Gladiator's Prize (4 page)

“I really don’t need to hear that.”

She laughed.

“But that was nothing compared to this—it’s more than just attraction. I want to eat you, or something. Like candy.”

He groaned, and dropped his head back against the pod’s couch.

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“I really, really didn’t need to hear that,” he muttered. “You have a way of driving a man crazy.”

K’rilla opened her mouth to defend herself, but the pod stopped smoothly and the door slid open. She pulled away from him. A uniformed sentry, very young, stood at attention when he saw them. He swallowed nervously and she offered him a slight smile, feeling compassion for the youth. He couldn’t be more than eighteen at most.

Darius acknowledged him with a tight nod as he pulled K’rilla to her feet, walking her over to an armored hatch. Darius placed his hand on the access plate and the door slid open.

“This is our cabin,” he said, and for the first time she sensed uncertainty in him, as if he might be worried what she’d think. She walked in cautiously, curious about his living space. She recognized it from the ship’s schematics, of course. Even the admiral had little more than a three-room suite, with one of the rooms serving as a conference area for his executive officers. But it surprised her all the same. The walls were bare metal, the furniture completely utilitarian.

Empty of any comfort.

“Do you have another residence planetside?’ she asked.

“No.”

“It’s very sparse,” she said after a long pause.

“I live to fight, this is just the place I do it in,” he replied. She looked back at him, studying his face. The man’s profile was grim, frightening, and she understood all too well why the Imperials feared him so much. He looked like a killing machine, a sculpted god of war who inexplicably found himself in human form.

A lonely god, K’rilla realized.

She hated seeing him like that, although there was no rational reason for her to care so much. Maybe he was right. If they were lifemates, that would explain it. Could it really be possible?
Lifemates?
Her traitorous body whispered that it was true.

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Of course, they wouldn’t be fully joined until they shared their bodies.

Only one way to find out for sure, K’rilla realized. She took a deep breath, willing herself to stay strong and brave.

“Where’s the bed?”

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Saul hadn’t realized how nervous he was until she asked her question. They had to be the most beautiful words he’d ever heard—they certainly came from the most beautiful mouth he’d ever seen. He imagined it wrapped around his cock, almost losing control.

Damn.

He opened his mouth to answer her and thought better of the move. He didn’t want to do anything to startle or scare her, not after she’d surprised him like this. Instead he pointed toward the hatch. She gave him a smile that trembled ever so slightly. This was hard for her, but she was ready and willing to give them a try.

I am the luckiest man in Saurellian space.

She turned and walked toward the hatch, her hips swaying unconsciously, every motion sensual and glorious. The woman had curves, no doubt about that. She wasn’t heavy, but there was enough of her to give a man something to hold on to. Saul wondered how she’d gotten to her age without another man claiming her, then decided not to follow that mental path. The last thing he needed was to imagine her with another man. Just the hint of it sent his pulse pounding and his vision blurred with the fierce anger he’d only ever felt during battle.
Double damn.
He’d have to watch his instincts very carefully, until they were safely mated and his biochemistry changed.

And how amazing that change would be…

Not only was she stunning and sexy and perfect, but she held the key to an entirely new future for him. One where rage couldn’t govern him, one where the restless fury of the unmated male would never haunt him again. He might live for decades. They could have children together. He imagined her round and swollen with his son and a surge of 26

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hot lust filled his skin. But it was more than lust—she made him feel happy. Almost content.

But certainly not relaxed.

She opened the hatch and walked through, turning to him and gesturing for him to follow her with the seductive confidence of a siren. He couldn’t imagine disobeying her.

The room was small, although the bed was large. He’d always hated feeling cramped when he slept, and perks of being an admiral included designing one’s own quarters.

Not that he was used to luxury—Saul had spent his entire adult life in service, most of it in uncomfortable circumstances.

She smiled at him, licking soft, plump lips. It wasn’t a sexy, calculated lick. She radiated nerves, clearly out of her element. It won him over instantly. What man could resist a woman like that, one so uncertain yet still incredibly beautiful and sexy? What man would want to?

