Beat (The Beat and The Pulse #1) (18 page)

My heart began doing
backflips. All that time, he was trying to protect me? It annoyed the shit
outta me, but it came from the right place….right?

“I was angry with you
for so long…” I whispered.

“You’re still angry
with me.” He started laughing, stroking a hand through my hair.

I smacked my shoulder
against his. “I think we’ll always be fighting over something.”

“Why do you call me
Maverick?” he asked, hooking a hand underneath my legs and tugging.

“Well,” I said
sinking into his lap. “Before you came back, I remember looking at your picture
out in the hall-”

“The one everyone
licks?” His eyes narrowed as he chuckled.

“That'd be the one.”
I snorted at the memory of our first meeting. “I looked at it and thought you
looked similar to Tom Cruise in
Top Gun
.”

Ash started to laugh,
his grip tightening around my waist.

“Stop it.” I pinched
him underneath the arm.

With one fluid
movement, he flipped me around so my back was flat on the mattress. Pressing a
knee between my legs, he lowered his weight over my body. Fuck, I loved the
feel of him over me.

“You wanna know what
I call you?” he murmured, pressing his lips against the corner of my jaw. That
little spot right underneath my ear.

“You better not call
me babe or kitten or something equally puke worthy,” I gasped, the familiar
ache Ash rose in my pussy, pulsing through my entire body.

Teeth nipped my neck.
“Puke worthy?”

“I ain't a baby.”

Ash rolled his hips
into mine, rubbing his cock against my thigh. “No, you're definitely not a
baby, Spitfire.”

“Spitfire?” I kind of
liked it. It made me sound tough.

“
Spitfire
.”

His mouth caught mine
again and he stroked his tongue against mine, softly at first, then deeper as I
began to rub my clit against his cock. There were way too many clothes between
us so I began pulling at his shirt.

Ash was only too
happy to oblige my wandering hands. He reached behind and yanked it off,
exposing his tattooed chest, his mouth catching mine again. He seemed to have
forgotten the fact that I wanted to fight at The Underground again and I was
more than thankful for the distraction. He’d chastised me for using sex as a
weapon the first night we hooked up, but he’d used it time and time again to
try and distract me from getting what I needed. Violence, blood, fists and
pain… I was only fighting fire with fire. We both got something out of it in
the end, right? A fucking amazing orgasm.

It wouldn’t be the
end of our argument, but I was going back to The Underground for round two.
Ash’s hand clamped around my breast and his fingers twisted a nipple through my
bra. I arched into him, an expletive on my lips.
Fuck
…round two could
wait until tomorrow night.

My tank top was
dragged over my head and then air kissed my breasts as Ash flicked the clasp
open and flung the piece of lace over his shoulder.

“Fuck, Ash,” I gasped
as he licked a trail toward my breasts.

“I intend to fuck
you
,”
he murmured.

Teeth grazed my right
nipple before biting down hard. The painful sensation only mainlined a hot
spark of pleasure right into my core and I thrust against him. I’d never get
enough, I’d never want him to stop…Ash was mine.

He thrust a hand down
my knickers and found my clit, circling and pinching roughly. Our breathing
picked up as my head pressed into the pillow, lost to the rhythm of his
fingers.

“God,” I cried out.

“No,” he whispered,
his lips curving into a grin against my skin. “Ash.”

“Shut the fuck up and
strip.”

“If I didn’t want to
sink into your pussy so much, I’d take you over my knee.”

The thought of Ash
spanking me had even dirtier thoughts springing to mind.

His eyes widened with
lust. “Shit, you’re picturin’ me smackin’ your ass, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I breathed
heavily, a haze settling over my vision. I was so fucking horny.

With a growl, he stripped
my bottom-half bare, flinging my shorts and knickers over his shoulder. His
pants followed a split second later and I stared at his tattooed chest, my gaze
burning down toward the V of his muscles and smack bang into his cock. It was
hard and ready and all I wanted was for him to put it in and fuck me stupid.

Ash thought he was a
beast, but he had no idea what was living inside of me…what he awoke the first
night he turned up at Beat. I was the animal wild enough to sate the hunger
that lived inside of him.
Me
.

Lowering himself over
my body, the underside of Ash’s thick, heavy cock rubbed through my folds and I
spread my legs wide, opening myself completely. With a groan, Ash began licking
a trail upwards, his weight enveloping my entire body. His lips found mine the
moment the head of his cock pressed against my pussy and the pressure was
unbearable.

“Ash,” I gasped
against his lips. “I need you in me.”

