The Undisputed Series (Complete Series)

by A. S. Teague

  I smacked his hand away and followed it up with a slap on the arm. “Have you lost your mind?”

  It was Ryker’s turn to groan and he flopped onto his side as he threw an arm over his eyes. “You’re no fun.”

  I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me and agreed, “You’re right, I’m the biggest buzzkill in existence. And you know, I’m totally okay with that. Because, you know what I am?”

  He dropped his arm and looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Tired?”

  “Ding ding ding. We have a winner.” I snagged the glass of wine from the bedside table and took a swallow. “And do you know why I’m tired?”

  He rolled his eyes at me and changed the tone of his voice in an attempt to mimic me, “Because you have three children that are beautiful and precious and also a trio of assholes?”

  I smirked. “Well, would you look at that… You can hear me when I talk. If only your hearing wasn’t so selective that you could hear when I ask you to take the trash out.”

  “I hear you ask. I just forget to do it,” he replied. “You’re not the only one who’s tired.”

  I wasn’t trying to make it a competition of who worked harder. Because, honestly, he would win.

  Ryker worked harder than any man I knew. And that said a lot, because my brother Tripp and our best friend, Breccan, were the two hardest working men I’d ever known.

  The three of them were the co-owners of Team Undisputed, a mixed martial arts training gym with three locations. Running a business, especially one with more than one location, was grueling work in and of itself. But we never did the bare minimum when it came to anything, so not only did we have these gyms that trained world-class fighters who all held the top spots in various weight classes, but we also ran a program for youth in every one of our locations as well as did charity fundraisers at least twice a year.

  Ryker oversaw the youth programs and it was a job he took very seriously. So, no, I would never win the “more tired” competition. “I know I’m not,” I told him softly as I rubbed his muscular bicep.

  He grinned. “So, that mean we’re gonna make a little Ryker?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. We’d had this fight off and on for the last two years. Although, we’d never really talked seriously about it, nothing more than me telling him to fuck off and him grinning and promising he would wear me down eventually.

  But I supposed a Tuesday at 9:45 p.m. was as good a time as any to finally put the issue to bed. No pun intended.

  I took another large swallow of wine and then set the glass down and angled my body toward my husband. As I sucked in a deep breath, he murmured, “Here we go.”

  “Ryker,” I started.

  “Doll,” he countered.

  “No more babies.” I knew that eventually we were going to be shouting at each other, but still, I made an effort to keep my voice gentle.

  “You know I love my princesses.” He pulled my hand in his. “But I want a son. I want someone I can beat up in the cage. Toss a football to. Not want to die when he asks about condoms.”

  I squeezed the fingers that were laced through mine. “You can do all of that with the girls. Cinny would gladly climb in that cage with you. Hell, she would probably kick your ass too.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s a wild one.”

  I nodded. “And I bet sweet Hattie would love to throw a ball with you. And let’s just be perfectly honest here. Ellie’s not going to ask you for condoms. That child’s as mischievous as they come. She’s gonna be stealing them from the store and we will never even know.”

  His eyes widened, the mere thought of his little girls having to do anything with condoms making him go pale. “Please, do not ever say one of my babies’ names and the word condom in the same sentence ever again.”

  I laughed. “Ryker. They are going to have sex one day. Ellie, Hattie, and Cinny are going to grow up, become women, meet men, and have sex with them.”

  He was shaking his head, his eyes pleading with me to stop talking, but I refused.

  “Don’t be a caveman. This is the twenty-first century. News flash: women have sex. And every woman on this planet is some man’s little princess.” I patted his cheek. “You’ll be okay, honey.”

  He swallowed hard and I continued while I had him rendered speechless. “I know you’d love to have a son. I would too. I grew up with two brothers. I rarely played with dolls. I don’t think I owned a pink article of clothing as a child. And don’t even get me started on all the tiny girl toys that impale my feet on a daily basis.” I slid down in the bed and came to rest on my side so we were face-to-face. “But, baby. I can’t have another kid. I’m too old. I’m too tired. And we are just too damn busy. I barely keep up as it is. And you want to throw another child in the mix?”

  He pushed up on an elbow and grasped my shoulder. “I’ll slow down at the gym. Hand over some of the responsibility. Take more time off.”

  “No, you won’t.”

  He nodded emphatically, his head bobbing so hard I was worried it might fall off his shoulders. “I will. I’ve been thinking about letting Mickey take over the training program anyway.”

  “No, you haven’t.”

  “I have.”

  “Ryker, you are so full of shit! I heard you talking to Tripp two days ago about adding more classes!”

  He cut his eyes away and mumbled, “Dammit.”

  I grasped his chin with my thumb and forefinger and brought his face back around to mine. “No more kids.”

  His eyes dimmed, a sad resignation reflecting back at me and for a moment I almost considered changing my mind. “You’re serious?”

  I pressed my lips together. I wanted to give him everything he wanted. There was damn near nothing I wouldn’t do for the man who had pursued me relentlessly all those years ago and had given me the gift a life worth living.

  Unfortunately, this was the one thing I just couldn’t do. I smiled sadly. “I am.”

