Undisputed (The Undisputed Series Book 1)

by Aaron L Speer

  Robert shrugged. “Sex sells. And women—and a few guys, I suppose—want you. Damascus is hoping they also want to buy cars.”

  Owen held up a hand, tired of this, getting his keys out. “Look, I’ll fulfil my contract. I’ve said my peace. I don’t care if it’s two million or thirty. I still wouldn’t think it’s right. So sue me, I just want to fight. I know that’s only part of the game, everyone does. This here is too. I just want to ‘get in bed with someone’ that doesn’t think of me as a commodity or a celebrity. Makes me feel I’m worth more, not less.”

  Robert held his son by the shoulder. “Just calm down. I know. If you find one, keep em’ and let me know.”

  Owen nodded and shook his father’s hand before getting in the car and driving back to the one place he wanted to be, as crazy as it was.

  Once out of the elevator, he paused outside his front door, key out. He hadn’t messaged or called on the drive back. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to force her. He was playful in his requests for her to stay though he really did mean them. It shocked and surprised him how much he wanted her to still be in the apartment. He was only in Sydney for one more day, and the thought of not spending more time with Tegan bothered him more than it should. What also bothered him was the thought of potentially opening the door to find she had gone.

  * * *

  Tegan turned to the door at the sharp, steady knocking. Who the hell would be there? Maybe a package? She went to the door to find no peephole, so she opened the door a tiny crack. A second later she opened it completely.

  “What happened, you forget your keys?” she began to laugh but was stopped short by him crossing the threshold and holding her face still, bringing himself in for a deep kiss. His mouth traversed hers with varying degrees of pressure, tasting her lips, nipping her tongue with his own.

  She responded by cupping his face and opening her mouth wide, allowing his tongue complete access to hers. She heard the door slam from his quick heel kick and an instant later they were on the floor. His hands slid up her ribs to gently squeeze her breasts, and his mouth moved to her neck, his warm tongue leaving trails along its entire length, pecking it with soft, wet kisses.

  A surge of adrenaline shot through Tegan, and she found herself almost groaning as one of his hands found its way between her legs. She had worn no underwear for this reason, and without thinking, she gripped him by the hair and held him up. She used every ounce of strength and leverage to roll over so that she was on top of him. She wanted him naked, but there was no time, in her mind at least.

  She pulled his shirt to above his stomach and unbuckled his jeans. She slid them and his underwear down to his ankles, smiling as his cock whacked his stomach the instant it was free, before standing straight and hard. But her mouth didn’t go there. Instead, she gripped it as her tongue swirled his balls, licking the crease, going from left to right. Kissing each of them, she looked up to find his eyes closed, his face slightly tense, as if trying not to make a sound.

  So…he loved his balls being licked. Hell, most guys did. But it wasn’t enough to make him cum right there, which was what she wanted. Just like he did to her last night. Payback. Time to get creative.

  “Look at me,” she whispered.

  His eyes opened and looked down, locking with hers. She did not blink as she gave the centre of his sack, long, yet delicate flicks with her tongue. She wanted him to see her doing it. She wanted him to watch as she placed a hand between her legs, working her clit so that her fingers would be bathed with her own lubrication. When she removed them, she gently ran the tips down his shaft, coating it in her own juices. She opened her mouth but was stopped by a gentle touch on her chin.

  “Hey,” he said, looking from his dick to her mouth. “What about me?”

  It took a second to understand, but when she did, she almost didn’t have to touch her clit to get herself flowing. She knew what he wanted. Her hand disappeared between her legs again, inserting fingers into herself, and this time, when she came up, she didn’t place them over his dick. She let him suck them.

  Still keeping eye contact, she leant her head to the side and softly sucked the head of him. Every few seconds, she would feed him more of her. Every time he saw her play with herself, his dick gave mini twitches and pulses. As her head bobbed, she couldn’t take all of him, but took most.

  Her fingers made their way down past his ball sack to his arse. Her mouth engulfed his cock as she plunged herself down. She timed it perfectly. Just as the tip hit the back of her throat, she curled the tip of her finger into him.

