Sexual Memory [Dark Colony 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Elle Saint James

  “I want her.” Jeremy ignored the man’s pompous explanation. He pointed in Angelica’s direction without taking his eyes off of this self-important man. The king, or rather Lord Harcourt, if the gladiator battle porn tapes were accurate, only frowned. “You can’t have her. She belongs to me.”

  “No. She doesn’t,” Jeremy continued, “She doesn’t belong here, and I can prove it.”

  Lord Harcourt leaned over and whispered to a thin man seated next to him. A lackey who always did his bidding, perhaps? The other man gestured to one of the guards in the ring. Angelica and her gladiator, William, were quickly herded through the open arena door and out of the fighting ring.

  “I am in command of this place. And I say, you can’t prove anything to my satisfaction. However, in the interest of fairness, I’ll make a deal with you.”

  Fairness? That was a laugh, but Jeremy played along, asking, “A deal?”

  “Yes. You will fight one battle against William in the arena. If you best him, then you can take the woman he’s chained to with you.”

  Behind him, a crude litter had been constructed and his shuttle was being pulled across the arena by a large group slaves, the same ones who cleaned up all the beast blood after the battles.

  “Where are you taking my shuttle?”

  “Just out of the ring until the coming fight is over.”

  “So if I beat William in a fight, when I win, I get to take Angelica out of here on my shuttle, with your blessing.”

  “Yes.” He beamed. Or rather his eyes glittered with some sort of snake-like charm.

  Jeremy didn’t trust this slaver as far as he could lift and toss his ponderous bulk into the air, but said, “All right. I accept your deal.”

  Lord Harcourt then said, “Excellent. Now you’ll have to dress in gladiator clothing, like what William wears.”

  “Fine.”

  “And I hope you know how to battle with a broadsword, as that is the weapon for today.”

  “No problem.” Jeremy was confident he could knock William out cold fairly easily. He’d already seen him battle numerous times against hybrid beasts and had a fair idea of his skills.

  Fighting man to man in person would of course be different. At least Jeremy had seen plenty of battle porn videos showcasing all William’s moves, and how he fought. It might give him a slight edge in their coming clash.

  In fact, Jeremy’s largest concern was not the battle itself. His current fear was whether or not Angelica would agree to leave after he bested the other gladiator. What if she refused to go with him once more?

  Would she choose to stay with William instead of resuming their previous life?

  Given Angelica’s initial reaction to leaving with him, Jeremy expected to win the battle, and then promptly lose the war.

  * * * *

  William and Parisa were shuffled into the long hallway, but only moved about halfway back to their room. He kept his arm clamped tightly around Parisa, holding her close. She hadn’t said anything. Of course they were both wondering who the space stranger was and why he had come to get Parisa. “I want her,” the man had said confidently. “She doesn’t belong here, and I can prove it.”

  He avoided any thought at all that this man might be the one Parisa remembered from her dream. Not that it was impossible, but mostly because he didn’t want to relinquish his love, Parisa.

  That she hadn’t recognized the stranger, or left William behind in the ring to join the newcomer jumping immediately into his sleek, shiny, modern aircraft to bolt into the skies above, was the only thing that gave him hope. Surely once Parisa saw her previous lover, she’d know him, wouldn’t she?

  The man had called out the name, Angelica more than once before Gruvat and his legion of guards had swarmed them in the ring. Was that Parisa’s real name? Or was the stranger perhaps mistaken in his identification?

  At first, William had been so shocked not to die at the claws of the robotic beasts, he’d been a bit slow to understand what his gaze took in. A space ship had appeared in the sky. The beasts had been obliterated before his eyes. The stench of burnt metal filling his nostrils, he’d barely taken it all in as the small spacecraft, sent from the large ship above, had landed in the arena.

