Champion: A Scifi Alien Romance (Galactic Gladiators Book 5)

by Anna Hackett

  Glancing across the trading post, she stared at the larger bone fences. That had to be where the beasts of burden were kept by the guards and traders. Now she just had to cross the settlement without getting caught.

  She moved along the rock wall, circling closer. A scrape of noise behind her caught her ear, and she tensed. Someone was following her.

  Tightening her grip on her bone weapon, she picked up speed. But another noise, closer this time made her realize she wasn’t going to outrun whoever was after her.

  She turned, holding the bone up. She sensed a hint of emotion: grim determination.

  A big, hulking shape came out of the darkness. She swung the bone.

  It connected. She heard a masculine grunt. She swung out with a front kick, her foot hitting a rock-hard stomach.

  But her opponent moved. Fast. He spun under her guard, and strong arms banded around her.

  She thrust her head back, cracking against the man’s face.

  A strangled groan. “Saff.”

  Blaine’s whispered voice. Emotion fountained inside her, and a sob threatened to break free. She spun, burrowing into his chest. She moved, pressing her face up against the skin of his neck and breathing deep.

  “You’re okay?” His big hands patted her down, his sense of relief crashing over her.

  “Yes. I’m fine…now.”

  “Good. Damn, I think you might have broken my nose.”

  She gave a hiccupping laugh. “Sorry. Um, it isn’t bleeding. Drak, I am so glad you’re here.”

  “Why? You’d already rescued yourself.”

  She slid her hand up and cupped his jaw, feeling the scrape of scruff on his cheek. “You came for me.”

  “Yes.” A simple, strong word. His hand skimmed down her side and paused at her wound. He touched the stickiness at her side.

  “It’s nothing. Minor.” Everything was fine now that Blaine was here.

  She heard fabric tearing and then he was wadding cloth against her injury. “I’m sorry, baby.” He cupped her cheeks and she could just see his eyes in the faint light. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you out earlier.”

  “It’s okay. You did the right thing and took care of Winter. And you came back.”

  “I’ll always come for you.” His lips touched hers, a light flutter, then he took her mouth. The kiss deepened and she fought back a moan.

  Suddenly, shouts broke out on the other side of the trading post. Saff and Blaine broke apart, and she saw the flare of light as more torches were lit.

  “Dammit,” Blaine bit out. “We’ve been discovered.”

  Guards were running out of a low-set building, pulling on clothes as they did. Her heart contracted. So many.

  Ahead, she made out the big forms of Raiden, Galen, and Thorin racing to meet the incoming attack. The gladiators ran into the flood of guards, weapons swinging.

  But there were so many enemies. Even as Harper, Nero, Lore, and Kace joined the fight, the guards kept coming. There were too many.

  She spun back to Blaine, grasping at their one chance. “Now you need to embrace who you are. The fierce, violent fighter inside you.”

  Blaine’s muscles went tense. But then he looked past her, at their friends fighting against their enemies.

  “Be the champion I know you are,” she said.

  He gave a nod. And then he threw his head back and gave a fierce roar that echoed around the trading post.

  Blaine grabbed her hand, and they sprinted toward the fray. He stopped and snatched a sword off a body, handing it to her.

  Saff liked the feel of a sword in her hand again. She spun it, focusing on the closest guards.

  Beside her, Blaine raised his sword, his gaze on the enemies ahead.

  Swords clashed against swords, metal rang on metal. She ran into the mass of guards, spinning and dipping. She spotted Kace, Raiden, Harper and the others. Her friends fought with the same fierce focus they used in the arena.

  The fight raged. She just focused on each opponent, cutting them down.

  She heard a roar and looked up to see Blaine facing the Srinar leader with the purple shirt. The man was scrambling on the ground, trying to get away from Blaine.

  But Blaine never faltered. He didn’t listen to the taunting words spilling from the alien’s mouth. He lifted his sword, and ended his tormentor with one hard strike.

  Then ahead, she saw the flicker of flames. More than just torches.

  “The crud-spawn are setting the cages alight,” Galen yelled.

