Paxton's Promise (18 page)

Leaning up on my toes, I planted a kiss on his cheek. “Go get ‘em.”

He disappeared through the crowd and I was left alone with April and Adam. “Paxton tells me you’re a fighter too. I never thought you’d be so beautiful,” she said.

“Thanks,” I laughed. “I’m new at it. My brother’s been training me.”

“Oh, I know your brother. I used to have the hugest crush on him a long time ago. I met him when Paxton was working on his car.”

I think everyone had a crush on my brother at one time or another. “He did a good job on it. I didn’t think anyone would be able to restore that piece of sh . . . I mean junk.” Adam’s little ears were listening and I didn’t think April would want him hearing my foul mouth.

“Paxton’s extremely talented. For the longest time, I thought we’d lost him when he started getting into trouble. He stopped racing and basically pushed everyone away. I’m glad to see he’s matured.”

I am too.
Up ahead, I recognized Paxton’s Aunt Jackie and pointed. “Isn’t that your mother over there?” I asked.

April turned and smiled when she caught Jackie’s attention. “Yep.” She started off toward her mother and I followed. “She loves watching Pax race. So does my father, but my mom’s always had a soft spot for him. He looks just like my aunt, Paxton’s mother. My mom and she were really close. When she died, he was the only link to her.”

“I can’t imagine,” I whispered. “I’m really close to my brother, and if anything happened to him, I’d be lost. My father left when I was three, so I didn’t exactly have a close family bond.”

April smiled down at Adam and then turned a weary gaze my way. “I know how you feel.” As quietly as she could, she leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Adam’s father left us when he was just a baby. It’s been just me ever since.”

“When I got older, I watched my mom struggle to make ends meet. I know it’s not easy.”

She snorted. “Tell me about it. I make decent money, but if it wasn’t for Paxton and my parents, I’d be lost. Thankfully, now I don’t have to work a night job anymore. Adam was bummed when his nights with Uncle Pax stopped.”

Jackie closed the distance and scooped Adam up in her arms. “There’s my big boy,” she exclaimed. “What are you ladies talking about?”

April smiled and ruffled Adam’s hair. “Oh, we’re just talking about when I stopped working nights and Adam missed staying at uncle’s place.”

Jackie giggled and squeezed Adam harder. “Did you tell her about the time you picked Adam up at Paxton’s and he was covered in tattoos? Apparently, he wanted to look like his uncle, so they went out and bought a bunch of temporary tats to put all over his body.” Adam buried his head in Jackie’s shoulder, smiling shyly.

“I bet that had to be interesting,” I laughed.

With a huge smile on her face, April nodded. “Oh, believe me, it was. I took pictures of them together. They were both flexing their muscles in the mirror.”

“You have got to let me see those pictures some time.”

“Definitely. Come over and I’ll show you one day.”

“I’d be happy to.”

About that time, Paxton came strolling out, dressed in his racing suit with a helmet tucked under an arm. He was walking alongside a man who I assumed was his uncle. He was a short man with perfectly combed white hair, dressed in a pair of greasy coveralls.

Looking over at us, Paxton grinned and nodded before turning to the stands and waving at the people. The crowd was insane, shouting and screaming from the stands. The energy was amazing, almost like it was in the arenas during a fight. Before getting into the car, Paxton walked over to me and presented me to his uncle.

“John, this is Gabriella. Gabby, this is my Uncle John.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, extending my hand.

John shook it and smiled wide. “Likewise, young lady. I’ve watched you fight. Good stuff.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Are you two staying for the party tonight? There’s going to be fireworks.”

Paxton lifted his brows, waiting on my answer. I nodded. “All right, then we’ll stay, but I have a favor to ask,” he said to his uncle.

“Sure, son, what is it?”

“Have you ever thought about having go kart races here? I know a pretty talented racer who’d love to tear up the track.”

John pursed his lips and rubbed his chin. “Go karts, you say? Hmm . . . I never really thought about it. It could work though. I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who’d be interested in it. Who do you know that races?”

