- Chapter Three -

Huxton

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What the hell was wrong with me.

My fingers—the fingers that had curled their way so happily around my phone when her fucking call came—were aching. I'd hit Shrapnel so hard, I wondered if my whole hand would be swollen tomorrow.

It wasn't the pain that bothered me.

It was my reason for allowing it to happen.

Zoe had asked for my help. I mean, god, when I'd heard her breathless voice my insides had flipped around. When she hadn't returned for her party, Eliza had drank with me then sent me on my way, ranting about her roommate and her weird actions.

Sure, I'd been disappointed. Zoe had gotten me so hard my cock could have snapped in two. I'd almost asked Eliza for her number, but I'd held off. I hated looking desperate.

So... when that red-head with her fluttering lashes and little lies had reached out to me...

I'd lost it.

Really, I should have told her I wasn't driving anywhere without more details. She'd given me enough that logically, I should have hung up. Should have rolled over in my bed and gone back to jerking off and waiting for one of my clients to call me. I'd needed to fuck, not to drive out into an unknown alley for an impromptu fight.

None of it made sense. But I'd done it.

And now that I was standing there, next to this intriguing woman in the cold air of a Hollywood December night...

I regretted none of it.

Zoe hugged herself, jacket pulled to her chin. The dress she wore wasn't keeping her legs warm, apples blooming on her pale cheeks. There were no stars to be seen, the light pollution of the city hid them away. But when this girl looked up at me, teeth chattering, I saw bursts of color in her crystal-blue eyes.

She nodded her chin. “Nice bike, by the way. How fast does it go?”

Glancing at my Harley, I pushed my tongue against my teeth. “Pretty fast. Fast enough to get me here in the nick of time, it sounds like.”

Darting her eyes to the ground, then to the side, she spoke under her breath. “Sorry, I should be thanking you.”

A strand of her copper hair flew loose. I craved to tuck it behind her ear. “Then why aren't you?”

Her eyes widened, strangely accusing. “Asking you to come here was selfish of me. I'm not stupid, though. Thanking you isn't good enough. You could have gotten really hurt in there.”

“But I didn't.” Cocking my head, I shrugged with a smile. “You called me, I showed up. I tend to do that when I hear a pretty voice begging so nicely.”

Fuck, I craved the blush that danced over her cheeks. I wanted to turn every bit of her hot and red. She asked, “How much?”

“How much for what?”

Digging into her purse, Zoe slid out a crumpled piece of paper. I didn't recognize it as my card until she smoothed it. “Muscle for hire. How much do I owe you?”

A thanks isn't enough. Now I understood. She wanted to pay me. It was weird, but I hadn't even thought about money. This was so unlike any job I'd taken before. It wasn't a house-call, it wasn't sex or strutting. It was sort of like the times I went with a girl when she was fucking a John and needed to make sure he didn't hurt or rob her.

Still... even that wasn't the same.

Rubbing my cheek, I watched Zoe's plump pink mouth tug down at the edges. She didn't like my silence. I wanted to see into her skull, gather up her private thoughts and worries. Instead, I moved closer to her. Those blue eyes twitched a hair wider. “How much do you think I should charge?”

“More than I have on hand.” Sighing, she handed my card to me. I didn't take it. “Just tell me a number. I'll do my best to pay it off.”

Purposefully, I slid my hands into my pockets. “Keep the card, you'll need it to call me again.”

“I'm not going to call you again.”

Arching an eyebrow, I stared at the rusty door of the building. Below our feet, according to Zoe, men were still fighting. “How can you know for sure?”

Again, she stabbed at me with the card. “I'll find someone else for next time.”

Tension burned into my teeth. I openly gawked at her, both of us understanding what she'd just let slip. I'd been implying she'd call me in a perverse way, for something fun and wet and wild.

Zoe's head had been elsewhere.

“Next time? There's a next time?” I growled. Her hands drifted down to her hips, then went up defensively as I lurched closer. “Zoe, what the hell is this place?”

Her hair whipped as she shook it. “Forget about it! It's not a big deal.”

“It's a big enough deal that you had to beg me, a stranger, to come here and help you.” The pain in my knuckles pulsed. I was putting pieces together at breakneck speeds. “You needed me to fight in there... but even though I won, you don't think you'll have enough money to pay me for my time. If Dracula back there isn't paying you or me for the fight, then why are you even here?”

She backed up, hitting my bike. My card fluttered to the ground. The motorcycle kept her from escaping, but there wasn't fear in her eyes. She was swelling with pride. Stupid, bitter pride. “It's none of your fucking business, okay? Tell me a number, then we'll both go home. You can forget any of this happened.”

As if that was possible. “Zoe, I don't want money. I don't need it, I made bank at your birthday party earlier.” Plenty of private dances from hungry girls. “What I want is fucking answers.”

