Theirs to Keep (21 page)

“I wish it was over,” Elle said, her stomach in a vicious knot. “I wish he’d knock him out so this would be over!”

“You and me both!”

The third round, Merrick started to show wear. Up to then, he’d been fresh, almost robotically so. Untouchable. He moved slower, and Lash, sensing his opponent’s change in strength, began pressing. Taking him to the mat more. Merrick bounced up. Lash took him down.

In the fourth round, Merrick showed a resurgence, and Lash began to fray. Elle was beside herself. She knew many fights went the full five rounds, but they were often brutal, bloody matches of endurance.

She sagged when the bell rang, ending the round, and the fighters returned to their corners. Both men looked worn, and fatigue was starting to show in their movements.

“Tied,” Catherine said grimly. “This last round is it. Merrick’s either got to have a dominating round or knock him out. He’s likely to lose in a coin flip because the edge will go to the champion. And if Merrick did get the decision, there’ll always be question regarding his title worthiness. Lash will say he was robbed.”

Elle closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath as the final round began. The two fighters touched gloves in a show of respect and then warily began circling each other.

Merrick drove Lash back against the wall of the cage, connecting with a series of punches that had Lash off balance. Lash wrapped Merrick up, defending himself against the blows and then, with a leg sweep, took Merrick down.

Elle lunged forward, screaming Merrick’s name. “Get up! Get up! Don’t let him have your back.”

Oh God, it didn’t look good. Lash had a choke hold, and the entire arena buzzed as they sensed a dramatic end to an epic battle between two of the best fighters in the world.

Merrick had his hand underneath Lash’s arm, and he pried, gradually exerting enough pressure to loosen the hold. How Merrick had any strength left was beyond her. He had to be running on sheer grit and determination.

“Holy shit, he’s getting out!” Catherine cried. “He’s broken the hold! Lash isn’t going to get the submission!”

Merrick rotated around, grasping Lash’s wrist and twisting into an arm bar. He planted his foot on Lash’s shoulder and anchored the hold, his face drawn in grim determination.

“Oh my God,” Elle whispered. “He’s going to tap. Merrick’s going to make him tap!”

She held her breath and glanced up at the clock. Her heart sank. Only ten seconds left. Surely Lash could hold out that long. The
championship
was on the line.

Merrick’s lips formed a tight line, and he exerted more pressure, his entire body straining. Lash’s face was creased in agony, and his free hand balled into a tight fist, a seeming vow not to tap.

Five. Four…

Lash’s fist loosened. His palm went flat on the mat.

Three…two…

He tapped three times in rapid succession, and the arena erupted as the referee threw himself between Merrick and Lash to end the fight.

Elle stood there, numb, as she stared at the crowd going crazy. Catherine hugged her and whirled her around, and still Elle stared dumbly at the ring, watching as Merrick raised his hands in victory while Lash’s people rushed in to assess his injuries.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “He did it!”

“Hell yeah, he did!” Catherine shouted.

Cade and Dallas ran into the ring and picked Merrick up, swinging him around. Dakota was jumping around, slapping his towel over Merrick’s shoulders.

Excitement invaded Elle’s veins as realization sank in. Merrick was the World Heavyweight Champion! He’d done it!

And then Merrick tapped Cade on the shoulder and motioned for him and Dallas to put him down. Merrick walked to the edge of the ring directly in front of where Elle and Catherine sat, and then he pointed at Elle and crooked his finger to her.

Her eyes widened. “Me?” she mouthed.

Merrick smiled and nodded.

The two guards who’d escorted Elle to her seat and had remained close stepped forward to flank her, and then they walked her up to the cage and lifted her up so she could go inside.

As soon as she stumbled toward Merrick, he met her halfway and enfolded her in his arms. He picked her up and swung her round and round.

With the crowd roaring their approval, he let her slide down his sweaty, bloody body, and then he fused his mouth to hers in a long, breathless kiss. And God help her, but she kissed him right back there in front of a million viewers.

C H A P T E R     T H I R T Y - E I G H T

THE DRESSING ROOM WAS INSANITY. Champagne was sprayed everywhere and on anyone in close proximity. As soon as the media had been allowed access, Cade herded Elle into one of the smaller changing rooms.

It was a bit like closing the barn door after the horse already got out. Merrick had just kissed her in plain view of not only those in the arena but the millions watching the fight on pay per view. But Cade was adamant that he and Merrick both didn’t want her directly exposed to the media.

