CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (35 page)

“How
often do they have these fights?”

“Once
a month, maybe.”

The
clock counted down the last thirty seconds of the final round as Wolf and Shane
circled each other. They were closely matched. Shane was younger and quicker,
but Wolf was more skilled and stronger. Shannon wasn’t sure who she wanted to
win. She just hoped neither was hurt too badly. As the time wound down, the
level of crowd noise rose.

Wolf
had Shane pinned against the cage, wrestling to get a hold and bring him to the
mat. Shane was evading and finally was able to push Wolf back and move from the
cage to the center. Wolf was immediately after him and before he saw it coming,
nailed him with a spinning kick to the head that brought him to the mat.

Shane
lay there, out cold.

Rusty
grabbed Wolf’s wrist and yanked his arm in the air, declaring the winner.

The
crowd roared.

Shannon
looked toward Shane’s unmoving body, hoping he was okay. As she watched he
began to move, and then pulled himself to his feet. He and Wolf embraced,
pounding each other’s back. When they broke apart, Wolf turned, not toward
Misty, but toward Crystal, his eyes connecting with hers. Shannon looked from
Wolf to Crystal. They were
so
not
done with each other. Then Crystal spun and pushed through the crowd,
disappearing.

On
her left, Angel cheered on Wolf, whistling and clapping, totally unaware of the
subtext of what had just happened.

Crash
moved up behind Shannon. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to
him, murmuring, “She’ll be fine.”

A
few minutes later, Rusty yelled from the center of the cage, “Crash. Green.
You’re up in fifteen minutes.”

Crash’s
arm dropped from around Shannon.

Cole
offered, “Come on, brother. I’ll help you with your hand wraps and gloves.”

Crash
looked down at Shannon, his hands catching both of hers. “Can I get a kiss for
luck?”

She
looked up at him and swallowed. “If you promise not to get hurt.”

He
chuckled. “Oh, I guarantee he’s gonna try and hurt me, babe. You gonna kiss it
and make it better later?”

She
felt his thumbs brushing over the tops of her hands. Her eyes moved over his
grinning face and somehow, like it always did, his teasing humor calmed her
fears.

He
dipped his head to hers, his eyes looking reassuringly into hers. “I got this,
Princess.”

Reaching
up, she slid her hand up his cheeks and pulled his face down, her mouth taking
his. They kissed long and deep until Cole finally nudged him. Crash broke from
the kiss, twisting his head to look back. Cole tapped his wrist, indicating
time. Crash’s head swiveled back to Shannon. She pulled his head down and
brushed his lips again and said, “Win.”

He
smiled and winked at her, and then moved off with Cole.

“Damn,
girl,” Angel broke the spell. “I thought you were both going to simultaneously
combust that was so hot.”

Fifteen
minutes later, Green and Crash climbed into the cage. Both men were wearing
small open fingered gloves. Staying true to his heritage, Green was in long shamrock-green
satin boxing trunks. Crash was in a pair of black compression shorts that
hugged his ass and leg almost to his knee. Shannon had to admit they made his
slim hips and ass look great, but her eyes kept straying to all that bare,
muscled chest, shoulders and arms. He really was quite a sight. The tribal
tattoo scrolling down his rib cage perfectly framed the cut of his abs from the
narrow width of his hips to the broad span of his shoulders.
She wanted to run
her hands over his lean, hard-muscled body.

Rusty
called them both to the center, where he had them touch gloves, and then back
apart. Then he blew the whistle, and the clock started. Shannon studied the two
men as they circled each other, bouncing on their feet and jabbing at each
other. Green was shorter and stockier, his thighs thicker and his shoulders
powerful, but Crash had the height and therefore the reach advantage, with both
his arms and legs.

He
nailed Green with a kick to the head that had him staggering for a moment, and
before he regrouped, Crash hit him with a right hook, followed by a knee to the
ribs.