“I’m going to fuck
you hard, Spitfire,” he moaned. “You’re so fucking sweet…”

So, it was true. A beast
did live inside of him and when he wanted to fuck, that was the beast I was
falling for. The orgasm would come fast and would tear me apart. I fucking
loved it.

Ash thrusted into me
with a grunt and my eyes flew open.
Fuck
.

He didn’t give me
time to get used to the sensation and slid back and thrust again, sliding me up
the mattress.

“Fuck,” he was
muttering. “Fuck your pussy is so fucking tight. Do you like that?”

I think I said yes,
but neither of us seemed to care if I answered or not because nothing was
stopping him now. God, he was so raw and magnificent and he was all mine. He
hadn’t looked twice at those bimbos at The Underground. He’d only had eyes for
me and it turned me on knowing he was hard, knowing he was going to take me the
first moment he could. Fighting was our thing. We fought in the cage, pounded
our aggression out in other ways and got the rest of our steam off together…all
sweaty and naked.

It sounded totally
fucked up, but it was us. It was ours and ours alone. We were so similar in so
many different ways, but the things that set us apart, fed off the other. He
was the moon to my sun. He was the earth to my sky. Poetic bullshit, but how
could you put a label on it?

Rolling onto his back
and pulling me over him, Ash held my thighs in his big hands and thrust upward
over and over. He fucked me from underneath, doing all the work. My elbows sunk
into the mattress either side of his head, holding on for fucking life as he
stared at my tits swaying back and forth. He pounded into my pussy, taking
everything he needed, but giving me all I wanted. It was fucking porn star sex
without the soundtrack, but it was the best fuck we’d had yet. His skin was
slick with sweat as heat sparked across mine, the onslaught against my clit
building and building towards a fucking brilliant orgasm. It was almost there,
humming at the edges.

“I’m close,” I panted
and I was suddenly on my back, Ash’s hulking body over mine.

He slid his cock back
into me and pressed against my clit, holding firm and deep.

“Hold onto it, Ren,”
he growled. “We’re going at the same time.” He circled his pelvis into mine
slowly before sliding out. “Hard until we’re coming.”

His eyes held firm
with mine as he thrust hard and didn’t stop, pounding into me again and again.
I couldn’t hold on, I couldn’t help letting go underneath his onslaught. He
kept hitting the right place deep inside me, slapping against my clit…it was
too much.

My pussy began to
tighten around his cock as my orgasm took me and he moaned loudly, his lips
parting. My hands slapped against his ass, fingers digging into skin, relishing
the feel of his flexing muscles. I rode the wave hard as Ash followed me into
oblivion, his release spurting into me.

I could only think of
one word as I milked his cock with all that I had.
Mine
.

This thing between
Ash and I was deeper than just a great fuck. We were meant to find each other
and there was no way in hell I was letting him go.

And when he finally
opened his eyes and stared down at me, I didn’t have to hear him say it because
it was written in everything he did.

You’re
mine, Ren. You’re mine and I’m never letting you go.

Chapter 29

Ren

My second night at
The Underground was even more exhilarating than the first.

People recognized who
I was and wanted to know if I was fighting again. They called me Reign of
Terror and Ash just looked at me like I was mad. Maybe I was.

The bookies waved
when I passed, seeing a potential wad of cash and punters didn’t just want to
talk to Ash this time, they wanted to talk to me too. For the first time in my
life, people wanted to know me. I was smart enough to realize it was all a
little fake, but the attention was something else. I’d never experienced it
before.

Ash just shook his
head, the only sign that he still disapproved, and grudgingly watched on as I
signed up for that night’s bouts. The ref from the night before just smirked at
me with a big ‘I told you so’ look plastered on his face.

I got two fights to Ash’s
three that night. It seemed like my debut packed enough of a punch to get me on
the list. There were no overs.

I’d given Rogue a
pretty bad concussion apparently, so she wasn’t even on the board. They put me
up against a tough Aussie-Italian woman named Fury, and an Australian with the
handle, Thunder. The whole name thing still made me burst out into fits of
laughter, but I just went with the flow.

I tapped against Fury
and downed Thunder faster than I had Rogue. I wasn’t as talented as Ash, I had
to work to get all the footing I could in my bouts.  I took more hits than
he did, more risks and more of everything. Ash just walked into the cage and
steamrolled every opponent who dared face him.

But that was the way
he did things and there wasn’t another fighter there that could match it. My
Maverick was one of a kind.

I was sitting in the
change rooms after my last fight, staring at my hands, wondering where all this
was going. Was I doing it to feel something? Was I doing it to piss of my Dad?
Was I doing it because I felt like I had to be a part of Ash’s world to win a
slice of his heart?

