the cage bars to him.
Then a ten-man free-for-all was announced and Sam watched as her very own bad boy climbed into the ring to join the melee. There were no rules. If you got thrown out of the ring, it was over. The last man standing in the ring won. She knew that David would most likely get tossed out because it was part of the program. It made the fans roar when the “heels” dumped one of the popular “faces”. But it was obvious from the start of the free-for-all that David was not going to let himself get tossed easily. The heel who was supposed to toss him ended up flying over the ropes and landing right in front of her and Sam gasped and did what came naturally to her. She helped him to his feet and asked him if he was okay.
The wrestler shook his head to clear it, glared up at his nemesis and then shouted, “Braza. This your woman?” in a deep, heavily accented voice.
David had just heaved another man over the ropes and he turned to glare at the tall blond man. The man reached out and dragged Sam against his sweat-sheathed body as she shoved at him in vain. It was like trying to get free of a slick vise grip.
“You have a death wish or something?” she gasped as the man pulled her close and then she couldn’t say a thing-because he had cut off her protest with a wet French kiss that made it nearly impossible to breathe. She kicked his ankles and slugged his shoulders but he was like a frigging brick.
David was livid that Van Burghe had suddenly decided to use Sam as a tool to get him out of the ring, but something truly snapped when the tall, buff wrestler from Germany also took the liberty of kissing her. He jumped onto the ropes and the crowd went nuts, knowing what was coming next.
“Take your hands off her, Van Burghe!” his voice boomed across the seats at ringside, much to the delight of the screaming audience.
Sam couldn’t breathe, he was holding her so tightly, so she did the only thing she could think of. Her knee came up hard and fast and the tall German gave a grunt of pain, loosening his hold on her. Even his cup couldn’t prevent
“You little bitch,” he muttered foully as she struggled to get away from him.
“Let me go, dammit,” she gasped, as he reasserted his grip on her and she felt as if he were crushing her. Boy, he was sure pissed now.
Joe and the others were on their feet, which distracted the wrestler for a moment. He seemed startled by the five young men who were yelling at him to turn her loose. It gave her just a split second to grab his little finger and peel it back as hard as she could, causing him to loosen his grip on her again.
And then the man was suddenly gone.
She was released so fast, she had to grab Greg around the neck to keep from falling on her face. She whirled around to see the hapless German on the floor of the area outside the ring, struggling to rise. The figure looming over him as he managed to stagger to his feet was not in a good mood. A fist to the stomach made the man grunt and double over and then he was on the floor again when David hit him in the chest with his massive shoulder and the man went flying backward, stunned.
He held up both hands in surrender as David stepped toward him again. “Hey, man! It was just a joke! I’m sorry.”
“You’d damn well better be.” David’s voice was a rasp of fury. He returned to Sam and his hand came up to gently touch her cheek. “He hurt you?”
She swallowed hard. Unable to speak, she shook her head. He growled and glanced at the guys. “Get her out of here, will you? The show’s over for her.”
The guys didn’t question him. They were too shocked to protest having to leave the show. They escorted her out of the arena to the shouts and cheers of the crowd. Once outside they made their way to the backstage area, where security was waiting for them. They remained there, every now and then asking Sam if she was okay. She nodded each time but inside, she was a trembling wad of nerves. The way she had been treated by the big German wrestler had been bad enough but when she had seen the violent reaction from David, it had been even more frightening than the German’s assault.
He had been ready and willing to completely destroy the man, over nothing more than a rather insulting stolen kiss. She drew a deep breath and smiled up at the security man who had brought her a hot cup of coffee.
“Thanks.” Her grateful smile was only momentary.
And then the event was over and the performers were coming out of their dressing rooms, most of them grinning and waving at the boys. The young diva who had tossed her tank top to Joe stopped by and flirted a little more before she left with the taller blonde she had defeated earlier in the evening. Wolfman came over to say goodbye to the guys and he nodded briefly to Sam, as if he didn’t want to end up with Chance Braza taking his head off. She smiled and told him it was nice to have met him.
He glanced at her and grinned. “I hear you’ll be touring with us. So it ain’t exactly goodbye, is it?”
It was the first time the guys had heard about her continuing on with David and they all teased her. “So, you ain’t got a ‘thing’ with Chance Braza, huh?” Joe grinned at her and pretended to punch her arm gently.
She smiled nervously and shook her head. “I think it’s great publicity for the books to be seen with him and vice versa.”
“Sure. I believe that,” Greg laughed.
Mouse grinned at her and added a jibe. “For a guy who ain’t nuts about you, he sure didn’t handle the bit with Van Burghe and you kissing real well.”
She flushed warmly and said, “I wasn’t kissing him. He grabbed me.
And then David was there, looking rather grim and uncommunicative. No one talked to him as he caught hold of her elbow and herded her out to the limo. They all sort of avoided his dark glare. Even Joe and the guys didn’t attempt to talk while in his presence. She remained calm as the driver dropped the guys off at their motel, but after they arrived at the Embassy Suites, Sam couldn’t stand the silent treatment any longer and she hung back. David stopped and glanced at her questioningly.
“If you are going to be like a bear with a sore paw, I think I’ll stay down here and get myself a drink.”
He seemed to grow inches taller as he drew in a deep breath and then he turned toward the lounge. “I’ll have a drink too.”
“You can’t have a drink. You’re supposed to be a healthy person. No drugs, No alcohol.”
“Beer doesn’t count as alcohol as far as I’m concerned. And don’t try to mother me, Sam. I’m still pissed off about Van Burghe and I don’t want to take it out on you.” His snarled words startled her.
“Well, you’ve been doing that since coming out of your damn dressing room. Why stop now?” Her green eyes challenged him.
He looked dangerous for just a moment and then his face relaxed and he shook his head. “You’re right. I’m being a jerk. Sorry. But when he kissed you, I wanted to take his fucking head off and stick it on a flagpole.”
She stared at him in shock for a moment, before breathing shakily, “David, aside from the appalling language, that is the sweetest thing any man has said to me in my whole life.” He blinked and his astonished look made her smile. “Thank you for being protective of me. I don’t recall anyone ever trying to protect me before.”
He stared down into her flushed face and she watched his anger dissolve. “You think I was trying to protect you? I thought I was being possessive and overly jealous.”
“Same thing.”
“Not quite.”
“I’m flattered that you were jealous. It’s not often a woman has such a magnificent champion.
You think so?”
“I definitely think so.”
“You flirting with me?”
“I’m not exactly sure. I’ve never flirted before. I’m no expert.”
“You ever been carried off by a magnificent champion and been made love to in a public restroom?”
Sam realized he was pulling her toward the men’s room. “That’s not exactly my choice of a romantic trysting place.”
“Romance is where you find it. And I could make love to you standing right here but I think you’d prefer a little privacy.” He drew her hand to his mouth and she shivered as his lips caressed her fingertips slowly.
“That looks good.” Her voice was shaky.
