“Yes. I don’t want anyone else. Only you.”
The biggest smile known to man spreads across my face, and I wrap my arms around his neck. “You don’t know what that means to me.”
He kisses me again. “Yes, I do, because it means the same thing to me. What’s happening between us—this shit is fucking permanent. You’re never getting rid of me now.”
“I’ll never want to.”
I giggle as he pulls me down on top of him, and I’m more than ready for our next round. I can’t get enough of this man.
Both of his hands settle on my hips as my entire body rests on top of him. Xavier’s playful smile disappears as things become very serious while his eyes search mine.
“You’re so fucking sexy, do you know that?” His tongue darts out and he licks my bottom lip, causing my toes to curl. “You’re my addiction.”
His words play through my mind, and I smile as he presses his lips to mine. I feel his fingers slide under my shirt, caressing my skin. My mouth drifts open as he unhooks my bra and then in one quick movement, he whips my shirt over my head, exposing my naked flesh.
He quickly sits up, leaving me straddling him, while he kisses and licks his way down to my taut nipples. Heat from his mouth on my skin causes a shiver of pleasure to pulsate down my spine.
He unbuttons my shorts and unzips them slowly. “I need you naked.”
I pop up on my knees, allowing him to help me remove the rest of my clothes. I then grabbed the hem of Xavier’s shirt and pulled it over his head. My eyes roam over his chiseled chest contoured to perfection. All the time he spends working on his body clearly shows.
As my eyes roam, the tip of his thick finger slides against my slick folds. “You’re so ready for me.”
Xavier kisses my lips as he flicks my clit. “You want me?”
I throw my head back and moan, focusing on how good his touch feels. “Xavier…”
“Tell me you want me, and I’ll give you what you need,” he whispers against my lips.
“Oh, God.” My eyes roll back as he increases the pressure. “I want you, Xavier. So much.”
“Good girl,” he encourages me as his finger moves faster and faster, bringing me to the edge.
My entire body shakes as I come hard against his hand. I grip his shoulders and dig my nails into his skin as I ride the wave of euphoria.
Every muscle in my body relaxes as I float down from the high, and he chuckles. “We’re just getting started, beautiful.”
He flips me onto my back before standing over me. Xavier unzips his pants before shoving them, along with his underwear, down his legs before kicking them the rest of the way off, like he can’t stand them between us anymore.
He leans over me and yanks my hips to the edge of the bed. Xavier spreads my thighs further apart as he pushes between them. He grabs the base of his shaft and rubs it against my most sensitive skin. A long moan escapes from my mouth. I’m so ready for him.
He growls as he slips the head of his cock inside me.
“Oh, God.” My pussy stretches around him, accepting all of him, as he plunges balls deep.
He closes his eyes. “So fucking amazing. I’ll never get enough of your pussy.”
Xavier grips my hips as he begins to pump into me with a steady rhythm. Sweat beads form all over his body as he drives into me desperate to find his release.
I can’t tear my eyes away from his face as he rocks into me again and again. A strand of his dark hair falls across his forehead as he glances down, watching his cock work in and out of me.
His eyes glaze over and I can tell he’s enjoying every minute of this just as much as I am.
“Fuck, Anna.” He bites his bottom lip as he closes his eyes. “Shit. It’s hard to hold back when I’m inside you. I need to stop.”
A familiar tingle starts to roll through me. I’m so close again. “Don’t stop.”
He bites his bottom lip as his entire body tenses. A string of curses pour from his mouth as he keeps pumping into me. He digs his fingers into me as he comes hard inside me.
The sight of him lost in his own pleasure pushes me over the edge right behind him and we get lost in ecstasy together.
The show must go on, isn’t that how the old adage goes? It’s been two days since I’ve seen Rex, but that doesn’t mean jack. I’m still as heated as ever.
