by Jenika Snow
The Underground
Something Fierce
Tristan Holloway is in desperate need of a roommate. When Kash Alexander comes into her life, she doesn’t expect to have a roomie that towers over everyone else, is covered in tattoos and pierced, and has perpetual scuffed-up knuckles. But there is something dark and deadly that lurks below the surface that makes up Kash, and she is drawn to him.
When she stumbles upon an underground cage fight, the last person she expects to see is Kash, especially within the cage. The way he fights, dirty and raw, should have Tristan running the other way, but instead she finds herself enthralled.
As if that one night sets into motion everything else, Tristan finds herself involved with Kash in every way possible. The only problem? Kash isn’t interested in a relationship. With a battered past that haunts him, and a future that threatens Tristan’s life, the only way they can overcome it all is together.
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 46,586 words
SOMETHING FIERCE
The Underground
Jenika Snow
EROTIC ROMANCE
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www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
SOMETHING FIERCE
Copyright © 2013 by Jenika Snow
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-356-9
First E-book Publication: February 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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DEDICATION
Don’t be afraid to go after what you want.
SOMETHING FIERCE
The Underground
JENIKA SNOW
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
When Tristan’s house came into view she felt her brows draw over her eyes. The small moving van took up most of the driveway which forced her to park on the street. The front door was open and the screen propped open. It took her a solid minute before she snapped out of her confusion and got out of the car. When she saw her roommate Zac come out of the house with a large box slung over his shoulder everything around her faded away.
That fucking bastard!
His head was turned over his shoulder, so he didn’t see her staring at him dumbstruck. That fucking little twerp thought he would just skip out on her? She had left work early because she didn’t feel particularly good, and now she could see why her sixth sense had been going into overdrive.
“Hey, baby, make sure to pack up the gray towels in the bathroom. Those are 300-thread-count Egyptian.”
Baby? Who in the hell was he talking to? When he turned his attention forward and his eyes landed on her, he froze. She could see the color of his face drain slightly before he regained his composure. Anger started to seethe within her and her hands were balled into tight fists at her side.
“Hey, Tristan. I didn’t think you got off for another four hours.”
She gritted her teeth in rage. “That much is clear.” Coming out of her house in nothing more than a pair of daisy dukes and a cropped tank was a girl that didn’t even look like she was of drinking age. When the harlot saw Tristan she stopped, looked at Zac, and then dragged her gaze back to her.
“Just put that in the truck, Missy.” Zac didn’t take his eyes off of her as he directed his newest conquest.
“What in the hell is going on?” It was obvious what he was doing, but confusion still swirled within her. “You are skipping out on me? Without so much as a fucking phone call?”
Zac heaved a large sigh and then started moving toward the truck again. “Listen, this is why I didn’t want to tell you I was leaving. You get so pissy about shit like this.” He shoved the box into the truck and turned back to her, his hands now on his hips.
To think she had found the asshole even remotely attractive. There he stood, his shirt hugging his body, a body that she had just been pressed against two nights ago, with a condescending look on his face.
“I can’t believe you would stoop to this.” As the realization of what was going on really sank in, her fury intensified. “Rent is due soon. What the hell am I supposed to do about that?” He shrugged his shoulders and headed back into the house.
“That’s not my problem anymore, babe.”
Her teeth were sure to break if she kept gritting her teeth. Zac had been only a roommate when he first moved in over a year ago. Things had slowly escalated between them, until one night they found themselves naked and in bed together. They had no relationship, not in anything but the biblical sense, and Tristan preferred it that way. Zac was not boyfriend material, not with his self-absorbed attitude and metrosexual ways. When she saw Missy head back into the house, she marched forward, shoved the girl out of the way, and made her way inside. It was clear he had replaced her in his bed, but that wasn’t even what pissed Tristan off. The sneaky bastard was just going to run out on her knowing she could not afford this place on her own.
She watched him grab a few more things before walking by her like she didn’t exist. Her mind had conjured up a shitload of things to say to h
im, but her mouth wouldn’t form the words. When she heard the back of the truck slam shut she forced herself to follow him outside.
