Grayson took a deep breath. “So fire me. Leave Dakota out of it.”
He sneered as he shook his thick head. “Oh no,” he said chuckling. “That would be too easy. You’re my new play thing and I want to watch you suffer. You know there’s not much to do up here. I have to make my own entertainment.”
Grayson stepped up to the desk and stuck his middle finger in his boss’ face. “Fuck you. I quit.”
He turned, storming off towards the door when Walter cleared his throat. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers,” he said.
Grayson stopped and turned. “For what? Giving you the finger?”
The rhino shifter held up a stack of papers. “You signed a contract for one year. I’ll sue you for everything you have.”
Grayson laughed at the threat. “Go ahead. I have nothing.”
He shook his head in mock sympathy. “Then I’ll have to go after your mom.”
Grayson’s face dropped. He wouldn’t.
Of course he would.
“Maggy Stevenson,” he said, reading the paper. “Eight months from retirement. Such a shame. The legal bills will keep her working as a nurse until she dies. Imagine the poor woman,” he said, shaking his head. “She’ll be taking care of patients in better shape than her.”
Grayson’s ears were pounding as adrenaline rushed through his body. His mom had done so much for him. He couldn’t let this happen.
“And then there’s your friends,” Walter continued. “Wyatt, Hunter and Jack. I’ll have to fire them. Either that or feed them to the wood chipper. Think their healing can heal from that?”
Grayson’s muscles and veins strained against his skin. He wanted to make this arrogant shifter in front of him bleed.
“No. You’re not going anywhere,” he said, his huge body rippling as he laughed a throaty laugh. “We’re going to have some fun you and me.”
Grayson glanced at the gold belt hanging on the wall over Walter’s head. It was written Ultimate Shifting Champion on it in gold, block letters.
“I’ll fight you for it,” Grayson said.
“Ha!” the rhino shifter laughed. He cracked his sledgehammer sized knuckles. “Be careful what you wish for boy. You just might get it.”
“If I win she gets to keep her job and stay,” Grayson said. “If I lose she’ll leave and I’ll stay. I’ll work in a dress if you want. You can torture me everyday.”
He was staring at Grayson with a light in his dark eyes. He pointed to the belt behind his head. “You see that boy? One hundred and eighty nine fights. And I finished every single one of them. No one even came close. Let alone a pathetic teddy bear.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Grayson said. “And this time you won’t have to stick me in the back like a coward.”
Walter pulled his lips back, baring his teeth. “In two days,” he grunted. “Saturday night Championship fight like we used to do back in the day. The plane will be ready and waiting outside. If you lose she goes on it and you stay with me.”
“And if you lose we both stay.”
Walter smiled as he pulled the stubby cigar out of his teeth and ground it into the ashtray. “Deal.”
nine
“No,” Dakota said, biting her nails. “He almost killed you.”
“Because I wasn’t ready,” Grayson said defensively. “I can take him.”
“How do you think it would be for me to see you die?”
“Probably better than it would be for me,” he said, flashing a cocky smile.
Dakota got up from her couch and walked to the kitchen. She stared out the window at the dry fall leaves about to part from the trees.
“I’m doing this,” Grayson said, from her couch. “I’ll be fine.”
Why did everything have to be so complicated? All Dakota wanted was a simple life with a mate whom she loved. She had finally found it and it lasted about twenty four hours.
“He’s the best fighter that Laughlin City has ever seen,” she said. Leo had told her all of the stories. Many of the shifters that they had dragged out of the cage after facing Walter over the years never woke up again.
“Rhino skin is pretty much bullet proof,” she said.
“I’m not bringing a gun,” Grayson said with a smile.
“A rhino horn can slice through cement.”
“Well then I won’t get hit with it.”
His sexy smile was infuriating.
“It’s already set,” he said. “It’s happening.”
She took a deep breath, trying to soothe her sensitive stomach.
“Leo always closes the bar early on Thursdays,” she said, picking up the phone. If Grayson was insisting on fighting the least she could do was make sure that he was as ready as possible.
“Who are you calling?” he asked.
“Your training partners.”
Dakota hit the fluorescent lights on over the metal, fighting cage. It was midnight and the bar was closed. The bottles of booze stood silently on the shelves like tiny glass guards.
Dakota swallowed hard as Grayson slipped off his shirt. He began shadow boxing around the cage, grunting and flexing as he fought imaginary demons. She watched his body twist and his arms flex with each punch. He was spectacular.
“Hey rhinocerass kicker,” Wyatt said as he burst through the front door. Jack and Hunter came in behind him.
“My punching bags are here,” Grayson said, smiling.
“As long as we’re not your bear’s chew toy,” Jack said. “Go easy on us killer.”
Dakota gave them each a hug. “Thanks for coming guys.”
“Anything for you Dakota,” Hunter said. “And we have to initiate this guy into our little Crew anyways.”
The three of them stripped down to their shorts and stepped into the cage. They shook out their arms and stretched their heads from side to side.
So many hard muscles and me without my camera.
Grayson stood on the opposite side of the cage with his hands up in a fighting position. “Who’s first?”
