Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

L edger eyed the man down across the mat. Nikita was scared. It was so obvious that it almost made him feel a little bad for suggesting this.

Almost.

Fact of the matter was, not only was he not a good person, Ledger also didn't owe the little thief shit. He was part of the reason Ledge's night was going down the drain; it only made sense that he tried to help pick up the pieces.

Besides, Nikita wasn't all that hard to read. There'd been flashes of lust in his eyes when Ledger had been on top of him.

The attraction was mutual.

Standing, Nikita's height was more noticeable. He was probably only an inch or so shorter than Ledger, though he lacked the muscle mass. His lips were full, his face heart-shaped, and even though his ripped black jeans and faded t-shirt screamed "edgy" he leaned more toward beautiful than he did handsome.

Not usually Ledger's type, honestly, and yet…

He'd peeled the other guy off the ground and taken that first taste. The kiss had been quick, mostly done so Ledger could be certain he hadn't been wrong and Niki really did want him back. Some of the other guys were into taking bedpartners against their will, but it wasn't really Ledger's thing.

What happened the second he was certain someone was into him though?

Then it was fair game.

His game, of course.

Ledger had brought Nikita to the center ring and removed both of their jackets, tossing them over the outer ropes. He'd stopped there, waiting to see what the other guy might do next, but so far the answer was absolutely nothing.

Nikita merely stood there, staring at him.

"We'll do it here," Ledger broke the silence, and Nikita shifted awkwardly on his feet.

"Yeah. Okay."

Ledger couldn't help but shake his head. He'd expected more questions, begging, something. There was a difference between finding a person attractive and being told that person was going to fuck you. Especially if you were virtual strangers.

"I thought you were smart." He pointed above them at the loose ceiling panel. "You managed to find a way out of the bathroom and sneak back in here. That took some form of intelligence."

"Because I opened it up over the mat?" Nikita shrugged. "That was just dumb luck."

"That so?" He hummed. "Well, I suppose you still can't be entirely stupid since you haven't tried to run again."

"Do you like killing people?" there was no accusation in his tone, but there wasn't any real interest either.

"Are you seriously making conversation with me? Now?"

He shrugged again. "If you're the last person I'm going to be with, might as well take advantage. Speaking of, shouldn't you ask if I have any last words or something gangster like that?"

"Have that little confidence in yourself?" Ledger clicked his tongue. "Your brother really did a number on you, huh." He couldn't fathom it. Sure, he'd grown up in a world where mothers could sell out their sons, and bodies could disappear with a simple finger snap. Not all of his friends had a perfect home life, not like he did, but still…

"I have a brother, too," he said. "We also have different last names, like you and yours."

"I don't think our situations are the same at all," Nikita replied.

"Oh? Why's that? Because there's no blood relations between me and my brother?" Ledger held back his anger when he said it, but inside, he was coiled and ready to strike. The only reason he'd opted to give the would-be thief a chance at all was because he'd mentioned being mistreated by his family.

Brothers were sort of a sore spot for Ledger, as weird as that may be. Growing up, he and Pavel had dealt with all sorts of comments. Not just from other kids their age either. Teachers and other adults would say things behind their backs and to their faces. Stuff about how they weren't real siblings because they didn't share any blood. Or how Pavel was merely a replacement child since their mother had discovered she couldn't have any more of her own.

Horrible, shitty things. Things no one should ever say to a six-year-old. Pavel had been forced to listen though, had been forced to endure.

The way Ledger saw it, this night could go one of two ways. Either he took it easy on Nikita—or he made the most of this shitty night by blowing off some steam. By taking out his frustrations on Nikitia's body.

Depending on the little cat's answer, that would determine which way things went.

Ledger liked to leave things up to fate sometimes. Kept things interesting.

"No," Nikita sighed. "Because your brother actually likes you."

"Smart answer." It had been, so why was part of Ledger somewhat disappointed? He'd planned on letting the other guy walk out of here no matter how good or bad the sex turned out to be. Aside from breaking in and running from him, there weren't any other offenses, and neither of those things could be considered major. Certainly not worth killing over.

Despite what Nikita thought of him, Ledger didn't much care for murder. Had he killed before? Yes. Would he again in the future? Absolutely. But it wasn't something he actively went searching for, not like some of the other Devils who had bloodlust and a penchant for delivering pain.

Still…Letting him walk away without any punishment for breaking into a Devil-owned establishment seemed too lax. What if Nikita tried to do it again and someone else caught him?

He sighed. "Tell you what. New rules. We're in a sparring ring, let's do that instead. We'll go a single round. First person to land three punches wins." His dick wasn't happy about that plan, but Ledger chose to ignore it. Clearly the guy had a lot going on in his life, and a person already fucking around with him against his will. Whether or not he'd intended to lay down and spread his thighs, Ledger found he didn't want to take advantage of an already struggling person.

Go figure.

Nikita didn't say anything, so Ledger took that as a sign of agreement. He'd get this over with quick and then the two of them could go their separate ways and he could stop feeling this strange itchy sensation.

It was the same feeling he got whenever someone did something to Pavel he didn't like.

The one that typically resulted in Ledger bashing in the insulting person's skull.

Not wanting to waste any more energy on this, he shot forward. Only, when he got close, fist raised and aimed for the side of Niki's face—the side that was already bruised—the younger man merely squeezed his eyes shut and held still.

