Two days later, Gunner stood at the door of the office while Zack dickered with the man inside. So far, Zack had kept up his end of the bargain. He got the executive council to agree to house them and keep them safe, and he had supposedly sent a couple enforcers to Texas to snoop around. Billy and Patty were enjoying themselves. Billy was getting laid a few times a day by a different woman and Patty had met another old man. Gunner wondered if she’d been a nympho all along and working so hard at the bar had kept her too occupied to think about it, because now that she was unemployed she seemed to be all about the old men. Gunner was glad they were happy since he was the reason they’d upended their lives. Now, he was here to start keeping his end of the deal. Zack said he knew “the best” trainer in town and he owed him a favor. Everything with Zack was “the best” or “the greatest.” Gunner couldn’t stand the guy, but so far, he hadn’t punched him out again, so he was proud of himself.

“Hey, kid, get in here.” If he called him kid once more, though, Gunner wasn’t sure his impulse control was going to hold.

“Gunner,” he said with a dirty look in Zack’s direction. He held out his hand to the stocky Hispanic man behind the desk.

“Raymond Rodriguez,” the man said, shaking his hand.

“Good to meet you.” The guy was looking him over and it made Gunner a little uncomfortable. He knew the guy wasn’t checking him out, but it was still a little weird.

“You’re big. Are you healthy?”

If you don’t count getting shot twice less than two weeks ago. “As a horse,” he said out loud.

“I'm only doing this to pay a debt,” Raymond said. “Once that debt is paid, I hope I don’t ever have to see this shithead again.” Gunner liked him already. Raymond went on, “This isn’t my regular gig anymore. I own this gym.”

“Cool.”

“Zachary tells me you've fought before and you’re good.”

“Zachary should know,” Gunner said with a smile. “I knocked him out the first time we met.”

Raymond smiled. “We’ve only got two weeks. I won’t have time to train you the way I would normally train a fighter. You need to arrive stretched out, conditioned, and ready to go.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t think you can beat the top contender in this tournament, but if you’re as good as Zack tells me, we can get you that far anyways.”

Gunner raised an eyebrow. “So just out of curiosity, what makes you think I won’t be able to take this top contender guy?”

“The guy is an animal. Nobody beats him. He used to be a professional and now he fights underground all over the U.S. Name is Red Crow or some shit.”

“No fucking way!” Gunner couldn’t believe it.

“What? You know of him?”

“I beat him…well, I could have beat him…it’s a long-ass story, but I can beat this guy.”

Zack stood up, grinning from ear to ear. “I love that attitude, kid.”

Gunner turned quickly and shoved his fist into Zack’s stomach. Zack doubled over and pressed his hands to his stomach. “I told you not to call me kid. My name is Gunner, you stupid fuck.”

Raymond busted up laughing. “Good attitude and he doesn’t take any shit. I like it. Come back at six tonight and we’ll start.”

“Great,” Gunner said. “I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, Gunner,” Raymond said. “No alcohol, no drugs, and from now on you’ll need to get at least eight hours of sleep a night. And, this is the worst part…you’ll need to cut back on your sexual activity and save the energy and aggression for the ring.”

“Um…yeah, might not be able to promise that.”

Raymond laughed. “Got a hot one, do you?”

“I had her first,” Zack said. He was smart enough to step out of Gunner’s reach that time.

“You ever wonder why everyone hates you, Zachary?” Raymond asked. Gunner knew for sure he was going to like this guy, and he was going to get another chance to kick Red Crow’s ass for real. This was turning out to be a much sweeter deal than he could have imagined. He was about to sweeten it even more. As he and Zack walked out to their bikes Gunner said:

“I want 50% of the take.”

Zack slid onto his bike and laughed as he slipped his rag over his head. “No fucking way, k—Gunner. I need that money to pay back my associates. That’s the whole point of this fight. I’m giving you and your friends and Tammy free room and board indefinitely. I’m helping Tammy work this shit in Texas out.”

“Fine, 10 percent.” Gunner slid on his gloves.

“5 percent and you don’t hit me again.”

Fuck. “7 percent if I can’t hit you again.”

Zack laughed again. “6 percent and the next time you lay a hand on me, I shoot your ass.”

“Deal.”

* * *

When Gunner got back to the clubhouse, Tammy was in the kitchen with the old ladies, cooking dinner. He told her he was back and that he and Zack had both lived through their trip to Nashville, and then he went to their room to shower. He’d barely started soaping up when the door slid open and Tammy stood there, gorgeous and naked.