“Oh no,” Wyatt said. “Walter Cash is not going to play fair and neither are we.”
Jack was nodding. “You’re going to fight all three of us.”
“Pass me that knife,” Hunter said to Dakota. She picked up the butter knife off the table and handed it to him through the links in the cage.
He held it on his forehead, like a ghetto rhino horn. He bent over and ran at Grayson as they all laughed. Grayson pivoted to the side and Hunter ran by him.
Hunter stood up, still holding the knife to his forehead. “Ooohhh this guy is good.”
“Alright enough fucking around,” Dakota said, taking the knife back. She slammed it onto the bell. “Fight!”
“Thanks guys,” Grayson said, waving to his new friends as they walked back to their mobile homes.
I hope I wasn’t too hard on them. It was always hard to hold back the force of his punches once he got going.
Jack was clutching his ribs as he limped away into the night.
They had fought for over two hours, first in their human forms and then as bears. Grayson felt as ready for the fight as he would ever be.
Dakota was still inside the bar closing up. She had set that up for him. She was definitely worth fighting for.
“Thank you,” Grayson said, walking back in and closing the door behind him. “I needed that.”
“You looked good.” She was standing in the cage, mopping up the blood. “There’s a shower in the employee room,” she said.
Grayson went in the back and sat on the wooden bench. There were a few lockers and a shower in the back.
He groaned as he pulled off his shirt. A bit of dangerous doubt crept into his mind as he saw the enormous pink scar on his abdomen. He cringed at the feeling of having that thick horn through his body. He had been fortunate the last time, his shifter healing was just barely able to bring him back from the brink of death. On Saturday he might not be so lucky.
Dakota walked in the room and
stood behind him. She ran her fingers up his back and began massaging his tight shoulders. He groaned as her firm hands rubbed out any stress, any worries. His head drooped forward as her hands worked his muscles.
Her fingers slid down his chest, massaging his pecs. Grayson caressed the back of her hand, held her wrist and kissed her arm. He pulled her down and looked back over his shoulder, kissing her on the lips. He plunged his tongue into her hot mouth.
Her hand kept traveling down and his cock hardened as her fingers brushed over it.
“A fighter is not supposed to have sex in the week before their fight,” she said on his lips.
“Then it looks like I’m going to lose,” he said. He kissed her deeply, pulling her over his shoulder and cradling her in his arms. Their tongues tangled together as he brushed his hand up the inside of her thighs, feeling the roughness of her jeans but imagining the softness underneath.
She moaned into his mouth as he found the apex of her legs, pushing the seam of her jeans into her clit. Fuck she’s hot. He wanted her clothes off. He needed to see her luscious body again. To taste every inch of her.
His bear purred as she climbed off his legs and stood in front of him. She stripped slowly, starting with her shirt. Her tits were huge in her bra. Grayson licked his lips as she unclasped her bra and dropped it to the ground. He pulled out his cock and stroked it as he watched her unbuttoned her pants. Her eyes were fixated on his cock.
She hooked her fingers into her panties and pulled them down with her jeans. She stepped out of them, opening her legs just enough to give Grayson a peek of what was between them.
He groaned as she dropped to his knees. He wasn’t about to let her suck him off before he had a shower no matter how much he wanted to feel those soft lips around his shaft.
Grayson stepped around her, sunk to his knees and gently pushed her down over the bench until her ass was sticking up in the air.
He spread her legs further apart and positioned himself between them. Her pussy was spread open in front of him, her pink asshole in full view. Grayson gripped his cock with one hand and her ass with the other as he pressed forward.
Her long blond hair was draped over her back, the white cowboy hat still on her head. Grayson slowly rubbed the tip of his cock up her moist, pink lips, drawing a moan from her and making her drop her head forward. He licked his lips as he guided the tip of his dick into her hole. She was so soft, so silky, so smooth.
Her tight lips wrapped around his shaft as he slowly pressed forward. Her pussy swallowed his cock, hugging and squeezing every inch as it glided in her.
Dakota moaned as their thighs connected and he was balls deep in her. He grabbed her ass with both hands as he slowly slid back out. His thumb brushed against her starfish and her body shook in a shiver.
She was so tight. So hot. He knew he wasn’t going to last long. But fuck it. He could go two rounds with her.
He picked up the pace, fucking her harder with every pump. She gripped the bench, moaning and gasping with every hard thrust. Her body was so full and curvy. He couldn’t contain it any longer.
He pulled his cock out of her and stroked it, using her slick pussy juices as lubrication. He grunted as he came on her, pumping long streams of come on her back. She looked over her shoulder and moaned as she watched him handle himself.
“I guess we’re showering together,” she said with a grin.
He stood up on trembling legs and guided her to the shower stall. She turned the water on scalding hot and they went in together, kissing as the stream of water washed away his seed from her back.
Grayson squeezed some shower gel into his palm and rubbed his hands together, getting them nice and soapy. He rubbed the suds over Dakota’s breasts as he kissed her.
“I think they’re clean champ,” she said after a few minutes of him rubbing her breasts.
“When you shower with me,” he said, “you’ll have some really clean breasts.”
