Raw Passion (MMA Sports Romance) Read online

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  Raw Passion

  PJ Chase

  Chapter One

  Colin

  Colin Robinson kept having the same dream over and over. It was a dream that eventually turned into a nightmare. But it always started the same.

  "Oh God, give it to me just like that," Samantha Kurtz moaned.

  Samantha was the love of Colin's life. She made him feel better than he ever imagined he could--in and out of the bedroom. Colin couldn't get enough of her kisses, he couldn't get enough of her touch. He craved her. And she made him feel complete.

  When they made love, it was like being transported to paradise. Absolute bliss.

  Colin kissed his way down Samantha's body. Samantha sucked on the bottom of Colin's lip as she felt his rock hard body. Colin was in peak physical shape. As a professional mixed martial arts fighter, there was no room for body fat. That meant that Colin always had rippling biceps and six pack abs.

  Samantha couldn't get enough of Colin's body. She wanted him inside her any chance she could get, and Colin gave her all she could handle. Colin wasn't the kind of man that turned down red hot action between the sheets. He was the kind of guy that could please a woman from head to toe. That knew the power of foreplay. That knew how to stoke the flames of desire in a woman's heart. And that didn't stop until Samantha had all the pleasure she could ever want.

  "I just can't get enough of you," Colin said.

  "Good, because we're just getting started," Samantha replied.

  "Are you planning on keeping me up all night?" Colin asked.

  "You can count on it," Samantha said.

  "Good," Colin replied. He then smiled. "You're just impossible to resist, aren't you?"

  "Isn't that the point?" Samantha asked.

  "I don't know how it's possible, but you keep getting sexier everyday," Colin insisted.

  "A woman never reveals her secrets," Samantha said.

  "I thought it was magicians that never revealed their secrets," Colin replied.

  "Same difference," Samantha insisted.

  "Well, being with you is even better than magic," Colin said.

  "You're such a sweet talker," Samantha replied.

  "Only around you," Colin said. "No one else sees this side of me."

  "Let's keep it that way. This can be our special secret," Samantha replied

  "You can call it whatever you want, as long as it doesn't stop. I need you more than I've ever needed anyone before," Colin admitted.

  Samantha then cracked a smile.

  "What are you smiling about?" Colin wondered.

  "Lean in close. I have something to tell you," Samantha insisted.

  Then, just as things seemed like they couldn't get any better, the dream turned into a nightmare.

  Colin leaned in and Samantha whispered in his ear. Colin thought it would be a sweet nothing. That it would be more dirty talk. But it was just the opposite.

  "I'm leaving you," Samantha whispered.

  ***

  It was then that Colin always woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat. Colin hated that dream. It started out so well, just like their relationship had. Then it ended so harshly and abruptly. Then again, that was how Colin's relationship had ended as well. That's why Colin was so broken hearted.

  It had been months since Colin's girlfriend left him out of the blue, but he was clearly nowhere near over the heartbreak. To be fair, this was all a new experience for Colin. He was used to getting what he wanted. In the past, Colin had always been the heartbreaker. So if karma was finally catching up to him, it was certainly a bitch.

  When Colin won his first big MMA fight at age twenty-two, the spotlight was suddenly on him. The kind of women that wouldn't even give him the time of day before were suddenly lining up to sleep with him. It was an intoxicating lifestyle. The sex came easy, and Colin took all he could get. They were always no strings attached nights. The kind that didn't lead to anything in the morning. Colin was young and dumb back then. He didn't realize those easy women were only after him for his fame and his money. Colin was actually foolish enough to think that those women were into him. In the end, Colin was just happy for the attention. He'd had a difficult childhood filled with sorrow, never feeling like he truly fit in anywhere. So the life of a professional mixed martial arts fighter was a nice change of pace for him.

  Colin eventually wised up though when he met Samantha Kurtz. Samantha wasn't like the usual women that Colin was interested in him. To start, Samantha wanted nothing to do with Colin when she first met him. She thought that Colin was full of himself. So she turned him away.