“Nice fight, Terror.”
I glanced up at Thunder who was holding her hand out towards me. Was it a peace
offering, her being a good sport or something a little more sinister?

Deciding to take a
chance, I took her outstretched hand and shook. “Thanks.” As an afterthought, I
added, “Thanks for being so cool about it. Not many people around here seemed
thrilled about being beaten by a newbie.”

Thunder grinned,
sitting beside me. “Some bitches take this shit super serious. Not all of us
are like that, but just watch yourself, okay?”

I laughed because,
yeah, there were a lot of snakes in the grass around this place. “I’ve already
got my hackles up, don’t you worry.”

“You and Fuller,
huh?” she asked and my eyebrows rose. Her whole good sportsmanship approach
smelt like a way to get the low down about me and Ash. Anyone with a pair of
eyes in their head could see that we were together.

I eyed Thunder
suspiciously. “Me and Fuller? Uh, obviously.”

“Can’t say I’m not
jealous,” she said with a shrug. “But so are a lot of other people. You’ve got
balls, Terror, fucking huge balls.”

“Thanks for…whatever
this is, but I understand the size of the target on my back and who’s got it in
for me.” I stood as Ash walked into the change rooms. “No hard feelings?” I
held out my hand this time.

Thunder smiled up at
me, not taken aback in the slightest. Taking my hand she said, “If we’re
choosing sides, I’m on yours.”

“I don’t want to be
on a side,” I replied. “I just wanna fight. Until next time, hey?”

Thunder nodded with a
quizzical look on her face and I turned to find Ash, who was rubbing himself
down with a towel. I felt heat begin to rise as I stopped beside him.

“Would you like me to
do that?” I murmured, licking my lips. “That’s one thing I wouldn’t mind doing
for you.”

Ash flicked me with
the towel before saying, “Only if you wanna risk me stripping you in front of
all these fuckers and going at it.”

“Gross,” I joked. Ash
pulled on his T-shirt and I grimaced, screwing up my nose. “You’re not
showering?”

“I’ll shower when we
get back to Beat,” he whispered in my ear, hands grasping my waist. “I like
showering with you.”

“I bet you do.” I
sure as fuck did.

There was a loud
crash as the largest fighter I’d ever seen barreled into the room, slamming his
fist into a row of lockers. He wasn’t as toned as Ash, but he was one ugly son
of a bitch. His face was scarred, like he’d been dragged down the road face
first and it hadn’t healed properly and his head was shaved to the point of
being shiny. The whole thing just made him look mean and by his entrance, the
insides probably matched the outsides.

“Who’s that?” I
whispered into Ash’s ear, realizing he’d been talking to the guy outside the
cage while I’d been fighting Rogue the night before.

“That’s Hammer,” he
replied. “He’s second in the men’s. Rogue is his woman.”

“Oh, shit,” I said,
realizing Hammer was Ash’s Underground arch nemesis. “I fucked her face up.”

“And now he’s got his
rage on to pay me back.”

“Should I say I’m
sorry?” I asked.

“To him?” Ash
exclaimed, looking at me like I was crazy. “Don’t you dare fuckin’ talk to
him.”

“Not him, you stupid
fucker,” I said with a laugh. “You.”

“Why would you apologize
to me? You can punch her out as much as you like.”

“Good. I intend to.”

Hammer chose that
moment to look up and catch my eye. He licked his lips, his scarred face
looking ghoulish in the half-light and I suppressed a shudder. From the sounds
of it, the ugly went all the way through.

“So, do you and
Hammer have some kind of rivalry going on?” I asked.

Ash stiffened
slightly and shifted to try and cover it up, but it was too late. I’d already
caught it.

“It’s not just a new
thing, is it?”

“I knew him before,”
Ash replied, thinly. “He was an asshole then and he’s an asshole now.” He
turned to glare at me. What the fuck did I do? “Stay away from him, Ren.”

“Ugh.” I faux stuck a
finger down my throat. “Puke. Don’t worry about that.”

Ash started to laugh,
rubbing a hand up and down my waist. “You’re trouble, Ren Miller.”

“You’re stuck with
me, Maverick.” I slid my hand over his and couldn’t get over how small mine was
compared to his.

“You can still
reconsider.”

“You still on that?”

“Always,” he
murmured, running a thumb over the cut on my cheek.

“What do you get if
you win?” I asked.

He shrugged. Always
with the shrugging. “A million dollars.”

My eyes widened, but
Ash didn’t seem to care about the price tag he was carrying about. “How much
have you won so far?”

“About that.”

