Ella

After a few more days of not responding to any of the questions thrown at us, the reporters have finally backed off. The property around my house is empty again now that they realize they won’t get a blip of information out of me. Which means we finally have everything to ourselves again.

I smirk as I sit down on his lap with a bowl of fruit in my hand. As he tries to reach for the fruit, I quickly hold it up high, stopping him from grasping any.

“No, no,” I say.

He raises his brow in response.

“This is for a test,” I say.

“A test?”

I grin. “Yup. I say a word, and you spell it out.”

I’ve been teaching him to spell, write, and read slowly over the past couple of weeks, but he’s gotten the hang of it so quickly that I needed to up my game and think of something to challenge him. So I’m going to tempt him with delicious sweets if he does it right.

“And then?” he asks.

“Then you get a piece of fruit …” I stick out my tongue when he narrows his eyes.

A smirk appears on his face. “Okay.”

“Ready?” When he nods, I say, “Strawberry.”

He spells it out slowly, saying each letter one by one like they don’t go together, but he actually pronounces them right. I smile when he gets to the last letter.

“Great.” I grab a single piece of strawberry, knowing it’s something he’s never tasted before. “Close your eyes and open your mouth.”

When he does what I ask, I gently place it on his tongue. He chews it softly and swallows.

“Hmmm … sweet.”

That groan makes me meek, but I have to focus on his education first. Even though the dirty grin that follows almost tempts me to kiss him. When he tries, I push him away and say, “No, learning first.”

“Fine. More of those?” he asks, peeking over my shoulder at the bowl.

“There are more strawberries,” I reply. “But you’re only getting them if you spell the words. Plus, other fruit is in there.”

“Just as sweet?” The way he licks his lips makes me zoom in on his tongue, and I have to hold myself back from jumping his bones. Damn, why does he always have to make things so hard… and be so hard.

“As sweet as you?” he adds, making it even harder for me to resist.

“Maybe.” I grin. “Words first.”

I grab a book I placed on the table and open it to a random page, pointing my finger at the first difficult word I can find. Captive. Perfect. “This one. Spell it out and say the word.”

He does it again, speaking every single letter like it’s the first time he’s ever done it, but it works. He’s memorized the things I’ve taught him well.

“Captive,” he says after finishing the sequence.

“Good!” I say when he’s done.

“Now I get my prize …” he growls, tipping my chin up, but I quickly grab another strawberry and hold it between us.

“Not me … fruit, remember?”

He purses his lips. “Why?”

“Because I say so, and it’s fun,” I say.

“Bossy …” he jokes, smirking again. “I like it.”

He steals the strawberry from my fingers and stuffs it in my mouth. Then he surprises me by smashing his lips against mine. When I close my eyes, he bites the strawberry in half, sucking on it as he pulls away, leaving me breathless again … and with half a strawberry in my mouth.

“Hmm … delicious.” He groans, winking and melting my heart again.

“Okay, okay … I get it,” I say, smiling as I put the bowl away. I place a hand on his chest right as he reaches for my face to try to kiss me again. “But we don’t have time for fooling around; you have another fight in an hour or so. We need to get you there and prepare.”

“Really?” he protests.

“Yes, really. You wanted to fight, remember?” I say. “If you want to stop, just say so.”

“No,” he says, grabbing my wrist. “I want to provide.” He pulls my hand to his face and kisses the top of my hand. “For my woman.”

A blush spreads on my cheeks, and I quickly crawl off his lap before I lose control again. As much as I want to have sex with him, his scheduled fight comes first. We made this choice together, so he can help out and feel useful, so we have to put in the effort to get him there on time.

I quickly crawl off his lap before things get too hot and heavy. I run to the hallway and grab our coats and the car keys, yelling, “Coming, Cage?”

“Oh, yes …” he grumbles, and the way he says it makes me chuckle.

There was a definite double meaning to that.

* * *

Cage

When I step into the ring, the crowd erupts in screams and cheers. According to my manager, I’ve become the recent favorite of many, and I made him a lot of money. It doesn’t matter to me because all I want is to make her happy. That girl sitting in the chair at the front of the line, not too far away. With Ella’s eyes on me, I know I won’t ever lose. I won’t allow it. I’ll beat my opponent to a pulp to prevent that from happening. But I won’t kill him. I’ll just punch him until he gives up.

The moment the referee starts the fight, I bob up and down on my feet, awaiting his move. I don’t know the guy and don’t care to. I’m only here to win. However, from the look on his face, I can tell he’s thinking the same thing. But I doubt he has the same experience as I do.

Nothing will make a man stronger than literally having to fight for his life … and that of his woman.

A smug smile spreads across my lips as I watch him shuffle with his fists up in the air as if he thinks he can surprise me. I’m one step ahead of every one of his.

When he strikes, I dodge, and when he tries to kick, I jump.

All I can do is grin as he gets more and more worked up. The crowd is going crazy with chants as they watch our fight, and I know my manager will be pleased if I manage to draw it out as long as I can, so I have to be careful not to punch him too hard.

However, the moment I prepare for a jab, I notice something from the corner of my eye.

A set of eyes drawing attention by only focusing on me.

One glance is enough to distract me.

It’s a face I’ve not seen in weeks … and it strikes me to the core.

It makes me want to leap out of the ring.

Suddenly, knuckles ram into my jaw, catching me by surprise. I stumble, falling backward onto the mat. The crowd turns silent in shock. I blink a couple of times and stare straight at the spot.

But he’s gone. Completely disappeared.

And I’m left questioning whether what I saw was real or if it was all in my head.

Am I losing my mind?

“Cage!”

Her voice wakes me up and pulls me back to reality. I immediately follow the sound and see her distressed face the moment my opponent towers over me in an attempt to strike me down again.

I can’t let him win.

No fucking way.

Not on my watch.

So I quickly throw my foot up, right into his crotch. He groans, grabbing his nuts as I swiftly get up on my feet again. One heavy fist to his face and he’s flipped around and falling down right on his face, knocked out.

The crowd erupts into cheers, but I can’t enjoy it, can’t focus on the sound of my victory, because of what I saw.

I immediately jump out the ring and storm out through the entrance with my manager and Ella on my tail.

“What are you doing?” my manager calls out. He stops following me halfway through as he probably realizes I’m not stopping as I march out that door and onto the street, still in my fighter gear.

“Cage!” Ella’s voice makes me glance over my shoulder briefly. She places a hand on my back and asks, “What happened? You let him hit you. You never get hit.” She swallows. “What did you see?”

I look around, trying to see if I can find him, but no luck so far.

Was it a dream?

Or did I really see him?

But as I come face to face with my worst nightmare, I realize I haven’t even told her yet. She doesn’t know how I got out.

“Father. I saw him.” Her face fills with terror as I turn around and grab both her arms. “He’s here.”