Page 3 of Mongrels United
Kailash waved that away with an impatient motion. “Marko is old news.”
“Already?” The revolving door of Kailash’s love life never failed to fascinate her. As she didn’t have time for a single note of romance, she vicariously enjoyed Kailash’s affairs and dramas.
The crowd ooohed loudly enough to pull her attention back to the fight. Hyson had just slugged his opponent in the belly, for the man was bent over nearly double, a hand to his gut.
The next hit would be to the exposed chin, driving the man up and off his feet, she guessed.
But the punch didn’t happen. She shifted her attention to Hyson himself.
He was staring at her. Ather.
Hyson’s eyes were magnetic, holding her attention. Drawing her toward him.
Grady drew in a breath that burned all the way down to her toes. It ignited her body in a way she had nearly forgotten. No, she hadn’t felt anything this intense, not with any of her three indifferent lovers over the years…
Then his attention snapped away as his opponent surged forward from his bent position and rammed his shoulder into Hyson’s unguarded belly.
Hyson went down with a heavy grunt and landed on his back with an impact that Grady thought she could feel through her feet.
“Oooh,thathurt,” Kailash commented, his arms crossed.
Hyson got his arms up to protect his face as the other man straddled his hips and beat at him with his fists, at whatever vulnerable point he could reach.
The crowd screamed their delight, waving their hands in the air as if they wanted to punch Hyson out, too. Their expressions were animalistic. They smelled blood and the end of the fight, and it wasn’t happening the way they’d expected. They’d been surprised.
Hyson reached out with one hand and slapped the other man on the shoulder three times. He was tapping out.
The watchers went crazy.
“That’s my cue,” Kailash said. “Want to stay here while I find this joker and do the deal? It’s a bit quieter, in this little pocket.”
She nodded. Itwasquieter, but that was relative. She had a feeling that when they left the noise behind, she’d discover that her head was still pounding with the same beat as the music.
The winner of the fight was handed a towel to wipe his face clean of the blood, while other hands held out his clothes and possessions. Another two people stepped into the circle and stripped off their clothes. One was a woman, powerfully-built. She didn’t stop at her breastband, either. She stripped it off with the same casualness as her opponent removed his shirt. No one seemed shocked at that, although Grady could see the gleam of interest in some of the gazes around her.
The woman brought her fists up in the classic guard position, then extended a finger and beckoned her opponent toward her.
He danced closer. She snapped out her fist, directly against his nose. Blood spurted.
Grady looked away, uncomfortable. It wasn’t right to watch someone get hurt. She didn’t enjoy it the way the spectators did. Also, the fight was completely illegal. If she wasn’t going to shut it down, she should turn and walk away, even if this was the quietest spot in the lane.
Her decision made, she turned and stepped over the low pipe, intending to head in the direction that Kailash had gone. They could leave the field at the other end of the lane, then circle back to the Esquiline using the Artery magline, or if they really had to, the back tunnel.
Nash Hyson stepped in front of her. His smile held an edge.
Chapter Two
Grady sucked in a shocked breath, which jammed up at the back of her throat. Hyson had sought her out. Damn it. And he still wore no shirt. The heat of his body washed over her. Fresh sweat, male pheromones. She swallowed, a trembling starting up in the bottom of her belly.
Hyson said something, but she’d moved out of the little bubble of quiet and she couldn’t take in what he was saying, for her heart was pounding too hard. “What?” She pointed at her ear and shrugged.
Hyson made an impatient sound. Folded his full bottom lip inward and gave a short, sharp whistle which she easily heard.
Then he beckoned, spun on one heel and stepped his way around pipes and struts, back onto the lane proper, on the same side of the fight that Kailash had taken.
Grady watched Hyson go. He really expected her to just follow, without question?
Hyson turned, saw she wasn’t right there where he expected her to be, and beckoned her to him with an impatient movement, while people stepped around him. One of them clapped Hyson on the shoulder in greeting, which Hyson ignored. He didn’t even nod an acknowledgement.