  He jerked his chin and his gaze left my face to focus on something behind my head. He stared at whatever it was for a mere moment before clearing his throat and looking back at me. A sly smile spread across his handsome face as he said, “Well, just because we aren’t making another baby doesn’t mean we can’t still practice, right?”

  “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” I griped as I leaned forward to brush a light kiss across his lips. But the moment our mouths connected his tongue swept across my lower lip and he wove a hand through my hair.

  I opened my mouth, inviting him inside, and he wasted no time accepting, his tongue melding with mine, a slow and sweet kiss that caused a fire to build in my belly. The fingers in my hair slid down the column of my throat and he tipped my head back, changing the angle and with it, the intensity of our kiss increased, and our tongues moved in tempo together.

  I moaned into his mouth as his hand continued to slide down my body, his fingers quickly finding the elastic of my panties. With a quick flick of his wrist, they were gone, leaving me bare to the cool air. Just as fast as he rid me of my undergarments, he covered my body with his, the fabric of his boxers a thin barrier between his desire and mine.

  I arched my back, pressing my breasts against him, his wiry chest hairs against my smooth skin. Pulling my mouth from his, I locked my gaze on his eyes and whispered, “Somehow I can never tell you no.”

  He chuckled, the flame of desire dancing in his eyes. “You tell me no all the time. I’m just good at convincing you otherwise.”

  When his hips rolled, I moaned, my lids fluttering shut. “Why aren’t you inside me then?”

  His lips ghosted across my cheek, causing my nipples to harden, and I pressed against him once more. He pressed his length against me. “I thought you were tired,” he teased.

  My eyes opened into narrowed slits. “You better be careful. I’m not too worked up to stop now.”

  His hand snaked down to where we were nearly connected, and he ran a finger through my f
olds, slick with need. “Liar.”

  I moaned and tugged at the leg of his underwear. “Take these off already.”

  It took only a moment for him to oblige my request and a second after that to slide home, his length stretching me with one fluid motion.

  We began to move in rhythm, neither of us needing to instruct the other, both of us knowing each other so well that all we needed to hear was the catch of our breaths and moans of pleasure.

  Ryker’s head turned, and his mouth captured mine while his pace quickened. I grasped his shoulders, holding on as his rhythm became more and more frenzied, his strokes coming harder and faster.

  Breaking free of his mouth, I moaned, “I’m almost there.”

  His lips found their way to my neck and he lavished kisses up the column of my throat until his warm breath was at my ear. “That’s it, baby. Let go for me.”

  With those words, I exploded, my body quaking as the waves of my orgasm washed over me, his rhythm never wavering and the moment my last spasm left my body, his took over.

  He let out a groan as he planted himself deep inside and it was my turn to whisper into his ear, “Yessss. Come for me, baby.”

  Both of us spent, we lay there still connected, Ryker’s body still covering mine as he held his weight above me on his forearms. With a sigh, he kissed my temple, his lips soft as they lingered. “I love you so much, baby,” he murmured as he pulled out of me, rolling to a side. “If you don’t want any more kids, I’m on board, one hundred percent.”

  I turned to face him and draped an arm across his abs. I pressed my lips to his bicep and let my eyes drift closed. “I love you, Ryker Hawke.”

  Chapter Two

  Ryker

  I knew Rebecca didn’t want any more kids, but selfishly, I’d held on to the notion that I could convince her otherwise. After all, I’d managed to get her to go out with me when I was nothing more than a broke bastard. Of course, she didn’t know it at the time, but that was beside the point.

  I couldn’t blame her for not wanting to have one more go at the whole baby thing. She was right, not that I’d ever tell her that. We had too much going on. She was busy running a charity empire while I was killin’ it training boys to be world class fighters. Both of us doing all of that while raising three precocious little girls.

  We were the Beyonce and Jay Z of the MMA world.

  So, yeah, I was disappointed. But I wouldn’t have traded a minute of our life together and all that it was for ten sons.

  I pulled my phone out to send her a text telling her just that when I saw she’d beaten me to it.

  Doll: We have a damn good life, you know that?

  I grinned at the message as I typed out a response.

  Me: Yeah, we do. We also have a damn good sex life.

  I was chuckling to myself when I felt a pat on the back. Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I turned to see Breccan standing behind me.

  “Yo, man, what’s up?” I asked.

  He squeezed the back of his neck and blew out a breath, the look of concern written across his face causing me to hold my own breath. “Look, I hate to do it, but we are going to have to cancel tonight’s training sessions with the boys.” He looked away for a moment and then retrained his focus on me. “We may have to cancel more than just Wednesday sessions actually.”

  Confusion washed over me. “What are you talkin’ about?”

  “Johns and Brick just told me they are changing camps. Looks like they are taking a few guys with them. That leaves Mickey to run the classes by himself. I can’t have him doing classes five days a week. He’s gotta train too.” He frowned and his brow furrowed as he shouted, “Fuck. This is not what I fucking needed today.”

  “This is bullshit,” I snapped. I pushed a hand through my hair. “Let me think a minute.” I began to pace, my eyes trained on the ground. “Okay, I’ll take over some of the classes. What about Tripp? Can we pull him over to do one of the days? If I take over Wednesday for the next few weeks, Tripp can do Thursday and that’ll give Mickey a couple days off.”