  His cum flowed out of her already full mouth a second later. He hadn’t made a sound nor movement except for lowering himself from his elbows to his back. His eruption didn’t pop like she was used to. Instead, he flowed, like a relief or gently turning on a tap.

  “That is not fair,” he sighed.

  Tegan swallowed what was left in her mouth and used a finger to bring in more. “All’s fair in love and war.”

  “And what’s this?”

  She gave him no answer but a small curved smile and bent down to kiss him. “This is Teegs saying, can we get something to eat? I’m starving.”

  “You could’ve had something here, you know.”

  “First, I would obviously never ever raid your fridge. But, in saying that, in an unrelated topic, dude, you have, like, kale and quinoa in your fridge. Celery and all that.”

  “But you didn’t raid my fridge,” he smiled.

  “No. No, of course not. That would be weird.”

  He sat up and put his pants back on. The way his arms contracted, and the muscles of his body clenched just from the simple movements, maybe kale wasn’t so bad after all.

  “Pizza?”

  “Awesome.”

  “I’ll leave my card for you.”

  “Wait. You’re leaving again?”

  “Yeah. There’s, um, something I have to do.”

  A wave of emotions hit Tegan all at once. Why did he come back if he just had to go again? Did he even owe her an explanation? Was this his life? Or was it just because he was in town for a short time? But something even more powerful hit her. Concern. Something in his tone.

  “Hey,” she said, touching his face. “You OK?”

  “Yeah, it’s just something that happened this morning at the contract signing. I think I overreacted. Made a big deal over nothing.”

  He told her about the events of the morning: the pay dispute, the underlying sexism. “I think it’s nice you stood up for them, not many would. But really, I can see where the sponsor guy is coming from. You’re the big kahuna. So, you should get the big bucks. The girls, as long as they’re not paid a pittance, should be fine.”

  “It’s just, it made me think of someone...someone I have to see before I leave.”

  “OK, but Owen I don’t think I can stay here while you go, again.”

  “Actually, why don’t you come with me?”

  Tegan took a second before answering. “If you want me to...”

  “I’ll get changed, then we’ll head off.”

  He stripped off right there, showing her, again, how good he looked naked as he changed into the most innocuous outfit. Sweatpants and a hoodie, which he pulled over his head, complete with aviator sunglasses. He obviously didn’t want to be recognised.

  “Where are we going?”

  He held out his hand. “Royal Hospital for Women.”

  Chapter Six

  The drive wasn’t long, but it was made to feel that way by the silence on Tegan’s part. She figured if Owen didn’t want to tell her who they were seeing, there had to be a reason, and she’d find out soon enough. He had also been on speakerphone for the majority of the trip, trying to reach hospital security.

  He was requesting access to a secure parking station only VIPs could access. No general public. He finally got through all the rigmarole just as they reached the entrance. He lowered the window, then his glasses, to show the guard at the gate
who he was. The guard talked into his shoulder radio and was obviously given permission to let them in, which he did.

  There were plenty of spaces, and they parked right in front of the one available elevator.

  “Who are we going to see?” she finally asked, as the elevator shot up to the top floor.

  “The closest thing I’ll ever have to a sister,” Owen said, looking straight ahead. “After my mum and my dad split, I lived with my mum most of the time. My dad still kept fighting for a year or so on the road, but I got to see him on weekends unless he was travelling to fight. He was living with one of his old flames and her daughter. After he retired, he eventually got his own place, but I stayed in touch with Olivia and her mum. Her mum passed away a few years ago, but Olivia and I never lost our connection.”

  “What’s she doing in here?”

  Owen sighed as the elevator slowed. “Months ago, she won a huge contract at her design firm as part of a duo team. When she found out her male colleague was getting most of the credit and incentive bonus, she naturally freaked out. It wasn’t long before she was fired and blacklisted from other jobs as she was seen as a troublemaker. She spent all her savings taking them to court but got nowhere. She hit rock bottom hard. Drinking. Pills and whatnot. I never knew how bad things were until I found out some of the people she had been getting her gear off had beaten her and left her for dead. That was a month ago. It’s the only time I’ve ever broken my training camp to fly over here. No one knew. Not even the media. I’ve been paying for her recovery and psych evaluation.”