Paxton smirked and bumped me in the shoulder.

“You?” John asked, eyes wide. “I guess that shouldn’t really surprise me. Give me a couple of weeks and I’ll see what I can do. Surely, I’ll find you some people to race against.”

“That would be great,” I exclaimed excitedly.

“Good, but right now, it’s time to get this race started. Let’s go, son.”

Paxton kissed me quickly and jumped in his car before pulling off to the start line where the other racers lined up.

“He’s up against some good racers tonight,” John informed me. “One of them happens to be a NASCAR driver.”

“Are you serious? Is that why there are so many people here?” The crowd had doubled from the other night. I never paid attention to NASCAR, so I had no clue who it was.

“Yep. His name is Derek Anderson. I’ve been trying to get him to come out for months.”

The engines revved, drawing my attention to the track. “Which car is he in?”

John pointed to the bright yellow sports car beside Pax. “He’s in that one. I took a look under the hood . . .” He whistled. “That car is one hell of a beast. I hope Paxton can take it.”

I had no doubt. The red light overhead slowly made its way down the line to the yellow, and once it flipped to the green, they were off. Tires squealed and smoke blew across the field, obscuring my view and bringing the smell of exhaust and burnt tires through the air. Once it all cleared, Paxton and Derek were neck and neck, battling it out.

One lap down and they were sticking together. “How many laps do they have to do tonight?”

“Since Derek’s out there, we upped this race to ten. It’s the most Paxton’s ever raced. I hope he can keep his wits about him.”

Judging by the way he drove, he looked perfectly all right. However, once they headed into the fourth lap, Derek got the lead and pulled in front about a car’s length ahead.
Come on, baby.

I wished he could hear me cheering him on, but there was no way anyone could hear with the deafening sounds of the cars zipping by. The fifth and sixth lap came and went with Paxton trailing closely behind. The other drivers had all fallen back, and barring any accident or mistake, they were out of the race.

When they started in on the tenth lap, everything changed. Out of nowhere, Paxton picked up speed and gained some ground. Slowly but surely, he moved up inch by inch, until he was even with Derek again. The race was almost over, but he needed that push to drive him over the finish line first.

Folding my hands together, I closed my eyes and prayed.
Please, let him win.
As soon as I opened my eyes, his car lurched forward and he bounded past the finish line in first place. The crowd went crazy and so did I, jumping up and down, screaming. When Paxton pulled up into the pit, he raced out of his car and threw off his helmet before scooping me up into his arms.

“You were so fucking hot out there,” I shouted excitedly. “You did great.”

“Are you my prize for the night?”

“Do you want me to be?” I challenged.

“You’re damn right, I do. And I can’t wait to unwrap my gift.” Setting me down, he smacked my ass and was met with April and Jackie, who threw their arms around him. I stood back with John while his fans rallied, congratulating him.

“That’s Derek,” John noted, pointing to the tall redhead approaching Paxton. He had a huge smile on his face. At least he wasn’t disgruntled about losing. Paxton shook his hand and they talked for a minute before Derek retreated, giving Paxton his space.

The crowd began clearing out of the stands, with some coming down to the field, and others leaving the premises. Once the stands were empty, Paxton said goodbye to his fans and took my hand.

“Come on,” he ordered. Dragging me away from the crowd, he led me up the stairs to the announcer’s box. It was dark in the room, but when Paxton opened the door, I realized it was just tinted windows.

“Why isn’t there anyone in here?” I asked, sticking my head in. It was dark, but there was illumination from the switchboard lights.

“John only has announcers for the professional races. That’s usually on Saturday nights.”

“Ah, I see. You’re normally in the ring on those nights.”

Putting his hand on the small of my back, he gently pushed me inside. “I love fighting more than anything, so I’d never turn down a fight to come here.”

“What are we doing in here?” I turned around and Paxton was locking the door.

“I want my prize and I want it now. What do you think about that?”

