by Presley Hall
They speak for another moment, and as I watch the fight master gesture emphatically, I realize he’s telling Kaide he can’t bring his spear into the pit. The knot in my stomach ties itself a little tighter.
I’m not sure if a spear would be a very helpful tool in a fight like this anyway—the pit is only about thirty feet by thirty feet, so there’s not a lot of room to maneuver a long weapon. But still, I hate the idea of Kaide going into the match completely unarmed.
The tall Voxeran warrior doesn’t argue though. Instead, he lays his weapon carefully at the edge of the pit and then jumps down into the hole. It’s not all that deep, just a little deeper than he is tall, and I see what look like hand and footholds gouged into the rock and dirt on one side of the pit to allow the fighters to climb out. But if he had to get out in a hurry, it would mean turning his back on his opponent. They’ll essentially be trapped down there together until the fight ends.
I grip the pack in my arms tighter, digging my fingers into the leather as I channel all my worry into that physical action.
The other fighter jumps into the ring too. He’s got dusky red skin, and when he smiles, he reveals two rows of pointed teeth. The Voxerans have slightly elongated canines, but this alien looks like he’s got a whole mouthful of vampire teeth, sharp and vicious.
Shit. Are there rules against biting in this match? Are there any rules?
The red-skinned alien is unarmed just like Kaide, so at least they’re on even footing in that regard. But I have the horrible feeling that no moves will be off-limits, and that the idea of fighting with honor or integrity doesn’t matter much here.
Come on, Kaide. You can do this.
I tense, leaning forward as the fight organizer holds his hands in the air. Kaide and his opponent both tense, eyeing each other as if searching for weaknesses.
“Fight!”
The fight master brings his hands down in a sharp gesture, and before he even finishes the word, Kaide is already moving.
He launches himself at the red-skinned alien, going on the offensive right off the bat. He clearly wasn’t kidding when he told me it wouldn’t take long, and his strategy seems to be to end this fight quickly.
Unfortunately, the alien he’s fighting is no slouch.
Kaide manages to knock him off balance, but the man recovers quickly, swiping out with a meaty fist and connecting with the recently patched up wound on Kaide’s arm.
I wince as Kaide lets out a deep grunt, and they separate and circle each other again.
The crowd is shouting and screaming—or at least, I think they are. I can barely hear them over the rushing of blood in my ears, can barely feel the press of bodies all around me. My focus is entirely on Kaide as the rest of the world seems to fade into a dull hum in the background.
A small trickle of blue blood is seeping from the cut on his arm where the blow must’ve reopened the wound a little. His body is still streaked with dust from the explosion earlier, and his muscles ripple under his pearlescent blue-tinged skin as he moves. The white markings that swirl over his chest and shoulders have started to glow faintly, making him look more inhuman than ever—but more beautiful too.
He looks like a predator, like the fierce warrior I know he is, and my pulse thrums in my throat as if I’m right there in the pit with him.
Come on, Kaide. Come on.
I don’t realize I’ve spoken the words until they’re out of my mouth, but they’re drowned out by another roar from the crowd as the two men in the pit collide again with a flurry of fists. The fight is brutal, but there’s something graceful about the way Kaide moves, making it look almost like a dance.
As the bout inside the pit ramps up in intensity, the crowd does too, people pushing and shoving and shouting as they try to get a better look at the action. Someone behind me elbows me hard in the back, making me stumble forward a half step, and Kaide’s gaze immediately snaps up to me.
I shake my head, letting him know I’m fine, but that momentary distraction costs him. The red-skinned alien catches the side of his cheek with a hard punch, making his head whip to the side.
Fuck. Oh, fuck.
I have a sudden vivid memory of the time I stopped to watch the Voxeran warriors spar in the small training arena they’ve set up in the village. Kaide was sparring with Bohrir, and he glanced over at me during the fight. It was the first moment I ever felt the strange pulse of electric energy arc between us, although I refused to let myself believe it could be the mate bond at the time.
