Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

“Son of a bitch!” I hissed, stumbling back, pain lancing through my jaw. I blocked another strike from Nik and rammed my fist into his stomach, making him wheeze and hunch over.

I brought my knee up and smashed it into his nose. His head snapped back. I hit him with a spinning roundhouse kick and he went flying, landing in a heap on the floor of the ring.

I danced back a few steps, light on my feet as Nik picked himself up. He wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, determination set in his eyes as he stared me down.

When Nik said he was going to make me pay for what I’d said about Tatiana, the bastard hadn’t been joking. For the better part of an hour we’d been sparring, and it was taking everything I had to keep him back. He was coming at me with everything he had, intent on making me suffer.

He ran at me again and we dove right back into it, trading blows. Nik and I were pretty evenly matched. It made the fight a lot more interesting.

“Any more hits with facial recognition?” I asked, blocking his attack and lashing out with my own.

Nik dodged. “No.” He threw a punch. “And I couldn’t find anything on the guy Rayna has supposedly been meeting at the café either. They only keep their footage for forty-eight hours before it’s deleted.” He front kicked me and I grabbed his foot, grunting at the impact.

He jumped up and kicked me in the face with his other leg. I lost my hold on his foot and dropped, landing roughly on my back.

Fuck, the bastard kicked hard.

Nik straddled me and wrapped his hands around my throat. The fucker was trying to choke me out. I fought against him but his hold was tight. He was sitting on my chest, making it hard for me to buck him off.

In the corner of my eye I saw Drea, watching me. She’d asked if she could use the gym to work out and I didn’t see a reason to deny her. She was surrounded by our soldiers doing workouts of their own. If she tried to escape (I didn’t think she would, but if she did), they’d stop her.

Her face was marred with worry. She was concerned for me. It would look like Nik was trying to kill me from an outsider’s point of view, but I knew my brother. He might be pissed at me but he wasn’t trying to kill me. Trying to hurt me, sure. But not kill.

I was struggling to breathe now. I had to do something or he really was going to make me pass out.

Sorry, little brother.

I hit him in the nuts. His eyes bulged and he groaned deeply, his hold loosening immediately. I threw him off me and jumped to my feet. He was curled up in a ball, his hands between his legs cradling his balls.

“You…ass…hole,” he breathed out painfully.

I went over to him and patted him on the back. “You left yourself open.”

His eyes snapped to me, full of anger. “You know we’re not allowed to strike there.”

Yes, we weren’t. We also weren’t allowed to choke each other out either. When we sparred there were certain rules we had to follow. We couldn’t do any permanent damage to each other, and blows to the privates were off limits.

“Consider us even then,” I winked. I straightened and turned to face Dayton, who had been watching from the sidelines. “Alright, your turn.”

He licked his lips nervously, glancing down at Nik and back up again. “Uh, I think I’ll skip this one.”

“Nope. Let’s go.”

He begrudgingly got in the ring. Nik slowly got to his feet, still holding his balls. He hobbled to the end of the ring and with some help from one of our soldiers, jumped down. The look he cut my way told me he was going to make me pay for that one.

I sparred for a bit with Dayton, teaching him how to move, how to strike, the correct way to curl his fingers into a fist so he didn’t break his hand. He was showing improvement. He was a quick learner. His aim with a gun was still shit, but overall he was doing better. Whether he could apply these skills into a life or death situation, I wasn’t sure yet.

Once it started getting dark outside, I let him go.

“Alright, we’re done for the day. Go get some rest.”

He was panting heavily, sweat dripping from his face and drenching his shirt. He nodded thankfully and limped to the edge of the ring. He looked back at me. “Want to watch some more TV later?” There was such vulnerability in that one question, it actually made me feel a little bad for the kid.

“Sure.”

He smiled. It was a real smile, one I hadn’t seen from him since he’d been here. “Cool.” He jumped down from the ring, grabbed his water bottle and towel and left.

Drea came over, staring at me intently. “You like him,” she said affectionately. “He’s not your brother. The two of you look nothing alike. Who is he?”