  When the stranger calling out the previously unheard name had been unable to coax Parisa to join him, the other larger craft hovering above the arena had promptly disappeared as if it had never been there at all. Lord Harcourt had demanded the stranger explain himself. But he and Parisa had been shuffled out of the arena before any of the stranger’s words made any sense.

  Gruvat picked up the two ends of their chain, distracting William from his memory of recent events. He used his pole device, connecting the links of the chain back together, albeit without about four feet or more of tether between them. The missing part was what the stranger had also obliterated with his blue beam gun.

  What William wouldn’t give to possess that amazing piece of handheld artillery. All the annoying things in this primitive life would change drastically, if he wielded that powerful weapon.

  Once they were tethered together again, William started to take a step toward their room, but Gruvat stopped them. He pushed them back in the direction they’d come, toward the battle arena.

  “Aren’t we going back to our room?” William asked.

  Gruvat slowly shook his head. “You go back into the ring, gladiator.”

  “To do what?”

  “Guess you’ll find out when you get there.”

  William wanted to at least borrow the blue beam blaster just one time to use on Gruvat. Not to kill him, but to change his abusive attitude with a little zap to the head.

  They trudged back to the arena. William wondered what they faced this time? An army of metal creatures? The stranger with his blue beam blaster? He centered his thoughts on the coming battle. Although he had no idea of what to expect, of course, he’d do his best as he always did. Beside him, Parisa looked equally astounded by recent events. She remained silent.

  Lord Harcourt had said there were two rounds to be completed before he’d let them go. Obviously with the destruction of the robot beasts, he still owed his lordship one more battle round. William didn’t know what twist the added spacecraft incident had changed with regard to winning their freedom. He sensed that it wouldn’t be easy considering Lord Harcourt’s vested interest in them. Then again, maybe they would never be able to leave. Maybe that was why the metal creatures had stopped right before stomping them.

  The arena doors slid open once more. He and Parisa walked slowly into the bright, empty battle ring.

  Lord Harcourt was seated in his dais, his expression bland. Unfortunate, as William had hoped to glean some idea of what to expect.

  “Gladiator,” his lordship called out when he noticed him. “Are you ready to fight another battle?”

  “If you insist I must.”

  “I do.”

  “What do I get if I win this round?”

  Lord Harcourt smiled that oily smirk he was so very good at. “Why, your freedom, of course, what else?”

  “Is that freedom for both Parisa and myself?” William didn’t dare take any chances by not spelling out every detail each time he negotiated with his lordship. The man was not to be trusted.

  From up on high, he leaned forward, pushing out a long-suffering sigh, and said, “Yes. Yes. Of course. Now you must do your best, William.”

  I always do my best you priggish bastard. However, he didn’t voice his thoughts out loud.

  “For the next round in today’s arena fight, you’ll have a much different beast to battle.”

  “Oh?” Were they back to the hybrid beasts with colorful blood, then?

  “You’ll be fighting another gladiator with broadswords.”

  Not a huge surprise, really. Would it be the spaceman who’d come to spirit his Parisa away to a galaxy far away from this horrid place? William dismissed the sudden spurt of anger at himself for not pushing his love int
o that small craft to send her out of the arena when the stranger had shown up to take her. If only she’d recognized the man calling out the foreign name.

  If he’d helped the stranger in the flight suit, perhaps Parisa wouldn’t be in the ring facing another battle with him right now. Maybe she’d be free. His selfish side was grateful that his love was still at his side. His altruistic side wasn’t speaking to him.

  William glanced down at the chain, realizing how short the tether between them was now. He’d barely be able to wield his sword without worrying about taking one of Parisa’s limbs off if he didn’t hedge his swings.

  The stranger had blasted several feet of chain away in a single shot, and instead of replacing their chains with a longer one—to keep her farther away from the weapons and ultimately safer—they’d just essentially just glued it back together sans the missing links, making his coming battle all the more challenging.

  Bastards.

