UNBROKEN: A Bad Boy MMA Romance (Midwest Alphas) (Book 2) (2 page)

***

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen Rick’s face in a crowd since the night of the tournament last year. It happens in the most unsuspecting of places. The grocery store. A restaurant. Even my dreams. No matter what I do, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s watching me, waiting for me to let my guard down or change my mind and return to him.

I won’t. Obviously. I made my choice. I chose his cousin over him; a better man in every way imaginable. Rick was that first cigarette, the one you try because everyone else is doing it and you don’t want to feel left out. It’s fun, exciting, but ultimately makes you feel sick and leads to something more dangerous once the innocent taboo isn’t enough anymore. He was cruel, but knew how to hide it until the bruises on my face became impossible to conceal.

That’s when my mother and stepfather sent me away. I thought it was to punish me for bad behavior. I’m sure it was from my stepfather’s perspective. Thomas always hated me from the moment we met. He wanted to send me away from the very beginning. When I got snatched up by the cops, it gave him the perfect reason to finally go through with it. But my mother… I think her motive was very different.

The more I think about it, the more I see that she didn’t send me away because of my drug problem. She sent me away because of my Rick problem. We’re step-siblings, for one, but more importantly, he was hurting me and she wanted it to end.

I hope to return the favor someday.

My stepfather’s brother, Charlie, took me in. I hated him, at first. He was the antithesis of me at the time; the old warden hell-bent on making my prison life as miserable as humanly possible. No phone. No internet. Not even the radio. Just myself, him, and our daily “chats” when he forced his advice down my throat.

If I had known back then what I know now, I would have taken his advice more seriously.

It was his son, Tobias, who opened my eyes. He made me feel loved in ways Rick never could. He made me realize that I was
worthy
of being loved. He taught me how to stand up for myself and protect my body from harm. He saw something in me that I never thought to look for and now, I kiss him every day in gratitude.

He’s my
Alpha
.

I lean against the door of Amy’s sports car and stare across the parking lot of the club. It’s been over nine months since we’ve come back here to St. Louis. Christmas has come and gone. Spring has done away with the snow and ice. It’s the start of summer and it feels like it’ll be a cold one. I hold my jacket a little tighter around my body. My eyes glance down the alleyway between the club and the warehouse next door. It looks abandoned from the outside, but the warehouse actually houses one of the bloodiest arenas in this region of the United States. Lillian Tombs’ Midwest Alphas come to do battle here in exchange for the promise of wealth and glory. It’s where Tobias earned his
Alpha
title — along with the scars where
Pike the Punisher
plunged a metal shiv into his side. Rick held me at knife point and made me watch as they attempted to murder the man I loved in front of hundreds of people.

So yeah. Seeing Rick’s face in crowds makes me feel a little uneasy. I blink and he’s gone. He’s all in my head, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about it.

“Claire, are you okay?”

I look up and see Tobias smiling at me. “Yeah,” I tell him. “Just tired, I guess.” My eyes wander over his shoulder and land on the parking space we stood in after the tournament fight. I wonder, if I went over there now, if I’ll see his dried blood still lingering on the dark pavement.

“Claire.” Tobias lays his fingers beneath my chin and moves my eyes towards his. “I know what you’re thinking about.”

“No, you don’t,” I say too quickly.

He raises his brow in amusement. “I will admit… being back here freaks me out a little bit, too.”

“It does?” I ask.

“Getting stabbed kind of taints a place for you.”

His lips curl into a smile, but I don’t laugh at his joke. Tobias could barely walk for weeks after that, although he kept a tough front and pretended that Pike didn’t hurt him as much as he did. He’s fine now. Or he’s just gotten too good at hiding it.

Despite Tobias’ protests to a hospital, Charlie immediately drove us to the nearest one in St. Louis after what happened. By some miracle, the small shiv managed to miss every major organ, but left behind a cruel scar that gives me shivers every time my fingers accidentally slide over it. When the doctor asked how it happened, I choked up, unable to come up with a decent lie, but Charlie immediately said it was an accident involving farm equipment.