"What the fuck?!" Ledger allowed his knuckles to graze the swell of his cheek but pulled the punch before it could do more than that. "What are you playing at?!"

"Nothing," Nikita stared at him, his eyes empty. It was eerie, seeing such a hollow expression on such a pretty face. The look of someone who'd well and truly given up. "I'm no good at fighting. This way, it'll be over quick."

"You think I ordered you to spar with me because I thought you'd actually stand a chance?" Ledger growled. "No, I did it because I'm bored and I wanted some entertainment. This? This whole," he stabbed a finger into the center of Nikita's chest, forcing him back so he stumbled and almost fell, "self-pity act isn't entertaining. It's just pissing me off."

"That's fine too."

Ledger bristled. "Excuse you?"

"Get angry. That'll also make it come faster, won't it? Everyone knows you have a short fuse."

That was true, but for some reason, none of this was sitting right with Ledger. This give-up attitude wasn't sitting right with him. "I'm giving you a chance to walk out of here."

An unlikely chance, admittedly, still, a chance all the same.

"If you let me go," Nikita said, voice unwavering, as though they were talking about what they might serve in the school cafeteria for lunch tomorrow, "I'm dead. If I stay here, I'm dead. I'm dead either way. At least with you, I can hope for it to be quick."

"Who else wants to kill you?" Ledger clenched his hands and held himself back from shaking him. Not because he wanted to hurt him, but because he wanted to find a way to wipe that blank expression off his face. "Your brother? Come on. Does he really want to take things that far?"

Nikita snorted dryly. "I lied."

"About?" His gaze swept over him. The bruises were very real, so that couldn't have been it. Unless he was going to say that it hadn't been his brother who'd injured him. The two of them might not know one another personally, but clearly Nikita had heard enough about Ledger to know a thing or two.

Like how, for instance, sibling relationships were his weakness.

He had a soft spot for them. For that kind of familial bond. Probably because he'd been gifted with one of his own and understood how important that type of brotherhood was. Pavel always had his back, outside of everything else, against everything else. That was an absolute. The one absolute in Ledger's otherwise chaotic life.

It was hard for him to comprehend why all siblings didn't share that same type of close bond, though he knew, obviously, that wasn't always the case. Still, there was a difference between not being close and actively going out of your way to hurt.

Pavel had been secretly devastated every time someone dared tell him he wasn't Ledger's real family. It baffled Ledger that Nikita's brother could supposedly be the one to deliver that kind of harm directly.

Unless that was where the lie was? But no. That wouldn't make sense. Nikita would have had to plan all of this out well in advance, known without a shadow of a doubt that Ledger would be the only Devil walking in here tonight to interrupt his plans. Not even Ledge had been aware of that, so he could rule that out.

Ledger sighed. "Spit it out, Tiger. What was the lie?"

"I didn't just come here to steal something," Nikita confessed.

It didn't take a genius to put two and two together from there. "You were put up to it."

"Oran said if I broke in and proved that I was here, he'd go to the Docks himself and correct them."

There was only one thing that happened down at the Docks. Illegal hovercar racing. A good portion of the city's gambling took place there, and more than one person had found themselves in trouble, unable to pay what they owed.

"He signed all of the paperwork with my name," Nikita continued, obviously seeing that Ledger understood where this was going. "I've tried to correct it, have gone myself a few times, but no one will take me seriously. He promised if I did this, he'd fix it."

"Prove it how?" Ledger asked. It wasn't like there was anything special in here. High quality and expensive, sure, but even the pricy bottles of booze across the room at the bar could be bought elsewhere. It wasn't like they had some logo they plastered over things. "Does your idiot brother think we print t-shirts with the name of the club on them or something?"

"I just have to take a photo," Nikita said.

"A photo?" Lame.

"Yeah. Of me in here."

"Right, and how many times exactly has this Oran guy been in here?"

Nikita's brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Like, has he ever actually seen inside of this place?"

"He's tried." Nikita glanced away, as though embarrassed for his brother.

No, that wasn't right.

"You're embarrassed by him." That was interesting. "Is he a groupie?" Ledger snickered. "That's rich. I bet he has a favorite, doesn't he? Who does he fanboy over the most? You can tell me."

Nikita shifted on his feet but, after only a moment of hesitation, replied, "Saint."

"Boo." Saint was a member of the Brumal. "The Retinue guys are way hotter."

Nikita nodded his head and Ledger chuckled.

"Are you agreeing, Tiger?" Why did that please him so much? "Guess your brother isn't the only groupie in the family."

"What?" Nikita blinked. "No, I?—"

"Don't think I'm hotter than Saint?"

"Oh, you're definitely hotter than—" He slapped his hands over his mouth.

Ledger had been trying to play the role of nice guy. It wasn't his fault Niki hadn't gone along with the act. "Never mind about the sparing. Come here."

Nikita's expression turned suspicious, which was better than that defeated look he'd worn before, but still not what Ledger was after. "Why?"

He stared him down until Niki finally gave in and approached.

When he was close enough to reach for, Ledger's arm shot out and he captured him around the back of his neck, yanking him in the rest of the way. His mouth crashed down on his, tongue already pushing forward, spearing through his full lips when they parted on a gasp.

Their second kiss was more aggressive than the first, now that Ledger had fully made up his mind. If Nikita was going to insist on throwing his life away, he was going to oblige.

By taking it.