The Belgian Beast Read online

  Nina’s legs wrapped around my waist and her fingernails dug into my shoulders as she pulled me in as close as she could get me.

  Our breathing was heavy as our slick bodies rode into one another. With the pressure building in my stomach, I tried to keep going as long as I could, my deep groans echoing through the room with Nina’s whimpers.

  Reaching the brink, I reached down and pressed my thumb to Nina’s throbbing bud. Her body began to shake under me as her muscles squeezed my cock tight.

  “I’m cuming,” she cried, her nails likely breaking the skin on my back as she dug them in deep.

  “That’s it, come on my cock,” I growled as my own orgasm struck and I thrust into her harder, the pulsing rolling through from my dick to my brain until I felt a release and a different sensation.

  I allowed my high to fall before I pulled out of her. The cold air shook me back to reality as I shot my head down to see the tip of my cock had broken through the rubber of the condom.

  “Fuck, fuck,” I cursed in a panic.

  “What’s wrong?” Nina asked concerned as she pulled herself up on her elbows.

  “The condom broke,” I confessed as my heart thumped out of my chest and I watched the horror flash through Nina’s own eyes.

  Nina took a deep breath before she placed a hand on mine and gave me a weak smile.

  “This might sound crazy but if it is God’s will, then it is.” There was this calmness she brought over the room. Normally, and with any other girl I would have lost my shit, but Nina put us both at ease. I never saw myself as a father, but suddenly I thought, maybe.

  “Are you sure, mon chéri?” I asked as I removed the broken condom and tossed it in the trash before I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Nina into my arms.

  Nina nodded with a smile on her face and kissed me. She pulled away and stared at my face for a moment. “I don’t know. I sound crazy, right?”

  I rubbed my hand over the smooth skin of her shoulder and upper arm savoring the feel of her close to me.

  “It’s like you said, nothing is chance, there’s always a purpose. You’re in my life for a reason and this happened for a reason. Maybe it’s meant to be.”

  “Peut être,” I muttered.

  “I don’t know,” she laughed for a moment. “This isn’t me, but I like her. It’s like I’m becoming the person I should have always been. Maybe that girl is a mother. Maybe she’s happy with you. Maybe she’s free.”

  “With me, you’ll always be free.”

  “Always?”

  “Always.”

  * * *

  The exhilaration rushed through me from head to toe and every limb as I entered the octagon. The cage had been my home since I was fifteen. I’d gone from some kid who won a few fights to a champion with a reputation to uphold. The Belgian Beast would remain undefeated.

  The feeling of Nina’s lips lingered on mine from the last kiss she gave me before I was off to get ready for this very moment. She was somewhere in a box being waited on hand and foot while she waited for the end of the fight. Nina wouldn’t watch, but she was here with me and that’s what mattered.

  “Nathan Bartowski!” I heard my opponents name announced and I saw him emerge. We both looked like shit from our fight in the nightclub. My lip was busted, and I had a black eye. Bartowski also sported a shiner and had some cuts on his face.

  Bartowski sneered at me, his royal blue mouthguard staring back at me. He had no idea what I had in store for him. Last night, he’d done more than talk shit, he disrespected the woman I love, and for that alone he’d fucking pay. He could spout off any shit he wanted about me, but Nina was strictly off limits.

  It was almost a blur. At the bell, I rushed him. I didn’t have time for games and dancing around the cage. I had business to handle and I’d fucking handle it. I blocked his kick toward my face. I grabbed his leg and dropped him to the ground. The roar of the crowd was pure fire that burned through me and egged me on.

  Growls and grunts pierced the air as I took him to the ground. I swear we’d only been in the cage for under a minute and we were already on the ground and I laid punch after punch into his face as I did last night.

  Suddenly, he somehow snagged me and took control using one of his legs around my arm. I heard an unmistakable snap, but I didn’t let that stop me. I couldn’t use that arm, but I still had another. I got out of his hold and pressed my knee to his chest. I punched him directly in the face until I saw the moment I had seen plenty of times before, his eyes rolled back in his head and it was done.

