Biker's Bride: A Bad Boy Romance (Demons MC) (Includes bonus novel Kinged!) (44 page)

“What happens now?” I asked.

“Now, you go to the bathroom and clean yourself up.” He grabbed my still-tied hands and dragged me up the stairs and into the women’s bathroom. I got a quick glance at the bar, and saw that it was empty.

“Alright, change.” He nodded to a stack of clothes on the ground.

“You expect me to wear this?”

He laughed. “You look like shit. Clean yourself up and get changed.”

I gave him a disgusted look. “I can’t with my hands and feet tied up.”

He sighed and then started to untie me. The skin on my wrists and ankles was red and raw from chafing against the ropes for over a day, and it felt amazing to have free motion again. I almost broke down and cried right there on the spot, but I forced myself to stay strong.

“Now, wash and dress.” He stood there, staring at me.

“A little privacy?”

He turned his back. “Best you’ll get. Make it fast.”

I turned toward the sink and began to wash myself the best I could. I looked horrible: exhausted and dirty. I washed my face and my hands, and splashed water on my underarms. I pulled a basic black T-shirt from the pile of clothes and a pair of jean shorts that looked like they’d fit me. I pulled off my clothes, careful to make sure that Michael didn’t peek, and got changed. The stuff fit well enough, and I had to admit it was better than wearing what I had on before. For the first time since I had been kidnapped, I felt like a real human.

“All done,” I said.

He turned back to me. “You look radiant, darling.”

“Fuck you.”

He laughed then took me by the arm and dragged me back down the steps. More people were coming in now, and the basement had maybe fifteen men standing around in a loose circle.

“Where’s your fighter?” I asked.

“He’ll be here soon. Stand with Spud and Clutch and don’t move. If you’re good, they won’t bother you. If you’re not, I gave Spud permission to do whatever he wants.” He gave me a leery grin then pushed me toward the twin pigs. I walked over and leaned against the wall next to them, and they barely gave me a second glance. Michael nodded to them, and then disappeared back upstairs.

I could sense the tension in the air almost immediately. People were hyped up, but also terrified. I guessed everyone knew how important the fight was, not just for Rex, but for the entire mob.

Nobody paid any attention to me, which let me look around at the crowd freely. I didn’t recognize everyone, but they were all dangerous looking people. Plenty of baggy clothing and tattoos dominated the space, and people smoked freely. I noticed that they tended to group themselves in threes and fours, and the room was nearly split in half. I assumed they were the two main factions in Michael’s gang, and I noticed that I was standing on the slightly larger side. More people slowly filtered down the stairs until the room was packed save for a large circular space in the center.

The noise was loud with laughter and cursing. People drank and smoked and joked, but nobody bothered to look at me. I realized I didn’t seem like a prisoner anymore. I guessed that they would look down on Michael keeping a girl in a cage for over a day, and that was why he let me out and had me clean myself up. I looked over at Spud and he grinned back. Chills ran down my spine when I realized he had been staring at me. I mentally promised myself that I could get revenge on him the first opportunity I found.

I had no idea what time it was or how long we had been standing down there before Michael walked down the steps. The room quieted almost immediately. Michael was followed by a tall man with heavy muscles and thick tattoos running all along his body. He wore a tight white T-shirt and gym shorts, and his knuckles were wrapped in white linen. He wasn’t enormous or particularly dangerous looking, but I could tell by the way people reacted to him that he was a tough man. Everyone nodded and gave him respect as he passed, but he ignored everyone but Michael. They came over to where Spud, Clutch, and I stood, and I could hear them talking.

“You need to kill him,” Michael said.

“Yes,” the man replied.

“Make it fast and dirty. Send a message.”

“Okay.”

“The more blood, the better I’ll pay you. Remember that.”

“Okay.”

They didn’t speak any more after that. I wasn’t surprised about what I had heard. The man started to move around and loosen himself up. I was terrified for Rex. This guy clearly was going to try and murder him, but I didn’t know if Rex would play by the same rules. I had never been to a fight like that in my entire life.