Charlie never asked any questions about it. His daughter, Mary, died earlier that day. Charlie probably thinks Tobias got hurt going after the man he thought was responsible for it. In many ways, the assumption is correct, but I dread the day he’ll ask me to fill in the blanks for him. Thankfully, he hasn’t yet.

“Have I made a mistake?” I ask.

Tobias takes a quick breath. “By joining the Alpha Dames?”

“I feel a little over my head…” I mutter.

“You’ll be fine,” he says. “Amy will teach you everything you need to know.”

A chuckle catches my throat. “I wasn’t expecting you to be so supportive of it.”

“Claire, I’m always going to be supportive of what you want to do,” he says. “I might prefer it if you
didn’t
join the Dames, but I’m not about to stand in your way either.”

“You always say the right things,” I smile.

“I’m a talented man,” he jokes. “Claire, you want this. I can tell. It might be difficult for you now, but I have a feeling that when the tournament officially starts next week, you’ll look back and laugh at this.”

“Think so?” I ask.

He steps closer to me. “Would I lie to you?”

I don’t have to answer. I push myself up onto my toes and lay a soft kiss on his lips. “I mean,” I say, gazing into his green eyes, “if
Amy Jones
can handle it, I’m sure I can, too.”

He chuckles and kisses me again.

“Handle what?”

I look behind us to find Amy gliding across the lot with a thin layer of sweat caked across her brow. “Nothing,” I say. “You ready to go?”

“Reluctantly, yes,” she sighs. “I’ve forgotten how much I dig city guys…”

“Why not just move out here?” I ask her.

“And leave my district in
your
hands? No way,” she smirks. “No offense.”

“None taken.”

“Anyway…” she begins. She reaches up and pulls her tattered blonde hair back into a lazy ponytail. “I’m starving. Let’s grab a bite on the way out of town.”

As we all pile into her tiny sports car, I take one last cautious glance around the dark parking lot. Unlike Amy, I never have any intention of moving up here. I’ve spent enough time attempting to leave my city girl lifestyle behind. The time I’ve spent in St. Louis has been brief but the memories I’ve gathered here have not been pleasant. Tobias taking me to meet Mary in the hospital. Pike nearly attacking me at the gas station. The final tournament fight that left Tobias bleeding and dying.

I think I’ll stick to the small town charm of Charlie’s farmhouse.

Two hours in her cramped car and I breathe a soft sigh of relief to see the farmhouse shining in the darkness.

“Goodnight, Amy,” I tell her as Tobias assists me out of the car.

“Goodnight, you two,” she says. “I’ll contact you soon. We have to make some field trips.”

“Field trips?” I ask.

“Well, if Tobias here isn’t competing, then
we
have to find new
Alpha
-potential,” she says.

“How do we do that?”

“Patience, my young birdie,” she jokes. “You must first learn how to spread your wings before you can fly…”

I chuckle as she drives off, leaving a trail of white powder behind her on the dark gravel road.

“Basically,” Tobias begins, “you’ll drive around to nearby cities and go to boxing clubs, gyms — anywhere you can find fighters and you’ll recruit them with the promise of big money and underground fame.”

I blink. “Why didn’t she just say that?”

“Because she’s Amy,” he answers with a smile.

I fill my lungs full of the chill summer air. A weight has risen off my shoulders, a feeling that I’ve only experienced at the farm lately. Even when Charlie and I take quick trips into town, I can’t relax. I can’t keep the hairs on the back of my neck from standing on end until we come back and I see the house and the barn and the cows grazing in the fields.

“Claire?”

“Hmm?”

“You still tired?”

I look at Tobias with smiling eyes, knowing exactly what he’s thinking. “No,” I answer.

