The Fighting Series (Books 1-5)

by Nikki Ash

  He licks my wetness off his lips and says, “Woman, you taste unbelievable. I’m going to need another taste of that later. But for now, let’s shower, and by the time we’re done I should be ready to go another round.”

  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I jump up from the bed and follow his tight sexy ass to the shower.

  He turns it on and once it’s warm enough we both get in. I reach for the soap as he grabs my hand and brings it up to his lips to give it a soft kiss.

  “You’re beautiful, Kayla.”

  “You already got me in bed. No need for the compliments.” I laugh it off, but his expression looks serious and it’s making me nervous. I don’t do feelings.

  “You. Are. Beautiful.” He takes my face in his hands and bends slightly to kiss me softly. The water is spraying on us, but because of his height, it’s mostly just hitting his back.

  I wrap my arms around his neck and he grabs me by my ass and pushes me against the wall of the shower. He continues to kiss me with such vigor I feels as though he’s devouring my mouth with his. My body ignites from his touch, making me want more. I’ve never wanted more before. I try to reach down with one hand to find his dick, but he stops kissing me.

  “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me. I’ve never wanted someone like I want you. I don’t ever do one-night stands. What are you doing to me?”

  I don’t answer him. I ignore what he’s insinuating. This conversation has the prospect of getting deep and I’m not about to let that happen. Instead, I tap his hands to let me down. I grab the soap and begin to wash his body, starting from his neck and moving my way down. While I’m washing him, he grabs my nipples and pinches.

  “Hey!” I shriek.

  “Sorry, I thought I was losing my balance. I grabbed hold of the first thing I could to keep me upright.”

  I laugh at his comment, thankful he’s letting the serious shit go. Once I’m done washing him I take the soap to wash myself. He takes the bottle from my hands and then turns me around to face the wall. He massages my neck, and after a few minutes moves down to my arms. It feels so relaxing I let out a soft moan.

  When he gets to my ass, he rubs circles on my ass cheeks and then steps closer, so he can wash between my legs. He brushes his fingers over my clit, causing me to tense up. With his dick poking my back, I know he’s ready. I rub my ass against it to tease him and he groans into my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

  Finding his dick with my hand, I stroke it while he keeps one hand on my clit and the other holds me tight against him.

  “I want you right now,” I whisper.

  He tenses up. “I can’t use a condom in here. Let’s move this to the bed.”

  What the fuck was I thinking? Was I seriously about to let this guy fuck me in the shower without a condom on? Yeah, I’m on birth control, but still. He’s making me crazy. I need to get my emotions in check. This is not like me at all.

  We wash off our bodies, step out of the shower, and before I can even grab a towel, I’m over Bentley’s shoulder being carried to the bed. He drops me on the soft mattress and I get a good look at his wet, sexy-as-fuck body. He sees me checking him out, but instead of calling me out, he climbs up my body and hovers over me.

  He stares at me for a beat and then says, “I don’t know if I’ll ever get enough of you. I might just need to keep you a while longer.”

  “Uh-uh, handsome. Tonight is all we have,” I say, pulling him to him.

  His jaw clenches for a second. “We’ll see about that.”

  Before I can say another word, his lips are on mine. I can feel his hard cock pressing against me and I lose the fight inside me to argue.

  * * *

  When Bentley said, I wouldn’t be able to walk straight for a week, he wasn’t kidding. I wake up to the sound of huffing and puffing causing me to sit straight up, wondering what the heck is going on. My body is stiff and sore like I worked out for hours. Well, technically I did. After the first time Bentley and I made lo—had sex, we both fell asleep, and then he woke me up in the early morning to go another round. The man is insatiable. I’ve never met anybody who can keep up with my sexual appetite, yet he’s given me a run for my money.

  This is the first time I’ve ever spent the night with a guy and I’m hoping he doesn’t regret it. After what happened with Jake, I’ve made sure to never put myself in a vulnerable position again. I choose when and where to have sex and I always make sure I’m the first one to leave. I’ll never be made a fool of again.

