Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 394(@200wpm)___ 315(@250wpm)___ 262(@300wpm)
“I could use my top spot as leverage?”
“Something like that. Too obvious?”
“You’re closer to the others than I am.” I grinned and tapped the BOB’s chin with my fist. “Other than Bob here. We’re pretty close.”
“Look, I can do this.” Ari took a step closer and straightened. “I have experience. I have a win under my belt. Nothing can be worse than Pinstripe. The only other option is to fall in the rankings until it’s too late. We only need someone to tide us over until Bones returns. His splint is off. He’s in rehab now. Two weeks. That’s it. I can handle two weeks.”
“Ari, I’m going to be blunt here.” I stood tall and matched her stance. “You’re strong but you’re not boxer strong. Monique barely has a winning record. Those guys will eat you for lunch and come back for your bones for dinner.”
“But—”
“All they’ll see is a pretty blond thing waiting to get her ass whooped. A little lamb in a sea of starving wolves.” I shook my head. “I’m not agreeing to this.”
“Then how do you see me?”
“Huh?”
Ari came closer until she stood right below me. Fuck, she was beautiful. Not just her long hair, her kissable lips, or her ass in those tight yoga pants, but the challenge brewing in those intense eyes of hers and the stubbornness in her clenched jaw and fists. That was just as sexy as everything else.
“Do I look like a little lamb to you, River?” Her lips tilted up with her question. “Someone who goes down easy?”
Fuck no she didn’t. I had seen Ari in plenty of situations. Yelling at the people here, giving it her all in the ring, falling apart on someone’s cock at the underground club. Hell, just a few weeks ago, I’d come all over that chest of hers while Bones ate her out. That was probably my favorite scene out of all of them. She could take a beating, but this was much different than all of that.
And I was the perfect guy to prove it to her.
“Fine. Then spar me. If you win, I’ll help you convince the others. If you lose, you won’t bring it up again and keep that pretty little mouth of yours shut. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Ari suited up, and we both stepped into the ring. We tapped gloves and bounced around each other for a second. Confidence oozed from her demeanor and the fire in her eyes. But it disappeared as soon as I landed a punch to her side. She grunted, expression widening with shock and pain.
“I won’t go easy on you,” I warned. If she wanted a real experience, I was going to give it to her.
We danced around the ring. For every shot she got on me, I hit her back with two or three. She was holding her own—I had to give her that. Ari barely flinched when I clipped her arm or punched with enough force to make her stumble back, but she was clearly growing tired. Slower. Weaker. Time to end it.
When she punched one more time, I dodged and grabbed her wrist. It barely took any of my strength to twist her. We fell to the mat in a heap. I pinned her to the mat with a hand on her back. She tried to struggle away but I held firm, pinning her calves to the mat with my knees. My blood rushed through my veins. In this position, she was completely bent in half for me, legs wide, her ass way too close to my cock.
Ari whipped her head to the side, cheek pressed against the mat, a different kind of fire burning in her eyes.
“Let me go.”
“Do you tap out?”
“Not a chance,” she spat.
She tried to force me back and wiggle out of my grip. All it did was push her ass right into my crotch over and over. My dick throbbed and hardened; when Ari shifted again and felt my bulge, she stopped moving. Her pretty eyes widened with realization.
“River—”
“Look, can you tap out already?” I growled. I tightened my fingers on her back. “I won, Ari.”
Her grin was as wicked as the gleam in her eye. “Actually, I think I won.”
She pushed her ass back against my cock and ground her hips into mine. I grunted and forced myself to stay still. All I wanted to do was rip off her pants and give her another kind of pounding, but I was still hesitant—mostly because Frankie kept staring down at me from a picture on the wall. Bastard.
“Keep your head in the game, Ari. You can’t fuck your way out of a grapple hold.”
“Can’t I?”
She ground against me again. The second I pushed back against her, she flipped, which caught me off guard. I tried to roll away and regain my footing, but Ari was too quick. She pinned me to the mat by my shoulders and sat down on my lap. A small moan escaped her lips when she bucked her hips against my hard cock.