  William contemplated this fight. What if he bested the other man? Would Lord Harcourt truly let them go? What if the other man took him out instead? Would Parisa’s sentence be extended and transferred to the new winning gladiator for another forty battles?

  He didn’t know the answer to any of his questions. Unfortunately, the horrid headache he’d suffered the day he’d fought Vidarr was coming back.

  A door across the arena opened and a man dressed as a gladiator emerged. William couldn’t tell who it was yet. Lifting his shoulders, he rolled them forward, trying to loosen up his suddenly weary limbs. The beginning of a truly nasty headache was making itself noticed at the back of his skull.

  William hoped the pain in his head didn’t hamper his fighting abilities.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jeremy reentered the arena right after a deafening cheer had arisen in the stands above the ring. Across the expanse of the stadium, he saw Angelica and William already waiting for him. The first thing he noticed was that chain he’d blasted through to separate them had been reconnected. Annoying, but not completely surprising.

  This was a Slaver’s operation, after all. They ruled with iron-fisted tactics and deceptive strategy. He didn’t trust the ruler here, but moved forward anyway. Jeremy’s only goal was to save Angelica. His only option was to beat William and win.

  Lord Harcourt had already admitted that he considered Angelica his property.

  Jeremy took a deep breath and slowly let it out to calm his racing heart. He was about to fight—with a broadsword no less—in a primitive gladiator’s arena against a foe tethered to the woman he loved with a madness he hoped was still appreciated.

  His faith had been tested earlier, but he was determined to learn the truth and save her regardless of her new feelings. Angelica either didn’t know him or didn’t want him any more in favor of the man she’d been chained to for the past several months.

  He moved closer to his foe and his love as another thunderous cheer arose from the surrounding audience in the arena. Is that for me?

  Cheering strangers wasn’t expected, then again, this day hadn’t turned out anywhere close to what he’d predicted when he approached this small planet in the Forbidden Zone.

  He was embarrassed to admit even to himself that his hands had been shaking as he’d set the laser beam coordinates and prepared to drop the Stargazer’s cloaking shield and their defense shields in order to fire illegally so as to eliminate the ominous threat Angelica faced in the ring beneath the ship.

  A maniacal laugh had almost erupted from his throat as his trembling fingers clumsily worked the controls, while the still cloaked ship had hovered silently over the arena. He’d put the ship directly over the stadium, looked down into the ring, and immediately thought he’d come all this way—jumping through many endless hoops—only to be late by ten seconds and just in time to watch her die violently by way of the razor-sharp claws of a mechanized, metallic beast.

  Jeremy cast out that memory, turning his focus to the coming battle. All he had to do right now was win. He’d knock the other gladiator out, then leave with Angelica.

  Simple. I hope.

  The helmet he wore already itched. He suspected it was also about to make sweat pour more profusely down his head in the coming battle. The guard had told him the metal helmet with the nose guard was for protection. Keyhole-shaped eye openings had been cut in the face of his helmet. The bottom rim flared out slightly for ease of putting it on and taking it off, but he also quickly noted that William wore no such protection.

  Perhaps it was more in line with keeping Angelica from possibly recognizing him.

  Perhaps he should yank the cursed thing off before the battle began.

  Perhaps he should just get this battle over with, take Angelica, and run. If she would go with him. Why wouldn’t she? Why didn’t she go earlier?

  Thinking back to when he landed in the arena, the flight suit helmet he’d worn might also have shielded his face. Perhaps Angelica hadn’t gotten a good look at him. But wouldn’t she have recognized my voice?

  Both Angelica and William were staring at him as he approached. Did they even know who he was? He wasn’t wearing the flight suit either. Maybe they just thought he was another gladiator. Would that be to his advantage? Perhaps.

  The closer he got, the better he felt, at least until he glanced at the man she was chained to. William’s expression was a familiar one. It said he’d do anything to protect Angelica. While Jeremy understood and appreciated this man’s efforts on her behalf up to now, only one of them was leaving the arena with her.