So she rolled her eyes and sat while the insanity went on outside the door. To her surprise, a mere twenty minutes later, the door burst open and Merrick came in, Cade close on his heels.

Without a word, Merrick stalked to where she sat in a chair across the room and hauled her up and into his arms. His mouth crushed down over hers with bruising force that left her gasping for breath.

His need was a tangible thing, thick in the air. It vibrated from him in waves.

“Need you,” he growled against her mouth. “Right here. Right now. Jesus, baby. I need you.”

Her heart pounded like a freight train, but she put her arms around him, holding him close, and she murmured next to his ear, “Okay, then. Okay. I’m here. Take me, Merrick. Take what you need.”

He set her down only long enough to free himself from the trunks he wore and to reach underneath the filmy skirt she wore and yank away her underwear.

Then he lifted her again, hoisting her up his body.

“Wrap your legs around me,” he said hoarsely.

She wrapped arms and legs around him, anchoring herself to him. He grasped her behind, lifting and then settling her down over his rigid erection. Then he walked her back until she bumped against the wall, and he thrust hard and deep.

The angle was impossible. She was too far forward, too smashed between him and the wall. She pushed at him, wanting him to get the hint without her interrupting the desperation that gripped them both.

Muttering a curse, he gripped her tighter and turned away from the wall.

“Hold her, Cade.”

Heat prickled up her nape. Her nipples hardened, and her pussy clenched around Merrick’s cock. The sheer eroticism of what Merrick suggested had her flushed with arousal.

Cade’s chest met her back, his warmth invading her body as he slid his arms underneath hers, holding and supporting her weight while Merrick gripped her hips and plunged deeper.

“Lean back against me, honey,” Cade whispered.

She let her head fall back against his shoulder, and Cade turned his mouth to nuzzle her jaw while Merrick fucked her with an intensity he’d never unleashed with her before.

There, held between the two men she loved, one holding her while the other drove into her over and over…it was more than she was able to withstand.

She came quickly. No build up. No prolonged, slow rise to completion. She hurtled over the edge like a plane falling from the sky. And still, Merrick plunged deeply into her body, as if he’d never get enough.

“Need you so much,” Merrick panted.

She reached to touch the damp hair at his shoulders and then gently ran her hands over his jaw, framing his face.

“I need you too,” she said softly.

“Table,” Merrick gritted out.

He withdrew only long enough for Cade to carry her to the padded exam table against the far wall. Cade positioned her on her belly, her legs down, feet just touching the floor, and then Merrick was inside her again, thrusting into her from behind.

His hands caressed her back, running up and down her spine with gentleness that was contradictory to the way he was driving into her.

So much adrenaline. This was his outlet. She was the one person he wanted. Who he trusted. He’d come to her. He loved her.

The stirrings of another orgasm rose from deep within. The position he had her in forced him deeper, at a different angle. His cock touched different parts of her pussy, and she gasped as the familiar flood of pleasure began foaming through her body.

Then he tensed against her. And then he went hard. Fast. Rocking her forward, almost rough as he came in wave after wave.

And then finally he lowered his body over hers, lying flush against her back, his breath whispering harshly in her ear.

God, but she was so on edge. So close to another climax. Her entire body tingled, and she unconsciously bucked her ass upward, wanting, needing more.

Merrick lifted himself up and gently pulled out of her body. She moaned, wanting that fullness back. She needed it.

“Take care of her, Cade,” Merrick said in a low voice. “She’s close. She needs to finish.”

She heard the rasp of a zipper, and her pulse shot up about twenty beats a minute. Warm gentle hands on her behind, spreading and caressing.

And then Cade was inside her. Just as hard. Just as thick. Only a bit slower and not as desperate as Merrick had been.

She closed her eyes and lay her cheek on the soft pad covering the table and gave herself over to the two men who loved her.

Cade leaned down and kissed between her shoulder blades, and then he picked up his pace, driving harder, as if he’d lost the ability to be patient. His need took over, and it drove her own relentlessly on.

“Take what you need, Elle,” Cade commanded. “Come for me.”

She twisted restlessly, unable to remain still under the delicious onslaught. She bucked upward, meeting every thrust.

Cade grasped her hips and pulled her back each time he drove forward. Then his grasp tightened, his fingers digging into her flesh and she cried out as, for a second time, her orgasm flashed and swallowed her up in its fiery pleasure.

And then as Merrick had done, Cade blanketed her body, his hips still twitching against her ass while he lay, his breaths coming hard and long over her shoulder.