Her glare was fierce. I think she was trying to set me on fire with her mind. “My party, right. You said it already, you're just a stranger.” The side of her neck pulsed and rippled. “I don't want to give you answers. I want to know what I owe you so I can go home and just let this night be over with.”

Gazing down at her, I loomed so that my shadow turned her sapphire irises into onyx. “Until the next time, right? Until you have to find another guy to come here and fight in some crazy, no rules fist-fight?” Zoe had the grace to flinch. “Who did I replace tonight?”

Her lips went bloodless, clamped to keep her from talking.

Putting my hands on my bike, on either sides of her hips, I boxed her in. She flared her nostrils. In spite of the tension, this ridiculous woman—she was drawn to me. I couldn't judge, I could feel my own heart thudding in every one of my ribs.

“Zoe, tell me what this is. I'm not going to leave you alone until I understand.” Thinking about how she'd been so edgy about the money, I pressed on. “You don't have to pay me, I don't want anything from you. Okay?”

Her chest inflated with air. It came close to touching mine. “Everyone wants something. I'm not naïve enough to think you're different.” Breaking our staring contest, she gazed out into the evening. “If I tell you, you promise to let me leave?”

I'd become a barrier to her escape. I hadn't planned to, but with the promise of answers so near, I inched my hips forward and nudged against her body. Zoe flinched, snapping her face back to mine. “Let me be clear. I prefer a girl wanting to stay near me.” My smile was slow to grow. “But if holding you hostage is necessary, I'll do it. Tell me what's really going on here... and I'll send you back home to your castle, princess.”

Breathing in sharply, she rolled her attention from my lips to my eyes, then back again. She kept throwing me for loops. One second she was a foaming animal, the next she was fluttering and filling me with heat.

What made Zoe struggle so hard against herself?

As if someone had cracked a raw egg over her scalp, she quivered and locked up. I had her pressed on the motorcycle, but she didn't push me away. “You're pretty determined, huh?” she whispered.

“When I want something, I always get it.”

Flushing up her throat, she took my meaning the way I wanted her to. “Alright. Okay. I'll tell you the deal. You're such a pain in my side.” Slumping, Zoe was a puppet whose strings had just been cut. “My ex—Reese—was supposed to fight tonight. He's always done it for me, since the beginning. He didn't appreciate how I blew off his advances tonight, though, so he stomped off like a pissy child.”

Zoe breathed out, the air tickling over my throat. I could smell her, as if her emotions had a scent. Smoke, apples, and salt. I wanted to lick her and see if the aroma would change. I said, “He left, so you called me. Why not just walk away, why did you need someone to fight in there?”

Tiny, fragile, her smile had no heart in it. “My 'boss' has expectations. I'll be blunt, I owe him a lot of money.” She eyed me, daring me to probe further. I just waited, letting her speak at her own pace. “Because of my contract with him, I'm working off that debt by bringing a fighter to these events. It makes him money, it gets me closer to being solvent, everyone is happy.”

Except she was clearly not happy. Sighing, I backed up, air surging into the space between us. Zoe wrinkled her forehead, perhaps confused by how suddenly I'd ended our locked-horns. “Okay. Thanks for the history lesson.”

“What, that's it?” Hesitating, she chewed her bottom lip. “You're really satisfied?”

“Satisfied?” Chuckling, I ran fingers through my hair. My joints still tingled from the punch I'd thrown at Shrapnel. “I'm entirely unsatisfied, Zoe. But I understand the situation better.”

Opening her mouth, she imitated a goldfish. I had the impression she was about to say more. In the end, she crossed her arms and studied me. Neither of us moved, the wind tugging at our hair.

She looked cold, but her voice held firm; no chattering here. “Then we're good? You really don't want anything from me for coming out here tonight?”

I wanted a lot from her. I wanted more than I dared to say. The breeze ripped at her dress, lifting it high and exposing a swatch of her creamy skin. The surge of heat in my lower belly ran down, waking my cock. “You don't owe me anything.”

It was comical, how twisted up her lips became. “...Thank you.”

Grinning, I swung my leg over my bike. “Thank me by letting me give you a ride home. You're clearly freezing.”

“It's not that cold,” she said, but her knees shook as she moved around me. I was going to help her on, but with a practiced motion, she hopped onto the seat with ease. This girl was constantly shocking me.

I wasn't her first lap-dance, she works for an underground fighting ring, and she's clearly been on a motorcycle before. Oh, and she has an ex. An ex with a 'pissy' temper who brawls in a place like this.

Next time I saw Eliza, I'd pry more information from my old friend's lips and learn what Zoe was all about. Who she was, what motivated her...

What I had to do to get between her legs.

Actually, I sort of am right now. Chuckling, I wrapped my hand back, yanking her closer to me. On reflex, her arms wove around my chest, clinging tight. Through my leather jacket I bathed in her warmth, her being.

It wasn't sex, but it was better than nothing.