The same thing happened when I stopped to watch his sparring session with Strome, and while Kaide was looking at me, Strome knocked him on his ass.
But his momentary distraction during that match only cost him a little bit of pride.
Now?
It could cost him his life.
My grip on the pack in my arms is so tight that my muscles ache, and my stomach twists as if I swallowed live snakes. The red-skinned alien lunges forward, baring his teeth as he tries to take advantage of the momentary opening. But before he can sink his teeth into Kaide’s neck, Kaide ducks backward, lashing out with his fist.
He catches his opponent in the jaw, and although the alien’s sharp teeth tear into the skin of his knuckles, the red-skinned brute falls back, shaking his head as if to clear it.
With twin roars, they both launch themselves back into the fight.
But this time, something is different. There’s a new kind of ferocity to Kaide’s movements, and he strikes like lightning, never letting up as he forces the other alien to give up on offense and switch to defense. I can tell the red-skinned beast feels the tides shifting, because he starts to fight more wildly, lashing out even as his feet stumble backward.
In desperation, he tries one more time to use the most lethal weapon he has—his teeth. He ducks to one side and runs toward the wall, leaping up and kicking off it as he pivots and launches himself at Kaide, fangs bared.
But Kaide doesn’t run. He doesn’t even duck out of the way. Instead, he swings his fist in a wide arc, connecting with the red-skinned alien’s head a split second before those vicious fangs tear into his throat. The alien hurtles sideways, hitting the packed dirt and stone floor of the pit with a heavy thud.
He groans, eyelids drooping as he tries to press himself up on his arms. Then his eyes roll back, and he slumps to the floor, out cold.
The crowd goes wild, cheering and screaming, but Kaide ignores all of it. His head lifts, his gaze unerringly finding mine again, as if there’s a spotlight on me even in this sea of people. The knot of worry in my stomach seems to release all at once, sending a rush of giddy relief through me. My heart is still beating out a heavy rhythm against my ribs, and something hot and sweet pools in my lower belly.
Kaide is breathing heavily, a bruise blooming on the side of his face and more blue blood trickling from a cut near his eye. His skin glistens with sweat, and his cat-like pupils are wide.
For a long moment, neither of us moves. We just stare at each other.
Then I start shoving my way toward the spot in the pit wall with the handholds for climbing out. Kaide moves at the same time, striding quickly over hauling himself out of the pit. He stands up just as I reach him, and the only thing that keeps me from throwing my arms around him is the fact that I’m still holding his pack. The crackling electricity between us seems to fill every atom of the air, and he looks down at me with something unnameable burning in his eyes.
“You told me it would be fast,” I murmur, because I can’t think of anything else to say in this moment. There are too many thoughts and emotions bouncing around inside my head.
He grins, taking his pack from me. “That was fast.”
“Not fast enough.” Without thinking, I reach up to touch the bruised spot on the side of his face, wincing a little.
His eyes darken. He looks like he’s about to say something as he leans into my touch, but then he closes his mouth.
He catches my hand in his and leads me t
hrough the crowd toward the purple-skinned alien, stopping to collect his spear on the way. The man beams at Kaide as we approach, although his attention seems to be split between us and the pit, where another fight is already being set up.
“I’ve done what you asked,” Kaide says shortly when we reach him. “I fought and I won. Now tell us what we need to know.”
“You did.” The man smiles. Then he glances toward the pit again and curses. “Ah, they’re going to let Embatu fight again? He’s a cheat, and everyone knows it.”
“Our bargain,” Kaide reminds him, his voice firm. It’s clear the alien man is planning to be here all night gambling, and he seems distracted by whatever pit politics might interfere with his bet.
“Of course, of course.” The man waves a beefy hand. “Meet me tomorrow morning just after sun-up. I’ll tell you everything I know then.”
Kaide’s jaw clenches, and for a moment, I think he’s going to argue—or maybe even fight the guy for reneging on their agreement. But then he lets out a breath, relaxing his shoulders as he nods. “All right. But you’d better be there.”