  “Evaluation? Is she a suicide risk?”

  “No. They thought her delusions would stop when she detoxed. But she maintains a woman in armour found her in the park and brought her to the hospital.”

  “Well, I suppose that’s a bit weird. But, in her state, she could just be getting confused. The woman might have been wearing a sparkly dress?”

  Owen smiled. “No, she meant armour. She ‘flew’ Olivia in her arms to the hospital ambulance dock and left her there when nurses saw her.”

  “And I suppose the nurses didn’t see anyone?”

  “Nope. Nobody but Olivia. They rushed to her and stabilised her. She’s been here ever since.”

  Tegan followed Owen through the hall, four doors down to the right. It was a private room, not unlike any other you would find. Olivia lay dozing in her bed, her face still adorned with various injuries and degrees of dark bruises. Owen took the nearest seat to the bed and gently brushed her hand with his fingers.

  Olivia woke rather quickly, and her eyes found him. “Hey, Gaz.”

  “How you feeling?”

  “Like two million dollars,” she replied, coughing a touch. The voice was sleepy and calm, yet after a few seconds she perked up. “They wouldn’t let me see your fight, even on TV. I had to wait for them to tell me. Congrats—Oh, I’m sorry. Who’s your friend?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I should’ve introduced you. Liv, this is Tegan.”

  The smile and small wave Tegan got seemed really warm and genuine and the tiny “Hi,” reinforced that. She seemed like a really nice woman.

  “So,” Olivia said. “Who do you think you’ll fight for the title?”

  “We don’t have to worry about that now. I have to win my next match first.”

  Olivia dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “You know you’ll win. Hell, everyone does. They might as well just skip it and go straight to the title fight.”

  “There’s a fine line between overconfidence and cockiness.”

  “I can tell you now; you’ll be fighting Diaz for the belt. Absolutely LFC.”

  “Sorry, what’s LFC?” Tegan asked.

  “Living Fucking Certainty,” Olivia smiled.

  Tegan nodded with a smirk. “So, why do you think Owen will face that guy?”

  “Ricky Chozen is a good champion, but Diaz will slaughter him. The guy is an animal. If it wasn’t for the court case, I don’t think anyone would’ve beaten him. He’d still have the belt now.”

  “Wait a sec, Diaz...” it came back to Tegan. What Fiona had told her in the crowd at Owen’s fight. “He killed someone, right?”

  “Yes, he did,” Olivia replied fiercely.

  “It was an accident,” Owen interjected.

  “Bullshit,” Olivia replied. “You’ve said that before, but you’ll never make me believe it. He knew exactly what he was doing,” she turned to Tegan as she explained. “It was almost the end of the second round. Andrew Craigie was the opponent. Craigie was out on his feet; he could not have gone on. The ref should’ve stopped it, but it was one of those split-second things. Diaz cracked him across the head with a kick and Craigie hit the wall of the Cage hard. On his way down, Diaz kneed him straight to the head. More than once. When he was down, Diaz was on top of him pummelling him with straights to the temple, even as the ref was pushing him off. Diaz won, and Craigie never woke up. Died in the hospital two hours later, surrounded by his wife and his little boy.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “From then on, there were lawsuits, allegations of steroid use, questions of whether criminal charges should be laid. It was chaos,” Owen said, adjusting to sit cross-legged in the chair.

  “It also continued the famous Heavyweight Curse. No fighter has managed to defend the title three times in a row, and I think only five have defended it more than once. Owen’s division is the most high profile. Getting to the top is too difficult for a lot of them but staying there is impossible. The big problem is that when Owen fights Diaz for the belt, it will be his first title defence since winning it back.”

