The two bats collided, cracking Grayson’s bat and sending rough vibrations through his hands. The impact cracked the bat but he had blocked the blow.
Grayson rolled to the side and got to his feet. No more fucking around.
He had to beat this guy for Dakota. It was all for Dakota.
He dropped the broken bat and stalked forward with a new resolve. His face was fierce and tight. His fists felt like they could punch through cement.
Walter swung the bat at Grayson as he stepped back. The bear shifter dodged it easily and pressed forward.
Walter swung his bat again. Grayson’s hand shot out like a snake’s strike and caught the bat. He yanked it out of his opponent’s hands and tossed it behind him.
No more weapons. They were going to settle this with fists.
Walter struck out with a right hook, like a wounded and cornered animal. Grayson stepped in, avoiding the punch, and cracked him in the jaw with a left hook. He followed it up with an overhand right, which sent Walter stumbling backwards. This time Grayson didn’t let up. He pressed forward landing punch after punch on his boss.
Every punch sounded like the crack of an ax slamming into a tree. Every punch felt like a car crash.
Dakota cheered as the rhino collapsed to the ground. He fell backwards with a thud. His eyes went hazy as his hands dropped to his sides.
The bat was lying on the broken floorboards within reach of Grayson. He could pick up the weapon and end the threat to himself and his mate for good. One more hit to the head would finish him off and kill the old rhino shifter.
He exhaled and kicked the bat away. It clanked as it bounced across the cage.
Walter was still lying there, breathing heavily and dazed. He was groaning and unable to get up.
The bell rang.
“Fight is over,” Leo yelled as he unlocked the cage. He swung the door open and raced in, grabbing Grayson’s wrist and raising his bloody hand over his head. “The winner!”
The bar erupted in cheers as the winner was announced. Dakota rushed into the cage and kissed Grayson’s cheek. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in close.
Luke stepped into the cage, holding the championship belt as Brad screamed at the cheering crowd. “You’ll all be fired!” he threatened.
The lumberjacks didn’t quiet down. Grayson had knocked out some of the fear of the Cash family. They weren’t so impenetrable after all.
“Presenting the new undefeated Ultimate Shifting Champion,” Leo hollered as Luke wrapped the belt around Grayson’s waist.
Walter had pulled himself up to a sitting position and was staring at his former belt around the bear shifter’s waist. He had a sad look of longing on his face.
Grayson had done it. His friends and him still had jobs and more importantly, Dakota would get to stay.
His sexy cowgirl mate kissed him on the lips, pressing her big breasts into his chest. “My hero,” she whispered as the crowd went nuts.
fourteen
Grayson woke up with Dakota’s arm wrapped over his stomach and her face resting on his ribs. Her mouth was open and she was drooling on his skin.
“I love you,” he whispered to her even though she was deep in La La Land.
He looked down at all of his new scars on his body. That was a fight that he would remember forever. He had the mementos all over his skin to remind him in case he forgot.
He had a large pink scar on his right palm that matched the one on his stomach and his leg. He flexed his fingers open and closed, his hand as good as new.
It had been painful but it had all been worth it. He would get to wake up every morning with this angel in his arms. He leaned over and kissed the blond hair on top of her head. She moaned as she stretched and woke up.
She looked up at him with tired eyes. “Are you okay?”
He smiled. He felt great. Grayson had always healed fast. Even for a shifter.
Grayson leaned in to kiss her. She pulled her mouth away.
“What is it?” he asked in panic. Did he do something wrong?
She scrunched her face up. “I have morning breath.”
He smiled. “I don’t care.”
“You say that now,” she said, slipping out of the bed and running to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
He followed her in and grabbed his toothbrush.
“Hurry up,” she said, squeezing toothpaste onto his brush for him.
“Why?” he asked. “We have nothing to do today.”
“You have something to do,” she said, with a smirk.
“What?”
She smiled. “Me.”
They brushed their teeth in record time and ran back to the bed, slipping under the covers and enjoying their sexy Sunday together.