  Standing, a ferocious roar ripped through my body as I pounded my chest in victory. The Belgian Beast remained undefeated. As the ref took my arm to claim me the winner, I let out a scream as pain ricocheted from my arm, up through my entire body.

  “Fuck!” I growled as I realized my arm was broken.

  Pain clouded my vision and I could barely see the outline of Jean as he joined me in the cage along with whom I assumed were medics. My heart thumped loudly in my chest while they stabilized my arm in a splint and injected me with a painkiller.

  The entire ceremony of receiving my belt was a blur and as soon as it was over, I was rushed out a back entrance to a waiting ambulance with Jean with me.

  “Nina,” I moaned as I tried to keep my arm as steady as possible.

  “She’s with the others. We’ll check your situation at the hospital and let her know what’s going on. Don’t worry, she’ll stay informed,” Jean slapped my good arm in reassurance. I nodded as I tried not to focus on the throbbing pain. “You did good, kid. The arm is a little bit of a setback, but you’ll be back in no time.”

  “I think I want to ask Nina to marry me,” I spouted the words at once. Hell, I hadn’t even seen them coming. Maybe it was the painkillers bringing out my deepest thoughts.

  “Holy shit, do you think you’re ready for that? You haven’t even known her long.” Jean was taken aback at my outburst.

  “I know but somehow I know it’s right. There is only one problem,” I remembered suddenly, and it threw a damper on my entire plan.

  “What’s that?” Jean asked now intrigued by everything.

  “Her family. They don’t even know about me and it’s pretty much a given that they won’t accept me. Nina’s so afraid of how they’ll react but I love her and I’m not giving her up. Never,” I declared it fully.

  Hell, there was a chance she could be having my baby.

  Chapter Twelve

  Nina

  Pacing the hospital waiting room, my head snapped toward the door at any sign of life coming in. My heart pounded in worry as we waited for news of how Marc had fared during surgery to place pins in his broken arm.

  I refused to watch the fight. As much as I wanted to watch Marc kick the shit out of Bartowski, I couldn’t dare watch it. Luckily, our group had been given a box for the event. I spent my time eating snacks, chatting with Emmy, and watching a movie on the television. When Fabumi informed me of Marc’s win, I left my place on the couch and stepped to the glass where I saw Marc in the middle of the octagon, and he was screaming in obvious pain.

  The three of us were rushed out and Fabumi contacted Jean who told us they were headed to the hospital. Getting there for me was a blur. I was on edge and afraid of what an injury could mean for him. Marc’s career was everything for him, it was his therapy, as dancing was for me.

  Arriving at the hospital, I was allowed to be with him while the swelling went down until it was time for him to be wheeled into the operating room for surgery.

  “Nina, sit, Chouchou,” Ayo instructed from where he was seated on the highly uncomfortable plastic chairs. I frowned and skulked in his direction before I sat down with him. “He’s going to be fine.”

  “I know,” I huffed as I glanced up at the clock. I was exhausted from still being jet lagged and not having any sleep. “It’s taking so long.”

  “The doctor did say it could take a few hours. He’s going to be okay,” Ayo trie
d to remind me. I knew he would be fine, but my heart hurt to have him hurt.

  The chair next to me squeaked and I glanced over to Jean who’d taken the seat next to me. The older man who I didn’t know terribly well gave me a weak smile before taking my hand into his and squeezing it tight. I knew he meant a lot to Marc and vice versa and had an almost Father-Son connection.

  “I had my doubts in the beginning,” Jean began as he looked forward and at the posters on the opposite wall about flu shots, STD protection, and pregnancy prevention. I wanted to snicker at the irony. “Marc has had women in and out of his life but never anyone who’s come in and transformed him into a man who’s ready to lay it all on the line. Hell, it’s a first, seeing him in love, and I’m pretty damn sure you love him too.”

  “I do,” I felt the tears prickling in the corners of my eyes. Life without Marc was unimaginable. We were so incredibly different but alike at the same time. We meshed in a way I’d never expected to mesh with another person.