She reached down to unhook the silken belt that defined her waist. It fell to the floor, a silken snake, and he imagined binding her wrists with it. She swayed, the fabric flowing loose, hanging from her shoulders. All too easy to remove. Saul smiled—no wonder it was the traditional arena garb for Saurellian maidens. Every gladiator needed motivation, and if the sheer joy of fighting wasn’t enough, thinking about a beautiful woman in a gown like this certainly would be. The filmy fabric swayed slightly as she raised her hands to her shoulders and slowly unclasped the broach that held one side of her gown together. It was silver, ornate and just tarnished enough to show the delicacy of the design. A Pecoraio Family sigil.

“You’re a Pecoraio?” he asked, startled. She smiled shyly at him.

“Yes, does that make a difference?”

“It probably should,” he said, momentarily chastened. Then he shook his head and gave a rueful laugh. “No, I would have taken you if you were the daughter of the first Councilor himself. But I’m glad I have a battle cruiser to hide you in, because that’s probably what I’ll need to keep me alive once they figure out what happened. Did you 27

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know that the engineer who designed the new weapons systems for the ship is part of your family?”

She nodded her head, that shy smile coming back.

“I’d heard that,” she murmured. “But don’t worry about my family. They’ll be happy that I found a mate.”

The word hung in the air between them, tantalizing him. Mate. Her gown fell loose, sliding to one side as she dropped the priceless broach to the floor. To his dismay, the curve of one pointed breast caught the flowing drape, keeping it from displaying her form fully.

“Do you think you could take that other clip off now?”

Her smile this time wasn’t shy in the least and she shook her head carefully, reaching up to pull the clips out of her hair, breasts swaying but remaining hidden behind her gown. Waves of rich, dark brown fell down around her shoulders. Unlike most young women of her class, she’d chosen to cut it and the ends curled becomingly around her shoulders. Now it was his turn to lick his lips.

“Take off the other broach.”

She laughed, the noise deep and throaty.

“I like this,” she said. “You’re the big man on this ship, but I think I’m the one who’s really in charge right now.”

Her words pushed him over the edge and he crossed the floor between then in two quick steps. She gave a startled gasp as he pulled her close with one arm, ripping the frail fabric of her gown free. It dropped to her waist, where the pressure of their bodies caught it. He cupped a full, ripe breast in his hand, creamy and white, the nipple a tight, round little berry he wanted to suck and nuzzle until she screamed.

His cock jumped and he reached down to caress it through his loincloth, studying her face as he touched himself.

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She gasped. Saul leaned forward to kiss her long and hard. She swayed into him, as soft and yielding as she’d been at the arena. His hands wandered down her back, feeling the gentle curves of her body while noting that under those curves was tight, toned muscle. Not a lazy girl, his lifemate. He grasped her bottom, rounding the curves, gripping them and pulling her tight against his prick. He couldn’t wait to sink his cock into her.

K’rilla didn’t protest when she felt his fingers digging into her bottom. She’d never felt anything as heavenly as his hands pulling her tight against his erection. She wanted him in her, the molten heat of her core throbbing as she rubbed herself against his body.

He would fill her completely, everything about their joining would be perfect. K’rilla decided to let go of whatever doubts that still lingered about their mating—Admiral Saul Darius was her lifemate.

Thank the Goddess.

Darius lifted her, carrying her across the room with her legs wrapped around his waist. The muscles of his arm tensed as he took her weight, but his strength never faltered. He wasn’t the type of man to build muscles for their own sake; she knew that instinctively. Darius did some kind of physical labor on a regular basis. She clutched him, reveling in the scent of his sweat, the musky perfume that she knew no other woman could ever appreciate the way she did.

Saul Darius had been created specifically for her.