  No. There were women still locked in there.

  “Fuck,” Blaine snapped. “We have to help them.”

  Saff nodded, and they took down two more guards before circling around the fighters. Ahead of them, Galen spun into view, fighting with a powerful, mesmerizing intensity. He took down two more guards.

  The flames were building, rising into the night sky. Saff heard the screams of the women caught in the cages.

  They reached a wall of flames, blocking them from the cages beyond.

  Blaine gripped Saff by the waist. “Trust me. I’ll throw you over to the other side.”

  She looked at this man who had upended her neat and tidy life. She trusted him completely. She nodded.

  He lifted her, swung her back, then tossed her high over the flames.

  Saff flew through the air, feeling the singe on her skin as she cut through the flames, and landed, rolling through the sand. Then she was up, swinging her sword to take down the guard setting the cages alight.

  She reached the closest of the burning cages and slammed her sword down on the lock. It shattered. She raced down the row, smashing lock after lock. “Go. Go!”

  Women clambered out of the cages and ran. Once everyone was free, Saff skirted the wall of fire and headed back toward her friends. She saw Blaine fighting like a wild man, whirling through their opponents. He was roaring and out of control, and taking down guard after guard.

  Then she turned, and saw Kace fighting a massive guard. The alien had a giant set of horns, and towered over Kace. But she knew her fight partner was a hell of a gladiator. He’d take the man.

  But then she spotted another guard, sneaking up behind Kace, sword raised.

  “Kace!” She raced toward her fight partner.

  He was turning, but it was too late. The cowardly guard behind Kace thrust his sword into Kace’s back.

  Her friend’s body arched backward. He hung there for a second, before the guard withdrew the blade. Kace dropped to the sand.

  “No!” Saff screamed, plowing through the guards in front of her.

  She needed to get to Kace. Kace, her oh-so-steady fight partner. A man who’d only just discovered love, and had a baby coming.

  “Kace!”

  ***

  Blaine took down the last guard. His chest was heaving, a red haze covering his vision.

  But the bloodlust was slowly receding. He’d controlled it. He’d used his inner strength, and now he’d brought it back under control. Saff had been right.

  “Kace!”

  Saff’s scream made Blaine spin. He saw Saff skidding to her knees beside her fallen fight partner.

  Blaine sprinted toward them. As he got there, Saff was pressing her palms down on a wound on the gladiator’s back. Blood was pumping out of the wound, coating her fingers.

  “Drak.” She pressed her hands down. “Kace.”

  Galen appeared and crouched beside them. The imperator cursed. “We need to get him back to Kor Magna and the healers.”

  “He won’t make it,” Blaine said. He had basic medic training, and he knew the wound was too bad. The man would bleed out long before they got back to the city.

  He strode over to a downed guard and tore the man’s shirt away. He wadded it up and handed it to Saff. She pressed it down on the wound.

  Blaine frowned. “I have some basic skills, but this is more than I can handle.”

  “Winter’s a healer,” Nero said.

  “Get her,” Galen ba
rked. Nero jogged into the darkness.

  As they waited, the imperator looked around and blew out a breath. “Raiden and Harper, calm the women. Tell them they are free, and we’ll arrange transport for them and get them away from here.” With a nod, the couple turned to carry out his orders.

  It felt like an eternity, but finally, Nero returned. Winter clung to his arm as he rushed her forward.

  “What happened?” Winter asked.

  “He was run through by a sword,” Saff said, her voice shaky.

  Blaine’s jaw worked. Winter might be a doctor, but she was blind. She knelt beside Kace and reached out to touch Kace’s body. “Describe what you see.”

  Saff started to talk, but her voice was choked. Blaine touched her shoulder and took over. “The wound looks clean, but it’s bleeding badly.”

  Winter nodded and probed the wound with slender hands. “I think the tip of the blade has broken off inside.”

  Jesus. They couldn’t do surgery out here.

  “We need to get it out,” Winter said. “Blaine, I need you to be my eyes.” She lifted her head, her milky eyes turned in his direction. “Someone find something to put between his teeth. Some leather, or something.”