  I scan the room to find none other than Mr. Insatiable himself doing pushups in front of the bed. He’s dripping in sweat with his muscles bulging out from the workout.

  “Morning, he huffs out through his pushup.

  “Morning,” I say, stretching my arms and legs. I can’t believe how sore my body is, meanwhile it’s like he wasn’t even affected.

  “Are you feeling okay?” he asks with a small laugh, jumping onto his feet like it’s nothing. Damn him. He must have seen me wince when I stretched.

  “I’m just fine. Thank you very much.” I glare at him and it just causes him to laugh harder.

  He bridges the gap between us and kisses me softly on my lips. This kiss is simple and sweet and it makes my heart thaw a little bit more. I lean in, wanting the kiss to continue, but he pulls away. I give him a small pout, making it clear what I want, but it only causes him to smile brightly.

  “Woman, didn’t you get enough last night and this morning? I don’t want to break you. So, what are we doing today?” His question makes my heart soar and that scares the ever-loving shit out of me. I haven’t even known Bentley for twenty-four hours and he’s already tearing down every wall I’ve worked so hard to build up. The wall that keeps my heart safe. That keeps guys from getting in and hurting me. The same wall that needs to remain erect to keep me safe.

  “Whoa there, buddy. Who said anything about us continuing this today?” I give him a smirk and wrap the sheet around me to use the bathroom. He might have seen all of me last night, but it’s a bit different once everyone is sober and the sun has come up.

  He follows me to the bathroom, but I close the door before he can make it in. I don’t care how close we got last night, we’re never going to be close enough that I’m comfortable going pee in front of him—or any man for that matter.

  Through the door, I hear him say, “I heard you and your friend say you’re here for the next week. My boys and I are only here until tomorrow, but I was thinking we could chill until then. My boy Coop is staying with your friend anyway.” Hmm… speaking of my friend, I need to text her and make sure all is well. I definitely don’t want to rain on her hopefully no longer virginal parade, so I decide it won’t hurt to chill with Bentley until he leaves. It’s not my usual M.O., but I can take one for the team—or in this case for Liz’s vagina. I just need to make sure to keep him at a distance.

  I flush the toilet, wash my hands, and open the door to see Bentley standing right in my face. I already know I’m going to hang out with him, but I decide to mess with him a little. I love getting him all riled up.

  “Um, well, I’m going to first go and see what your friend Kaden is up to, and if he isn’t available, I might consider chilling with you.” I shoot him a playful wink as I walk past him to get dressed. It’s then I remember I only have my dress from the club. I find his shirt still on the floor, so I throw it on with my underwear and head out the bedroom door.

  Before I know it, I’m in the air over his shoulder. “Woman, don’t test me,” he says as he playfully smacks my ass. I yelp and tell him to put me down, but he ignores me as he carries me like a sack of potatoes out to the main room.

  Kaden is in the kitchen making some coffee. When he sees me he starts laughing. Luckily Bentley’s shirt is so big on me my ass isn’t showing. He puts me down when we reach the coffee pot and Kaden offers me a cup of coffee. I take it with a smile and pour some cream and sugar into it. I imagined the morning after would be awkwa
rd, but with Bentley it’s not awkward at all. It’s like we just click.

  “So, what are we doing today?” Kaden asks nobody in particular.

  “Have you talked to Cooper?” Bentley asks as he takes a bottle of water from the fridge and downs it all in one long gulp.

  “Yeah,” he says, smiling at me. “He said he’s staying with Liz until we have to go. I’ve never seen him like this before. You would almost think the guy wants something other than—”

  Bentley quickly cuts him off before he can finish his sentence. “Yeah, well, let him enjoy it because in twenty-four hours he’ll be on lock down.”

  Lock down?

  “What kind of lock down are we talking here? Is my best friend his last screw before he gets married? Is he about to go to prison?”

  Yeah, yeah, I know we should have thought about this before leaving with guys we don’t know, but c’mon… we’re young and dumb.