  “Good, he needs it and will need it. It’s going to take him some time to heal and I know it’s going to be a hit to him mentally. Yes, he won the fight, but I think he’ll begin to feel defeated. With you, he’ll have someone to keep his spirits up and motivate him. He’s got a long road ahead of him,” Jean expressed.

  There weren’t any doubts in my mind. I’d be there to support Marc as he’d supported me. When I needed to cry, rage, and purge, he’d been there through it all. Our short season together was destined to turn into many seasons and possible years.

  “I’m looking for the family of Marc Vandenberghe,” a voice called from the door in crisp American English.

  We all put our focus on the doctor in scrubs who stood at the door of the waiting room. He had a smile on his face and I immediately took it as good news. My heart thumped a little less hard as we all stood and scrambled to the doctor.

  “I’m Marc’s trainer,” Jean answered to the man. “This is his girlfriend,” he pointed over to me. “How’s Marc?”

  “He’s good. We were able to get the pins in. He’s stable and in recovery. I will have a report of the surgery ready for him to take back to his doctors in Belgium. He has some healing time ahead of him but with time well spent and physical therapy after, I think he’ll be fighting again. Go Belgian Beast!” The doctor cheered proudly.

  I giggled as the doctor was clearly an MMA fan.

  Jean thanked the doctor while Ayo gave me a hug from behind. It was going to be good. There were unknowns about our future, but we’d face them together, it was the only way. As long as we were together, I was happy.

  * * *

  Waiting for the timer to alarm was nerve racking. I swallowed the small bit of saliva I had in my mouth hard as I was parched from the anticipation. In the weeks since New York, I was anxious for what was possibly in store for Marc and I. Returning to Belgium, I felt much as I had when I’d gotten pregnant during my marriage. I just knew I was and when I missed my period, it was the sign I needed to finally take a test.

  “I don’t see how you can just sit there so calmly,” I fussed in Marc’s direction as he lay on the bed, propped up with a pillow, his arm in a sling as it had been since we’d returned home.

  Marc chuckled at my frazzled state. I’d been so calm until the moment after I peed on the stick minutes ago. It was possible that everything could change, and it hit me that as much as I wanted it, I wasn’t exactly ready.

  “Come here,” Marc summoned me to him with a pat on his lap.

  Healing wasn’t easy for him. He spent the first days in immense pain. Now he was mostly frustrated he couldn’t train how he liked and getting around on his motorbike was impossible. He was used to doing things around his house without assistance, but he needed help, which drove him crazy.

  Shuffling to the bed, I took my spot right next to Marc and laid my head on his chest. Using his good arm, he stroked my face and left a kiss on the top of my head.

  I glanced over to the pile of my clothes on top of my mostly unpacked suitcase that was building in the corner of his room and grinned. Since returning from the US, I’d been staying with Marc, only going home to check my mail and pick up new clothes when needed.

  “We’re going to have to clean out my closet to make room for your stuff,” Marc noted as he’d noticed me checking out the mess I’d created in his normally neat room. “Or we can just find a new place for us and the little one.” He placed his only usable hand on my flat but bloated stomach and rubbed.

  “Mmm, how would you feel about moving outside the city. A little house in the countryside for the three of us,” I mentioned casually as I smiled up at Marc.

  “Sounds perfect to me. I love Bruxelles, I grew up here, but a change would be nice. Fabumi and Emmy just bought a place in Enghien, it’s a place to look.” Marc had sat back, his head on the headboard as he dreamed up a look at our future as a family.

  “That’s closer to my family…” My voice trailed as my family entered my mind. They didn’t even know about Marc and me. If I was pregnant, I knew they could never forgive me.

  “You’ll have to tell them about us,” Marc reminded me.

  I grimaced at the idea. I wasn’t ready to be disowned for possibly getting pregnant out of wedlock, and then with a man who wasn’t African. If it were any other time in history I would be burned at the stake.

  “We can’t keep us a secret forever.”

