Shattered (5 page)

And he was absolutely right. Somehow, I got
myself down there. My first night in that world was the most
surreal moment of my life. All I can remember is how good it felt
to lay into those guys, without any rules. Everything I learned on
the streets came rushing back, it was a whole new high. I was
hooked from the very beginning. I thought that if I could get to
the top, dominate the whole establishment, it would be some kind of
vindication for my brother, my parents. I started to rise through
the ranks, and this whole world opened itself up to me. This league
is huge, and it runs deep. All over the world, people are feeding
into it—but the epicenter is right here in New York. Robert’s been
with me from the start, as my manager. I didn’t know that there
would be money in it for me, I was only in it for some sense of
justice. But, well...as you can see, there was money to be made.
Robert helped me figure out the business side of it, and soon I had
made enough to get this place. But nothing made me feel better than
being in the ring.”

“It’s your whole life,” I said.

“It is,” he answered. “I owe my whole life to
fighting. It’s the only reason I keep on, after everything that’s
happened. It’s the only thing that makes me happy.”

I could make you happy
, I wanted to
tell him. Instead I just lay there beside him, floored. He had
overcome so much in his short life, so much more than I could even
begin to imagine. And yet he was still trying to do right by the
world—he proved that much when he swooped in to rescue me.

“Thank you for telling me all that,” I said,
squeezing his hand. The press of his skin against mine was making
me drunk with need.

“Thank you for listening,” he said, keeping
my hand within his, “I don’t really talk about...stuff like that.
Ever.”

“That’s what friends are for, I guess,” I
said.

“Friends?” he echoed, looking at me with
those deep dark eyes.

“Sure,” I said, my breath coming quicker and
quicker. “Is that...OK?”

“Oh. Yeah,” he said, “Of course. I was
just...”

Say it
, I begging him in my thoughts,
say that you don’t want to be my friend. Say that you want to
throw me down on this bed and
—

“You should get some rest,” he said, and
pulled his hand away from mine. He leaned over me, bringing his
face toward mine. I held my breath as he brushed his lips against
my forehead. A shiver of delight ran down my spine as he kissed me,
my every nerve ending erupting with anticipation. But he drew away
with a smile. I wanted to grab him, pull him down on top of me, and
cover his hard body with kisses of my own. But I held back, watched
as he walked across the room and switched off the light.

“Good night Kaela,” he said, closing the
door.

“Good night Anderson,” I said.

The door closed with a click, and I buried my
head in the pillow, letting out a desperate little scream of
frustration. What the hell was happening to me? Not twenty-four
hours ago, I was just a lowly barista in Alphabet City with a
shitty apartment and no prospects. Now, I was falling asleep in a
hero’s pajamas, having been whisked away from death by an ultimate
fighter who happened to be the sexiest man I had ever seen in real
life. Not exactly your typical day at the office.

I rolled onto my back, my whole body pumping
with unrequited lust for Anderson. There were men in the past that
I had wanted, but I’d never needed anyone the way I needed him. In
the darkness of the room, I let my hands slip beneath the covers. I
ran my fingers along my belly, across the twin peaks of my hips,
down under the borrowed boxer shorts Anderson had given me. A low
moan escaped my lips as I felt how wet I had become just thinking
about my savior. I stroked along the length of my throbbing slit,
kneading and rubbing myself toward bliss. My thoughts danced
through fantasies of Anderson and me together. I thought of how
good it would feel to slide down onto him, ride him, and give
myself over to those masterful hands.

A gasp erupted from my lips as I sent myself
over the edge. I came with a shudder of bliss, Anderson’s deep,
dark eyes cemented in my mind’s eye. My breathing evened out as
sleep came to claim me for the night.

With my last waking thoughts, I wondered
about Anderson’s secret life, this world of his that was such a
blessing and the ultimate curse. I couldn’t begin to comprehend the
scope of it—my own life seemed so small in comparison. But as I lay
there in the dark, falling into a much needed sleep, I realized one
thing for sure. I needed to know Anderson’s world. I needed to see
how it worked, what it looked like. If I could know all that, I’d
be that much closer to knowing him...Entirely. Anderson had saved
my life, snatched me from the brink of disaster. From that point
on, everything I did would be for him. For us. I drifted off to
sleep with that beautiful word echoing around my head:
Us
.

Chapter
Three

In what seemed like nothing more than the
blink of an eye, I was awake again. I burrowed deeper into the nest
of blankets and pillows, too comfortable to rouse myself just yet.
For a moment, my mind registered nothing but peace. But then the
events of the previous evening came tumbling back into my head; the
terrifying attack, my valiant rescuer, my inexplicable desire for
the man who had saved my life. I forced my eyes open, groaning as
my pain began to wake as well. Still, I felt a hell of a lot better
than I did the night before, thanks to Anderson.

With leaden limbs, I rolled out of the
enormous bed. My legs seemed strong enough to support me again, and
though I was sore, there didn’t seem to be any lasting damage to
worry about. A smile spread across my face as I remembered my
makeshift pajamas. I buried my face in the sleeves of Anderson’s
big sweatshirt and took a deep breath, memorizing his smell. It was
a scent that was more enticing than any cologne, and I marveled at
its effect on me. Was I really getting turned on by the way this
guy smelled, too? Was that even possible?

I padded to the bedroom door and cracked it
open, peering out into the cavernous penthouse apartment. Thick
rays of sunlight were dashed against the hardwood floors, splayed
out across the whole space.
Wait a minute
, I thought with
sudden panic,
I was supposed to open Joe’s this morning
. I
heard a clattering sound and hurried toward its source. As I
rounded the next corner, an enormous kitchen opened up before me.
Anderson was standing at the counter with a cup of coffee and the
morning paper. He spotted me in the doorway and smiled.