We caravanned with Brian and Liv down here to Orlando on Wednesday for Thursday’s live televised event, Thursday Tension. Anna and Liv seem to be hitting it off well, and I love watching her around Kami. It allows me to see her tenderness on full display.
I rub my face as thoughts of what having my own family with Anna might be like cross my mind. Shit. I have to stop thinking like this—I’m poison, and no kid deserves to have a father who will eventually taint them.
It runs in my blood to fuck up lives, which is what I’ll probably end up doing to Anna, but I’m too much of a selfish prick to walk away from her.
Anna sits on the bench across from me as I lift some free weights, gazing into my eyes. “You okay?”
“Fine. Just focusing on the match,” I bite out between rep counts, trying to shield her from what’s really on my mind. I don’t need her knowing that she’s got my head all twisted up with ideas of things I can never have.
Hell, before her, I never wanted a family, or a wife either.
I continue my reps when I notice Rex across the gym, staring at Anna intently. My first instinct is to run over there and poke his eyeballs out with my fingers so he can never look at her again, but I restrain myself, because Anna’s right. I have to learn to control my shit, or else Rex is going to get exactly what he wants—me out of the company.
Anna’s face twists as she glances down at her phone.
I don’t like seeing her sad. “What’s the frown for, beautiful?”
She shakes her head. “I checked my bank balance. It looks pretty scary.”
I pause for a brief second. I told Jimmy to wire some money to her account yesterday. It better be in there.
“What’s it say?”
“It says I have over thirty thousand dollars, that can’t be right. I’m going to have to call the bank.”
I set the dumbbells onto the rack. “That’s no mistake. I had the money wired to your account.”
Her shoulders drop and she frowns. “Xavier, I can’t accept that.”
I wipe my face with a towel. “Yes, you can.”
“Xavier…it doesn’t feel right to take money from you. Not now. Not after we…”
I set my eyes sternly on hers so she knows this isn’t up for discussion. “You’re mine. I take care of what’s mine. End of story.”
She opens her mouth in what I expect to be another protest, but when I raise my eyebrow she closes it and sighs. “There’s no fighting you on this, is there?”
“Nope,” I say, popping my lips on the “p” sound.
“Fine, but no more deposits. That’s enough money to last me a year.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “I’m not agreeing to that.”
Anna rolls her eyes, but I know I’ve won. She can’t fight me too hard when all I want to do is take care of her.
I turn around to stretch to get ready for my match, and I notice that fucker Rex is still staring at my girl. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to go without saying anything. It’s not like me to hold back, and it’s taking a lot of fucking willpower to do it right now.
The stage manager walks in and points at me. “X, you’re up.”
I nod. “Thanks.”
I grab a bottle of water off the rack, and I glance over at Rex. His eyes meet mine and the fucker has the nerve to smirk. He knows the minute I walk out of this room there won’t be anyone around to defend Anna.
I can’t leave her alone back here.
I grab her hand and pull her up. “Come on. You’re going with me.”
Her brow furrows. “Where?”
“To the ring,” I
tell her. “I won’t be able to focus, because I’ll be too worried about what’s going on back here. I need you where I can see you. You can stand in my corner ringside during the match.”
I pull her with me down the hall toward the backstage curtain, not giving her a chance to argue.
“I can’t go out there like this,” she complains.
I glance down at the jean shorts and tank top that has my face plastered across it. Her brown hair falls over her shoulders in soft waves, and I find myself instantly confused as to why she thinks there’s anything wrong with her.
“Stop. You look fucking amazing,” I tell her honestly.
She bites her lip, and I groan. She has no clue how sexy she is when she does that. It makes me want to nip that pouty lip of hers. Little shit like that drives me fucking crazy.
My entrance music starts, and Anna tenses next to me.
I lean over and whisper in her ear, “Stick with me. You’re going to be fine.”
I kiss her cheek and then pull her through the black curtain with me.
Tonight’s sold-out crowd is insane. There are faces in every direction I turn. I love this. This is where I thrive. I feel the fucking love these people have for me, and it pumps me up to work hard to keep their approval. It’s a high that cannot be duplicated.