  “Why can’t we?” I whined clearly knowing it wasn’t realistic but not brave enough to go there yet. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, please.”

  “Nina, we can’t keep ignoring it. It’s going to have to eventually happen.”

  “Je sais.”

  “Then let’s figure out how,” Marc argued.

  “Arrêtez! I said I’m done talking about it,” I fussed before the alarm tone of my phone interrupted us.

  At lightning speed, I shot out of Marc’s arm and jolted into the bathroom with my heart pounding out of my chest. I could heart Marc’s feet padding across the wood flooring until he arrived at the entrance to his bathroom.

  Peering over at him, I took a deep breath before I approached the counter fully and looked directly down at the white and blue pregnancy test staring back at me with YES+ on the screen. My thumping heart stopped as I gasped and turned to face Marc who was now directly behind me with the biggest and cheesiest grin on his face. His good arm looped around me and he easily picked me up.

  “We’re having a baby!” He cheered as he swung me around in excitement.

  “Put me down,” I laughed. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  Setting me back on my feet, Marc got down on his knees and pressed his lips to my stomach.

  “You have no idea the gift you’re giving me,” he muttered as he glanced up into my eyes, piercing through me with such pride. “No fucking idea. I never expected to be a father and as much as the idea scares me, I think I can handle it. I had a pretty damn good example of what not to do. I’m never going to be that man. I’m going to be the best man my child can have.” A single tear fell down Marc’s face.

  “I love you,” I whispered as I cupped his cheek and wiped his tears away. “I wouldn’t want to have a child with any other man. Only you.”

  * * *

  My stomach turned at the smell of food as soon as I entered my parent’s house. I tried to swallow away my budding nausea which had become a staple in my life in the last few days. My mornings and sometimes late evenings were filled with Marc using his good hand to hold my hair back while I bent over the toilet and allowed my stomach to empty.

  “You are looking a little gray, Nina,” my mother mentioned as I took a seat in the living room where Dad was parked in his favorite armchair as had become the usual with him still healing from his heart attack and surgery.

  Everyday Dad was stronger, which was a good sign, but he wasn’t out of danger. Mom was doing a good job at changing up his diet even though he fought her on it, and she made h
im take a small walk around the block every evening to get in some exercise.

  A small boy climbed into my lap and snuggled onto my leg. My nephew, Malik, sucked his thumb as he studied my face. I could hear his siblings in the next room playing as they usually were. My old bedroom at my parent’s home had been turned into a playroom for my brother’s children and maybe my own if they didn’t hate me when they found out my secret.

  “I made a little salad. Do you want some Nina?” Mom asked.

  “No, merci,” I answered as I thought about the salad I’d vomited up immediately after dinner last night.

  “Are you sure you aren’t sick?” Mom asked concerned as she stepped to me and pressed her hand to my forehead.

  “I’m fine, maman, my stomach is just a little upset,” I argued in annoyance. “Où sont Jaheem and Suzanna?” I quickly changed the subject as I noticed my brother and sister-in-law hadn’t arrived yet. The little boy on my lap was grabbing at my face. I smiled at him and poked his little nose to have him fall into a fit of giggles.

  “Suzanna had a doctor’s appointment. They should be here soon,” my mom mentioned as she rubbed my nephew’s small head. “It’s looking like another baby for them.”

  “Wow,” I commented. I wasn’t really looking forward to being pregnant at the same time as my sister-in-law who was always an attention seeking handful whenever she was with child but maybe it was a positive to me. Her attention whore ways would deflect everyone’s attention away from me.

  My first appointment was just after the weekend and I was anxious for it. I’d gone through the first fifteen weeks of pregnancy before. The last time I wasn’t quite as filled with joy. I was living in a state of fear of what my husband would and could do to me. This time would be different. I had Marc.

  “One day you’ll be joining Suzanna,” Dad mentioned with a proud grin. “You’ll be a good mother. You had the best example.” Dad beamed as he looked over to my mom. I always adored their love. They were one another’s backbone and so much of how they were reminded me of myself and Marc.