Beyond Pain (17 page)

He took the blow and struck back, hitting her hard in the midsection. It knocked the air out of her lungs and sent her stumbling back, but the pain had another meaning this time. It prickled through her, awakening every nerve, and left a wicked clarity in its wake.

Not pleasure, but something better. Purpose.

Maybe she couldn't be like Bren and push toward the pain like a lover, but she knew how to weather it. So Elvis was still pulling back when she swung around and knocked his face in the opposite direction.

A roar rose in the warehouse, loud enough to penetrate the blood rushing through her veins.

No, not just a roar. Female screams of approval cut above the noise, and she saw a swell of movement over her opponent's shoulder. The O'Kane women, standing on the couches and cheering her on like she was their champion.

Like she was one of them.

She was gonna kick Elvis's fucking ass.

Sometimes, the hardest thing to do was nothing.

Bren held his ground during the fight--not because he'd promised Dallas, but because Six deserved it. A turn to test herself, to do battle against the shadows of her past and emerge not only triumphant, but bloody enough to know she'd
earned
her victory. It hadn't been handed to her. She'd claimed it in a fair contest, which meant no one could take it away. And if they did, she'd just fight for it again.

But oh, it was hard as hell to
watch
. He felt every blow in his bones, every scrape of concrete and burn of knuckle on hard bone, and only the knowledge that this was what Six wanted kept him from interfering when it looked like the tide was turning in Elvis's favor.

Then she laid him out, riding him down to pin his face to the cement until he tapped out in weak defeat, and Bren still had to do nothing, because the other O'Kane women swept Six away to celebrate.

"Well, I didn't have to have Jas or Flash sit on you," Dallas drawled beside him. "That's something."

Bren's hands ached from clenching them. "I've been teaching her. It's not like I threw her to the wolves."

His leader regarded him seriously for a few seconds before lowering his voice. "That's not what I meant, Bren. Not even close."

"Yeah." Then, because he had to, he confessed. "If he'd fought dirty, even a little..."

"I know." No judgment in those words, and no disapproval. "Hell, I would have helped."

Across the warehouse, Six accepted an open bottle of whiskey from Rachel--and smiled. Bren relaxed his hands and flexed his fingers. "I'm still going to kick his ass one day, but not tonight. Six took care of that."

"She sure did." Dallas slugged Bren on the shoulder. "Don't know how much of that was your training and how much was her, but the girl's got moves."

"Told you. So did Lex."

"So she did. She'll be insufferable tonight."

He seemed so pleased about the prospect that Bren had to laugh. "I better collect Six's cash. The odds were against her, you know. She won big."

Ace was sprawled at a table in the O'Kane section, counting a ridiculous stack of cash. The artist grinned and kicked back a chair in invitation. "Got your girl's money. And mine. I haven't made this much on a fight since Mad put a beatdown on the Armstrong brothers."

Bren sat, but his gaze kept tracking back to Six. She was wedged between Lex and Rachel, her eyes bright as the women toasted her. "She did good."

Ace laughed and nudged most of the cash across the table. "I was gonna point out that she looked good too, but I'm in no mood to get my teeth knocked down my throat. You've got that look, brother."

"Do I?"

"Mmm. Maybe it's because you finally got laid. I was starting to worry about your poor dick, all neglected and unused. You haven't exactly been partying hard since your girl showed up."

As if Ace had any worry left to spare after seeing to his own overtaxed libido. "I didn't before Six got here, either."

"But you burned through the tension." Ace swept his winnings into a haphazard pile. "If you need an outlet, I'm here. I know you two are punching each other in the face and all that, but just in case it's not enough."

Ace worked pain with a whip or a flogger the same way he did with his needles--skillfully. "I don't know, maybe. If Six is into it."

That sent Ace's eyebrows up. "Like, you want her to watch? Or...?"

"Or whatever she wants."

A slow nod, and Ace grinned. "Sure thing, brother. Lady's choice."

They didn't have to take him up on the offer right away. But Six was curious about it, the mingled pleasure and pain, and there was no better way for her to understand than to experience it firsthand.

"Yeah." He folded her money into his pocket, reached for the nearest bottle, and poured Ace a drink. "Lady's choice."

By the time Dallas chased the outsiders back into the night, it was clear to Bren that the O'Kane women had claimed Six as one of their own, ink or no.

They were out on the floor, dancing to the smoky melody pouring from a small set of speakers hung from the cage bars, smooth pre-Flare jazz instead of the usual hardcore bass rhythms. The music was different, and so was the dancing, swaying hips and closed eyes and low laughter.

Six was swaying too, crushed between Noelle and one of the newer girls--Ace's apprentice, Emma. It made a hell of a picture, Noelle sweet and soft and Six with her stark, hard edges and Emma a mixture of pretty and punk, covered in ink.

They looked like they came from different worlds, but they laughed like they were family. And when Six twisted around to meet his eyes, the slow smile that curved her lips was drunk on a feeling he recognized all too well.

Belonging.

He almost sat to wait for her to finish the dance, but he'd been patient enough, so he held out his hand.

Noelle whispered something in Six's ear that brought a flush to her cheeks, but she broke free of the giggling dancers and curled her fingers around his. "Hi."

"Hi." Her knuckles were still red and swollen, and there was a splotchy mark high on her left cheek that would bruise by morning, but otherwise she looked fine. Unscarred. "Congratulations on winning your first fight."