Time passed slowly as Michael’s fighter moved around the ring, keeping himself loose. The way he stretched and shook his body made it clear how fast and dangerous he was. I had never seen a man so smooth and sure of himself, except for Rex. But where Rex had a lively smile and a sense of humor, this man was blank and dangerous. He said nothing and had no expression on his face at all. He was like a stone human, or a killing machine.

I was also terrified that Rex wouldn’t show up. Nearly an hour passed, and he was nowhere to be seen. Michael kept looking back at me with this horrible smile, as if he was savoring what he would get to do to me if Rex never showed. I couldn’t imagine that he would run away at that point and leave me there with Michael, but it was starting to look like that was a possibility. I was done for if Rex didn’t come. He was already late, or at least I guessed he was, and people were beginning to get angry.

I felt weak and trapped. I wanted to get out of that situation on my own, but I knew that I was surrounded on all sides by people bigger than I was. If Rex came, he would have his hands full trying to survive. I needed to find the strength to get myself out of the room in the end, and not rely on Rex saving the day. I looked at my two guards and as the crowd pulsed around us, I thought of a plan.

Suddenly, the place started to quiet down. There was a creaking on the staircase, and Rex appeared, hobbling down the steps. He turned the corner and the crowd parted for him. My breath caught in my chest: he still looked injured, but there were no new bruises. He limped into the center of the ring, face grim and serious. He looked at me and I met his deep green eyes. I saw something pass over his expression, a kind of rage I’d never witnessed before, but it was quickly gone, and he looked away. I didn’t understand why he was limping, but I told myself I would trust him.

“Well, well, well, he showed up,” Michael said loudly. The crowd suddenly broke into loud cheers, a roar of passion. The excitement level in the room jumped tenfold.

Once the noise died down, Rex stepped into the center of the circle. He pulled off his tight dark blue shirt, and was wearing only loose, short gym shorts and light black sneakers. The muscles and tattoos rippled up his arms, and the bruises stood out clearly. He was moving slowly and sluggishly, although I knew that a day earlier he was moving fine. I wasn’t sure what was happening, and thought that maybe Michael’s men had attacked him again to soften him up for the fight.

Michael’s man stepped up in front of Rex in the center of the circle, and Michael joined them.

“Well, lads, this is it, for all the marbles so to speak. Rex, meet Gunther, your opponent.” The crowd went wild with chants and cheering. I assumed everyone knew who Gunther was, and based on the reaction, he was no joke.

“You both know the rules. You fight until one of you can’t fight any longer. Rex, if you win, you have your freedom.”

“The girl, too,” Rex replied. Michael grinned and looked back at me.

“She’s a pretty one, isn’t she?”

“If you touched her, I’ll rip off your head.”

Michael looked back at Rex, his face twisted into mock horror. “Me, touch her? I’d never.”

“Fuck you, Michael. Say the girl goes free too.” The crowd began to murmur.

“Of course, the girl goes free. She’s always free. I have no reason to hold on to her.”

“Let’s get this over with,” Rex said. Michael laughed.

“Alright, lads, to your sides. On the bell, you start.” Michael and Gunther moved off and joined Spud, Clutch, and me. Gunther stood in toward the center, rolling his shoulders. Rex retreated to other side of the circle.

They stood like that, eyeing each other, both ripped and dangerous. Gunther had a small smile on his face and Rex moved slowly, wincing with pain. I was terrified and my heart began to smash through my chest. Adrenaline spiked through me mixed with fear and anticipation. The crowd began to cheer again and chant, and the energy level skyrocketed.

As it began to peak, the bell rang.

R
ex moved first, a blur of dangerous speed. All pretensions at limping were gone as his muscles flexed and he flew across the ring. Gunther hesitated for half a second too long, surprised at Rex’s movement, and caught a fast series of jabs to his face and body. Gunther quickly gathered himself and pushed Rex back, and they began to circle each other like animals on the prowl.

My whole body was tense as the crowd shouted in cheers in waves. I couldn’t tell who they were rooting for; I thought it might be more for the general violence between the two men than for either man specifically. They wanted blood and didn’t care whose blood they got. For a second, I understood Michael’s dilemma. How did you control people like this? Michael had his hands full constantly juggling one crisis after another among people who wanted nothing more than to hurt everyone around them.