Smoke wafts around me and I pull Anna to the center. “Stay here so you’re clear of the pyro.”
She nods, and I kneel down in front of her as the fireworks explode around us and I leap to my feet and toss my arms out to my side, straining every muscle within me as I howl. The crowd joins in and while I wear my predatory face for the masses, inside, I’m smiling.
I grab Anna’s hand and pull her down to the ring. I’m going to catch hell from the company for this when the match is over, but it’ll be worth it to have her by my side.
“Making his way to the ring, from Detroit, Michigan, weighing two hundred and sixty-five pounds, he is…Phenomenal X!” the announcer says as we walk down the ramp to my already waiting opponent.
“Stay here.” I kiss Anna’s cheek and leave her in the corner, standing on the floor, before jumping up onto the ring and slipping through the ropes.
My opponent, Dexter, is young and hungry, but he’s no real match for me. He’s about three inches shorter than my six-foot-four stature and I’ve got at least thirty pounds on him. The writers instructed me to make this match seem like a challenge because they have big plans to move this young man up in the biz, and they need the crowd on his side.
I stare down the blond-haired man and turn my head from side to side. The crowd loves these intense showdowns, and it makes them cheer for me even harder. The sound of them chanting my name echoes around the arena and gets my adrenaline pumping.
We begin circling one another, and the kid impresses me by making the first move. We hook up with our arms in a test of strength. At first I allow him to push me a bit to sell it to the crowd, but then he gets cocky and tries to move me into an armbar.
Time to teach this motherfucker who’s boss in this ring. No one attempts to overpower me and get away with it. Company or not, I’m teaching this prick a quick lesson in pain.
I laugh and shove him back hard against the ropes. His eyes widen as I bring a big forearm across his chest and knock the wind out of him, only to pin him against the ropes and say just loud enough for him to hear, “Welcome to my house.”
I hit him one more time before he falls down with a hard thud. His chest rises and falls rapidly as he stares up at the lights burning down on us from overhead.
I reach down and grab a handful of his hair, forcing him to get up. “No time to rest, chump.”
When he stands, I kick him in the shin with my boot and then ram an elbow hard into his gut. He groans and grabs his midsection. The second he bends over, I seize my opportunity and hook an arm around his leg and hoist him up on my shoulders.
The crowd gets to their feet as I fall backwards, slamming Dexter’s back against the mat so hard the entire ring shakes. A collective sound of the crowd empathizing with his pain fills the arena and I know this match is about to end. The kid can’t take much more.
I roll over and pin his shoulders without any resistance and the referee falls to the ground and begins to count.
“One…two…three.”
The place erupts, and I’m unsure how it doesn’t physically blow the roof off the place with the energy radiating off the crowd. I raise my arms in victory as my music plays.
“Winner of this contest is…Phenomenal X!” the announcer calls out, and I smirk at the crowd as if it were even a contest at all.
I strut over to the corner and before I climb up the turnbuckles for my trademark moves after winning a battle, I reach through the ropes. I want to share this moment with her.
Anna stares at my hand with wide green eyes. “Come celebrate with me.”
She takes my hand, and I sit on the rope, widening it for her to get inside as the crowd begins to catcall. My woman is damn fine, and I’m ready for the world to know she’s mine.
Anna sets foot inside the ring with me, and I pull her into my arms, and kiss her square on the mouth for the world to see before I climb the ropes and howl again, suddenly thankful for this amazing life I’ve been given.
The crowd continues to go crazy as they celebrate with me.
After I finish my portion of the show, I help Anna back out of the ring, and we walk hand in hand up the ramp to get backstage.
The moment we pass through the curtain, I pull her into my arms, and she giggles. “That was amazing, Xavier. What a rush!”
I kiss her lips. “I loved having you out there with me.”
