Page 89 of Brutal Knight

I circle around him and fake a lunge. He dodges it and goes in for the hit, but I know he’s coming. I use his momentum against him and hit his back. He’s frustrated and quick enough to turn on me.

Finn tries to jab at me with his elbow. I spin out of the way and throw a punch at his gut. He grunts under his breath and moves out of my way.

I take one last shot, but this time, I stop short, my hand only inches from Finn’s face. His eyes widen a little, and I laugh.

“Maybe next time,” I tell him. “That was a hell of a lot better than last time we faced off.”

He groans and slaps my hand out of the way, his stance immediately loose. “Yeah, yeah.”

“Nice match, both of you,” Aiden says, stepping up and slinging an arm around Finn’s shoulders. “But mostly Connor.”

“Fuck off,” Finn grumbles. “We both know I’d do better without a drink in me.”

“That’ll never happen,” Aiden says sarcastically.

“Well, either he doesn’t have one, or I’ll have to have more,” I say, teasing. “But you’d have to get a lot in me to get me to his level.”

Finn flips his middle finger at me, snatching a drink from the bar and throwing it back. Aiden shakes his head.

None of us are really serious. We all know that we have our strengths, and sparring between us will never really be fair. We’re not trying to fight the way we would in any other setting. It’s hard for Finn to hold back the right amount. He doesn’t do things halfway.

I may be better at sparring, but that doesn’t mean Finn couldn’t hold his own in a fight.

“Have another round,” Aiden tells me as I walk away. “Celebrate a little! Even if it was a small victory.”

“Small?” Finn echoes, incredulous.

Lachlan says something to them that I can’t quite hear from far away. I let them banter and step away, already losing interest in the fight.

It’s all in good fun. That’s what matters. We’re still family at the end of the day, and nothing has changed—except maybe that we’ve put on a good show. And that’s what I wanted to do.

I can still feel Willow watching me, and it felt good to show her just what I can do. It felt good to demonstrate that I’m more than my words. I’m willing to fight.

I turn back to my wife, and the sight of her heats my blood even more. I can tell as I walk over to her that she’s turned on. I can read it in her eyes, in the way her entire body shifts when she sees me coming, her lips parting a little.

I don’t stop to take the beer. Instead, I lean down and kiss her. Desire spikes through me, need burning in my gut like liquid fire. She kisses me back with just as much heat, one of her hands curling in my shirt, the other hanging on my belt.

I don’t know if she did it on purpose, but that hand on my belt sends a jolt of electricity through me. It sparks something that won’t let go, a thought that takes root and spreads its fingers through my veins.

When I pull back from her, I take my beer from her hand and whisper in her ear. “Follow me.”

I can tell from the flicker in her eyes what she’s thinking. I know her mind is returning to the alley behind the strip club, the things we did there.

But I’m not going to pull her away from the bar or out of the building. Instead, I take her to the table at the back corner of the bar. We’re barely three feet from the rest of the group, close enough that they won’t miss us but far enough that we’re not the center of attention.

Willow’s confusion is clear, but I nudge her into her seat, then move to sit right next to her. I lean close, then whisper in her ear again.

“Don’t react.”

Her eyes slide toward me. She looks lost but she also looks ready. Like she’s up for whatever I’m going to do.

That makes me want her even more.

I lean back in my chair, then slide my hand up her leg. I can feel her thigh beneath my palm, skin soft and perfect. I can feel her tremble when I touch her. She inhales sharply, her cheeks flushing a little.

“That’s reacting,” I murmur, smirking. “Try again. It’s only going to get harder from here.”

Her eyes dart to me. “Don’t stop. I can keep it together.”

---