“Love you,” he whispered.

As soon as Cade carefully pulled out of Elle’s body, she was in Merrick’s arms again, cradled in his hold.

“Jesus, baby,” he murmured over and over again. “We did it. We goddamn did it.”

She smiled and rested her head against his chest. “No,
you
did it, Merrick. You kicked his ass. You’re the champion.”

“Did I hurt you?” he asked, worry thick in his voice.

She smiled at that too. “Oh no, my love. If you do that after every fight, I might not be so reluctant for you to fight more often.”

Merrick smiled, and then she looked up at his battered face in worry.

“How hurt are you? God, Merrick, you shouldn’t have been having sex after you just got the hell beat out of you.”

He arched one eyebrow. The one not cut and bleeding. “I thought you just said I kicked his ass.”

“Yeah, well, he did some kicking of his own. You have to be in so much pain.”

Merrick shook his head. “Not yet. Adrenaline still flowing. It’s why I had to have you right here, right now. Later, I’ll feel it. That’s when Dallas will shove some meds down me and make me rest. I won’t be worth killing in a few hours.”

She turned and held her hand out to Cade, wanting him close. As close as she was to Merrick. Cade pushed in until she was sandwiched between the two men. It was a comfortable, familiar place to be in. Between them. Where she felt the safest. Where she was loved.

“I love the two of you. I hope you both know that.”

Cade smiled. “Yeah, I think we do.”

She glanced up at Merrick. “Hey, what’s with kissing me in front of live television? I thought we were keeping me secret.”

Merrick went quiet a moment and glanced Cade’s way. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t thinking about it at the time. I only knew I wanted you to share in that moment with me and Cade. It wasn’t complete without you. I wanted the whole damn world to know that I love you. And…if someone, somewhere sees you and recognizes you and even tries to contact you, then we’ll deal with that when it comes up. At some point, we have to address the issue of your past. Maybe this will help us do just that.”

She leaned her head over on Cade’s shoulder while still remaining in Merrick’s arms.

“And maybe no one will come at all,” she said softly, hope for just that outcome brimming in her heart.

C H A P T E R     T H I R T Y - N I N E

THE THREE STAYED IN LOS Angeles for four days after the fight. Merrick had meetings with the president of the IMMAO as well as their publicity team, not to mention countless other media for post-fight interviews, videos and a radio appearance.

Elle didn’t know how he did it. He was tired. Physically and mentally exhausted, and he was in considerable pain from the pounding he’d taken. Dallas stayed all four days, giving Merrick a thorough assessment each morning.

The fifth morning, the late nights and endless appointments had caught up with Elle, and she was sleeping soundly when Merrick slid out of bed to meet Dallas.

She stirred and automatically stuck her head up, bleary-eyed, ready to be with Merrick, but Cade slid his strong arm around her and pulled her back down next to him.

Merrick bent over the bed, smoothed her hair from her forehead and then kissed her. “Stay in bed, baby. I won’t be long. Dallas is heading home this morning, and he wanted to check in on me one more time before his flight to Denver.”

“Love you,” she murmured.

The smile split his face and wrinkled his lean jaw. “Love you too.”

She watched lazily as he dressed and then left the bedroom of the suite. Then she turned, seeking Cade’s warmth and the comfort of his body. She snuggled tightly against him and sighed in utter contentment when he wrapped his body around hers and held her close.

His cock was rigid and straining at his boxer briefs, and without thought, she let her hand wander down his body to cup the bulge between his legs.

“Watch it,” he murmured. “You have no idea how much I want to fuck you right now.”

She kissed his neck, inhaling his scent as she nestled even closer, her fingers sliding delicately over the ridge in his underwear.

“And this would be a bad thing?” she whispered. “But you know, if you’re going to, I’d suggest doing it now before Merrick gets back. He gets sort of demanding after Dallas gives him his checkups.”

Cade chuckled. “Are we too much for you, sweetheart?”

Over the last three days, since the incident in the locker room after the fight, the two men had fucked her together, separately, in as many ways, positions and locations as possible. And every morning, without exception, the minute Dallas left their room, Merrick very possessively made love to her.

For so long, the men had treated her so very gently, as though they were afraid of pushing too hard and too fast, and then when they’d finally broken the ice and consummated their physical relationship, she’d been hurt so they hadn’t made love to her for several weeks.

But now? It was as if the floodgates had been opened and they were making up for lost time. They couldn’t seem to get enough of her, and she couldn’t get enough of them.