The purple-skinned alien’s gaze snaps to Kaide, his expression turning hard. “I will be. Don’t doubt that.”
Kaide gives him another nod and looks down at me. “Let’s go.”
We start making our way toward the exit, fighting against the tide of bodies as more people fight their way closer to the pits to see the action. When we step outside, the relatively fresh night air is a welcome relief from the stale, musty atmosphere of The Pits.
“What was that all about?” I ask as we walk away from the large building. “Are you sure we should just leave without getting what we need? That guy could be long gone by tomorrow.”
“He won’t be,” Kaide says confidently. When I look up at him with an arched brow, he laughs. “I can see why you’d think that. But he’s a Reskin, a species of alien that loves to gamble. It’s the entire basis of their culture, and as part of that, they place a great deal of importance on paying off their debts. The man owes me a debt, and—criminal or no—I believe he’ll make good on it.”
I’m still a little skeptical about the idea of trusting anyone on this planet apart from the Voxerans and my fellow humans. But Kaide is much more familiar with other alien species than I am, so it makes sense to defer to his judgement on this.
“So where to now?” I ask, glancing around at the dimly lit streets.
“Now we need to find someplace to spend the night,” he tells me. “We need some rest, and it’s not safe to stay out in the open.”
I have a decent sense of direction, but I’ve completely lost track of where we are in my patched-together mental map of the city. Fortunately, Kaide seems to know where we’re going, and after several minutes of walking, we reach a single-story wooden building that looks about as rustic as the huts in the Voxeran village. It seems sturdy though, and it’ll give us a roof over our heads, so I follow Kaide inside with no hesitation.
He gives the hunchbacked alien proprietor another one of our precious gems, and the man leads us down a hallway toward the back of the building. The room he ushers us into is tiny, with barely enough room for the lumpy looking bed in the middle, and when Kaide and I both step inside, it seems to get even smaller.
“Wash room and lavatory are down the hall,” the proprietor says.
He leaves without another word, and Kaide gestures in the direction he indicated.
“You can clean up first.”
“Oh. Um, thanks.”
I drop my pack, then quickly slip down the hallway and find the bathroom facilities, which are about as rustic as I’d expect in a place like this. I doubt Pascia has any kind of centralized sewer system with all the different criminal kingpins vying for control, so it’s honestly a miracle the whole place doesn’t stink to high heaven. Maybe they have some kind of tech that helps deal with waste.
After washing off the remaining dirt and dust from the explosion, I feel a lot better. We cleaned up as best as we could before leaving K’Mek’s destroyed workshop, but I was grimier than I realized.
I pad down the hall and push open the door to our room, grinning at Kaide as I gesture to myself. “Look at that. There was a human underneath all that dirt.”
He chuckles. “And a beautiful one too.”
My cheeks heat a little, and I look away as I slip around the bed. His easy compliment is the kind of thing I would’ve brushed off as a line from anyone back on Earth. But despite the fact that Kaide is one of the most flirtatious men I’ve ever met, he always sounds so sincere when he says things like that to me.
He leaves the room to take his turn in the facilities, and I dig into our packs to see how our supplies are holding up. We’ve still got a few gems, as well as some dried meat and fruit and one full water flask. I take a few long sips, and I’m putting the stopper back in when Kaide returns.
He cleaned off the lingering dust just like I did, as well as the blood and sweat from his fight—but now that he’s clean, it’s easy to see which wounds are still seeping.
“Shit.” I wince. “Your arm is bleeding again.”
Kaide looks down, seeming almost surprised by the blue blood dripping down his arm. “It’s not bad.”
“Yeah, that’s what you said the first time too,” I mutter, digging in one of the packs again until I find the open syringe of epoxy. “You shouldn’t have agreed to that fight. You could’ve been killed.”
