Beyond Shame

“Hard enough to put you on the mat.” Jas stretched his neck and circled, not bothering to guard with his fists and arms as he faced the other man. A matter of time, that was all, and he’d lunge in, desperate to land a punch on an unprotected area.

“Gave you that one,” Dom lied, feinting left with a quick jab. “Figured I’d let you hit something, since you can’t get it up for that that sweet city ass.”

“Christ, is that your game? Bore me to death because you punch like a little boy?”

Dom rose to the bait, charging toward him with a bellow. His hook came slow, so slow the man wasn’t just telegraphing his moves, he was sitting down to write them fucking love letters. Jas took the hit, using the distraction to drive a fist into Dom’s midsection.

When he doubled over, wheezing, Jas grabbed Dom’s hair and kneed him in the face. Bone cracked, and he hit the ground again, blood gushing from his broken nose.

Jas kicked him for good measure, a light tap to the ribs. “You’re not even trying, man. Get up.”

That brought the man to his feet again, snarling and rabid. He lunged forward and rammed Jasper against the side of the cage, and the watching crowd roared.

Still no match for straight-up brute strength. They grappled, and Jas lifted Dom off his feet and slammed him to the mat with a growl. Dom drove his knee into Jas’s hip and tried to roll them, but he couldn’t get the leverage.

Neither of them wore shirts, so Jas grabbed at Dom’s hair again instead of sweat-slick skin. “You better tap out before I pound your fucking face in, shithead. I’m in a mood.”

Dom tried to twist and then slapped his open palm on the mat with a snarl. “You fucking fucker.”

Jas considered pressing a foot to the man’s throat, just to teach him a lesson, but backed off. “You’re welcome.”

“Fuck off, Jas.” Dom pressed a hand to his bleeding face and rolled to his knees. “Next time, I’m smearing you all over this mat.”

“You’re gonna try.” A redhead—one of the dancers, maybe—opened the cage door and offered Jas a towel and a smile as he walked out. Noelle, on the other hand, stood at the fringes of the cheering crowd, a beer in one hand and a bewildered look on her face.

If that had been all, Jas would have kept walking. But a fire burned in those big eyes—admiration and even pride, but not fear.

He took the beer from her hand and drained it. “Like the show?”

“It was…” Her fingers hovered over his chest before brushing the spot where Dom’s fist had abraded his skin. Worry creased her brow, along with something darker. An edge, possessive and angry. “You must have let him hit you. I saw how fast you can move.”

He caught her hand, pressed it to his skin. “It doesn’t hurt for long.” Unlike the rest of him, which was throbbing thanks to her simple touch.

As if the words gave her permission, she smoothed her other palm up his side, fingers slicking over his bare chest, past his new tattoo and up to his shoulder. “You’re so strong,” she whispered, tracing his biceps with something damn close to reverence. “Powerful. Raw.”

“Hungry.” He didn’t even look at the throngs of people milling around them. “You keep touching, and I’m bound to think you want to do more.”

Her touch drifted lower. Over the curve of his elbow and along his forearm. “Like what?”

He slipped his hand into her hair. “Like try out some of the stuff Lex showed you.”

She licked her lips like she could already taste him, and her sharp breath made it clear she wanted to. “Right here? In front of everyone?”

If he said no, she’d pout. If he said no, his own body would murder him in his sleep. Jas untied the top of the new leather corset she’d bought from Stuart and dropped to the nearest free couch. “Show me.”

A few people turned to stare, but that didn’t stop Noelle from kneeling between his legs, breathing so hard her tits were damn close to spilling out of her top entirely. She smoothed her palms up his thighs and rested her fingers on his belt. “Rachel said you never lose a fight.”

“I never have.” He caught her chin. “Is this my reward?”

She inhaled sharply. “Would it be a reward?”

“To come in your mouth?” Jas eased the top of her corset down a fraction of an inch, but it was far enough for one luscious pink nipple to spill out. “Hell yeah. Unless you want me to come somewhere else instead?”

“Where?” She fumbled with his belt buckle, her expression an endearing mixture of frustrated impatience and anticipation.

He tweaked her nipple with just a hint of pressure. “Your tits?” He moved his hand to her mouth, a lingering brush of his thumb over her lower lip. “All over this pretty face?”

Her movements stilled as she whispered against the pad of his thumb. “You’d like that?”

It was like the ink—no one would wonder who she belonged to, or what would happen if they tried to touch her. “It’s sexy when a woman lets you come on her. Sexier when she likes it.”

Without looking away from him, she wrapped her lips around his thumb and slipped his belt free from the buckle. Her fingertips ghosted lovingly over the leather strip, and she raised her head. “Do you know what the show was last night?”

“At the Broken Circle?” With the way she was fondling his belt, he didn’t even have to ask. “Ace likes spanking before fucking. He takes it further than I would.”

Her blush spread to her neck as she ducked her head and tugged at his fly. “I wouldn’t think being struck with a belt would be pleasurable.”

“Me neither. But plenty of people get off on it.” He lifted her face to his again. “Are you one of them? You liked it when I slapped your ass.”

She swallowed hard and stared at his chin. “What would you do if I said yes?”

“Depends. Do you want it…or need it?”

“I don’t even know if I like it,” she said quickly, dragging down the zipper on his pants. “It’s not important. I can’t need something I’ve never had.”

Those were the things people needed the hardest. “Noelle.”

“I don’t know.” She left his pants hanging open and met his eyes. “I know I want to do this. I want to…” her voice faded to a husky whisper, “…suck your cock. I want to do things you like. Not things you don’t.”

Her hair was soft under his hand, and he twisted the strands in his fist. She seemed to enjoy that more than the pain—the force behind it. The domination. “Do it.”

She was awkward at first. Her fingers trembled as she eased his cock free and stroked them up his shaft. She wet her lips first, then dragged her tongue around the crown with a humming noise of satisfaction.

Heat. Jas gritted his teeth and used the hand on her head to guide her. “Bold, honey. Don’t think about it so much. Do what feels good.”

Her licks got longer. She worked her way along his shaft until it glistened before taking him into her mouth. She gripped his belt and bobbed her head, eyes closed and face slack with a blissful sort of peace.

Because she liked it, or because she wanted to be his? The question ripped at him even as her touch tightened his skin and made his balls ache. It wasn’t something he could answer, not here or now.

So he gave in.

“Deeper.” He wanted to be inside her. Wanted her to take him.

She tried. She surged down, took him deeper with every moan until she was damn near choking herself because she didn’t know how to deep throat.

It would have been scorching hot—if she’d meant to do it. Jas pulled her head up and wrapped her hand around his cock. “Look around, honey. What do you see?”

Her gaze drifted over the crowd as she stroked him. “Fighting. Fucking. No shame.”

What she wanted to see. “It’s a bunch of people who’ve never seen anything like you before. Not because you’re from the city, or because you’re damn near a virgin. Because you’re you.”

She turned back to him, confusion creasing her brow. “How can they know what that even means? I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“Because they’re not trying as hard as you are.”

Her hand stilled on his cock. “What do you see?”