She
glowed
. "I kinda thought you'd be pissed I didn't flatten him at the beginning. I had to goad him into fighting back."

"Chivalry isn't dead. It's just misplaced."

"Whatever that means." Six shifted closer, until his chin brushed her temple and the tiny strands of hair that had escaped her braid tickled his cheek. "I don't know, maybe it's unfair to be mad at him. If he'd tried to stop Trent, he would've ended up dead."

Alone, probably--but he hadn't been alone. All it had taken to keep Trent's power base secure was for Elvis and the others to sit back and do nothing. "If that were true, not a damn thing would ever change. It's something he tells himself to sleep at night, sweetness. That's all."

"I guess." Another step and she was pressed against him, her lips brushing his throat with her next whisper. "Knowing you might get dead hasn't stopped any of you crazy fuckers yet."

The grazing touch sparked heat in his blood, and he pulled her closer with one hand splayed across her lower back. "Welcome to Sector Four."

"Are you my prize for winning?"

Things were heating up on the dance floor. An even sultrier song had rolled over on the radio, and the women had paired off into slow dances. Emma and Noelle were still whispering and laughing, but Lex and Rachel had a whole different vibe going, serious and charged.

Bren spun Six so that her back nestled against his chest. "If you're ready to leave the party."

Tension rolled through her body, but it wasn't the usual awkward stiffness. She felt restless underneath his hands, coiled tight. Alive. "I don't know," she whispered, low and husky. "Not--not yet."

Dallas was in the corner, talking to Jasper as people continued to drift out of the warehouse. But his gaze was on the women. On Lex. He was still high on the success of the evening, on their joint rule and shared, seamless power.

"There's nothing Dallas wouldn't give her tonight." Bren murmured the words in Six's ear. "If Lex wants Rachel, he'll do it."

Her breathing hitched. "What would you do if she wanted me?"

Does she?
It didn't matter. His hand clenched in Six's shirt. "She can't have you. Not tonight."

"Possessive, aren't you?"

"She can't have you." The words ripped free of him again, rough and raw. "Maybe not ever."

Six shivered, all teasing gone from her voice. "What about everyone else?"

She liked to watch, but she'd never given a single hint that she wanted to join in anyone's sexual revelries. "We look," he said finally, "but I'm the only one who touches you."

She slid her hand over his, pressing his palm tight to her abdomen, and there was something almost soothing in the way she stroked his wrist. "I don't need anyone else."

Not a concession, but a promise. A vow. "Only me, sweetness."

She laughed and twined her fingers with his. "I hope that doesn't apply to friendly touching, too. I promised Lex a dance."

Lex already had her hands in Rachel's back pockets. Bren released Six with a kiss to the shoulder. "Better go make good on it before things get naked over there."

She squeezed his hand and slipped away, and Rachel and Lex welcomed her with smiles and soft kisses to her cheek.

As the three of them swayed and whispered, Dallas appeared at Bren's side. "She's as good as in, you know," he said. "If I don't offer her ink after tonight, none of us will ever get our dicks touched again."

"Sure you would." Bren couldn't stop the grin that curved his lips. "You've got two hands."

Dallas shuddered. "That's the most depressing thought I've had in a decade."

"Then we'd better make it official, after all."

"I'll talk to Lex.
You
keep your mouth shut on the topic, unless you want to risk a little queenly wrath. The women are her domain."

Bren watched Six's hand graze the back of Lex's. "Will she make her wait?"

Dallas shrugged. "If she thinks that's what the girl needs. Lex knows people better than they know themselves."

Better to wait than offer her something she might not be ready to accept, not just yet. "Trent did a number on her. Lex'll understand."

"Trent screwed them all up. Her, the men, the whole damn sector. They're like a pack of whipped dogs who don't know when to stop biting."

Six would have a place here, and ink of her own. "It can't be because of me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah." Dallas crossed his arms and spent a silent moment watching the three women dance before tilting his head. "Lex is cooking up a little fantasy for Rachel tonight. Am I imagining it, or is your girl into watching? Because Rachel sure seems to get off on having an audience."

Noelle and Emma had already drifted toward the back door with Jasper in tow. Only the five of them were left, and Bren eyed the couch on the dais. "Here?"

"Mmm." His gaze fixed on his queen, who'd wrapped one arm around Rachel's waist, her thumb gliding under the denim at the small of the woman's back. "Lex has a filthy imagination. The floor lights'll be off, so Rachel won't be able to see you, but that's kind of the point."

A fantasy, all right. It shouldn't have worked so well, a perfect chain reaction of lust and need, but it did. Rachel had been exploring her exhibitionist tendencies, Lex got off on joining in that exploration, and Dallas got off on Lex.

But a show wasn't a show without an audience. Six would say yes--she was hopped up on adrenaline, riding the rush--which left him to decide. And sitting in the shadows, Six's bare skin heating beneath his hands as a fantasy played out before them?

"Hell, yes."

Rachel was dancing again...and this time Lex was dancing with her.

Snuggled against Bren's side in the darkness, Six watched the two of them move together, watched Lex's fingers slide up under Rachel's shirt as the other woman moaned softly. They swayed in front of the couch where Dallas sat, all three illuminated by lights that seemed stark in comparison to the shadows surrounding the dais.