She reveled in their possession. The tenderness with which they made love to her but also the rough edge of their possession where she could tell they were holding a tight rein on themselves because they didn’t want to hurt her.

“Never too much,” she said against his skin. “Never enough.”

“Climb on top of me,” Cade said in a husky voice. “I want you astride me.”

While she pushed away the sheets, Cade quickly divested himself of his underwear, and then she swung her leg over his muscled thighs and tentatively reached down to run her fingers over his length.

“Put it inside you.” Cade’s eyes darkened with excitement, and he reached for her hips, his fingers digging into her skin. “Take me whole, honey. Hard and deep.”

Breathless with excitement, she rose up on her knees and slid the head of his cock over her clit and through damp flesh to her opening.

He seemed so much bigger this way. He stretched her, filling her as she eased down his length. His eyes never left her face as she took more and more of him, but when she came to rest at the base of his cock, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his entire body shuddering with pleasure.

When he reopened his eyes, they were glowing with arousal. There was a dark, primitive spark there that made her shiver.

His hands left her hips and skimmed up her arms, rubbing lightly over her skin and then to her breasts where he toyed with her nipples.

“Tell me something. Have you ever imagined taking me and Merrick at the same time? Like this, you on top of me, but him behind you?”

A delicate shiver began in her legs and worked its way up her belly and into her chest until the hairs at her nape stood out.

“Yes,” she admitted. “I think about it, but I don’t know how it would be possible. You and Merrick are so…big.”

Cade chuckled. “You’re good for my ego. Yeah, we’re big and you’re small. But you were made for us, honey. And we’d be careful with you. We’d never hurt you.”

“I’d love to try,” she said honestly.

“You might get your chance sooner than you think,” Cade said wryly.

His gaze had moved beyond Elle, and Elle turned to see what he was looking at only to find Merrick standing in the doorway, his eyes hooded and hungry. His pants were already unzipped and shoved down past his hips.

“Do you want this, Elle?” Merrick asked in a strained voice. “Do you want me to take your ass while Cade’s in your pussy?”

“I trust you,” she said.

Without another word, Merrick went into the bathroom and returned a moment later with a tube of lubricant. He was also minus his pants. He dropped the tube on the bed and hastily finished undressing.

“I’m going to need to move you, honey,” Cade said. “Just stay where you are. Let me do the moving. I like you just where you are.”

With Elle atop him and his cock still buried in her body, he rotated around so he was cross-ways over the bed and his legs dangled over the edge, his feet planted on the floor. It put her at the very edge, accessible to Merrick.

“Lean forward, into me,” Cade whispered. “And relax. If at any time you want us to stop, say so.”

She nodded and leaned her body forward into Cade’s hands. He stroked her breasts, tugging gently at her nipples. He caressed every inch of her belly and chest until she squirmed restlessly around his cock.

When Merrick’s hand came down over her ass, it was instinctive to flinch. But then he kissed her on the cheek and murmured, “Relax, baby. I’m going to take my time here. I won’t hurt you.”

He fingered the opening of her ass, tracing a line around the tight ring. Then the cool glide of lubricant traveled the same path. With the blunt tip of his finger, he pushed inward, adding more lubricant to ease the passage.

Her breath skittered over her lips, and then she sharply inhaled when his finger slid deeper.

It was an utterly wicked sensation to have both openings breached. Raw hunger gripped her. She wanted this. Wanted both men inside her, possessing her, staking their claim.

She shuddered when he eased a second finger inside her opening. Her entire body went tight, and she sat rigidly atop Cade, holding her breath so she didn’t orgasm this soon.

“Okay?” Cade asked, his eyes flashing with concern.

“Not yet,” she said from behind clenched teeth. “I’m so close. Don’t want it yet.”

Merrick kissed her shoulder and then nipped playfully at her skin. “No, not yet, baby. I need you on edge when I put my dick inside you. If you’ve already come, it’s not going to feel as good.”

He kissed a path over her shoulder and down her spine. He held his fingers still inside her, waiting for her to come down from her impending release.

“Easy,” Cade soothed.

She planted both palms over Cade’s chest, loving the hardness of the muscles and the supple feel of his skin beneath her fingers. This was hers. He was hers.

They were hers.

Merrick ran his fingers up and down the cleft of her ass, spreading the lubricant liberally around her entrance. Then she felt both hands cup her cheeks and gently spread.