“Hi,” she said with a pretty smile. His cock hardened instantly.

“Well, hello, there, beautiful. Can I help you?”

“I don’t know. I have this ache in my pussy,” she said, running her hand over it. Gunner shuddered. He was about to step back and invite her in when he remembered what Raymond had told him. She pulled open her pussy lips and he could see how wet she was. He watched in awe as she slid a finger up into her wet pussy and then pulled it out and put it in her mouth. That quickly, he forgot Raymond or Zack even existed.

“Come on in here, baby, I’ll fix you right up.”

She stepped in and closed the door. He turned her toward him and gently kissed her lips. “I want you to bury yourself in me so deeply you’re in danger of never getting out.”

“Jesus, you’re sexy, baby.” She pressed her body into his and ground her hips into him. Every fiber inside of him came alive and heat flooded his bloodstream. He covered her mouth with his and they kissed passionately, like it was the first kiss either of them had in months. He fucking loved how passionate she was. It was always like the first time with her. He pushed her into the wet tile wall and she brought her hands up around his neck and held onto him. He brought a hand up between her legs and played with her pussy lips while they kissed. The more turned on she got, the harder she ground into him. He slid a finger up inside of her and she arched her back and moaned. He slid a second finger up into her and she almost screamed out his name as she dug her nails into his back. He thrust his fingers in and out of her as she moved against him in a sexy rhythm and slid his mouth down to her neck. She tipped it sideways to give him access and he sucked and licked on the sensitive skin. He could feel the goose bumps as they raced down her arms. He loved that he could do that to her. He fucking loved her. Shit. He bit his own tongue again.

She lifted one leg and rested it against his hip. She was moving faster and harder, begging him for more with her moans. He fingered her faster, using his thumb to flick against her engorged clit while his fingers filled her up. The sounds she made were so fucking sexy it made him want to come all over her, especially when she got closer to coming herself and started panting out his name. He waited until her body began to tighten and then he pulled his fingers out, making her cuss at him as he dropped to his knees. She made a happy noise when he replaced his fingers with his tongue. She grabbed his hair and rocked against his face while he swirled his tongue around her clit and then shoved it back up inside of her as deep as it would go and moved it around until once again he felt her body tense. She yanked on his hair so hard he thought she might pull it out. He loved the way she tasted. She was so sweet. He continued to lick her gently while she rode the waves of her orgasm, and then he stood up and turned her around so she was facing the wall.

“What are you going to do now, big guy?”

“I’m going to fuck you,” he said, pressing his cock up against her pussy. She pushed back against him and he pushed up into her. “I’m going to fuck you hard, fast, and aggressively. Any questions?”

“Not a one.” He smacked her ass with his open palm and then he reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair. He held onto her hair and began to slam into her. He tightened his grip on her hair to keep her face from slamming into the wall as he fucked her, hard and fast. Loud grunts and tiny little yelps came out of her with each impact as his hips slammed into hers. Each time he entered her, he buried himself as deeply inside of her as he could go. It was only minutes before she was screaming out another orgasm and he felt his own balls tighten. He held onto her hair so tightly he was afraid he might pull it out as he came hard and deep inside her.

“Fuck,” she panted. “Fuck, Gunner…shit.”

He chuckled. “I love your wide vocabulary.”

“Fuck you.”

“Sure, give me a minute.” She giggled and leaned into him.

“We’re running out of hot water.”

“Then we better soap up because you stink like sex. Oh, and I can’t smell like sex when I show up for my first appointment with my trainer. He strictly forbade it.”

Tammy lifted her head. “He forbade it?”

“Sort of…he discouraged it. Oh, and I can’t hit Zack anymore.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Anymore? You hit him again?”

“Just once in the gut. I tried to hit him again when he said something about having you first.”

“Aw, baby. Does that really bother you?”

“Not that he had you first, but that the cocky S.O.B. wants to fucking brag about it. But anyway, I can’t hit him anymore or I lose my 6 percent take of the fight.”

She laughed. “You talked him into 6 percent? He’s going to pay you that on top of everything else?”

“As long as I can refrain from punching him, which is going to be damned hard. Hopefully I can take out my aggression in the ring.”

“Or fucking me.”

“Yeah, but I’m not really supposed to be doing that so much.”

“Makes me want to do it more. Makes it feel…forbidden and dirty.”

Gunner reached back and turned off the water. “Let’s dry off and go to bed and do something dirty.”