They circled each other like two predators. Shannon wanted to look away,
but she couldn’t take her eyes off them. The fear began to return. God, she
didn’t want anything to happen to Crash. Could she actually stand here and watch
him receive blow after blow. She didn’t know how Crystal had managed to watch
Wolf fight. It was so nerve-racking, but the girls were surrounding her, giving
her support and showing her that they were there for her.

“It’ll be over soon,” Angel whispered, sensing her tension.

“What if he gets hurt?” She watched Crash. The look in his eyes was
focused entirely on Green. It was a look that said he was determined, focused
on one sole purpose, putting his opponent on the ground and making sure he
stayed there. The scariest thing of all was…Green looked just as determined to
win as Crash did.

The two men moved in and grappled with each other, slamming into the
walls of the cage. Green threw his powerful shoulders into Crash, pushing him
up and back. Crash hooked Green’s leg and Green stumbled, but regained his
footing quickly.

Crash’s body shone with a sheen of sweat, as he hit Green with a fist to
the face and brought his knee up into Green’s ribs. Green retaliated with a
series of blows to Crash’s midsection.

The pummeling went on, back and forth. Shannon had to stand there and
watch it, her eyes continually going to the digital clock ticking down the
seconds. Oh, God. This was only the first round, and she was going to have to
struggle through two more of these. She didn’t know if she could bear it.

Mack strolled over to where Cole stood watching the fight. His eyes slid
to Shannon standing off with the women, and he said to Cole, “You need to stop
bringing in every little lost good girl you find.”

Cole’s eyes cut to Mack. “You got in my personal life once before. I
gave you a pass on that when I shouldn’t have. You get in my business again,
it’ll be you and me in that cage, ‘ol man.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Besides, what’s your problem? It worked out fine for me and Angel. You
don’t always know best.”

“Ain’t worried about you.”

“Crash is fine. He’s got Shannon well in hand. What are you worried
about?”

“We got a lot of shit goin’ down right now. Shit that doesn’t need to
get fucked. And I don’t need her problems comin’ round to bite us in the ass.”

Cole blew out a breath and went back to watching the fight.

Red Dog sidled up to Shannon. Hooking his arm around her neck, he pulled
her close and leaned to her ear. “Have a little faith in your man, there,
darlin’. He’s got this.”

She twisted her head to look up at him. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”

“Crash got his name by throwing motherfuckers through plate glass
windows. He’ll get Green. He’ll get him to the mat, and when he does, the
fight’s gonna be over.”

She nodded, wanting to believe him, wanting this fight to be over. Her
eyes returned to the fight. It was somehow terrifying and thrilling all at the
same time. It was electrifying, gripping and scary-intensity all wrapped up in male
testosterone overload. A brute show of strength, force, brawn and power. A
battle for dominance.

Suddenly, Crash charged Green, getting a hold of his legs, and driving
him up and back, and then down to the mat, where he pinned him to the ground
and brought his elbow down into Green’s face twice in quick succession. Blood
went everywhere.

Crash was able to get in several more punishing hits to Green’s head
before Green broke the hold and was able to scramble to his feet. He staggered,
wobbled, swung.

Crash got him against the cage and punched and kneed him in the gut.
When Green naturally bent forward in protection, Crash was able to get his arms
wrapped around Green’s neck from above, locking it between his bicep and
forearm, pulling Green’s neck up with his arm and hip, a move Red Dog whispered
in her ear was called the guillotine. Green attempted to break the hold by
taking them both to the ground. Crash outmaneuvered Green by wrapping his legs
around Green’s body and keeping pressure on the headlock. Green, being
stubborn, refused to tap out, and it wasn’t long before the choke hold that Crash
had on the carotid artery in Green’s neck had him slipping into
unconsciousness. Rusty blew his whistle, and Crash released Green. Getting to
his feet, Crash’s arm was jerked skyward by Rusty, declaring him the winner.