He squeezed some more shower gel into his hand, ready to touch the rest of her. He moved his hands over shoulders, working his way down her stomach and over her pussy. She moaned and bit her lip as he slid a finger inside her. She still felt tight.
Grayson’s cock was hardening again. He was already ready for a second go.
Her hand snuck down and she stroked him, getting him rock hard under her touch.
He bent down and grabbed her legs behind her knees and hoisted her up in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he spread her legs apart and leaned her onto the tiled wall.
His dick was pointing straight up. He guided her open pussy onto his tip and fucked her, half driving into her with his hips and half slamming her body onto him with his arms.
She screamed his name as the hot water burned his back in a good way. It didn’t take long. It took less than a dozen thrusts before she was clamping down on his neck and screaming that she was coming.
Her pussy tightened around his cock as she released and that was enough to make him follow her. He came deep inside her as she was gasping for air and kissing his neck wildly.
All of his energy was leaving with his fading orgasm. He lowered her back onto her feet. She clutched onto his arm, her shaking legs barely able to keep her up.
They both sat down on the floor, letting the water wash over them. The tile was cold against Grayson’s back but it felt nice.
“We should train everyday,” he said with a smile. His breath was so heavy.
She nodded and lowered her head on his shoulder. “If you fight as well as you fuck you’ll have no problems on Saturday.”
Grayson leaned his head back against the tile, hoping that was the case.
ten
“Hey it’s the fish shifter,” Brad said, laughing as he walked up to the bus stop at the end of the day. Grayson was waiting in line with Wyatt. “Sorry about cock blocking your date the other night. I hope the river wasn’t too cold.”
Grayson just stared back. He was going to shut that family up for good.
“I hear that you’re going to fight my father,” Brad said, trying to hold in a laugh. “I guess you didn’t have enough fun the first time.”
Grayson squeezed his hands into fists trying to release some energy. His inner bear was growling inside, wanting to break free and maul this chump.
“This time I won’t be standing with my back to him,” Grayson said through gritted teeth.
“That’s right,” Brad said with a big smile. “You can watch as he spears his horn through your gut, killing you properly this time.”
“Don’t bet all your money on Daddy,” Grayson warned. “You may wind up a broke man.”
“You’re going to be the only broke man at the end of the fight.” Brad smirked at him and turned away, chuckling to himself as he walked.
Wyatt gave the middle finger to Brad’s back.
“I hate that guy,” Wyatt said in frustration. “How did it feel to punch him in the face?”
Grayson exhaled as he thought about it. “Pretty damn good.”
A tiger shifter walked by. “Good luck tomorrow,” he whispered as he passed.
That had been happening all day. It seemed that Grayson wasn’t the only one that wanted the Cash family shut up for good.
Grayson looked around. A lion shifter made a fist and nodded subtly at him.
He took a deep breath. Win or lose, he was going to give these guys a show.
eleven
“Holy shit!” Grayson said when he walked into the bar. It was packed. No. Packed was an understatement. It was overflowing with shifters.
“Everyone in Laughlin City showed up,” Wyatt said.
“Even the ox shifters are here,” Jack said, pointing to six huge men, squeezed shoulder to shoulder around a table.
The bar quieted one table at a time as the shifters realized who was there. Dakota came squirming through the crowd, looking fine in her tight jeans, low cut red shirt and white cowboy hat.
“I saved you guys a
table up front,” she said, bringing them through the bar.
Every shifter that Grayson met eyes with gave him a subtle nod, a look of respect, a hidden thumbs up. It appeared that all of Walter Cash’s employees liked him as little as he did.
Dakota led them to a ringside table. There wasn’t a better view than here. Well besides the view that Grayson would have: inside the cage.
Walter stood up from his usual table. His arms were the size of barrels, his chest the size of a small car and his chin the size of a cinder block. Man it was going to feel good pounding his fist into it.
“Leo,” Walter hollered. “Let’s get started. I’m not the type of shifter that likes to wait around.”
Leo nodded his black, top hat and flicked on the lights over the cage. Luke shut off the music as Leo jumped into the cage with the microphone.
“Are you ready?” Dakota asked him, looking nervous.
Grayson shrugged. “Please have a cold beer waiting for me after I kick this guy’s ass.”
“I will.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Good luck and please be careful.”
Wyatt, Jack and Hunter wished him luck as they took turns slapping his back.
“Tonight we have a special treat for you shit heads,” Leo yelled into the mic, hyping the crowd up. “Out of retirement…the best fighter that Bar Knuckle has ever seen. The undefeated, unconquered, unbeaten Ultimate Shifting Champion for twenty six years straight; The Deathblow Rhino.”
Walter strutted into the cage to the sound of everyone, except Grayson’s table, cheering. He had brown dress pants on that went up over his belly button and were held up by black suspenders over his white undershirt. Walter raised his thick fists in the air and Brad jumped up and cheered.
“And the opponent,” Leo continued. “With a one and O record in the cage, about to be one and one; The Bare Knuckle Bear.”
The bar was silent except for the clapping and cheering of Grayson’s three friends and his girl. The crowd was afraid to show their support. He walked to the cage, slid off his shirt and shoes and stepped into the cage, wearing only his jeans.
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