“Aim for soft spots, noses can be good if you hit them just right…”
I bring my forehead forward and slam into his nose, a satisfying crack and shout from him is like music to my ears. Blood pours out but my moment of surprise is gone, and it isn’t enough to keep him down. He tries to roll me onto my back again. I almost stop him, but when his blood hits my eyes I’m temporarily blinded. His weight is off me and I try to frantically wipe the redness from my vision.
Hands wrap around my neck again, this time lifting me off my feet. My back slams into the Pit wall, all the air rushing from my lungs. Again, he squeezes.
“If you can get close enough, the eyes are good too…”
Not able to see properly I flail, reaching for his face. Before he can react, my thumbs find his eye sockets and I feel him begin to let go.
Power and fury rise up in me and I let off an unholy scream as I press my thumbs down. Cole thrashes, trying to throw me. His screams become frantic. Nothing else matters around me. There is no sound, no feeling. Just power.
I push, screaming as I unleash all the anger within me. Adrenaline courses through me. A loud pop echoes in my ears and his shrieks rise to a crescendo as he drops to his knees, his hands coming up to his ruined face.
My vision is red with the blood still on my face but I can see well enough.
When Cole drops I go down with him, falling heavily to the ground. I breathe heavily through my nose as I rise, looking down on Cole’s ruined face only long enough to spit on it. His screams are almost deafening but it’s background over the blood pounding my own ears.
Stalking back in front of him, I wind up and kick him as hard as I can in the groin. I hear the intake of hundreds of sympathetic breaths around me and smile. I look up and around at the faces looking down on me before turning back to Cole and kicking him squarely in the face. A loud crack echo’s over the pit, and another as I kick him again and again until I’m left panting for breath. By the time I’m through, Cole is still, silent and almost unrecognizable.
I turn back to the inmates. Rage courses through me and exhilaration of what I’ve done.
“Anybody else?” I shout, raising my hands to the masses. “Does anyone else want to fuck with me?”
Another second of silence, then two, before the cheers rise up louder than ever.
Nothing else to do, I laugh. The anger, fear and uncertainty let out in a wave of joy. I keep my arms raised, letting the feeling wash over me.
“Good job,” Josh says, “you’ll make a decent fighter yet.”
Thirty Eight
Axle
Watching Ana fighting Cole fills me with more fear and pride than I can stand. Both Ethan and Oscar are holding me by my arms, and I feel them both squeeze every time Cole almost hits her. She’s magnificent. My blood-spattered warrior goddess.
When Cole gets on top of her and wraps his hands around her neck, I roar and struggle to get free, forgetting about my ribs. A sharp pain hits me, and I drop, coughing up a bit of blood as I rise to my knees. Wetness fills my eyes as I watch her go limp and hear his laughter.
No…
I close my eyes, praying for my own death, when a loud, “Oooooh!” carries in the crowd and I shoot my eyes open, looking down.
I miss what happened but assume she headbutted him based on his now broken nose and the blood covering both. I’m lost in the battle frenzy as I watch them struggle, my body willing myself to go down there and help. The fire and demons rage in my blood once more as I watch him put his hands on her again. She begins to flail, and it almost looks random, until I realize what she is doing.
My entire body deflates as she presses her thumbs into his eye sockets. The screams rise to a crescendo, and though I can’t hear it, I imagine the warm pop of his eyes bursting. I watch as she winds up to kick him in the balls, wincing myself despite feeling no pity for the man. When she begins hitting his face and Cole’s scream cuts off abruptly, I know it’s over.
The Tomb is silent, more silent than I’ve ever heard it, as both their bodies drop. I watch as she pulls herself from beneath him, gore and offal running down her arms. She looks incredible standing there, covered in blood with her arms raised. Despite the inappropriateness at the moment, I feel my dick getting hard at the sight.
“Anyone else?” she yells again.
I grin and reach out for Ethan to help me stand. That’s my girl. Fuck yes. That. Is. My. Queen.
“She fucking did it,” Ethan says beside me, the awe in his voice evident. I look at the men standing around me and similar expressions cover their faces and pride wells up in me.
The roar of the crowd around us is deafening as she rises up the rope. When she gets to the top, I see how tense her body is, ready for another fight. Ethan smiles and nods at me, taking a step back. I swear he knows me better than I do.
I walk up to her with decisiveness and as much as I want to kiss her and fuck her senseless, she needs this moment. The men don’t see her as a woman right now, they see her as a warrior. I can’t do anything to risk that. Not until we’re alone, anyway.
At that moment, I know what I have to do. She’s more than worthy, my beautiful bloody warrior queen. I grin at her, lifting her hand in victory. Her face looks at mine in shock when she hears my words.