The crowd roared. Angel and Crystal were jumping up and down, screaming
and cheering. Shannon stood stunned. It was over. He’d done it. Angel grabbed
Shannon’s forearms and shook her.

“He won! He won!” she shouted in Shannon’s face.

One round. Crash had finished him off in only one round! Her eyes moved
from Angel’s elated face to the cage. Crash’s eyes were zeroed in right on her,
and suddenly the rest of the room, the noise, the crowd, it all faded away.
There was nothing but Crash and the way he was looking at her, his eyes boring
into her. And then she smiled at him, and a little grin pulled at the corner of
his mouth.

Crash made his way out of the cage. He poured a bottle of water over his
head that Cole passed to him and wiped his face and chest with a towel Red Dog
tossed to him. While Cole pulled off his gloves, Crash’s eyes searched the crowd
trying to find Shannon. “Where’s my girl?”

His girl. It sounded nice. It sounded right.

Just then she pushed through the crowd, stopping four feet from him. She
was breathing hard, having to have fought through the mob to get to him. They
stared at each other across the space. “There’s my girl,” he whispered, a smile
breaking across his face.

He’d
been denying to his brothers, and maybe if he was going to be honest, to
himself as well, that she was his. That bullshit was over. He wanted to claim
her, right here in front of every fucking one of his brothers and every other
guy here tonight.

Shannon dashed the last few feet, and Crash swept her up, his arms
wrapping around her thighs and lifting her up. She looked down at him and
laughed, “You won! You won!”

“Told
you I would, Princess.” He stared up at her, and the rest of the room faded
away. And then her hands cupped his face, and she lowered her mouth to his, and
he got lost in the sweet taste of her mouth, his head tilting to better fit
their mouths together. His tongue delving inside.

He
could hear the reaction of the guys around him and the crowd enfolding them.
The whistles, the cat-calls. He didn’t give a shit if everyone saw. She melted
against him, making little mewling sounds against his mouth, and every punch
he’d taken, every blow he’d borne had been worth it. Oh, hell yeah, this was
worth fighting for.

Green stumbled from the cage, dazed and looking beat to shit. The look
on his face said he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“Walk it off!” Red Dog growled with a grin.

“You never had a chance, Green,” Wolf advised him with a laugh.

“Yeah. Serves you right for getting in the ring with a man that had as
much riding on the outcome as he had,” Red Dog expanded emphatically as he
handed him a towel.

Green took it and wiped the blood from his face. Frowning, he
questioned, “Why, what did he have riding? He make a big bet?”

Wolf nodded toward where Crash held Shannon. “You’re lookin at the
prize.”

Green looked over, his hand wiping the towel down his chest stilling. “You’re
shittin’ me. Why didn’t you tell me? Christ, I didn’t stand a chance.”

Red Dog and Wolf burst out laughing. Dog turned to Wolf and asked, “I
just made a shit-ton of money on that fight, how about you?”

Wolf grinned back and high-fived Dog. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”

Red
Dog grinned. “Cajun got his ass handed to him, Green got beat to shit…I don’t
know how Christmas is gonna top this.”

Crash let Shannon slide down his body until her feet were back on the
ground. “I gotta go shower and get changed, so we can go.”

She nodded, but her eyes went to his bare chest, taking in his beauty.
My God, he was gorgeous. “I like you shirtless and sweaty. It’s sexy as hell.”

Hunger
tightened his eyes.
“Babe, you say shit like that to me, and we ain’t gonna make it home.”

She gave him a saucy grin. “Oh, I think you’ll manage.”

Cole had moved off to get Angel. As they made their way back to Crash,
Shannon heard Angel yell out her congratulations. “Crash, you were awesome!”

“Hey, Crash! Here. Use my room. Looks like you two aren’t gonna make it
home,” Cole yelled over the crowd, teasing as he sent his keys flying through
the air toward the couple.

Crash’s fist came up and caught the keys in mid-air. He grinned back at
Cole, and then looked down questioningly at Shannon.