Stockman’s Stormcloud (Stockmen #3)

Thirty-eight

What the hell have I done! Sophie’s legs were like jelly, the paddock’s floor was like a sponge, that she struggled to walk. Whatever had possessed her to do this?

She peered over her shoulder at Dex, who was shaking his head. He was worried about her.

But she was doing this for Dex. She couldn’t let Dex risk his home on a bet, and she certainly couldn’t risk his lungs in a fight that could leave him carrying an oxygen cannister for the rest of his life. She had to do something. Even if she couldn’t believe it herself.

‘What are the rules?’ she asked the referee who looked like a mean nightclub bouncer on steroids. Would they penalise her if she just ran around in circles to avoid getting punched?

‘There are none.’

‘So how do you know who wins?’

‘When you’re knocked out on the floor after losing your teeth.’ Marla was a fright of a woman who’d obviously lived a hard life. She was the type to get in the middle of a bar-room brawl for kicks or take on someone like Bree who had no fear.

But right now, Sophie was breathing nothing but fear that filled every molecule, every muscle, every nerve ending that if someone shouted loudly, she’d jump like a scared rabbit and run.

But she couldn’t run, she had to do this for Dex. She needed a double dose of courage or to tap into some deep dark level of craziness if she was going to go through with this.

The last bout of courage was when Sophie had stood up to Bree. A few times, she’d done that, mostly at Dex’s defence, and not even think about it until afterwards.

She’d also stood up to her ex in the ER of her old hospital when he was threatening her for money. Sophie had blamed some inner instinct that day when her temper snapped, and she’d whacked her ex in the face with an operating tray. She’d smashed his nose so hard he needed corrective surgery to plump up his sinuses. Yet, while that prick was in recovery, being attended to like a king because the hospital board was more worried about the lawsuit, she’d lost her job—after giving that place ten years of her life!

Maybe she did have some anger issues. So maybe this was the best place to get it out of her system. And with a deep breath, she held up her fists.

‘Stop.’ Dex stood before her and corrected her stance. ‘If you’re going to do it, keep your thumbs outside your fists or you’ll break them.’

‘Right. Got it.’ No, she didn’t. ‘Got any other tips?’ Like how to leave in the quickest ladylike manner?

‘Hit her ear.’

‘Why?’

‘You’re taller than Marla, so aim for the helix area.’ Dex slyly tapped his ear. ‘Marla told me once she can’t take her earrings out or she’d never get them back in. But you can take yours out, please.’ He held out his hand.

With trembling fingers, she pulled her sleepers free. ‘Do I take off my ring?’

‘No. Use it like a knuckle duster.’

‘Oh no, Marla has lots of rings.’ Her heart hammered in her throat as sweat broke out on her top lip and her body trembled with a shiver. What am I doing!

‘You can back out.’

Oh, she wanted to. Even looking to the fringes of the crowd for a quick exit. But there were none. Just a lot of men swapping cash on bets. ‘Did you put a bet on me?’

‘I did. I’ll use the winnings to buy you a nice ring. Maybe an engagement ring, huh?’

Her heart just expanded as her ears became deaf, as if submerged underwater, making the world suddenly silent where it only contained her and Dex.

brRRRR! The sound of the handheld siren pierced the silence.

Sophie jumped out of her skin.

‘Weave and be light on your feet,’ spoke Dex, but she struggled to listen, ‘and when Marla swings, hold your arms up to shield your head like this. And one more thing?’

‘Yeah.’ Sophie had her head down, fists in place, trying to mimic his stance, while remembering to keep her thumbs out of her fists, as well as trying to find the courage to do go through with this. This had to be a nightmare, where she’d wake up any minute now.

‘I love you, babe.’

She gasped at the words. Maybe this was a dream?

‘Sorry I haven’t said that in a more romantic place, but to me, this is my world, Soph, and right now, you’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I love you.’ He kissed her cheek. ‘Now get out there and kick Marla’s arse.’

He loved her.

Dex loved her.

L.O.V.E.D. Her.

She blinked, as the words rattled around in her head, until Marla slapped her across the face. It was the most horrific wake-up call of her life.

The atmosphere was crazy. The crowd roared like animals, and Sophie was stuck in a cage with a ferocious she-lion who punched her. All Sophie could do was hold her arms up and protect her head.

But then Marla gripped Sophie’s ponytail.

‘Ow. Let go.’ Sophie struggled to free her hair, with her face being pulled tight, she was thrown like a sling shot, tossed to the ground, face first, into the dust.

‘Get up, Sophie, before she kicks you.’ It was Dex. ‘Get angry.’

A boot met her stomach, and she rolled and kept rolling across the gritty dirt, dust and stones, to get away from Marla, until she slammed into the edge of the crowded circle and used some stranger to help herself up.

It was the man Dex called Leo. The enemy.

‘You should have stayed home. This is not your world, little lady, you’re way out of your depth here.’ Leo’s dark eyes made him look deadly. It should have scared her.

But it only made her see red.

It was the same way her ex used to speak to her, when he’d go out and gamble away her cash in the slot machines. It’s what he did to hide his lies, to hide his addiction. It was the same lies her other ex used when he went to sleep with her best friend.

And here she was, once again thrown into that firing pan filled with chaos. Sure, she’d done this for Dex, but she thought she’d be able to run around the ring and stall or something. So far that part of her plan hadn’t worked. It was fight or fold, because she couldn’t flee if she tried.