  But Colin was a bad boy. Every woman love a good bad boy. They couldn't resist that dangerous streak. Nothing seemed to draw a woman in more than that. And eventually Samantha couldn't resist Colin's advances. A few torrid months followed. But once the novelty wore off, Samantha did what every good girl does in the face of a bad boy. She tried to change him. To fix him. And amazingly, it worked.

  It wasn't easy though. When Colin was younger, he never opened up. He was a tough guy through and through. His bulletproof exterior mirrored his walled off heart. He acted like the classic alpha. He didn't show pain or emotion. He didn't talk about feelings. He just played everything cool.

  Samantha changed all that though. To start, Colin wasn't a young hunk anymore. When he met Samantha, he was twenty-seven years old. He'd been on the MMA scene for a while. And he was tired of the gold diggers. But it was more than that. Samantha was smart. She was funny. And she brought out a side of Colin that he'd long buried.

  For the first time in Colin's life, he let himself fall in love. And much to his surprise, the sex got even better. The more time Colin spent with Samantha, the more he became a changed man. He became more well rounded. Instead of just training, fighting, watching the sports network, and listening to hard rock, Colin branched out. His edges softened a little. The emotional walls came down.

  But despite all the changes Colin made in his life, apparently it wasn't enough. One day when Colin came home from the gym, he found Samantha packing up her stuff. She told him that she didn't love him anymore. She told him that she needed more out of a man. And then she left.

  Colin hadn't been the same since. He was like a wounded dog. He couldn't get over Samantha. He just couldn't shake off the heartbreak.

  It was the worst time for this though. Colin couldn't afford to linger. Waking up at two o'clock in the morning was poison to his body. He had a huge fight in fifteen hours. He needed his rest. He needed to focus. But as Colin laid awake in bed, it became clear that wasn't going to happen.

  ***

  Colin couldn't get his ex off of his mind during the whole car ride over to the arena. He thought that she'd go away as the fight grew closer, but it just wasn't the case. It was a worst case scenario for Colin. He was about to square off with a young and hungry fighter in the cage. Colin needed to focus. He needed to be on his game.

  Things didn't get much better when Colin arrived at the arena. As Colin's trainer Jimmy Mackenzie went over the game plan with him, Colin did all he could to regain his focus. Fighters needed tunnel vision. Distractions were death to fighters. It was hard enough for Colin to get in the cage and put his body on the line fight after fight.

  Still, Colin didn't expect too much out of his opponent. Trent Cutler was relatively new to the league. He only had half a dozen or so fights under his belt. And Colin hadn't seen anything spectacular out of him. Colin meanwhile was a veteran in the league. He had over thirty fights to his credit. Vegas had picked him as the odds on favorite. Colin ha
d a good, if not great MMA career. As his twenties were nearing a close, the one thing he was missing, the one thing he was sticking around for was a title shot. And if Colin pulled off a win against Trent Cutler, maybe he'd finally get it.

  Chapter Two

  Julie

  Julie King wondered if her life would ever be the same. How could it be after what she'd been through? After what she'd seen. After what she'd walked in on.

  Julie thought she had her life all figured out. She had a decent job. She was in love. And after growing up in the broken home, it finally seemed like her life was getting on track. Then one day everything changed. She'd gotten off early from work. It seemed like it was a stroke of luck. She knew her boyfriend Trent Cutler was taking the day off from training.

  Julie thought that maybe they could go out to the museum, then maybe catch an early dinner and a movie before returning home to maybe get a little hot and steamy in the bedroom. But when Julie returned home that day, she found out that Trent was already getting steamy with some platinum blonde bimbo.

  There were defining moments in everyone's lives. Moments that shaped people. Moments that would not be forgotten. For Julie, walking in on her boyfriend doggy styling some stranger was one of those moments. Unfortunately, it was for all the wrong reasons.