She was definitely worth fighting for.
epilogue
Three months later…
Dakota walked through Bar Knuckle feeling like she was walking on a cloud after the news this morning. Her eyes darted to the door. Every time it opened she looked over, waiting for him to enter.
She sighed as three gorilla shifters walked in, muddy from work.
Dakota glanced at the clock on the wall behind the bar. Should be any minute now.
“Dakota, three beers!” a mountain lion shifter yelled from a couple tables over.
“What’s the magic words?” she asked.
“Please.”
“Wrong,” she answered shaking her head. “Big tip.”
Luke had the beers ready on the bar as she approached. “I better be the Godfather,” he said with an eyebrow raised.
Dakota ran her hand over her stomach. It didn’t feel any bigger.
“Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “I’d like the Dad to know before all of Laughlin City.”
The squeaky hinges on the door creaked and her head whipped over to the sound. There he was. Grayson walked in with Wyatt, Jack and Hunter close on his heels.
His dark eyes found her immediately and his handsome face broke out into a delicious smile. He winked at her, making her cheeks blush, and they headed to their usual table against the wall.
Dakota glanced at Walter’s table. The old rhino shifter nodded to Grayson. A deep respect had formed between the two men after their vicious fight. Mr Cash had held up his side of the deal. Dakota had gotten her job back and Grayson had kept his position. He had even got promoted two weeks ago, to the horror of Brad. Grayson was one of the fastest lumberjacks that Cash Loggings had ever seen.
Brad was still bitter. He stared at his beer with hatred in his eyes. He hated the fact that this Grayson came into town, got the girl that he was after, beat him up, beat up his father and was now working at the logging site as his equal. Grayson had bested him in every way possible.
Dakota dropped off the three beers at the mountain lion’s table and had to keep herself from running into the arms of her mate. She loved seeing him after a long day’s work.
His shoulders were still coated with flakes from the falling snow outside. She walked up behind him, brushed them off and hugged his neck.
She couldn’t wait to tell him. He was going to be the father of her child. If he was half as good at being a father as he was at being a mate than she had one lucky kid cooking in her belly.
“Meet me in the bathroom,” she whispered in his ear.
“Ohhh lucky guy!” Jack said.
Apparently she hadn’t whispered low enough.
“Oh shut up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “I need him to fix the toilet.”
“Sure, sure,” the three guys joked.
“I’ll go get your drinks,” she said like a school teacher, “and when I get back make sure your minds are out of the gutter.” She winked at Grayson who had his head turned to watch her walk away. She added some extra sway in her walk for his viewing pleasure.
She ducked under the bar and sank down to her knees to reach four cold beers in the back of the fridge.
“Did you tell him?” Luke
asked, sliding up beside her.
She shook her head. She glanced back at the table when she stood back up with the beers. Grayson’s chair was empty. She shoved the beer bottles into Luke’s chest. “Bring these to his table.”
She was gone before he could protest. She ducked under the bar and ran down the hallway to the women’s bathroom. She burst through the door and Grayson was leaning against the sink waiting for her with a sexy smile.
She jumped into his arms and laid a big, fat, juicy kiss on his lips. “I’m pregnant.”
He squeezed her biceps and held her out at arms distance while he studied her face to see if this was some kind of a cruel prank.
“You’re pregnant?” he whispered. A slow smile was breaking out across his face.
Dakota nodded. “We’re pregnant.”
“Yes!” he cheered as he pulled her into his arms and squeezed her so hard that she let out a grunt.
“Sorry,” he said in a panic, releasing her at once. His eyes dropped down to her stomach. “Did I hurt the baby?”
She chuckled as she rubbed her stomach. “Don’t worry. I’m sure that he or she is a tough one.”
He kissed her lips again and hugged her gently. Dakota felt weightless in his arms. She was truly happy.
Just her, her mate and the little cub cooking in the oven.
the end
***Keep flipping for the first chapter of the next book in the series: Bare Knuckle Grizzly
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No Cliffhanger. HEA.