  Galen brought a piece of harness, slipping it between the gladiator’s teeth.

  “Ready,” Blaine told her.

  Winter probed the wound. The gladiator groaned.

  “Easy, Kace,” Saff murmured to her friend. “Let her work. You’ll be okay. Rory’s going to be really pissed at you for getting yourself stabbed.”

  Winter’s face was creased as she focused. She delved her fingers into the wound, Kace groaning loudly around the harness in his teeth, and a second later, she held something up. “Got it!” She held out the tip of metal, covered in blood. “I need more fabric for a bandage. Preferably clean fabric. At least, as clean as possible out here.”

  The others brought her the things she needed. Soon, she was binding the wound.

  Nero knelt down beside them. “I’ll carry him to the transport.”

  Galen gave a weary nod. “The rest of you, search the freed captives for Dayna and Mia. Tell them we will head for Kor Magna and return them to their homes, or someplace safe.”

  Blaine grabbed Saff’s hand. Her face was set in stone, and he could tell she was worried about Kace.

  They moved through the group of milling women. Most were painfully thin, dirty, and bedraggled.

  He scanned every face. He didn’t see any humans.

  “No sign of Dayna and Mia,” Harper said, her voice cracking. “They aren’t here.”

  Blaine let out a breath. Where the hell were they? He heard Raiden and some of the others questioning the women, but no one had seen anyone matching Dayna or Mia’s descriptions.

  “Okay,” Galen said. “You’re all free now. The House of Galen will ensure your safety and we’ll get you back to Kor Magna. From there, you can contact your families.”

  Happy cries and cheers broke out. Raiden and Harper took the lead on organizing the women to take tarnids and transports back to the city.

  Wearily, Blaine made it back to their transport. He saw Kace’s prone form laid out in the back, Saff sitting beside him.

  Blaine climbed in, too, careful not to crowd her. But before he could say anything, Saff climbed on top of him, curling up in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her.

  “God, I thought I’d lost you.” He buried his face in her hair.

  “Never,” she murmured.

  “Saff…you accept me as I am.”

  She lifted her head and smiled. “I like rough and tough.” She leaned up and nipped his chin. “And you accept me as I am. Not many people have done that before.”

  “I like the sexy fighter, the fierce protector, and the net champion.” He smiled. “The gorgeous woman and the hot lover.”

  She nipped him again. “Blaine.”

  “Let’s go home,” he said.

  And he meant it. Home wasn’t a house, a room or a place. It was wherever this woman was.

  ***

  It was mid-morning by the time they returned to the House of Galen. Galen, Raiden, and Harper had left them to take the convoy of freed women to Varus’s stables, and the imperator was planning to call in Rillian to help get them home.

  Blaine climbed off the transport just outside the Kor Magna Arena, helping Saff off with him. She was moving stiffly and he wanted her side looked at as soon as possible. They’d dozed as best they could on the journey back, but damn he was tired.

  He grabbed her arm, bringing her branded wrist up to his lips for a quick kiss. “First thing, we get rid of this.”

  She smiled and leaned into him. Tugging her close, he looked up at the stone walls of the arena. His home. For the first time since his abduction, he felt something settle inside him.

  Blaine still felt the emotions inside him and he knew his control would never be the same, but he could be a damn good gladiator of the House of Galen, and still help people. He looked down at Saff’s dark head. And with Saff by his side—fighting with him, challenging him, loving him—his new life would be damn near perfect.

  He heard shouts and watched as Regan, Rory, and Madeline exploded out of a doorway from the arena.

  “Thank God.” Rory threw her arms around Blaine and then Saff.

  Regan smiled at them. “We are so glad you guys are back.”

  Rory’s gaze narrowed and she grinned. “You guys did the nasty.” She held out a palm to the others. “I win.”

  Madeline shook her head. “I thought for sure you’d wait until you got back.” She slapped a coin in Rory’s palm.

  Blaine cleared his throat. “Rory?”