More than that, I understood why Rex wanted to get away from it all. As exciting as it was, there wasn’t a single decent person in that room. Being surrounded by all that violence, anger, and death can change a person. Rex was probably trying to get out before he was stuck forever. It made sense that he was so desperate to escape. He probably didn’t know any other life, or at least hadn’t for a long time. He must have realized that his chances to truly change himself were becoming fewer and fewer.

Gunther faked a lunge forward, and Rex took a step back. Gunther then twisted and kicked at Rex’s face. Rex managed to duck at the last second, but he was off balance. Gunther used his momentum to launch himself at Rex. His fists caught Rex on the chin before Rex got his hands up to defend himself. They circled closely and traded blows like boxers, and I couldn’t tell who was winning. Their speed was incredible, and I had no idea how either man could possibly still stand after taking even a single punch, and yet they exchanged multiple. Their fists were blurs and they moved with incredible precision. I had never seen such amazing reflexes before in my life. During that exchange, Gunther probably took more hits, but Rex was already injured before the fight started, and each blow took more out of him. Soon, Rex lunged forward and they fell into a grapple, their strong arms locked around each other, struggling for control.

The sweat on their bodies rolled down toward the cold concrete floor as the din of the crowd built and fell in waves. For a second, I pretended I was in an amusement park riding a rollercoaster of sound. Blood rolled slowly from Rex’s nose and dripped onto his body. I had never seen a man force another man to bleed before with his bare hands. My rollercoaster fantasy was shattered by the violence happening in front of me. The man I loved, the man I was so deeply shattered by was being physically mauled, possibly to death. I felt a scream building in my stomach, but I stifled it. I wouldn’t give Michael the pleasure of hearing my pain.

After a short struggle, Gunther managed to get leverage under Rex, and threw him over his hip. Rex hit the ground with a soft thud, and Gunther was on top of him in a flash. Immediately, Rex wrapped his arms and leg around Gunther’s body and held him there, not allowing Gunther the ability to strike him. They began to struggle again, their muscles straining, each man looking for a slight advantage in leverage and strength. It wasn’t flashy or exciting, but I could tell that their grappling was incredibly dangerous. Both one of them was capable of killing the other with the slightest opening, and they were both keenly aware of that. While the struggle may not have looked as exciting as the punching and kicking had, I could tell that it was much more dangerous.

I glanced at Michael, and his face was completely impassive. For a moment that could decide his entire life, he was taking it in like it was another television show or something. There was no expression at all, and he stared at the two men without blinking. Aside from me, Michael was the only one in the room not cheering and yelling. I noticed men moving through the crowd with money, taking small bets on the action, and I figured that the betting was the entire point of the fights. Plus, men seemed to like fights, especially men like them. Violence and betting mixed to create the most exciting atmosphere, at least in some places.

Rex rolled to his left as Gunther attempted to rear back away from him, which let Rex get free of Gunther’s weight. Gunther jumped at Rex but missed as he scrambled to his feet. Gunther met him head on and they traded blows again, one for one. The crowd went crazy again, happy that their slow struggle had broken up. Gunther took a step forward to attempt to grab Rex again, but Rex ducked him then kicked him hard in the gut. Gunther stumbled back, and Rex followed up with a hard right hand to his jaw. Gunther fell back into the crowd, but the men there caught him and pushed him back at Rex. Gunther came up swinging. He aimed huge, powerful blows at Rex’s face, but Rex was too fast. Each fist missed by inches as Rex dodged and weaved like a pro. Their hands were blurs as they came at each other again, both smoothly blocking then counterattacking.

Both men looked exhausted, panting and bleeding. Gunther’s brow was cracked open and Rex’s nose was freely pouring blood. They came at each other again, and ended up back in the same grappling position. I understood that I was watching a match between two extremely talented, deadly individuals, and that I was probably missing the finer points of the battle. All I could think about was my Rex, his body, and his freedom. Rex was marginally larger, but Gunther was fresh, and again Gunther gained advantage. This time, though, instead of throwing Rex, he slipped around behind him and wrapped his arms around Rex’s neck. He held him there, arms in a chokehold, and flexed.