Hidden In Brutal Devotion (The Brutal Duet Book 1) (The Brutal Series)

Cole

Tia breaks off another piece of the banana muffin I brought over and places it into her mouth. Just seeing her little tongue dart out brings a wave of emotion over me. The thought of her tongue around my cock, again in my mouth, and over my piercings makes my cock jump in my jeans and pre-cum leak from the tip. I shift in my chair and try not to think of all the fucking we did last night and into this morning.

So far, Tia hasn’t told me anything I don’t already know. So, I’m desperate to delve a little deeper into my beauty.

“What do you do for fun?” I ask her with a wiggle of my eyebrows.

She throws a muffin wrapper at my head, making me chuckle. “I don’t make a habit of going home with charming muscled men, that’s for sure.”

“You think I’m charming?” I grin at her.

She rolls her eyes in jest. “You know you are.”

I grin back at her knowingly.

“I like to draw.” She nibbles her lip almost nervously, waiting for a reaction.

“Draw?”

Tia nods.

“You going to show me what you draw?”

She smiles at my words, making me wonder if anybody has ever seen her drawings before. Seen her.

“I have a whole portfolio I can show you after breakfast?” Her expectant eyes hold mine, causing my heart to constrict at her vulnerability over her workmanship.

Hell, she could draw fucking stick men and I’d tell her they were incredible. Preferably stick men fucking, but I’m not sure how that works.

Something tells me Tia needs approval, and I’m all for giving approval.

“Fuck yeah, beauty.”

She blushes and darts her eyes away. “How about you? What do you like to do?”

I smile back at my girl. “Fight. I like to fight.”

Her eyebrows rise. “Fight?”

“Yep. Me and my brothers own a bunch of fight clubs, gyms. I help train the current fighters while my brothers work more behind the scenes.”

She flicks her gaze over my body, and I almost push out my chest in pride at her perusal. “Makes sense, you’re . . . solid.”

I throw my head back on a laugh. “Damn fucking right I’m solid.” I blatantly adjust my rock-hard cock, making Tia laugh.

“Tell me about your family.” She smiles as she takes another sip of the fresh orange juice I bought for her.

“So, I was brought up by my nana. My parents passed away when I was a kid.” I swallow back the emotion discussing my parents always brings up. “My mom died during childbirth, and my dad drank himself to death,” I tack on.

Tia’s eyes melt with sympathy, and her hand settles over mine. The comforting gesture makes me turn her hand over and take a hold of it, threading our fingers together. The feeling is foreign to me, but at the same time, it feels natural with her. “Anyway, my nana, she fostered kids. When I was eight, she took on my brother Lucas. He’d been through a hellish childhood. He was withdrawn and a total dick, but she helped pull him out of his shell. Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t let anyone see the real him, but I do, and I know my brother Rage does too.”

“Your nana sounds incredible.”

Tia’s soft smile gives me the determination to carry on. “She died three years ago. She left us with enough money for us to pay off the loan we took out on our first fight club. Rage is, like, incredible with accounts and shit, and Lucas has a total business head with so much intensity behind him, he makes business deals with ease.” I chuckle at my analogy of Lucas. The clowns he works alongside to get sponsors for our fighters think his whole serious and brash demeanor is purely business. If they fucking knew the guy was like that twenty-four-seven, they’d have him committed.

I take a gulp of my smoothie before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, keeping the other firmly locked around Tia’s. “So, have you always lived in Basington?”

She freezes ever so slightly, and her fingers grip my hand tighter. If I wasn’t already watching all her reactions, I’d have missed it.

“No, I moved here when I was eighteen.” Her voice is soft, almost broken, and I hate it.

“You have family here?” I add.

She breaks another piece of the muffin off but plays with it in her fingers, her eyes staring into space. “Yeah.”

“You don’t want to talk about it?” I raise an eyebrow.

I scan her face, and she shakes her head gently from side to side.

“That’s okay, beauty. You can tell me when you feel like it.” I stroke my hand down her cheek tenderly, and the warmth seeping into my skin makes my cock ache painfully.

“Beauty?”

“Mmm?”

“I really need to empty my balls right now.”

Tia bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, Cole. Talk about spoiling the moment!”

I grin at her triumphantly. “I know, but, Jesus, my cock is rubbing against my jeans and, beauty? It fucking hurts.” I practically sulk as she shakes her head with laughter.

“You didn’t wear boxers?”

I jolt at her words. “Fuck no. I got your address and came straight here.”

Her spine straightens, and her face freezes. “Where did you get my address from?”

“Your manager at Envy gave it to me.”

“What’s his name?” she snaps back at me, clearly testing my answer.

“Reggie,” I answer with a smile, remembering the information Lucas gave me about the club last week. He’d told me if I need anything while there, Reggie, the manager, would approve it. By “anything,” he no doubt meant a lap dance or a quick fuck, but I don’t have to pay women for that shit, not when I can get them to drop their panties just by smiling in their direction. Besides, I enjoy the chase. Not that there’s normally much of that either.

Tia lets out a breath of air, and her shoulders slacken. She’s clearly hiding shit with her reactions, but I look forward to finding out what.

A thought suddenly occurs to me, making my free hand ball into a fist. If she’s hiding shit over some douche of an ex, I’d take great pleasure in fucking him up for even looking in her direction.

“Cole?”

Her words snap me out of my thoughts. “Huh?”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Do you have an ex-boyfriend?”

Her eyes widen, and her cheeks redden. So damn cute.

“N . . . No,” she stammers. “I’ve never had a boyfriend.”

My eyebrows knit together in confusion while I trail my eyes over my woman. “Never?”

She swallows. “No. I never wanted one.”

Jesus, she’s so damn perfect.

“Come ’ere.” I gesture toward myself with a smirk as I open my legs for her to stand between them. The sway of her hips is masked beneath the baggy T-shirt, and my hands waste no time lifting it over her head, exposing her naked body to me.

I suck in a sharp breath at the sight before me. I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful in my entire life. Her plump tits are more than a handful‍—‍perfect‍—‍and her pebbled nipples are begging to be sucked.

She nibbles on her lip, waiting for me to respond, but I sit there feeling frozen to the spot, unsure what to do next, because this woman in front of me deserves so much more than me, but I sure as shit won’t let her leave me. Not when I only just found her.

“Touch me,” I tell her, hating the hint of vulnerability in my tone.