“Now you have.” I kissed his knuckles, and he flushed a pink that made me feel unreasonably proud of myself. “I want to take you on a thousand dates. At least two every week, forever.”
Keaton could’ve laughed at me. I felt a little ridiculous. But all he did was lean down and kiss my lips softly, as if he was pressing his mouth to silk. I ran hot and cold and my head went fuzzy on the inside. I couldn’t hold back my impulse to take over the kiss, and soon he was dueling with my tongue.
“I see the excitement has gotten to you. It does that to me, too.” Mr. Uhlig walked over to stand near us. His gaze wasn’t on the chaos in the pit, but rather stuck on the crowd. Everyone jumped to their feet with their fists in the air, and Keaton turned back toward the action—well, the blood and gore. We’d been cooking up some pretty good “action” all on our own.
“Hendrix is brutal,” Keaton said with awe. “Shit, I wish I’d known about these free-for-alls. Five men fighting is nuts.”
“I could get you into the next one.” Mr. Uhlig’s smile was so shiny it could be spotted from space—but fuck that. No one got to steal Keaton’s safety.
“No.”
They both stared at me, and I had no idea how I looked, but I knew I wanted to murder Uhlig for the suggestion alone.
“He doesn’t need to fight anymore.” I was shooting for a normal tone, but I must’ve hit psycho killer instead because Uhlig took a step back and raised his hands.
“It’s good money,” he said.
“He doesn’t need your cash. He has mine.”
Uhlig’s smile became something wicked and he waggled his dark eyebrows. “Oh, really?”
“Daddy.” Keaton wrapped his arms around me. “I’m fine not doing that stuff anymore. We have our own games to play.”
I grinned at him over my shoulder. “True.”
Uhlig cleared his throat, but it sounded more as if he was hiding laughter. “My loss, gentlemen. Enjoy your evening.” He winked, then moved on to schmooze some other guests who’d probably paid the outrageous price of ten thousand dollars a seat to be here, the same as I had.
“Daddy, were you jealous?” Keaton whispered in my ear.
I shifted and shoved him against the glass. Thankfully, it was every bit as sturdy as I’d assumed. “Jealous?” No, I’d been terrified I would lose him the last time he’d fought and scared he would get hurt if he ever did it again. “Of what? I love you, boy, and only I get to pick who you kill. It doesn’t matter if it’s inside the ring—” I went on tiptoe and nibbled his earlobe. “—or out.”
He smirked, an expression I’d never seen on him. “You love me that much?”
“More.”
Our next kiss heated up faster than a bottle rocket, and before long, my hard-on was pressed against his muscled thigh, and he was whimpering into my mouth.
“We’re loving the show, both of them, but you’re about to miss the big win.” The blonde stood near us with a tiny set of binoculars anchored to a jeweled handle as if she was at the opera. Keaton and I both spun around to watch the finale. There were three bodies scattered around in puddles of blood with their appendages bent in various unpleasant ways.
A whip-thin man—all muscle—pounded in the face of a big bruiser who reminded me far too much of Keaton. I shivered when the victor stopped to run his hand through his dark hair, obviously slick with sweat from exertion. He flashed around a smile, then delivered one more punch before he hopped to his feet and thumbed his nose at the man on the floor.
“Oh wow.” Keaton rested his hand on the glass.
“That’s my boy! Excuse me!” Uhlig hustled for the door and grabbed a microphone from a small shelf as he passed it on his way out.
“Do you think he really is Uhlig’s boy?” I asked.
Keaton flushed, and I couldn’t stifle a chuckle. He was so cute.
“Nah. No way.”
“Why not?”
His brow furrowed as he studied me. “No one else would be as good a Daddy as you.” He leaned closer. “Mr. Uhlig doesn’t make me feel safe. He couldn’t be a good Daddy.”
Butterflies tap danced in my stomach and a strong breeze could’ve blown me away.
“We have our winner!” Uhlig’s voice came over the sound system. “Hendrix, our Knock Out Boy! For those of you who placed bets, the house will square up with you by courier during the coming week. Prompt payment is assumed. Thank you.”
