Page 86 of Fighting the Darkness

Then I step out of their grasp and head for the cage. The ref goes through his spiel, but I’m only half paying attention as I keep my eyes locked on my opponent. I can see in his eyes that he thinks this will be an easy win. He’s so cocky because he doesn’t think I stand a chance against him. But that’s okay. I can use that against him.

Reaching out, I offer him my fist, but he ignores it as he backs away.

Okay. If that’s how he wants to play this, then so be it.

I back away, waiting for the bell to announce the beginning of the round.

As soon as it sounds, the fighter comes at me in a flurry of blows that I easily block. He’s so aggressive with his attacks, I have no chance to return the attacks. All I can do is block the blows, and step out of range of as many attacks as I can. He thinks he can overpower me with his strength alone, but he can’t. He won’t be able to keep this up forever. All I have to do is wait him out.

He surprises me by continuing to attack through the entirety of the first round, but he only manages to hit me with a well-placed knee to my side.

I hurry over to the edge of the cage, eagerly accepting the water that Soren pours into my mouth.

“You’re doing amazingly, little one. You did the right thing. He’s already tired himself out. I don’t think he’ll use the same tactic in the next round. He didn’t think you’d be able to block the blows if he put enough power behind them, but now he’s used a lot of his energy reserves. Wait to see how he wants to play the second round, but the moment you see an opening, you take it.”

“Will do, coach,” I tease with a grin, and he shakes his head.

“I’d spank your ass if I could reach it.”

I stick my tongue out at him. “I guess it’s a good thing there’s a cage between us then.”

“For now.” Griffin smirks, a threat and a promise in his words.

Desire rushes through me, my core clamping down on nothing as my pussy flutters.

Making a face, I shut that shit down. I don’t have time to be turned on. I have a fight to win.

I slowly raise back to my feet, eyes scanning the crowd until my gaze snags on Wilder’s. He gives me a tight smile, and I hate that I still care what he thinks. He abandoned me. I shouldn’t care anymore.

I wish I didn’t care.

No, that’s a lie. I only wish he didn’t have the power to hurt me.

Shaking my head, I push away all of my thoughts. There’s only one thing for me to be focusing on, and that’s the fight.

I move back to the center of the cage. When the bell goes off, I lift my hands, ready to block again, but my opponent doesn’t immediately move to attack. He’s being more cautious now that he knows I’m not just easy pickings. A smile slides onto my lips because he has no idea what he has in store for him.

I advance on him, throwing a few jabs and kicks in his direction. Not so much to strike him, but to see how he responds. He’s slower on his left side, so that’s where I’ll need to strike. He has a longer reach than I do, so I need to find a way under his guard.

We circle one another, exchanging blows here and there, but nothing hits overly hard. I can feel the crowd growing antsy around us. No one wants a boring show after all.

When he goes for an overhand punch, I duck under him and hit his side with a one-two jab before backing up. His arms drop for just a second and I do a round kick, hitting him in the same spot as my jabs had landed. When he bends forward, I spring forward once more. I bring my hands down at the crown of his head, keeping my arms close to his head to control him as I drive him downward to meet my knee.

He moves to grab me, but I’m already backing away, and that’s when he starts talking shit. But I don’t care what words fall from his mouth. I continue watching his body, completely tuning him out as I watch for another opportunity to take him down. He throws himself at me, trying to take me down to the mat, but I’m too fast for him and he can’t stop himself from hitting the cage. I jump onto his back, wrapping my legs around him as I struggle to get him into a submission hold.

It’s always harder for me to do this from behind, so as he struggles, I climb his body like a tree, getting as high up on his body as I can so I can apply the necessary pressure.

I grin the moment I know I have him where I want him, waiting for him to tap out. Except, the tap out doesn’t come. We start to pitch backward as the ref tries to separate us. I release my hold, rolling backward and out of the way just before his body hits the ground.

The crowd goes wild, screaming my name as I stand up. The ref checks on my opponent, who’s already stirring before moving to me, yanking my arm in the air.

So this is what it feels like to win.

Adrenaline courses through me as it did during the last fight, but this time, there’s just a little bit more. I’m practically shaking as I grin at the crowd. Then I’m being ushered through the cage and into Wilder’s waiting arms.

I’m surprised that he’s the one there, but even with as angry and hurt as I am, I throw myself into his arms. My lips dive down onto his for just a moment before he’s carrying me through the crowd. People reach out to touch me as I bury my head in Wilder’s neck, but I don’t mind. All I care about is the man who’s holding me in his arms, and the other two who are around here somewhere.

Everything quiets as we duck into the back area, but neither of us says anything as he continues down the hall and into what, I’m assuming, is the women’s locker rooms. He sets me down on my feet gently, his hand coming to cup my cheek. “You were amazing out there, cupcake.”

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