He licks his lips. “Good,” he mutters as he reaches for my hand. “Because… I’ve been watching you move all night and I
really
need to do something about it.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Could you possibly be any more
vague
?” I tease.

“I want to bang your brains out.”

“Well, that’s less than subtle...”

He yanks me inside the barn and slides the door closed behind us. Our lips touch immediately and I taste the passion on his tongue. His hands are on me in seconds, fishing beneath my shirt to feel the smooth skin between my abdomen. I lean back against the closed door and let his breath rush across my neck as he makes his way down my body.

He raises my shirt over my breasts, wasting no time getting me undressed. I laugh with him. Each kiss he lays on my skin fuels my nether and by the time my pants are on the ground, I’m throbbing for him.

Tobias stands and holds me hard against the wall. His green eyes burn with desire for me. I can barely look away from him. This is how it always is with Tobias. He looks at me like I’m the last girl on the planet. I’m special, beautiful, and worth protecting at all costs; a sacred treasure for him alone to claim.

And I relish in letting him do it.

His lips fall to my neck again and I feel his hand slowly moving down my body, hovering barely an inch above my skin. Goosebumps rise to meet his touch as he goes, each one connecting us with a tiny bolt of lightning. I bite my lip to hold back my moans. It’s late, easily after midnight. There’s little chance of Charlie hearing us all the way out here, but I don’t want to take any risks. He’s been supportive of our relationship so far, but I don’t know if he knows how fast we’ve gone. I know for a fact he wouldn’t want us fooling around in the barn like this, but when
Tobias the Untouchable
wants your body, there’s little one can say to dissuade him. Not that I want to either.

I twitch as his fingertips slip beneath my panties. Tobias knows exactly how to touch me. I smile for him and pull his face closer to kiss him. I remember our first time together and how his deep, loving voice told me not to worry.
I’ll take care of you,
he told me. Suddenly, all my fears melted away and it was just him, myself, and infinite pleasure.

He slides a thick finger inside of me and my fingers clench onto his black suit jacket. A moan passes my lips, the sound wrecking my throat as he presses my spot in the most perfect way. He silences me with a kiss and penetrates me over and over again, willing my body to do exact as he wants it to do. I open my eyes to find him staring at my face, studying my expressions. My mouth opens. I want to say something witty or sexy, but he slides a second finger inside. It destroys my intent to speak and he chuckles softly at my pleasurable torment.

Tobias takes his wet fingers and moves them onto my throbbing bud. I sigh against his lips as he leaves slow, firm kisses on mine. His teeth rake across my bottom lip and he gently pulls at it with his kiss. My mouth waters. My entire body begs for more of him. He’s got me right where he wants me; clinging tightly to him as he lures a climax out of me with only a finger. I unclench from his jacket and reach down with one hand towards his firm manhood. He groans through a kiss as I unzip him fast and wrap my small fingers around him. I tease him with tight, slow strokes, urging him to rub me a little faster. His lips curl as he does exactly what I want.

I moan a little louder as his fingers take me. I breathe faster, my entire body pulsating with sexual urge. I’m so close and he knows it. He eyes me carefully, easily pinpointing the exact moment of my climax. I bite my lip, ready to fall off the edge, when he pulls his hand away from me. I yelp with devious passion as he leans down to grab my rear and pull me up. I open my knees for me, allowing him to hold me against the door. I feel utterly weightless in his strong arms. He takes his manhood and guides it inside my wet and willing slit.

I tremble against him and my passions overflow. The orgasm crushes me the instant his tip burrows inside. I inhale deep, ready to shriek with pleasure, when he clamps his eager mouth around my lips. I moan into his mouth and hold him close to keep from falling apart. He bucks his hips, thrusting me over and over again, sending bolts of desire throughout my body. I feel every inch of him inside of me, filling me how I deserve to be filled. His big, green eyes watch with devious fascination. He enjoys bringing me to my fall. He enjoys controlling me with the tips of his fingers. His thickness swells, but his eyes tell me he’s far from finished with me.