’t be.”

Before I can retort—although, let's be frank here, what does one say to that?!—chilled air hits me as he exits the truck, my nipples pebbling under my tank. The other doors open, and Jax keeps hold of my hand, helping me out of the truck. His arm practically vibrates with tension, and I can see him looking around like a predator, evaluating our surroundings.

We enter the building, the low hum of conversation blanketing us, drowned out by the sounds ofReady or Notby the Fugees, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras.Got to love a classic fight song!Harsh floodlights highlight the ring in the centre of the vast space, although ring isn’t quite accurate. It’s cage-like, in that it's made up of metal fence panels, the kind with metal chain link for sides so that a cage is created on the bare concrete floor. This is not UFC standard, not by a long shot, and I grip Jax’s arm tightly with my free hand as worry floods my system.

As I look around, I notice that most of the people around me have bandana masks covering their lower faces, and a chill shivers down my spine at the eerie sight of so many devils, skulls, and scary clowns that surround me. I look at my guys, seeing them pull up their own bandanas, the lower part of their faces a print of a medieval knight’s helmet. Jax is the only one who leaves his face bare.

People take note as we walk towards the ring/cage, and I can see them giving all of us appraising looks. Jax’s upper lip curls in a snarl as someone wolf whistles at me, his head whipping in the direction of the sound.

“Save it for the fight,” Ash orders, placing a hand on Jax’s shoulder, causing my Viking to pause and take a deep breath.

Jax doesn’t speak, just resumes walking. I can see the scowl on his face, his eyes distant yet focused at the same time. Like he’s not here with us at all, but with his opponent already.

One of the metal fences opens, and Jax leads us into the cage. My breathing quickens as I peer around at the people surrounding us, fingers gripping the chain link, faces hidden by their masks. A guy comes up to us, his face also hidden, a grinning skull printed over the fabric, colourful ink decorating his arms in full sleeves.

“You ready, Knight?” he asks Jax, and Jax nods, then turns to face me.

His hand leaves mine, coming up to tangle in my hair, pulling my body flush against his. My heart thumps in my chest as he looks deep into my eyes, the blue of his own almost entirely swallowed up by black. Using my hair, he pulls my face to his, his lips dominating mine in a bruising, possessive kiss. I submit, not having any choice or desire to do otherwise, and a moan sounds in my throat as his tongue brushes mine.

A growl leaves him in response, and I swallow it greedily, my skin feeling too tight as his kiss wrecks havoc on me. He starts to pull back, but before he can completely break away, I bite down hard on his lower lip, the copper of his blood filling my mouth. Breaking the kiss, I smirk up at him, then lick my lower lip where his blood started to drip down my chin. He leaves the trail of red to drip into his blond beard, his nostrils flared, and a feral look on his face. His beast is riding him hard tonight for sure.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you, Pretty Girl?” Loki asks, stepping up behind me and nuzzling my neck in the same spot Jax did. “Don’t worry, brother. I’ll keep our girl warm for you,” he teases, earning a loud growl from Jax that raises the hair on my arms.

“Seems like you can’t either,” I respond dryly, letting Loki pull me away and back out of the cage, Kai following behind us as Ash hangs back for a moment, presumably to give Jax some last minute encouragement.

Jax keeps his gaze on me until Ash physically grabs his face, obviously telling him to keep his head in the game if the scowl on both guys’ faces is any indicator.

A moment later, the colourful inked guy comes back over, and Ash leaves, heading out of the ring alongside another guy. My eyes flit back to Jax to see him squaring off against a mean looking motherfucker. His face is a mess, nose squashed and scars running across it. He’s about the same height and build as Jax, so they’re clearly well matched.

“Who’s he?” I whisper, stepping closer to the chain-link fencing, Loki tight to my back but not squashing me. Kai is on my left, and Ash comes up to my right, caging me in a protective semicircle.

“He’s known as The Crusher,” Ash tells me, the worry in my veins increasing as the guy smiles an evil grin at Jax.

“He looks...like a fucking psycho,” I say at a loss for a better word to describe the maniac that Jax is about to fight. “And why aren’t they wearing gloves?”

“It’s an underground bare knuckle fight,” Kai answers, his hand brushing mine. “No gloves, no rounds, no rules.”

“What?!” I exclaim, watching and feeling sick as Jax and The Crusher step apart, the referee stepping back and signalling for the fight to begin.

---