Page 91 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

Her eyes found mine, lashes fluttering fast.

“Just us,” I repeated, “alright?”

She took a stuttering breath before swallowing. “Alright.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Support,” she whispered and glanced down. I hadn’t even looked at her clothes before. She was in a skintight green dress that showed off every curve of her body, and scooped low enough that her erratic breathing pushed half her tits over its collar. It had a big black bow fixed right to the center of her chest, as if her cleavage alone wasn’t drawing enough attention. It took a second for the colors to click. Green and black, same as my shorts. She was flaunting that body while wearing my colors. Mine.

“Fuck,” I breathed.

“Surprise.”

“Fuck.” I swallowed, the rush of the fight morphing into a thicker, hotter instinct. “Yes.”

“So that was your uncle?”

“Don’t mention him right now.” I dragged my hands down her sides to her waist, her body so soft and warm.

“Victor,” her voice broke, and my head snapped up, my hands stilling. Cordelia’s lips were trembling and she shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“I know. I know.” I brushed her tangled hair back and kissed her cheek. Her whole body shuddered, and I wrapped my arms around her. She melted against my chest, muscles limp and shaking, only her fingernails digging into my sides, sinking in like claws. “I got you. You’re alright.”

“That’s your blood,” she whimpered.

“Hmm?”

She barely nodded towards the mirror on the wall, but I followed her attention to the streak of blood I had left on her cheek with my kiss.

“Sorry. I have to get cleaned up and then I’m getting you out of here.”

Her nails dug deeper, another shaky breath rocking her body.

“Okay, don’t worry,” I whispered, a small grin tugging at my lips as I realized what she meant. Instead of letting her go, I held her tight and walked her into the shower room. Her grip on me didn’t loosen until I reached for the shower handle.

“Not the dress.” She fumbled for the zipper at the back of her neck. “It’s dry-clean only.”

“Here.” I turned her around by the hips and pulled down the zipper, only to reveal that she wasn’t even wearing a goddamn bra. For fuck’s sake. I trained my eyes on the crumbling grout between the tiles while she stepped out of her clothes and carried them off. She was inches away from tipping over the edge of a mental breakdown. Even with every cell in my body still in fight mode, still seeking physical release for all this tension, I couldn’t dwell on her state of undress.

I tossed my own clothes aside, not giving one shit where they landed or whether they’d get wet.

“You look horrible, by the way,” Cordelia whispered when she came back and wrapped her arms around my middle. I could feel every inch of her skin pressed up against me, but I didn’t look at her again until the hot water was running, blurring my vision further and easing some of that pent-up tension.

“You should see the other guy,” I chuckled and ran my hands up and down her back.

She hummed and I wasn’t sure if it was the water or my touch, but her tension seemed to loosen as well. “I did. I watched the whole fight. Why did you go easy on him?”

No need denying anything. Cordelia had probably spent the last few days mainlining every single one of my fights, read the UFC rulebook backwards and forwards, and had spent countless hours on social media to figure out every angle of who and what was involved in fight nights. Cordelia didn’t half-ass things. “I knew I had a better chance of coming home to you if I was beaten to a pulp.”

Her head snapped up, brows drawn deep. “You’re an idiot. You could have gotten yourself killed.”

“Worth it.”

“No.” She shoved against my chest, putting a few inches of distance between us. All the insecurity in her eyes was replaced by hot fury. “You do not risk your life like that. Especially not for a temporary solution. Not when your uncle could just let you go now, then keep you locked up again once you’ve recovered from this fight.”

“Cordelia-”

“You have power now. We have power. You need to stop thinking like your body is the only leverage you have,” she hissed and stepped out of the shower stream, water pearling down her smooth skin, “I put on that ridiculous dress and I got in front of the cameras outside. I told these people that I’d have to buy youmakeupbecause I didn’t want your bruises to distract everyone at the foundation’s first open door event next week. I gave them a silly headline, and I gave them a time and place to expect you at.”