“A pain in my ass,” I huffed, stretching my arms over my head. “Ready to go back?” I asked, ignoring what she’d said. Truth was, I did like him. He was a cool kid once you got past all the angst and resentment wafting off him.

Drea bit her lip, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I was thinking something a little different, actually.”

I arched an eyebrow as she climbed into the ring, standing toe-to-toe with me. “And what would that be?”

She didn’t answer, just took a step back and put her hands up.

Excitement rose up within me like a tide. She wanted to spar. “Are you sure about this, malyshka?” I asked, my voice deepening.

She darted forward and struck me in the face. My head whipped to the side, pain exploding across my jaw. She ran back out of my reach, quick as a cat, bouncing lightly on her feet as a playful smirk curled on her lips.

I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, rubbing my jaw. “Alright then.” I cracked my neck from side to side, bringing my hands up.

Drea blew me a kiss and lunged. She was quick, so quick. And careful. She lashed out at me with swift, sharp blows, always managing to slip away from me before I had the chance to retaliate.

I swung a right hook and she dodged it easily. She hit me in the kidney and I grunted at the pain that shot through my body. She darted away, putting space between us.

Drea knew her strengths and her weaknesses. She knew she had to keep her distance because she didn’t have the physical size to beat me.

I wasn’t sure how long we went for, Drea darting in and out, her strikes quick and precise as she literally danced around me, inflicting blow after blow.

She eventually huffed in annoyance, staring me down. “You’re going easy.”

I didn’t deny it. I was. I didn’t want to hurt her.

“Cut it out and fight me.”

The determination in her eyes showed me she wanted a proper fight. She didn’t want me to go easy on her.

Fine. I’d kick it up a notch.

I beckoned her forward with two fingers. She ran at me. I watched her closely and when she went to strike, I grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

Her eyes widened in shock.

I flipped her onto her back, wound my legs around her arm and pulled back. Drea cried out, flailing wildly. She tapped the ground twice and I let her go, rising to my feet.

She picked herself up, eyes narrowed into slits. “You’ve been holding back a lot.”

I shrugged lazily. “Not a lot. Just…some.”

“Well stop it! I want a proper fight.”

“I outweigh you by 150 pounds, at least. It’s not a fair fight.”

“Did I say I wanted a fair one? No. Let’s go.” She ran at me again and I realised that I didn’t need to hold back as much as I was.

Drea was skilled. Quick. Her blows held power, enough that they’d cause me bruises later. And she knew some fancy moves.

She kicked me in the face. I punched her in the shoulder. I grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, and she swung her elbow into my eye. She kneed me in the stomach and I tackled her to the ground. We went hard at each other, striking and striking and striking.

I still pulled my punches a little, but I didn’t hold back nearly as much as I did at the start. She had proved she could handle it. It would be an insult to go so easy on someone as skilled as her.

My body ached. I could taste blood in my mouth. There was a small bruise forming on Drea’s cheek. We were both a little worse for wear and yet, my smile mirrored hers as we circled each other inside the ring.

We were both having fun.

Drea did an impressive combo of kicks, forcing me back with each strike. I blocked, left, right, left, right. I grabbed her leg and kicked her other one out from underneath her, taking her down.

I flattened her with my body, panting hard, my heart pounding. Adrenaline and lust soared in my veins. Drea stared up at me, her chest rising and falling with quick, deep breaths, sweat rolling down the side of her face.

I couldn’t hold back. I had to kiss her.

I smashed my lips to hers and groaned, her feel and taste driving me higher. Drea returned the kiss with as much passion, her teeth biting into my lips hard. She clawed at me, trying to rip my clothes off. I could feel eyes on us, my men still working out in the warehouse watching us, but I didn’t care. Didn’t care if they saw what was going on. Drea was mine, and I wasn’t going to hide it.

God, I wanted her so bad.

I ripped my lips from hers and kissed across her cheek, palming her breasts roughly. Drea moaned, thrusting her chest out and pushing those full, plump tits further into my hands.

I latched my teeth onto her ear lobe and bit down lightly. “How fast can you run, malyshka?”