“I can hold my own against a single slanching Perikava,” Kaide says with a chuckle. Although I don’t know what that word means, I assume he’s referring to the species of the alien he fought in the pit. “I’ve spent most of my life training for battle.”
“It was still dangerous. I know you guys fight with honor, but that doesn’t mean everyone else does. He could’ve had a shiv or something.”
“A what?”
“A knife. Some kind of makeshift blade. He could’ve gone for the kill even though it wasn’t supposed to be that kind of fight.”
I pat the bed as I speak, and Kaide strides over and sits down in front of me. The room is so tiny that when I bend over a little to reapply the epoxy to the cut on his arm, my ass hits the wall behind me. My face is closer to his than I realize, and when he turns his head to look at me, I can feel the intensity of his gray eyes as if I’ve stepped into warm sunlight.
“Maybe you’re right,” he says quietly. “I wasn’t worried about my odds of beating him, but it was a risk. If I’d been killed, you would’ve been left alone in the city for the next two days until the rendezvous with the others. I shouldn’t have put you in danger like that.”
“No—that’s not—”
I break off, not sure how to explain that my fear was for him as I watched him fight, not for myself. Pressing my lips together, I focus on patching up his wounds. The cut on his arm stops bleeding as I reseal it, and then I move on to a small gash on his side before prodding gently at the bruise on the side of his face. The skin split where the other alien’s fist connected with Kaide’s cheekbone, so I apply just a little of the epoxy there too, careful not to get it anywhere near his eye.
He watches me the entire time, and his unrelenting focus makes my heart beat harder and my hands shake. I feel awkward and clumsy as I wipe the remaining streaks of blood off his face, as if I’m playing at being a nurse and doing a poor job of living up to the role.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I’m not very good at this. I didn’t really… take care of a lot of people back on Earth. I don’t know how to do it.”
“Yes, you do.”
Kaide’s smile is somehow both wicked and soft, and the certainty in his tone makes my stomach dip sideways like I’m on a rollercoaster.
I don’t know if he sees something in me that I’ve never seen in myself, or if he’s just hoping that saying it will make it true, but I don’t see a hint of doubt in his expression.
Warmth rises up inside me, making my cheeks flush hot again.
&nb
sp; “Are you hurt anywhere else?” I ask, surprised at how husky my voice sounds. “Let me see your back.”
Kaide shifts a little on the bed, turning to one side, and I run my fingertips over the hard planes of muscle that ripple beneath his blue-tinged skin. The markings on his body glow slightly, and I can feel his ribs expand with his sharp intake of breath as my fingers skate over his flesh.
My heart crashes against my ribs, my own breath hitching as I search for any other injuries. There are a few scrapes and bruises that darken his pearlescent skin, but nothing that needs epoxy. In fact, I could probably have figured that out just by looking at him—but now that I’m touching him, I can’t seem to stop.
I run my hands over the curves of his broad shoulders, entranced by the way the muscles harden under my touch. There are slightly raised nodes that run along his spine, and when I brush a fingertip over one to see what it feels like, he lets out a low noise that resonates all the way down to my bones.
He shifts back to face me, but instead of pulling my hands away, I let them drift downward over his chest.
Kaide doesn’t move or speak. For once, he doesn’t seem to have a witty comment or a seductive taunt at the ready. He just holds still and watches me in silence, as if he’s afraid I’ll startle like a deer at any sudden movement.
I love and hate the way he leaves it entirely up to me.
Because as my hands trail lower, brushing over the chiseled ridges of his abs, I can’t blame my actions on Kaide’s seductive nature or even the pull of the bond between us.
It’s all me.
My decision.
As terrifying as it is to admit, I want this.
15
Kaide
My blood is on fire.
My veins are full of molten heat.
Every muscle in my body is taut as Raina’s hands slowly drift downward over my abdomen, and my cock hardens as arousal roars through me. She makes a small noise in the back of her throat as she looks down and sees my length tenting the leather of my loincloth, nearly dislodging the slanching thing as it strains toward her.