  His tone of voice must have warned her. Her hand flew to cover her belly protectively and her gaze scanned their group. “Where’s Kace?”

  “He was hurt—”

  “No.” She raced to the transport, just as Thorin hefted the wounded gladiator out.

  “Rory.” Saff wrapped an arm around the woman. “He’s alive. You need to stay calm so you don’t disturb him. We need to get him to Medical.”

  Rory nodded, tears in her eyes. “He’ll be fine. He’s tough.” She hurried along beside her lover, Regan going with her.

  Madeline’s gaze was tracking Lore as the man helped Winter down from Nero’s tarnid. She glanced at Blaine. “You found Winter.”

  “Yeah. She’s rattled, but she’s fine.”

  “Dayna? Mia?”

  He shook his head.

  Pain spasmed on Madeline’s face. “God, where are they?”

  Worse, what were they being subjected to? Blaine squeezed Madeline’s shoulder. “We aren’t giving up.”

  Madeline nodded and a second later, Lore appeared, sweeping her into his arms. With Nero clutching Winter, they moved inside.

  Blaine released a breath. “I need a hot shower and a nap.”

  Saff grinned at him. “No stamina.”

  “Excuse me? I think you’ve forgotten what we did the other night.”

  She pressed into him, lowering her voice. “I haven’t forgotten.”

  Memories peppered him and he groaned. “Well, I guess it’s time I show you what I can do in a shower.”

  Interest sparked in her dark eyes. “Sounds good to me, Earth man. Very good.”

  He slung an arm across her shoulders, leading her inside. “Then I’m going to cook for you. Galen probably has some sort of grill around here.”

  “I have something planned for you, too.” Her voice was almost a purr.

  The sound made Blaine’s cock hard. “Oh?”

  She turned to face him, walking backward. “I promised to get down on my knees and pleasure you.” She licked her lips. “But only if you’re interested.” With that, she turned and strode into the House of Galen.

  Blaine stared after her. Yep, perfect.

  He hurried after her.

  ***

  Saff had a bounce in her step as she entered her bedroom.

&nb
sp; Instantly, she saw Blaine’s clothes mixed with hers over the back of a chair. She spotted the chunky comp screen she’d gotten for him on the bedside table.

  Not her room, their room.

  She smiled to herself. Happy. She was so drakking happy.

  They’d returned from the desert three days ago. Thanks to Winter, Kace had survived the journey. He’d spent an hour in a regen tank, with Rory by his side, and was now fully healed. He’d been complaining about Hero. Apparently, the dog wanted to sleep by Kace’s side and kept bringing him small gifts—usually dead rodents.

  Galen had told them that all the women had made it back to Kor Magna. Many had already been reunited with their families.

  Her pulse skipped. The only blot on their happiness was the fact that they hadn’t found Dayna and Mia. Not even a whisper about the women.

  But they hadn’t given up looking, and they never would.

  Saff strode across the room to the window, where the gauzy curtains were dancing in the wind. Below, she saw Nero and Lore leading new recruits through training exercises in the training arena. She was on shift later with Blaine, and then Duna was due tonight to come and watch the House of Galen in the arena. The girl had sent Saff several messages to ensure she hadn’t forgotten.

  Saff glanced in the direction of Medical. There was no sign of the damage that had been done by the explosion. Galen had ensured the repairs were made swiftly. She also knew he was working on upgraded security, even working with Zhim to install some high-tech system.

  More than that, she knew Galen was working hard on a plan to find Zaabha and end the Srinar and the House of Thrax once and for all.

  She’d made a good life for herself here at the House of Galen, but it had taken Blaine to make her realize that she’d been skimming through her life. Because of the hurts of her past, she’d not allowed herself to form any deeper romantic attachments.

  But then again, maybe it was because she’d never met the right man before Blaine.

  Here she was, in love. Her grin widened. Saff Essikani was in love with a sexy man from the other side of the galaxy.

  She moved back toward the bed. Maybe she’d take a shower before—

  The attack came suddenly.

  A weight barreled into her from behind, and she was forced across the room and shoved facefirst onto the bed.