She went still, and Cade automatically lifted his hands to her waist, holding her and caressing up and down her sides in a soothing pattern.

“Relax for us, honey,” Cade murmured.

It was hard to do when she was burning with anticipation. She let her breath escape raggedly and forced herself to go limp.

The tip of Merrick’s cock pressed against her opening, and it took everything she had not to jerk in reaction. Her breathing sped up, and his grip tightened on her behind.

He pressed firmly, and she began to open around him. She closed her eyes against the burn and threw her head back.

Cade caressed his way to her breasts, cupping and mounding them with his palms. He caught her nipples between his thumb and forefinger and gently squeezed, sending an electric arc bolting through her body.

A soft moan fluttered past her lips when Merrick exerted more pressure and he pushed in farther.

“Halfway there, baby. Push against me. I want all the way inside you.”

God, she wanted him to be all the way in. She wanted to know what it felt like to have two men deep inside her body.

One of Cade’s hands left her breast and trailed down her belly to where their bodies were tightly joined. Carefully he slid his hand between them and fingered her clit just as Merrick’s hips met her ass.

He was all the way in. She was stretched so tightly around both of them. She couldn’t even process the bombardment of sensation. Her body shook and spasmed as each nerve ending twitched in utter delight.

“Oh hell yeah,” Merrick breathed. “Ours, baby. If you only knew how often I’ve dreamed of having you this way. I’ll never get enough. Never.”

Cade arched his back, pushing upward, and she gasped at the fullness, the intensity of being so stretched. She was hypersensitive to every movement.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” Cade said in a strained voice. “I love the sight of you astride me, your hair down your shoulders and that drugged look on your face, the way your eyes glaze over. So fucking beautiful you make me ache. Let us have you now, honey. Trust us to give you what you need.”

“Take me,” she whispered. “I need you. I love you both so much.”

Her words incited an instant response. Their hands tightened on her body. They began to move with greater urgency, foregoing the lazy pace they’d previously set.

Merrick began to thrust, withdrawing and then plunging deeply into her ass while Cade lifted her hips and then pulled her downward to meet his upward thrusts.

The ferocity of her orgasm frightened her. It was unlike anything she’d ever experienced. It was so powerful. So intense. Building…building…and building still. Every time she thought surely she would topple over, the tension kept rising and the pleasure intensified until she was nearly delirious.

Her body was no longer her own. It belonged to them. They commanded it. She writhed uncontrollably, her hands everywhere on Cade’s body.

She panted breathlessly and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, her teeth clamped together to keep from screaming as her orgasm swelled, becoming an enormous ball of tightly leashed fury.

When she thought she couldn’t stand it a moment longer, Cade flicked his finger over her clit, and she hurtled out of control.

She had to have blacked out momentarily, because the next thing she was aware of was being sprawled over Cade, her cheek pressed tightly to his chest. She couldn’t suck in enough air to appease her burning lungs, and her entire body tingled, so sensitive that each of Merrick’s thrusts sent aftershocks racing through her abdomen.

Cade stroked her back. Up and down. Slow, loving and achingly gentle. And then Merrick growled low in his throat and thrust into her so hard that it rocked her body upward. Cade anchored her to him and held her as Merrick slowly settled down over her back, sandwiching her firmly between the two men.

A sigh of utter bliss escaped her. She was numb. She couldn’t feel parts of her body, and she couldn’t care less. She’d never been so at peace in her life.

This was her life. Her future. Her past no longer mattered. Where she belonged was here. Between these two men. Men she loved with every bit of her heart and soul.

“Love you,” she whispered. “So much.”

“Love you too, baby.”

“I
adore
you, honey,” Cade said as he stroked her hair. “You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“Fuck the championship. You’re definitely the best thing that’s happened to me,” Merrick said with complete sincerity. “I could hang it all up tomorrow as long as I have you.”

Tears pricked her eyelids, and she bit her lip to prevent them from leaking down her cheeks.

She turned her mouth down to kiss Cade’s chest, and she lay there, content to remain blanketed by so much delicious male flesh.

“Want to talk to you, baby,” Merrick said, his words a little slurred.

“Mmmm,” was all she could muster.

Merrick kissed her shoulder. “How about I order some breakfast, and we’ll talk while we eat.”

After the room service cart was wheeled into the sitting area of the suite, Merrick signed the check and then pushed it the rest of the way into the bedroom.

There was something supremely decadent about having breakfast in bed with two deliciously gorgeous alpha males.