Chad turned to the guy next to him, shooting him a friendly if competitive grin. The alpha answered the expression with a grin of his own.
“Chad,” Chad said, holding out his hand.
“Kenny,” the alpha said, clapping their palms together.
“Anytime you’re ready,” Merchant said. Chad and Kenny moved apart, and then crashed together at an unspoken signal.
Ducking under Kenny’s first punch and landing a jab on his side, Chad moved back with a grin.
“This isn’t boxing, boys. Fight dirty!” Merchant walked around them, and Chad’s blood thrummed at the challenge.
The next twenty seconds passed in a blur, but they ended with Chad’s thighs wrapped around Kenny’s neck and Kenny thrashing like a wild pig.
“Good work, boys. Now do it again without the fancy footwork.”
Chad unclamped his thighs and got up, Kenny jumping up after him and getting right back into position.
This time Kenny managed to get the upper hand, but Chad didn’t take it too hard.
The rest of the class was spent much the same way, but as Merchant got a sense for their fighting styles he started giving more and more advice. It was, much to Chad’s surprise, one of the most productive lessons Chad had ever had—even if Merchant’s assumption that every real fight should end in death was more than a little disquieting.
Chad made a mental note never to get on Merchant’s bad side.
By the time the class was over, Chad was sweating like a pig and grinning like a lunatic. Kenny, looking just as tired and happy as Chad felt, walked next to him as they headed to the locker room.
“Man, that was a good class,” Kenny said. “We fucking lucked out.”
“It was pretty great,” Chad agreed. “What do you mean we lucked out, though?”
“That wasMerchant,” Kenny said, like Chad should know what that meant. “He’s legendary. I heard he and Peter Tank used to do contracts together before Tank went legit.”
“Contracts?” Chad asked, sure that Kenny couldn’t mean what he thought he meant. “Like,contracts, contracts?”
“I mean… that’s the rumor. He’s a total badass.” Kenny sounded like he was talking about an action hero rather than a real person. He clapped Chad on the back. “I’d kill to be on his team one day.”
Chad relaxed. There were bound to be rumors about alphas like Peter and Merchant, and they probably even encouraged them. It didn’t mean that Peter hadactuallyworked as a hired killer.
“Maybe someday,” Chad said.
Kenny laughed, shaking his head. “I wish, but no. The guys on his team are fucking terrifying. I wouldn’t even survive the initiation ritual.”
With that Kenny headed to the shower, leaving Chad wondering what kind of initiation ritual you had to go through to be on Merchant’s team.
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be that bad—could it?
***
Chapter 19
After showering, combing back his hair, and dabbing just a hint of cologne between his collarbones, Peter headed into his walk-in closet to get dressed. He traced his fingers over his suits, naked except for his boxer briefs, and considered his options.
His suits made him look imposing and formal, but formal wasn’t really what Peter was going for. He wanted something intimate and provocative—and none of his suits fit that bill.
He wanted Chaddroolingat the sight of him.
Moving away from the impeccably constructed suits, bypassing his few pairs of jeans and casual slacks, Peter headed over to his collection of fetish wear. Reaching out to touch smooth leather, he pulled out the third pair of pants on the shelf in front of him.
These would do. Stepping into the supple leather pants, pulling them up over his muscular legs, Peter grinned at himself in the mirror. The pants weren’t indecently tight, but they showed off his ass, thighs, and package to perfection.
