Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

Standing up, I frowned at him. “I didn’t need your help.”


“She’s going to sit on you,” he said then laughed. “The minute you start beating her, she’ll sit on you and win. I’d bet money on it.”

Laughing too, I threw a towel at him. “It’s not funny. Based on her breath, I think she ate chili recently.”

Dragon nearly fell off the bench laughing. “I don’t look forward to using the cage after you two.”

All I knew about Dragon was that he was a college student, never lost a fight except for the two times he was knocked unconscious, and the girls all claimed he was gay because he wouldn’t fuck them.

“I’m Raven,” I said when we finished laughing.

“Nick. I know your sister. How is she feeling?”

“Like a tiny person preggers with twins.”

Nodding, Nick leaned back on the bench. “Not to be rude, but I really do have a headache.”

“Sure. I’ll try to keep my screams for help to a minimum.”

Closing his eyes, Nick grinned. “Just remember you get paid either way. Plus, you’re pretty enough to overcome stinking.”

As Nick rested, I walked out to the cage where Redneck Bitch waited. Turned out that not only did my opponent have a name, Trina also had a fan club who chanted her name as we faced off.

Looking around, I realized no one was chanting my name. I spotted Vaughn in the front row where Tucker’s buddies sat. He was yelling, but the crowd was so loud I can’t tell what he was saying.

Vaughn looked hotter than I remember and I remembered him being unbelievably fucking hot. With his hair pulled back in a ponytail, I saw how badly he needed a shave and I imagined the stubble against my skin. He wore a dark gray Harley shirt tight across his powerful chest. I allowed my mind to return to his tattoos and thick blond chest hair hidden under the tee. As he stood in the stands surrounded by lesser beings, I spotted his dagger necklace. I remembered how it swayed as he moved inside me.

While my mind was on Vaughn, Trina took her first shot before the bell rang. Fortunately, her aim was off and she only clipped the end of my nose. The bell rang and Trina rushed at me. She couldn’t fight for shit, but she was bigger and wanted to win more than I did. At that point, I just didn’t want her sitting on me in front of Vaughn.

Between the crowd noise and Trina’s warrior yell, I could barely focus. I still managed to dodge her a few times before I came up with a plan that wouldn’t end with her using me as a chair.

Sure, I could punch her hard and knock her ass down. I knew how to fight and it didn’t involve screaming like an idiot and doing windmills with my arms. On the other hand, if I hit her and she fell, I just knew she’d land on me. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but Vaughn was there and I didn’t want him laughing at me.

Except he was laughing at me. I caught sight of him clapping and laughing as I ran away from Trina. The fucker thought my horror was hilarious and maybe it was, but I was still pissed. Now, I needed to win and there was only one way to ensure I knocked the ever living shit out of Trina Warrior Princess.

Rage.

Stored deep inside me, rage waited for the right or not so right moments to break free. Now, was a perfect time, so I thought about Phoenix. The way my little brother followed me around all of the time. How he cuddled in my bed when the monsters under his bed scared him. Mostly, I thought about how he looked dead in the pool with his little truck floating nearby.

When all that rage rose up in me, I unleashed it on Trina who was still chasing me around the cage.

The first punch took her off-guard. The second one to her jaw made her stumble. Trina tried to hit me back and I think she might have gotten a shot in, but I was too angry to care. Too many ugly memories haunted me and I took them all out on her face.

Soon, she was on the ground, her body caving under my fists. Her cries no longer of the warrior sort. Trina felt the wrath of my disappointing life. Not just mine, but those of Lark and Phoenix. Before Axel pulled me off my crying opponent, I found myself punishing the people who would take Vaughn’s life one day soon. I hated them without knowing their names or faces. I didn’t care who they were or why they wanted Vaughn dead. They were fucking evil and I wailed on Trina until Axel dragged me out of the cage to the frenzied applause of the crowd.

I’d given them a show and taught Trina a lesson, but the rage didn’t just leave me once the fight was over. I felt so much pain and hate. The hot water of the shower washed away the blood, mine and Trina’s. My inner pain was barely dulled.