A million dollars?
For beating the shit out of people? It was all dirty money in a way, because
this whole operation was illegal, but he’d won it fair and square. He’d played
by their rules and was making a lot of people rich in the process.

“Why didn't you tell
me?” I almost shrieked at him.

“It’s not important.”

“I don’t give a shit
about the money,” I went on, but Ash interrupted me.

“Neither do I. That’s
why I didn’t mention it. I don’t give a stuff.”

“No, but other people
do,” I murmured.

He glanced down at
me, a frown creasing his forehead. “You worried about me, Spitfire?”

I squeezed my thighs
together as the sound of my nickname coming from his lips rippled through my
body. “Yeah.”

I knew Ash struggled
with a lot of things, but our relationship didn’t have to be one of them.
Before he could say something assholey to ruin it, I leaned up, fisted a hand
into his shirt and pulled him against me. His lips caught mine and I kissed him
into submission.

“Trouble,” he
breathed against my mouth.

“All caps, Maverick.”

After a week and ten
thousand dollars sitting in my bank account, I quit my job at the coffee shop.

Seth complained and
Joseph just shrugged. I guess the shrugging was a man thing, but I was glad I
didn’t have to get up and work anymore. Josie and I hadn’t caught up like we’d
planned and I felt a little guilty for not seeing her. I could say my plate was
full, but that was just an excuse.

I was well and truly
sucked into the lifestyle of cash, violence and Ash.

Didn’t take long.

“Ren.”

I stopped in the
doorway of Beat’s gym as I heard Dad call out. I knew this conversation was
coming, because when I started turning up with cuts on my face and hands, the
looks started. I saw the cogs turning in Dad’s head and it wasn’t going to take
much for him to work out what was going on.

I wondered how much
he actually knew, considering Ash was giving him money for Beat. He had to have
a good idea, even if Ash hadn’t told him straight up. We sure as fuck didn’t
make any effort to conceal our relationship. We didn’t go all 'public display
of affection' in the studio, but it was borderline. The only people who seemed
concerned were the Twins because they were afraid of Ash doing wrong by me.

The other was Monica.
She slunk around Beat all day and night with a sour look on her face, the fact
that she was put out that she’d been snubbed by her crush, one hundred percent
obvious. That was a storm that was yet to break.

“Yeah?” I turned on
my heel as Dad approached for his planned intervention, a concerned look on his
face.

“I’d rather you be
truthful with me, Ren,” he started, and I rolled my eyes. “Where are you
getting those cuts?”

“Took you long enough
to give a shit,” I replied.

“
Renee
.”

“Why do you care all
of a sudden, Dad? It’s been months and you’ve never given a crap what I have
and haven’t done.”

“I know where Ash
gets his money from, Ren,” Dad said, his expression thin. “I know where he
takes you.”

“And what’s that
supposed to mean?”

“If you get caught,
you could serve serious jail time.”

“I know, Dad,” I
hissed. “I know the risk-”

“So you don’t deny
it?” His eyes started to blaze as he flipped on his angry father mode. “Did he
put you up to this?”

“Ash did nothing but
try and deter me,
Dad
,” I spat. “It's my decision and nobody else's.”

“Ren-”

“I’m winning. For the
first time in my life I’m fucking
winning
.”
When all I ever did
before was lose
.

“Renee, just listen
to me,” Dad pleaded, grabbing my arm.

All I could see was
red. Fucking
red
. He wanted to start caring now? After all this time of
ignoring me, not saying a word, never explaining why he left Mum and I, hiding
me from his wife, not even saying
sorry
? Well, I had fucking news for
him. I shoved him off with a hard jab to his chest and all he could do was
stare at me in shock.

“You weren’t there
when she went into remission the first time,” I shrieked and Ash and the Twins
stopped mid-training and stared at the train wreck like slack-jawed hicks. “You
weren’t there when she found out the cancer had come back. You weren’t there
through the years of chemo. You weren’t there when she took her last
fucking
breath
.” I took a deep breath, curling my hands into tight fists. “You
never even went to her fucking funeral, so don’t you stand there and tell me
what I can and cannot do. You stopped being my father the day you walked away
and traded us in for a fancier model. We may be related by blood, but I am
not
your daughter
.”

He stood there,
staring in shock as I shoved past him, going for the door.

Fresh air hit my
flushed face and I breathed deeply, the door slamming closed behind me. The
street was empty, but I felt emptier. I had Ash and The Underground, but was it
enough? My Mum wanted me to have a family, but how far was I meant to go in
order to get it? The family she thought I was going to find didn’t want me
until it suited them. Maybe they didn’t want me at all.