  They both laugh and Bentley says, “No, is that how you view marriage? Being on lock down? He’s going to be working for his dad when we’re done here. His dad is a dick. He might as well be going to prison.”

  I nod, but don’t ask any more questions. As long as Liz is safe then it’s not my business, and the fact is in six days Liz and I will be on our way across the country to the kickass apartment my parents are paying for in exchange of me going to college like a good little girl. I have no idea what I plan to major in other than partying, but if my parents are going to foot the bill and it means four more years of no responsibilities, I’ll take it.

  “So, fellas, who here is going to go downstairs to the gift shop and get me some shorts and a shirt so we can go get some grub?”

  Kaden puts his hands up in protest and laughs. “I’m not the one getting laid, so I sure as hell am not playing errand boy.”

  Bentley smacks him on his chest and says, “I’ll go down and get you an outfit while you jump in the shower. I was thinking of going surfing today. If you want, I can grab you a suit and you can chill on a blanket under an umbrella and watch.”

  Chill on a blanket and watch? Oh, boy, does he have another thing coming to him. He’s got this girl here all wrong. I’ll let him think what he wants, though, and when I tear him apart in the water later it’ll be that much more satisfying.

  “Sure,” I say in a sweet voice, knowing he’s going to be shocked to learn there’s more to me than a blond chick in a tight silver dress. “I’ll jump in the shower and then we can go grab something to eat and then head to the beach, but would it be okay if I joined you in the water?”

  He looks over at Kaden and furrows his eyebrows unsure of how to respond. Clearly, he’s used to girls like Liz who would rather watch with a book in her hand then get in the water and have fun.

  Kaden gives him a shrug and says, “We can get you a board so you can paddle around. If it gets to be too much you can always go back to the shore.” It’s taking everything in me not to laugh at these guys. It’ll just be that much funnier when they realize I’m not that girl.

  After we finish eating breakfast, we walk down to the beach and head to the hut that rents and sells surf gear. I send a quick text to Liz to make sure she’s okay, and when she says she is, I let her know I’m going to chill with Kaden and Bentley until tomorrow. She texts back a happy face. Yeah, I bet she’s happy.

  Bentley picked me out a blue and white bikini, which is cute but totally not doable if I’m going to be surfing, so I grab a wetsuit to throw over my bikini and rent a board. Bentley offers to pay for my stuff, but I’m not having it. I don’t like to owe anybody anything. That goes right along with my feelings on love. The guys are looking kind of confused and it just makes me laugh even harder to myself.

  We grab our boards and walk down to the area where people are allowed to surf. Because of the crazy weather lately off the coast, the waves are rolling in, not as high as I’d like, but anybody who surfs knows even the small waves can be amazing. Kaden and Bentley stick their boards in the sand and I can tell they’re gaging the surf, trying to decide what the sets look like in front of us.

  While they’re doing that, I stretch to loosen up my muscles. Surfing can be hard on the body. Paddling out really works the upper body, so I make it a point to focus on my arms, shoulders, and back. I look a little over to the left and see some of the guys I’ve surfed with several times. I don’t want them to see me yet because they’ll give away my secret.

  “C’mon, boys! There’s no time like the present. Let’s get out there and surf.”

  They both look at me and laugh, but I don’t wait for their response. I grab my board and head to the water.

  “Kayla, wait up. Why don’t you watch us first and then we can walk you through the basics?” Bentley suggests, looking a little worried. I can tell he isn’t at all trying to be condescending because the fact is he has no idea of my surfing capabilities. However, there is no way I’m going to sit on the sidelines and watch them surf.

  “I’m just going to paddle out with you guys so I can observe from up close.”

  I drop my board into the water, lie down on the deck, and begin paddling out. I look over at Kaden and Bentley and they’re right behind me. When we get to the back, I sit on the deck, spreading my legs out around the board, and check out the sets.