“Listen, I really am sorry to leave you in such a jam, but I just can’t stay here anymore.” His newest pussy on demand slipped beside him and curled her ridiculously perfect body around his. Zac wrapped his arm around her waist and placed a kiss on her puckered lips.
“So what.” The anger that had been festering inside of her finally broke free. She grabbed it with a vengeance. “You were just going to leave, without so much as a call, because you found some new pussy?” Missy’s shocked gasp spilled from her and Tristan felt a spark of pleasure at the fact. “You worthless piece of shit.”
“Listen, babe, we had a good thing for a while. The sex was okay, but I need more, and Missy here gives it to me.”
The sex was okay? Out of everything he had just done, just said, those four words sent her over the edge.
“All I can say is good riddance to you and your small-ass dick.” With that she turned on her heels and slammed the front door behind her. Silence surrounded her as she leaned against the door and forced herself not to cry. She didn’t have feelings for Zac, not really. Several minutes later she heard the sound of the moving truck starting and then pulling away. When she was finally able to pry her stinging eyes open she looked around. Zac had taken a lot of stuff, and although it was his to begin with, it renewed Tristan’s anger tenfold.
What pissed her off the most was the fact that she was alone again, well, and the fact she had no clue how she was going to afford this place on her own.
* * * *
“What a damn douche bag.”
Tristan grabbed her beer from the worn, wooden table and brought it to her lips. She couldn’t help but smile at the irate tone in Kylie’s voice. “Yeah, but I know it was for the best.” It had taken Tristan a week to finally realize that, and when it had hit her a wave of relief had settled within her. She took a long pull from her beer. “Besides, Zac leaving was a long time coming. I’m just glad it was sooner than later.” She should have seen all the signs. His continued absence, his aloofness toward her, the phone calls that he was so secretive about. True, they had not technically been in a relationship, but they had been sleeping together and in Tristan’s eyes they had been close. It was clear Zac had not felt the same way.
Kylie huffed and took a sip of her own beer. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the bastard is gone, but damn, Tristan, the way he did it is like a kick to the balls.”
Tristan chocked on her beer as she listened to her best friend slam Zac. “You don’t have balls, Kylie.”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “I don’t see how you can stay calm over this.” She held her stare for a suspended moment. “You should have listened to me from the beginning.”
Tristan smiled and patted Kylie’s hand. “Listen, Zac was never a permanent thing. I knew that from the beginning. I can admit that getting involved in a sexual relationship with him had been a horrible mistake, but it is done and there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it.” She shrugged her shoulders.
“What did you see in him anyway?” Kylie picked up a stale pretzel from the bowl in the center of the table and popped it in her mouth.
“He was good in bed and paid half the rent on time.” She left out the part that she had enjoyed the company of another human being. She didn’t need to look that pathetic.
Kylie screwed up her nose. “You’re a liar.”
Tristan smiled. “You’re right. He wasn’t that good in bed.” They both laughed out loud. “Seriously though, I need to find a new roommate ASAP.”
“It’ll be okay.” Kylie patted her hand in the same way Tristan’s mother used to when she was trying to make her feel better. It didn’t work. “You know I’d move in if I hadn’t already signed a new lease with Jayson.”
“I know. I just can’t afford the house on my own.” Tristan set the empty bottle on the table. Zac had really screwed her over, that was for sure.
* * * *
Tristan sat at her kitchen table and picked at the corner of it. It had been three weeks since Zac had left, and she still wasn’t any closer to finding a new roommate. Oh, the ad in the paper had certainly produced some prospects, but they were either too creepy, too immature, or she just had a bad feeling about them. She knew she needed to push her reservations to the back of her mind if she was ever going to find someone. Rent was due next week and she sure as hell didn’t have enough money to cover it all.
“Fuck you, Zac.” She cursed at the table and grimaced when a splinter slid into her thumb. The fact that he was out of her life wasn’t the issue. Hell, Tristan had seen the signs a mile away. She even welcomed him getting the fuck out, but the fact that he skipped out on her without so much as a word about his intentions, or the fact that he hadn’t given her any time to find a replacement, pissed her the hell off.