  Julie's life hadn't been the same since that day. And as mad as she was at her now ex-boyfriend Trent, she was also mad at herself. When she first met Trent, she didn't listen to her instincts. Those instincts told her that Trent was trouble. That he was an untamable bad boy. And that things could end badly.

  But she didn't listen. She couldn't resist bad boys. And the fact that Trent was a mixed martial arts fighter only made him more intriguing. She should have known better. Not just because of her instincts, but from past experience.

  Julie's estranged father was a pro MMA fighter too. Ray King was one of the first. One of the pioneers of the sport. And growing up, the only person that idolized Ray more than the fans was Julie. She thought he could do no wrong. But that was only because Julie was too young to realize everything that her father was actually doing wrong.

  The fame got to Ray's head. He habitually cheated on Julie's mother while on the road. And Ray ended up caring more about his career than his family. When Julie's mother finally divorced Ray, it was hard for everyone. But it was the hardest on Julie. She saw less and less of her father as she grew up. By the time Julie reached adulthood, she barely saw her father at all. There was a huge father figure shaped void in Julie's life, and before she knew it, she started making bad decisions when it came to men.

  When Julie met her boyfriend Trent, she thought he was different. That even though he had a bad boy image, he was a good guy around her. She believed she could reform him. But in the end, Trent proved to be just like Julie's adulterous father.

  Julie felt like a fool. How could she have been so blind? How could she have been so stupid? When was she going to learn? Now Julie was just trying to pick up the pieces. To make things worse, she and Trent had shared a place together. But now that Julie left him, she needed to find a new place to stay. She moved back in with her mother temporarily while she looked for a new place to settle in. But living back at home at twenty-six years old was like wearing a badge of failure.

  Besides, it was already a crowded house. Julie's younger and just as unlucky in love sister Melissa was already at home, having trouble finding a good job after graduating from college. With a crowded house like that, Julie found herself needing to step out for air every once in a while just to get away. When Julie went out for air, she always headed over to the park.

  But that day, Julie found herself in familiar company at the park. While sitting on a bench feeding pigeons, she heard a voice from the past. It belonged to Matt McGuire.

  When Julie spotted Matt, she couldn't believe it. She hadn't seen him in years. Back in high school, Matt used to have a huge crush on Julie. Matt was the classic nice guy. The kind of guy that didn't get any attention from girls in high school. He spent more time doing computer coding than he did talking to women. And although there was no doubting how nice he was, he was also safe, vanilla, and quite geeky back then. In high school, Julie went for guys that had some edge. Guys with a wilder streak. That was dangerous.

  Now seeing Matt in the park though, he'd gotten better looking with age. He wasn't awkward and geeky anymore. Instead he was downright hunky. Julie couldn't believe her luck. What were the odds that Julie would randomly run into Matt after all this time...and that he would be so hot? Maybe Julie's luck was turning around after all.

  "Julie King. What are the odds?" Matt said.

  "Matt. It's good to see you," Julie replied. "You look different."

  "Than high school? I hope so. That was a long time ago," Matt said.

  "Yeah. Well it's good to see you," Julie replied. "So how have things been?"

  "Actually, pretty amazing," Matt admitted.

  Just then a very pregnant Nina Tomlin waddled up to Matt.

  "Sorry, that was just my sister calling again," Nina said, putting her phone back in her pocket.

  Nina was too busy before fiddling with her phone to notice Matt standing with Julie.

  "Who's this?" Nina added.

  "Nina, this is Julie--an old friend from high school," Matt explained.

  "Nice to meet you," Julie said.

  "Julie, this is Nina--my wife," Matt replied.

  Julie then realized it wasn't her lucky day after all. Instead this chance encounter was just a reminder of what Julie had passed up by chasing after bad boys.

  "Oh," Julie said, deflated. "Well congratulations. On both your marriage and having a child soon."

  "Yeah. It finally feels like everything is going right in my life," Matt admitted.