  Being out here feels freeing. If you’ve never surfed, it’s hard to understand. Surfing is an experience. It’s about the next wave you’re going to catch because you always want more, always crave more. It becomes an addiction, and at the end of the day, you might be tired and sore as hell, but it still feels amazing.

  I see the guys from earlier paddling out and know if I don’t catch a wave soon they’re going to out me. Without saying a word to Kaden and Bentley, I wait for the next set of waves, and when they come, I charge for the wave and begin paddling my ass off, pop up, and take the drop. It’s hard to describe what my mind goes through while I’m riding the wave. Beforehand, my mind is all over the place. Once I paddle out, my mind only thinks of a few things, but once I’m riding the wave, my mind is clear, and the only thing I can think of is contentment. Before I experienced love, I would have described it as such, but once I experienced the toxicity of love, I would never again associate surfing with love. Surfing isn’t like pathetic ever-changing emotions. It’s concrete and it’s life.

  I get to the shoreline and wait for the guys to meet me back here. Bentley goes first and he’s decent. He pops up and rides the wave to the shore without wiping out. Kaden is clearly not as good. He tries to take a larger wave and completely wipes out. Bentley gets to the shore while I’m still laughing at Kaden.

  “Well, aren’t you just full of secrets?” he says through his laughter.

  “You didn’t ask.”

  He saunters up to me, grips my wetsuit in his hands, and he pulls me close to him until our bodies are flush against one another. His mouth attacks mine with such force it’s just not painful. I’m learning that Bentley is an extremely passionate individual. He doesn’t seem to do anything half-ass. Every time he kisses me he gives me all of him. His tongue slips between my lips without asking for permission. He just takes what he wants. My hands go up to his neck and I hold on to the back of it while he continues to assault me in the best way possible.

  I don’t see Kaden and the guys approach, but when I hear one of the guys yell out, “What’s up, Wahine!” I push Bentley away. His brows furrow in confusion like he isn’t even aware that we were just making out in front of an entire audience. I never do shit like this. This guy is totally getting under my skin.

  When Kaden and Bentley realize the guys are referring to me, they both raise their eyebrows. I don’t give them an explanation though. I just nod to the guy. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing much… chilling and surfing. What are you doing with these Bennies?”

  Before I can answer, Bentley asks, “How do you guys know each other?”

  “Wahine is a local and a bitchin’ surfer in case you haven’t n
oticed. We all see her at different events and competitions. She’s a cool ass chick.”

  Bentley and Kaden look at me in shock and I bite my lip to stifle my laugh.

  “All right, well, it looks like the sets are picking up so we’re gonna get back out there.”

  The guys all say their goodbyes and then take off, leaving Bentley, Kaden, and me alone.

  Kaden asks first. “What the hell is a Wahine? And why did he just call us Bennies?”

  I smile big. “A Wahine is a female surfer. I’ve been surfing most of my life. I live across from the beach. Liz and I have been friends since we were five years old, and she’s spent her life watching me surf while reading a book from the shoreline. A Benny is someone who’s not from around here. When you live on the beach you know who’s local and who’s not. I’m not from Miami, but I surf all over.”

  “Will you marry me?” Kaden asks with a straight face, and for a second I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate until Bentley punches him in the arm causing Kaden to bark out his laughter. Oh, thank God, he was kidding!

  “If she’s going to marry anyone, it will be me.” And now I really am about to hyperventilate because for a second I can imagine myself spending my life with this man. I haven’t known him long but the little I do know of him already has me addicted. This isn’t good. Addiction is need and need leads to commitment and commitment leads to marriage, and you don’t base a marriage off any of those things because they’re all emotional, and emotions change, leaving you heartbroken. I know all of this already, but for some reason when I’m with Bentley, all my sensible thinking goes flying out the window.

  Bentley wraps his body around mine. I feel so protected and… I’m not going to use the L word because it’s not possible, but I feel something and it scares me. I move out of his arms to get myself together.

  “All right, boys. The tides won’t stay like this forever. Let’s do some more surfing.”