Grizzly bear shifter, Hunter Stevens, has just bonded to the newest waitress at the Bar Knuckle. She is curvy and beautiful and the younger sister of one of his best friends. But when his friend Jack says that his sister is off limits he might be in for some trouble.
BBW and bear shifter, Brooke Jones, is on the run from her abusive ex. She’s hiding out in the secluded Laughlin City with her over protective brother and his buddies. She’s enjoying herself and becomes more than just friends with Hunter when she’s awaken from her dream and her worst nightmare comes true.
Brooke’s life is thrown into chaos when her past catches up to her and threatens the safety of everyone she loves. Hunter and his Grizzly bear will have to step in the metal cage and fight for a mate who he is forbidden to be with.
So get a glass of wine and a quiet spot! This one includes fighting and graphic sex. 18+
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Book Three. No Cliffhanger. HEA.
Skyler Cash is back in Laughlin City, the place that she swore she would never return to, and she has her hands full. She is a female human in a town full of male shifters, her brother is trying to steal the family logging company from her and a hot rugged werebear has inexplicably bonded to her. The smart move would be to return to her comfortable life in New York City but she feels that she owes it to someone to stay.
Jack Jones is in love. His black bear has bonded with the sexy new human in town, which makes him, and his friends, targets from her multiple enemies. But what is a bear shifter do? Walk away from his mate? Well that ain’t going to happen.
When the new town boss, and Skyler’s brother, Brad decides that he wants Skyler out of Laughlin City there is only one shifter who can step in and help her out. But Jack may lose everything for his mate, his friends and for himself when he has to step in the cage and face an opponent who will fight dirty and do whatever it takes to win the company and send Skyler away for good.
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Standalone Paranormal Romance book (HEA. No cliffhanger)
Mason is an action star on the tail end of his career and the good roles are getting as scarce as his disappearing paychecks. His agent wants him to date his hot coworker Gisella to boost his image but his bear has other plans when he bonds with Joni, the new intern on the set of his latest blockbuster movie.
Joni is a self proclaimed dork. Well actually, everyone else proclaims it. She is thrilled when she gets a job on the set of a movie featuring Mason Maloney; her lifelong crush with the perfect abs that she's drooled over since puberty. But will she be able to handle it when the hot bear shifter unexpectedly turns his attention on her?
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Once Upon a Shifter contains ten sexy, steamy and fun romance shifter novellas (and one full length novel) by some of your favorite, and some new, PNR authors.
The perfect way to spend a quiet day now that the little kiddies have gone back to school!
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Chapter One of Bare Knuckle Grizzly:
one
Brooke traced her fingertip over the gash carved into the wooden bar as the pretty waitress with the white cowboy hat and pregnant belly walked towards her.
“What can I get you hun?” she asked, with her hand on her hip.
Brooke folded her hands in her lap. “Something fruity,” she said, scrunching up her nose.
“Fruity?” she asked with a chuckle. “You’re in the wrong bar. We have beer, whiskey, scotch or more beer. If you want fruity I can add a maraschino cherry. But I’m warning you now they may be expired.”
“I’ll take a beer,” Brooke said with a shrug. “Hold the cherries.” She didn’t like beer but it didn’t matter. She was here to meet someone. Not to drink.
The curvy waitress opened the beer and placed it in front of Brooke. “What brings you up to Laughlin City?” she asked, eying her funny.
By the looks of the bar it didn’t seem like they got a flood of women traveling up here. The almost empty bar was the ultimate man cave. From the fighting memorabilia on the walls, the shitty rock music playing over the scratchy speakers and of course, the huge metal fighting cage in the back.
“I came to visit my brother,” Brooke said, picking at the corner label of her beer. She wasn’t going to tell a stranger the whole reason behind her sudden visit.
“Who’s your brother?” the stocky bartender asked, coming out of nowhere. He was shorter than his coworker in the cowboy hat. He had a wiry smile that lit up his handsome face.
“Jack,” she said, “Jack Jones.”
Brooke was excited to see her brother. She hadn’t seen him in two years. She just wished it wasn’t under these circumstances.
The Hitman's Baby: A Standalone Bad Boy Romance Novel Page 22