The first year of rooming with him had been fine, strictly platonic, but then she had screwed it all up by getting drunk with him one night and letting things escalate. Fucking her roommate hadn’t been the biggest mistake she had ever made. Fucking Zac had been the biggest mistake. Even intoxicated she knew he was no good for her, yet the charming persona he played had wooed her panties right off.
Her cell ringing on the table drew her out of her dark thoughts. The small electronic device bounced and vibrated across the table and she picked it up, seeing Kylie’s smiling face on the screen.
“Hey, girl.” Tristan blew out a breath.
“Find a roommate yet?” Kylie sounded overexcited and Tristan wondered what was up.
“No, and my time is running out. I just can’t pick anyone. Hell, look at how that worked out for me last time.”
“Well, I have some news that might make you feel better.”
Tristan’s interest was instantly piqued. “Oh yeah?”
“Jayson’s old frat buddy is moving up from New York this weekend. Originally he was going to crash at our place until he found something, but then I had the brilliant idea to have him move in with you.”
“I don’t know, Kylie.” Tristan bit her lip, hesitant to take Kylie up on her offer to let her boyfriend’s buddy stay with her. She had already screwed up once, and made a bad decision that cost her a lot of grief, but this was Jayson’s friend.
“I know what you’re thinking, but it won’t be weird. I actually think this will be perfect. You can trust Kash. I met him a few times and he seems like a decent guy, very responsible. He works nights so it isn’t like you will see him all that much.”
“Kash? His name is Kash?” She could hear Kylie laugh in the background. Tristan knew she couldn’t be picky, especially since she needed a roommate like, yesterday.
“It is fate, Tristan. His name is Kash and that is just what you need.” Kylie laughed in the background.
Tristan rolled her eyes, still hesitant. “Well, I’d like to meet him first, go over everything, and then if he is still interested we can go from there.”
“Great. He is driving in tonight. Are you free tomorrow?”
They set up a time and Tristan set down the phone. She should have been happy that things were working out. Even though Kash hadn’t agreed to move in with her yet, she felt a twinge of hope that everything would work out.
Chapter Two
Tristan gripped her glass in her hand so tight she was afraid it would shatter. Kash, the man sitting right in front of her, had every head in the café turned toward him. When she thought they would meet to go over everything, Tristan assumed Jayson and Kylie would be there, too. Not the case.
Kash brought his beer to his mouth and swallowed. Tristan couldn’t help but watch his throat work as the liquid went down. The man in front of her was quite possibly the scariest person she had ever seen. With hair so black it looked like coal and eyes so green they looked unreal, Kash Alexander was menacing sitting before her. His body, tall and packed with muscle, barely fit in the seat. The shirt he wore was st
retched taut over his powerful frame, with each muscle stretching and flexing with the smallest of movements he made. Tristan swallowed roughly for the hundredth time since she had first met him an hour ago.
“I can’t tell you how relieved I was when Jay told me you needed a roommate.” He took another swig of his beer. “I dreaded staying with Jay and Kylie. I would have been the third wheel.” He smiled, just a tilt of his lips that for some reason had Tristan’s heart pounding.
Although he seemed like he could snap her in half like a twig, his personality was easygoing and almost lighthearted. It certainly wasn’t what she expected out of him when she had seen him walk through the door.
His voice was deep and husky, and if the sheer size of him wasn’t intimidating enough, the tattoos that covered both of his arms and disappeared beneath the sleeves of his shirt would have sealed the deal.
She licked her lips and brought her drink to her mouth. The liquid was cool and should have quenched her thirst, but Tristan couldn’t get rid of the dryness in her throat. When she had found out Kash worked nights, she found a small twinge of disappointment settling inside of her. For the past two years she had been so used to having someone in the house with her at night. When Zac had left, there had been a huge silence that weighed heavy on her every time she laid her head on the pillow to go to sleep. She was glad he was gone, but she had grown used to having another body in the house, alleviating the loneliness. She inwardly shrugged. She would have to deal with it.