  I nodded, more to myself than Breccan as I worked through the schedule in my head. Rebecca was going to kill me, but she’d understand. I’d bring the girls to class with me, giving her a chance to get some of her own work done without them. “Yeah, this will work, man.” I concluded to Breccan.

  He shook his head. “I dunno, man. Reb’s gonna be pissed if you tell her you’re gonna be stayin’ at the gym even later.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s for the kids. She won’t be able to say no to the boys.”

  Breccan shrugged. “I don’t know if even that’s gonna be enough, but it’s your funeral, man.” He looked over his shoulder and shouted, “Mickey. Get over here.”

  Mickey stopped the treadmill he was running on and grabbed a towel, mopping his face as he made his way over to where we were standing. “Hey, boss, what’s up?”

  As Breccan launched into explaining our newly formed plan, I pulled my phone from my pocket and steeled myself to tell Reb about the change of schedule. I pulled up my texts to see she’d responded to my last one while I was talking to Brec.

  Doll: Just remember that the next time you start thinking about more kids. They really cramp our sex life.

  Damn, that woman and her valid points.

  I started to call her but decided I wouldn’t be able to hear her yelling through a text message and opted to let her know I would be late getting home tonight that way. It was the coward’s way out, but my ear drums thanked me for taking that route instead.

  Me: Doll. I know how much you love that we work with the kids, right?

  I sent the message and immediately she responded.

  Doll: What is it?

  “Here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself as I typed out the response.

  Me: several of the guys just quit on Breccan. I’ve gotta take over Wednesday night’s training classes. Starting today.

  The typing bubble popped up and I held my breath as I waited for her response.

  Doll: I’m not even going to pretend like I don’t want to kill you right now. You know I have a charity event in two weeks!!!! I have a meeting with the caterer that I’ve already rescheduled twice. If I don’t make tonight’s appointment, he’s going to take back his discount! Or worse, quit. And you know Gram’s got Bunko tonight. What am I going to do with the girls?

  I held the phone toward Breccan. “You were right, man. Pretty sure I’m gonna get home to changed locks tonight.”

  He shook his head and grinned. “There’s a cot in the locker room you can sleep on.”

  “Thanks for your generosity, asshole,” I grumbled.

  I turned my attention back to my phone, where the text bubble was still going. She was busy tearing me a new one. I needed to do damage control and quick.

  Me: Babe. Chill. I got this.

  Doll: The only thing you got right now is a date with the couch.

  Me: Bring me the girls. They can hang out here while I teach the class. It’ll be fine.

  Doll: I’ll be there at 4:30.

  Me: Have I told you lately that you’re the most amazing woman I know?

  Doll: You’re still sleeping on the couch tonight.

  I chuckled as I slid the phone back in my pocket and headed to the locker room to change. She’d cool off by the time I got home. And if she wasn’t, the flowers and wine I was going to take home would get me back in my own bed.

  “Daddy!” Cinny shouted as she flew through the doors of the gym, her blond hair streaming behind her. “Daddy! I wanna beat up the boys!”

  The grin I was sporting stretched wider as she launched herself into my arms. I loved all my girls fiercely, but Cinny was her daddy’s girl and I couldn’t help but have a soft spot for the tomboy who was a carbon copy of her mama.

  Hattie and Ellie trotted in alongside Rebecca, Hattie with her thumb in her mouth and Ellie bouncing on the balls of her feet.

  The girls had all grown up in the gym,
and it was as comfortable to them as our own house, but Cinny was the one who wanted to always be a part of the action. The twins were more into dolls and makeup and immediately they went to their mama’s desk to pull out the markers and princess coloring books she had stashed in there.

  A snort piped up from one of the boys behind me. “Isn’t she too old to be sucking her thumb like a baby?”

  I stiffened as Max shouted, “Hey, Hattie. You need a diaper too?”

  I watched as Hattie’s face fell, her eyes welling with tears. When the first one spilled over, my head came close to exploding as I spun and pinned Max with a glare. “Hey! What the hell is your problem?”

  His eyes widened, but he quickly covered the fear with defiance. “What? She’s a baby. Only babies suck their thumbs.”

  “Enough, Max!” I thundered, stalking over to where he was standing with the other boys, getting ready for their class. The two kids on either side of him shuffled away as I got closer, their eyes as wide as saucers.

  Instead of clamping his jaw shut like he should have done, Max crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin. “Or what?”

  I couldn’t have been any more shocked at his behavior, the outburst so unlike the fourteen-year-old kid I’d been helping train for the last six years.

  I’d first met Max when he’d come in with his class, a small eight-year-old kid Rebecca had taken a liking to. His mother had died a few months prior to that and his father was struggling with the loss. He’d shown a lot of promise and talent, but they’d been unable to pay for the classes, so Reb had paid out of her pocket under the guise of a special scholarship.

  These days we did offer scholarships to kids who had talent, and Max was still one of the recipients. But, over the last few years, he’d started getting into trouble at school. It had never bled over to the gym. He’d always been dedicated and focused on doing well with us.