“Good,” a cold voice says, interrupting our intimate moment. “From now on she’s a part of the show.”
My gaze jerks over to my boss, who is standing there openly watching us, wearing his silver suit that matches his hair and name with a scowl on his face. I raise my eyebrows and instantly know I’m in deep shit. Mr. Silverman never speaks to the staff unless he’s promoting or firing one of us.
“Come again, sir?” I ask.
He shoves his hand into his jacket pocket. “You took your lady friend out to the ring, inadvertently making her a part of the show. Her contract is being written up as we speak. We can’t run the risk of having you take her out there again without one. I don’t like lawsuits, Mr. Cold.”
I hadn’t thought about that, but I like the idea of her being in my corner every time. “Will she need to sign today?”
“Take her to legal and then hit the showers. I want this taken care of before you leave tonight.”
“Yes, sir,” I reply as he turns to walk away.
Mr. Silverman pauses mid-stride and pivots on his heel. “One more thing. When the writers tell you to do something, you do it. I’m very disappointed that you didn’t give the fans a longer match.”
Fuck.
“It won’t happen again, sir.”
He nods. “See that it doesn’t. I want you following the script to a ‘T’, if you expect to keep your job here.”
“I will. You can count on that.”
That answer seems to appease him, because he smiles before he leaves us. Mr. Silverman never smiles, so it takes me back a bit. That man is always so fucking serious.
I squeeze Anna in my arms. “This is great news. Now you can be in my corner every match and get paid for it.”
She raises her eyebrows. “Really? That’s a dream job.”
I sigh. “It is, until they want you to do something physical. That’s where I’m going to draw the line, beautiful. I won’t have you getting hurt on my watch. If they ask you to do that, I want you to quit.”
She nods. “Okay, but I’ll still be able to come with you backstage, right?”
“Of course, but you won’t be able to go ringside any longer.”
“Seems fair.”
I can’t believe, for the first time in my life, things are actually working out in my favor.
I have a career I love, and the woman I adore at my side. Life can’t get any fucking sweeter.
Anna and I walk into the hotel holding hands. I like that we are always touching. It’s nice to feel so connected to her.
A small crowd of about ten people loiter in the lobby. No matter where we go, fans are tipped off as to where we’re staying, Not that I’m complaining. Fans coming to shows and buying shirts with my face on them go toward my paycheck, so I have no problem giving them a few minutes of my day.
The crowd swarms us instantly, and I begin posing for pictures and signing autographs. Anna steps back and allows the fans to have their moment with me. A small boy around the age of ten sits in a wheelchair, wearing a baseball cap with my stage name across it.
I kneel down beside him and take the poster and marker he’s holding. “What’s your name, little man?”
“Xavier!” he giggles. “Just like you.”
The short, curvy brunette wearing glasses nudges his arm. “It is not, Johnny.” Her eyes flick to mine. “Sorry. You’re his hero, and he always wants to be just like you.”
I smile and wink at the kid. “Johnny’s a pretty awesome name too.”
“You think so?” Johnny’s eyes gleam with excited.
“I do. Here you go.” I hand him back his things with my autograph.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Cold. This will mean so much to him. Ever since his mother died, he’s really locked himself into a shell. The only time he’s happy is when he’s watching you on TV,” the woman with him tells me.
My lips pull into a tight line. I wish I had some encouraging words to tell the kid, like the pain gets easier with time, but then I’d be a fucking liar and I don’t want to do that. So I give a very generic response.
“Happy to help.” I wave to the rest of the crowd. “I have to get going. Nice to meet you all.”
Panic sets in when I don’t spot Anna right away. My eyes scan the lobby for her, and I quickly spot her talking to an older Latino man in the corner of the room.
I flex my fingers as I stalk toward them. I don’t allow anyone to bother Anna.
She doesn’t see me when I step up behind her, but the man glowers over her shoulder at me. Pops better pipe down and wipe that expression off his face, before I do it for him.
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