But she’d fled before, ending out in the middle of nowhere to reinvent herself. Maybe this was that chance. Because she wasn’t all sweet and sugar. She was a fighter. Dammit.

Sophie wiped the sweaty hair and dirt free from her face, and glared at Marla, allowing that anger to take over. Dex was right, she needed to get angry. She needed to get angry at the people who kept pushing her over. To get angry at her ex-boyfriends who saw her as nothing but a night nurse who was always kept in the dark. All those cranky city patients, the angry drunks, and the addicts who treated her like scum in the city’s ER. At her ex-boss, the hospital administrator, who thought she wasn’t good enough for her job. At her bank for not letting her save her mortgage, instead taking her house. At the debt collector who took her car and all her furniture. At the bastard who stood on the other side of this dusty circle who’d stolen from Dex and his family. Most of all, she had to prove to herself she was no longer that pushover.

Right now, under the hot spotlights, in a dusty paddock, surrounded by a roaring crowd of strangers, Sophie had nothing to hide. She was pissed. She’d lost everything before, she would not lose this for her and for Dex, because she wanted that engagement ring. She wanted to be Dex’s wife, for him to be her husband. She wanted to be a part of his family and be a mother to those children. And just like Dex, she was fighting for her family and her future.

Lurching forward, she swung with everything she had. Angry now, her fists were tight and lethal, and she swung like a woman possessed, to connect with Marla’s ear—just like Dex had suggested. Marla’s neck snapped back, her eyes widening in surprise that Sophie had swung, her hand covering her ear, but it was the pain she wore on her face.

Dex was right. She’d found her enemies weakness.

With a howling war cry, Sophie punched again, her fist connecting with Marla’s jaw, to deflect and hit her other ear.

But Marla returned the punch and Sophie’s head jerked to the side.

Sophie wiped the blood that filled her mouth, not feeling anything except the deadly fury that filled her. It was as if some ancient, inner primal savageness was unleashed from her soul.

Again, Sophie hit out. This time she aimed for Marla’s ribs, that same spot where Dex had been hurt. With gritted teeth, she unleashed a furious storm of punches, again and again. Screaming with each punch, unleashing all her frustrated anger, so sick of always being the nice girl.

Marla bent forwards as if to hide. Sophie clasped her hands together to create one large fist and slammed them down into the middle of Marla’s back. The impact forced Marla to fall to the ground. Sophie kneed Marla’s back and it was her turn to pull on Marla’s greasy hair to make the enemy kiss the dirt, face first.

Many hands pulled her off Marla’s cowering frame, but Sophie still swung like a wildcat.

‘Calm down, Sophie.’ Dex held her arms. ‘You won. It’s over.’

It took her a moment to see past the red, past the anger, to face the man standing before her. ‘I love you.’

‘I know.’

‘How?’

‘Because you went to fight for me. And you won. I’m so proud of you.’ He hugged her. ‘But we might have to talk about your technique in the future.’

‘I don’t want to do this, or ever feel like this again.’ Her hands ached with a pounding heat, with her knuckles red, raw and bleeding.

‘There are other forms of anger management. Or we can just have hot hate sex.’

She gave him a meek grin, even with a throbbing face.

‘Here, put this ice on.’ Dex pinched a chunk from a nearby esky. ‘Come on, we'll clean you up at my car.’ Slinging his fighting bag over his shoulder, he led them past the crowds, where the cool air away from the hot spotlights was a blessing.

‘How much did you win?’

‘A sweet sixteen grand.’ Dex unlocked the back of his ute and lowered the tray, then unzipped his fighting bag, exposing a well-stocked first-aid kit. ‘It’s a good deposit for a honeymoon, unless you want a big wedding?’

‘I don’t know that many people.’ Was she delusional or something? This conversation was not real. Her tongue brushed along her teeth to check that none of them had come loose along her pounding jaw.

‘So that’s a yes, I’m guessing.’ Dex kept a stern face, but the joy was in his eyes.

‘I’ll give you my answer when you get the ring and ask me properly.’ She tried to lift her chin, but it hurt. Her entire face throbbed. ‘I’m not that easy. ’

‘I know.’ He kissed her lips.

‘Ow.’ Her lips stung, too, and she could taste the sweat and blood.

‘You keep the ice on this, while I fix up your wounds.’ He made her sit on the tailgate, as he dabbed antiseptic on her cuts, just like she’d done for him that first night they’d met at the hospital. ‘You won’t need any stitches.’

‘How do I explain this when I go back to work?’ She could feel the black eye forming with the lump on her cheek.

‘I don’t care, you still look beautiful to me.’ The way he looked at her, she believed him.

‘Please tell me it worked. That you don’t have to fight?’

‘Your delay tactic worked. They’ve pushed me back a bit as your fight has stirred up the crowd with more men having a go.’

‘How come they let us women in like that? Isn’t there a fighting order?’

‘Female fights are a rarity, but it happens. Sometimes the blood gets all worked up just from the atmosphere and fights break out around the arena. The organiser will push them to finish it inside the arena so they can make money off those skirmishes.’

‘I could feel the crowd’s heat, like a savageness.’

‘It’s what happens. If you tap into that primal emotion, you don’t feel the punches.’

‘I feel them now.’

‘But you fought with heart, Sophie, and that’s rare.’

‘I fought for us.’

He lowered his head against hers and looked deep into her eyes. ‘Yes, you did. And you won. But now it’s my turn.’