  Julie was happy for Matt. But at the same time, she wanted that same happiness for herself. And at that moment, Julie wanted to be anywhere but there.

  "Do you ever wonder when your luck is going to turn around?" Melissa King asked.

  Julie wasn't the only one in the King family with troubles. Her sister Melissa had a much different history, but very similar results. Melissa was younger and only a year out of college, but had just as many problems with men. It seemed that heartbreak ran in the King family. Melissa's heartbreak didn't come from cheating though. Melissa's college boyfriend instead decided that he'd rather go chase a career in acting in Hollywood than to stay on the East Coast with Melissa. In the end though, heartbreak was heartbreak, and neither Julie nor Melissa were finding it easy to pick up the pieces. But while their hearts were in disarray, at least they had each other.

  It could be worse though. In their youth Melissa and Julie had built up quite a rivalry, but as they reached adulthood, they managed to bury the hatchet. Now they reveled in each others company.

  "When? You mean--if--it's going to turn around," Julie replied.

  "Wow, this conversation got grim in a hurry," Melissa said.

  "Sorry. I'm just having a bad day," Julie explained.

  "Tell me about it," Melissa groaned.

  "I take it Sean Crenshaw didn't ask you out today," Julie said.

  "Even worse. He decided to ask out Kelly Shuster instead," Melissa replied.

  Julie grimaced. "Damn. I'm sorry."

  Melissa sighed. "Do you ever feel like we're the last two single people in the world?"

  "Isn't that how it always feels when you're single?" Julie replied.

  "You're right. I shouldn't be so doom and gloom," Melissa said.

  "Besides, it could be worse. I ran into Matt McGuire today...with his pregnant wife," Julie revealed.

  "Ouch," Melissa said. "Just think, that could have been you."

  "I'd actually prefer not to think about that," Julie replied.

  "You're right. It's too painful," Melissa said.

  "But look, when you're at rock bottom, things can only get better...right?" Julie said.

  ***

  "Alright girls. You're g
oing to have to fend for yourselves for dinner tonight," April King said.

  "Mom, I'm twenty-six years old. I can make my own dinner. Or, you know, order pizza," Julie joked.

  Melissa had other thoughts on her mind though. "Wait a minute mom. It's not Wednesday, so you don't have your book club tonight."

  "Yeah, where are you going? Do you have a hot date tonight or something?" Julie asked.

  "As a matter of fact, I do," April admitted.

  Julie and Melissa were both stunned. Somehow their shy mother, who preferred going to her book club than hitting than town, managed to have a date, and they didn't.

  "Wow," Julie said.

  "Oh, don't act so shocked," April replied.

  "Oh no. I'm not shocked that you got a date. I'm happy that you're going out," Julie said.

  "Yeah ma, it's about time you got back out there," Melissa added.

  "Well thanks. You two should do the same," April suggested.

  "Yeah, I don't know about that," Julie replied, leery.

  "Me neither. It may be a little too soon for me," Melissa added.

  "Hey--if I can do it, you can," April reasoned.

  "Have fun tonight," Julie said.

  "Look, I understand you two don't want to rush back in to anything, but you have to get back out there eventually," April replied.

  "I know ma," Julie said.

  "I'll tell you what. I'll consult with the book club to see if there's any promising single young men out there for you," April replied.

  "Oh, please don't," Julie insisted.

  The only thing more embarrassing than having her mother going out on a date when Julie was hopelessly single was the prospect of being set up on a blind date from one of her mother's book club suggestions.

  "Alright, suit yourself," April said.

  And like that, Julie's mother went out on her date.

  ***

  Julie and Melissa's plans were far less exciting. They were going to eat some chocolate and watch some chick flicks. But the ladies night in lost its luster pretty quick. Maybe their mother was right. Maybe it was time to get back out there. Julie and Melissa had certainly spent enough time feeling sorry for themselves. So they decided to hit the town.