“Good afternoon,” he grinned.

“Afternoon?” I said in a hollow voice. “Oh,
shit...”

“What is it?” he asked, “Did you have plans
for breakfast?”

“I was supposed to be at work hours ago,” I
cried, “Joe’s going to fire me, for sure.”

“I highly doubt that,” Anderson said calmly,
taking a sip of his coffee.

“You don’t know what my boss is like,” I
said, “Think of the most vile, vindictive man on the face of the
earth, and then intensify his awfulness by ten. That’s Joe.”

“I figured as much,” Anderson said, “That’s
why I was going to escort you to work and explain the situation to
him.”

I stared at Anderson, uncomprehending. “You
want to...walk me to work?” I said, “Why would you...? You must
have more important things to do.”

“Nope,” he said, “Not even one thing.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, “You already
saved me from certain disaster. Are you going to be my personal
guardian angel from now on or something?”

“I don’t think you want me as a guardian
angel,” he said, “But I can give it a shot, if you’d like.”

I grinned back at him, baffled but
exhilarated. If this incredibly handsome and intriguing man wanted
to spend a little extra time with me, I wasn’t going to fight him
on it. That was one gift horse whose molars I had no interest in
examining.

“I washed your clothes for you,” he said,
nodding to a pile of neatly folded laundry on the counter. “Or,
well, Gloria did.”

“Gloria?” I said, my heart in a vice, “Is
that your...wife?”

“Not exactly,” Anderson smiled.

“Your girlfriend?” I asked with dread.

“I haven’t got one of those,” Anderson said,
“Gloria is my laundress.”

“Your...laundress,” I said flatly.

“Yes,” said Anderson.

“You have a laundress,” I said bemusedly.

“I hope that’s not a deal breaker,” Anderson
joked.

“Not at all,” I said, grabbing my things,
“I’ll be right back.”

I hurried back toward the bedroom, struggling
to take in the elegance and style of Anderson’s apartment. Any
given item in the place probably cost more than what I made in a
month. How could someone be as well off as this but still seem so
down to earth? Anderson was growing more and more impossibly
perfect in my eyes with every moment we spent together. Most of the
guys I’d dated had seemed perfect at one point, but that perfection
never held up to scrutiny. But with Anderson...something told me
that in his case, “too good to be true” might just not be
applicable. Maybe, just maybe, he was good
and
true.

Maybe you’re just delusional and
desperate
, I thought to myself as I pulled on my clothes once
more. I blushed as I realized that Anderson had probably handled my
intimates when he’d had them washed. I wondered if he had noticed
the state of my panties after we’d been alone together? I hadn’t
been able to fight the warm wetness from growing between my legs as
he tended to my cuts and scrapes the night before. Even his first
aid ministrations had turned me on immediately. Something about the
power contained within his gentle touch was irresistible. I
couldn’t keep from wondering what it would feel like to have those
hands all over my body, administering a very different kind of
TLC.

I shook my dirty thoughts from my head and
went back out to the kitchen. Anderson was dressed and waiting for
me, looking heartbreakingly gorgeous in a pair of faded jeans and a
black tee shirt. I spotted sleeves of tattoos on his arms that had
been hidden the night before. Intricate patterns and designs vied
for attention all across his cut muscles, only adding to the rough,
edgy allure of him. Anderson looked like he had stepped out of a
comic book—even magazine models couldn’t compare to him, the
complete perfection of his form. He looked like someone had carved
him out of marble, from his cropped chestnut curls all the way down
to his perfect calves.

“Shall we?” he said, leading the way to the
elevator.

I nodded soundlessly, too engrossed by his
beautiful physique to formulate words. His sex appeal was
absolutely hypnotic. I followed him as though in a trance, down
through the floors of the building and across the front lobby. A
new doorman nodded to us happily as we took our leave, and I
wondered if Anderson made a routine of having young women up to his
apartment for sleepovers. Someone as gorgeous as him probably
didn’t have any shortage of girlfriends. If we had met under
different circumstances, maybe I would have joined the ranks of his
bedpost notches. But the evening we’d shared, all the confessions
and fears that had passed between us, made me almost glad that I
had been out of commission. Almost.

We made our way out into the city, walking
side by side. As we walked, every eye that crossed our path
lingered on my handsome companion. Women and men alike couldn’t
tear their eyes from Anderson, and I didn’t blame them. I tried to
ignore the fiery protective reaction I felt building within me. I
had no right to be territorial about a man I’d just met, yet for
some reason the wandering eyes that fell upon him were making me
furious.
Simmer down
, I chided myself,
You’re just
friends, after all, you barely know this guy
.

In no time, we were closing in on Joe’s. My
stomach began to churn as I thought about the unpleasant task of
confronting my boss. Joe was awful on the best of days, but given
an excuse to act like an asshole, he would go hog wild.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing onto Anderson’s arm.
We were a few steps away from the coffee house; the exact place
where I’d been attacked was just a few yards away.

“Are you OK?” Anderson asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, “I just think that,
maybe, you shouldn’t come in with me.”

“Why not?” Anderson asked.

“I just feel like my boss is going to be a
bigger asshole if I bring backup,” I explained.

“Why do you care what your boss thinks?”
Anderson pressed.

“Well,” I said, “Cause I need this job, I
guess.”

Anderson looked genuinely surprised. “You’re
not still thinking of working here, after what happened last
night?”