When he set her down on the little storage cabinet, he confused her. She’d expected to go to the bed, but the cabinet’s possibilities became clear quickly enough. It was just the right height for him to access her body and she slid her hips toward him, loving every moment. He thrust against her, the rounded head of his penis rubbing back and forth against the heat of her clit. She arched, enjoying the sensation at first. But then the fabric separating their bodies was too much of a barrier, too rough and scratchy compared to the smooth skin of his cock.

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She needed to feel his flesh against her own.

Darius, as if reading her mind, stepped back just long enough to rip his loincloth free. Then he shoved up the filmy remains of her dress. It took only an instant to work his hand under the lace of her last protective barrier, pushing the delicate fabric to one side and sinking three fingers into her. K’rilla gasped at the sudden stretching stimulation.

“Oh that feels good,” she murmured as he found her clit with his thumb. He shaped her, wiggling the tiny spur of flesh back and forth as she collapsed backward.

Darius seemed to be touching her everywhere at once, the sensations building on each other until she hardly knew what to wish for—his hard cock in her body or the continuing pleasure of his cunning fingers. Higher and higher he pushed her, right to the brink of explosion.
He is really, really good at this
, K’rilla thought, feeling a sudden surge of jealousy as she wondered who’d taught him these tricks.

Darius pulled his fingers free. K’rilla mewed in protest as he laughed. Then she watched, mesmerized, as he raised his hand to his face and licked his fingers slowly and deliberately.

“Delicious.”

K’rilla shivered, feeling cold and lonely without his touch. She gave a little whimper of need and thrust her hips toward him. He took the hint, reaching down to steady his cock. Then he rubbed the soft, round head up and down along the ridge of her clit for several seconds, bathing her with the pearls of fluid seeping from the tip.

Sensation throbbed through her, blood rushing to her core. She squirmed against him and he gave a low, satisfied laugh.

“You want it, don’t you?”

The quick nod of her head, the rising flush in her face—together they were almost enough to send Saul over the edge. He pressed down into her, feeling her warm flesh squeeze his cock as he sank deep. Her cunt was a molten glove, almost hotter than he 30

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could handle. Would she burn him up, given the chance? Darius supposed the thought should scare him, but it didn’t. All he wanted was to be with her and damn the consequences.

She panted a little as he penetrated her, each inch a little closer to bottoming out.

She clenched suddenly, the strength in her muscles cradling him. Oh that was good—

she felt like a glove of sweet fire around his cock. He was all the way in now and he paused for a moment, enjoying the moment. It was good. Really good. Better than anything he’d ever imagined. She leaned back from him, resting against the wall, a dreamy expression on her face. Her bare breasts hung between them, her seductive position completely uncalculated.

A sexual Goddess in repose.

“You’re beautiful,” he said and she smiled up at him, the expression washing across her face like a brilliant sunrise.

“Thanks.”

She wiggled her hips around him suggestively and he laughed.

“Impatient, aren’t we?”

“Always,” she said. “You’d better get used to it. I waited a long time for this, so don’t think I’m going to let you get away with half a job completed.”

He rested his hands on her hips and pulled out a bit before sliding back into her a little harder than before, studying her reaction. K’rilla smiled at him, letting her eyes close, so he started moving a little more quickly. After a few moments he found himself sliding easily through her body. Perfection. A gentle flush worked its way up her form, her nipples bouncing lightly with each of his thrusts. She relaxed completely into the moment with the abandon of a professional. But no whore had ever been this tight or so exquisitely shaped just for him. She reached up to grasp one breast, fingering the nipple with gentle insistence—and Saul felt the blood pound in his head as he groaned. Her eyes flew open and she gasped, dropping her hand.

“I can’t believe I did that!”

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“You don’t need to be embarrassed with me,” he replied. “It’s beautiful.
You’re
beautiful.”

She blushed bright red, but after a moment’s hesitation she touched herself once more. She rolled the nipple between her fingers before tugging at it very lightly. Her eyes closed again and she seemed to drift away from him, lost in the pleasure of the moment. To his delight, she reached up with her other hand to touch between their legs.