  Tegan’s head was spinning since being reminded about the death of the fighter Andrew Craigie. “So…what does that mean?”

  “If history is to be repeated, Owen will lose.”

  There was a moment of silence that fortunately was broken by Owen. “Since when are you a believer in that stuff?”

  “Since my misfortune.”

  For the first time, Tegan saw a look of anger cross Owen’s face. “It wasn’t a misfortune. You got yourself into a shitty situation and are lucky to be alive.”

  “I know, and I’m more than grateful. Every day,” she said, absentmindedly reaching under her hospital gown for a chain and fingering the pendant.

  Owen brushed his pants just before sighing. “Well, I’ll ask the nurses how you’re going. Hopefully, you can be out of here soon and move into the apartment I’m renting at the moment. Back in a sec,” he said to Tegan.

  When left alone, surprisingly, Tegan found herself at ease talking to Olivia, though a slight sense of nausea came over her. The same as she felt at Owen’s meet and greet.

  “You really like him, huh?” Olivia asked.

  “I... Well… Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.”

  “Just…please don’t break his heart. He’s had a few flings and quite a few lovers but never anything serious. He’s always been alone.”

  “This isn’t like that. We’re just hanging out. I know nothing about fighting but happened to meet up with him after his match, and we hit it off. That’s all.”

  Olivia sat up straighter. “Hun, we grew up together. We email at least once a week, and he tells me everything. If you don’t feel anything more for him, that’s fine, but I think we both know he likes you.”

  Tegan swallowed at her words, and the jolt of joy that came with them, then shrugged. “He’s leaving tomorrow morning. Not much time for declarations of true love and happy ever afters.”

  “And yet, he still brought you to meet me. When I’ve met none of his other persons of interest over the years. Not one.”

  Tegan’s head swirled again. She needed to carry on a conversation, as that helped distract her. But not about Owen. Something else. Anything else. “Hey,” Tegan said, noticing the pendant fully for the first time. “Owen has that same red ‘V’ good luck charm.”

  Olivia looked down at her chest. “It’s def my good luck charm. It saved my life that night. I have no dou
bt.”

  But what she meant by that, Tegan would never find out. Owen stuck his head in the room just at that moment.

  * * *

  “Do you feel better for coming?” Tegan asked, walking out onto the outdoor terrace of the smoking section.

  “It was good to see her. I’m glad I came, but I don’t feel better. I won’t until she starts acting normal, enough of this being saved nonsense. Trouble is, when I leave here, I’m in training. So, I have to push her out of my mind. It’s just... I can’t help but think back to that fucking contract signing. All that was going through my head was ‘What if this is what Olivia went through? What if she had to stand in a corner while others sat and decided what should be done with her future, how much money she was worth?’ I don’t blame anyone for the choices she made just before being attacked. She was stupid and made a mistake. Loads of them. We all have. But what started it infuriated me today. It all came rushing back. Yet, again, I have to bury it.”

  “Because you can’t be distracted during training,” she said.

  “That… And because I don’t want to ruin my last few hours with you.”

  She touched his face gently with a hand that he, in turn, kissed. “Enough of this depressing bullshit. It’s boring,” he said, standing up straight. “Let’s play a game. Before I leave, each of us gets one request from the other. The rule is you can’t say no. Deal?”

  “OK. You go first.”

  “I want to go back to your place. Right now.”

  “Mine? My apartment? But—”

  He held up a gentle finger. “Ah... You can’t say no, remember?”

  “Babe, your place is a Hilton compared to mine.”

  “So?” he asked, running his thumb along her bottom lip. “I don’t notice anything besides you anyway.”

  Tegan couldn’t suppress a small smile. “That’s either the best pick up line or the worst. I just don’t know about you, mister. You strike me as one of those types that just want to do things to me in my bedroom.”

  Tegan was playing, and they both knew it. But what he said in return wasn’t playing. She knew he meant every word, leaning in slowly to kiss her neck as he spoke, “Not just your bedroom. There’s the front door, the hallway, the couch, the dining room table, the kitchen...”