  And he planned to be that one.

  He lifted his sword, as did his opponent. He glanced up at the dais. Lord Harcourt reclined on his throne as if waiting for the bloodshed to begin.

  For some reason, Jeremy expected some sort of ceremonial ritual to get the battle started. Like the old-fashioned gunshot sound used at the running competitions he’d sneaked inside to watch during his youth and those difficult years alone.

  William jabbed his sword forward as if to engage him. Jeremy smacked his opponent’s sword away as if annoyed. He then bore up to face the coming challenge, planning to give everything to this battle.

  He wanted to win.

  No.

  He would win.

  Jeremy fought alone, able to move freely about without any hindrance. They circled each other once then twice, trading jabs, clashing the tips of their swords a couple of times.

  His contender fought with Angelica chained to him. She helped his adversary.

  William stepped up the fight until they were thrusting and parrying continually.

  “Angelica,” he called out as the battle waged, but she didn’t respond. Likely because the crowd was making such a racket. He could barely hear himself think as he fought. Angelica continued to aid his foe. Meanwhile, Jeremy had to be careful with his sword swings, so as not to endanger her.

  They battled fiercely. William was a worthy fighter. Jeremy knew this man cared for Angelica, given not only the kiss he’d witnessed in the arena before the mechanical beasts were about to end them, but from what he’d seen in the previous battles he’d fought. Plus, he had other knowledge of their very intimate affection even before today’s display. He promptly pushed that imagery to the back of his brain for later.

  Any thrust he sent was answered by William’s sword blow, vibrating up his arm each time their weapons connected. They traded jabs and parried seemingly for hours, although he knew that it was only minutes.

  Even so, Jeremy’s arms began to feel like jelly. His opponent still had the disadvantage of that chain around his waist. A drawback Jeremy planned to capitalize on to win the day if the opportunity arose. William did his best to keep Angelica out from the fray and behind him at all times. Secretly, he applauded his opponent for that effort, but was single minded in his goal to win and promptly take her out of this vile place.

  Jeremy finally gained the upper hand because William was so careful to keep Angelica away from the fight, putting him at
a continual and distinct disadvantage. He knew the man’s name was William from the battle porn videos he’d watched on his way here.

  William called Angelica the name Parisa during the couple of battle video’s he’d watched where she’d had two or three second cameos, no more. During today’s impromptu battle, her gaze in his direction had only been a series of frowns. Another possibility surfaced in his brain. He didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of this before.

  Had her memories been taken? Was that why she glared so sternly in his direction? If that were true, would she ever remember him? Thus far hearing a voice from someone in her past hadn’t made any difference.

  How could Jeremy get Angelica to go with him willingly once he’d won this battle?

  William charged him, all of a sudden sword over his head, readying a chop to try and split Jeremy’s skull in half. He lifted his sword high in defense. Suddenly they were both locked in a close-quarter battle. Jeremy saw the individual beads of sweat dotted on the other man’s face.

  He also saw William’s determination to win. Knowing the man defended Angelica made it harder for Jeremy to rally the fortitude to bring this man to his knees. But he had to in order for his own goals to succeed. And he’d have to leave William behind. The shuttle he’d brought only held two.

  Jeremy pushed him away, thinking wildly and unsure of how this battle would end. Then in a fortuitous flash, William lost his footing when the tether snapped tight between them, throwing him off balance. It had been bound to happen, and Jeremy had watched for it.

  His opponent stumbled two steps backward for only the space of a second, but Jeremy was able to capitalize on his error, moving in close, and bashing him on the top of his head with the flat side of his sword as he fought to get his balance. Jeremy then shoved him backward. William dropped to the arena floor, rolled over face down, and then stayed prone.

  Relieved for about a second, he tensed again when Angelica roared forward. She dove for the fallen gladiator’s sword, putting herself directly in front of the unconscious man, brandishing his sword as well as any man could. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen her do it.