Running my finger along the desk, I licked my lips and smiled. “Then come here.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Roughly, I reached for the waistband of his jeans and ripped them open, freeing him. I pushed him toward the desk and got down on my knees. The tip of his dick glistened and I flicked my tongue across his wetness. He jerked in response and I smiled.

Closing my lips around his length, I took him in as far as I could go and sucked hard. His fingers knotted in my hair and he held on as I tortured him with my tongue. Yanking his pants down to his calves, I brought one hand up to aid my mouth and used the other to lightly pull on his sac.

“Fuck,” he growled. “Ah,
shit
that feels good.”

After a few more pulls on his cock, I stood up. “I can’t wait any more.” As I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled them down to my thighs, he turned me around and pushed me over the desk. With my pants and underwear just below my ass, my legs were held tight together.

Dipping two fingers into my center, he pulled them out and spread my juices around, making my entrance slick. Leaning over me, he pressed me into the table. His mouth trailed down the side of my neck and then he bit my shoulder.

“What if someone comes looking for us?” I moaned.

“Then they’ll just have to wait until I’m done.” With one nudge from his cock, he found his prize and slammed home, groaning from the extra tightness. Our bodies slapped together and the desk wobbled as he pummeled into me, taking me as hard as he could. Standing up, he grabbed my ass and used it to pull me harder onto him.

I knew he was close by the sound of his moans and grunts. I couldn’t hold off any longer. My body clenched, and my stomach and legs shook as I exploded, milking him. After a few more pumps and a smack to my ass, Pax came hard, jerking above me.

Making a satisfied noise, he kissed my back and then slowly pulled out. There was a roll of paper towels on the back counter so he grabbed them and helped clean me up before wiping himself off. Every day he amazed me more and more. I’d never known anyone as selfless as him.

Unfortunately, I knew there were also bad sides of him that I didn’t know about yet. There were things he wouldn’t talk about, especially from the times of his troubled past; when he was friends with Kyle. Did it even matter? No, because whatever he did in his past was just that, his past.

Standing up and turning around, I whispered softly, “I love you.”

Holding my chin, he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. “I love you too.”

We pulled our pants back up, and while we were buttoning them, my thoughts became too loud and I had to address them. “I have a question.”

He glanced over at me, brows furrowed. “What is it?”

“Are you ever going to talk about what you did? Like when you fought at the Dark Side?”

Sighing, he tilted his head back, averting his gaze. “Gabby, it’s not something I like to talk about. One day I’ll tell you, but we’ve come so far and I don’t want you seeing me differently. I’m not like that anymore.”

“I know you’re not,” I murmured wholeheartedly. “I just want you to know that you can talk to me about things.” I just wished I could tell him about what was going on, to warn him.

He put his arm around me and led me to the door. “And I appreciate that, sunshine. Now why don’t we go out there,” he said, pointing to the field, “and have us some fun.”

He opened the door and we started down the stairs. “So what did Derek talk to you about? Your uncle said he was a professional racer?”

“Oh yeah,” he replied excitedly. “He wants to race with me one night next week.”

“Wow,” I exclaimed. “Look at you go. I bet that’ll be fun.” Hopefully, it’ll be on the night of my last fight. Walking down to the field, we were almost out of the stands when I reached into my back pocket. My phone wasn’t there. “Uh-oh, I think my phone fell out of my jeans. I’ll be right back.”

Starting up the stairs, he called to me, “Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, that’s okay. It’ll only take a second.” The door wasn’t locked, so I went right in and found my phone on the floor. Every time I looked at it, I cringed, thinking there was going to be a text from Scar. Thankfully, there wasn’t any.

When I got out the door, Paxton was down below talking to Derek again. They both peered up at me and I smiled. However, that smile didn’t last long when something out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. My spine tingled and the hair on my neck stood on end. There was danger around and I could feel it. On the ground, staring ominously back at me was a single, black rose . . . crushed, the petals disfigured and torn.