by Zara Starr
Really? As if they were cattle? Put up for an auction… It wasn’t the first time she had thought that.
The females were ushered into a long corridor with a glass viewing window. Now, Amelia could see Tanya at the end of it. Relief flooded her, however momentary, at knowing that the other woman was alright.
The feeling was replaced quickly as they took their places in the corridor. It was almost like they were prisoners who needed to be identified. The guard explained to them that they needed to remain quiet and still, that they would be viewed and then inspected a little closer. They would not be touched, as usual.
Amelia shivered. A cold draft blew through the tunnel-like room they stood in, and the outfit she had been asked to wear wasn’t exactly cut out for warmth.
It was a tight dress made of what looked like chains and nothing else. She felt vulnerable, naked, and uncomfortable.
This was the most exposed she had been so far. She didn’t want Gage to look at her like this. She wanted to keep at least a bit of her dignity.
But she had no choice. It was a part of not having freedom, the ability to exact her worth.
She stood toward the end of the line, the other females first to be inspected.
God, she didn’t know what to do or how to act. What was going to happen to her? What would Gage decide? Her mind raced, she felt feverish, her skin breaking out in goosebumps as she got colder and colder, and then sweat breaking out on her brow as she had a flash of heat.
Even if her plan had been horrible, and now she was going to live as a slave belonging to an obnoxious fighter that she couldn’t stand, it was too late. It was too late for her to do anything about it.
She had already made her plan and it had been a success. Or a failure, depending on which way you looked at it.
Any moment now, Gage was going to walk through that door.
Then, it was going to be official.
Chapter Fourteen
Gage
Gage was furious. The more he thought about Amelia and how she was clearly using him, the more furious he became. How dare she?
He was seriously doubting whether he would choose her at all. Why would he want to choose her if she was just using him? She was making him look like a fool. She was bending the rules, using whatever power she had over him. Exacting the kind of power that she shouldn’t have.
She was a slave. Just a female.
It irritated him to no end that she had the power to make him feel this way.
Clearly, she had found some kind of loophole and she was trying to take advantage of that. Somehow, she had twisted him around her finger, made him do her bidding. It was an unnatural feeling. No one had ever used him before. No one had ever been able to. He was a Qai, and his predictive skill was even better than that of most Qai.
How could he have been used?
Gage didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of that. He didn’t want her to succeed, he didn’t want to allow her the kind of freedom that she was basically stealing for herself. She had no right to it. No right to such freedom.
His thoughts warred with his values. He’d never considered slaves lesser, not in this way. But Gage couldn’t get a hold of his anger. He couldn’t manage to shake it off. Amelia had used him, and it had gotten under his skin. He couldn’t think of her as someone valuable, not after what she had done.
She was just a slave, and she had rubbed him the wrong way.
Why? Because he liked her. Because he had enjoyed spending time with her, and because she had led him to believe that she liked him too.
But that was just a lie.
He stood, waiting in the little portal that would lead him to the females, a line of them that he would have to study so that he could choose who he would want to win after the final battle. It was always like this – how many times had he stood here? Twice already.
Never before had it been such an emotional trip though. This time, he was struggling to contain himself. He was bursting with emotion – anger, frustration, infatuation, lust… It irritated him that he was struggling with such conflicting emotions. He didn’t want to like Amelia anymore, he didn’t want to be drawn to her.
But no matter how much he knew that she had been trying to use him, no matter how much he had thought about not choosing her, it didn’t change a thing. He still felt something for her, he was still drawn to her, and he knew that no matter what, he would look at their time together – although it had been on his command – and he would feel betrayed.
“You may go in,” a Saithin guard said to Gage. “No touching, only looking, but take as much time as you need.”
Gage nodded. He knew how it worked. It wasn’t his first rodeo. And it surely wouldn’t be his last either. This was just one hiccup in a whole slew of fights and wins. Amelia would end up not being anyone important, just like the others.
But even though he was trying to convince himself of that, he knew that it wasn’t true.
When the door opened, allowing him to walk from the portal into the long, narrow passage that had the women lined up on one side, he jutted his chin up, making sure his face was carefully expressionless, and marched into the passageway.
He knew what he should do. Just choose another female, forget about Amelia entirely. That would be the best way to handle it – she wouldn’t get what she was going for, and that would be punishment enough.
But it wouldn’t be punishment enough, Gage felt. He wanted to confront her. He wanted to know what she was doing and why she thought it was acceptable.
That sentiment alone irritated him even more. Because the fact that he wanted some kind of justification, something that would allow him to feel like he had been wronged in one way or another, meant that he had been attracted to her. That he still was. And that she had some kind of control over him as a result.
Gage was a free man. He had chosen to be a gladiator, he hadn’t been bought and sold into the trade. He should have been able to make his own decisions. No one should have control over him. The fact that Amelia did was just as infuriating as everything else.
The females were all lined up, staring straight ahead. They had been dressed up in different kinds of outfits, all of them very revealing, all of them for Gage’s viewing pleasure. To convince him to make his decision, obviously.
Some of them were scared. They were new. Some of them seemed bored. They had been around for a while and this wasn’t their first rodeo either. Gage wondered what happened to them if they weren’t chosen. Did they remain in the prize quarters? Were they always to be slaves, waiting for someone to claim them?
How did they go on in some way or another? Were they moved somewhere else, reassigned to different jobs or positions?
When Gage thought about it now, he couldn’t remember if he had seen any of them before, if they were repeat prizes. Then again, he never really focused on their faces.
Whatever would happen to them, that was not his concern now. The only thing Gage wanted to do was confront Amelia. Even though it would be more of a punishment to ignore her completely. He didn’t have what it took to do that.
Without even looking at the other females, Gage marched down the line to Amelia and spun around to face her. Her eyes were bright, her lips pursed into a thin line and it was clear that she picked up on the tension around them. She looked like she was ready to defend herself – leaning forward a little, her hands balled into fists. But it wasn’t her attitude, her readiness to defend herself, that pulled Gage up short.
No, it was the way she looked.
Like all the other females, she had been dressed up. But something about her always got to him. Amelia took his breath away.
The dress she wore was made of sheer material, and she wore nothing underneath it. It accentuated her curves, draped over her breasts and hips, and Gage was very aware of her body, of how perfect she was.
And dammit, he wanted her. He wanted her badly.
It was all he could think about. His anger faded
and he lost his train of thought.
The effect she had on him only brought another angle to the surface, because he was reminded again of the control she had over him. Even though it wasn’t the kind of control that he had relinquished or the kind of control that she had tried to exact over him.
Or maybe she had, it was impossible to know. Even though Gage had thought that he knew her, at least a little bit, he had a feeling that he didn’t know her at all. She seemed so shy and unsure of herself, but it could be an act. Maybe she knew exactly what she was doing.
He wanted to confront her, to snap at her about how she had been faking it the whole time, but he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t fight with her when she looked like that.
“Would you like to see any more of the females to aid in your decision?” the Saithin guard asked, and Gage realized that the guard had followed him. Gage had barely noticed him.
He thought about it for only a moment. He had absolutely no interest in the other women, but he couldn’t tell the guard that, not directly. Besides, he still hadn’t made his decision, and he had to think fast to decide which way he was going to go with this.
Reject her? Go against what she was trying to play at?
It was a way to punish her, to be sure. But it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to punish her. He wanted her. Even though he had told himself that choosing her wasn’t the right thing to do, he couldn’t imagine choosing anyone else.
So, considering that he couldn’t make that decision, he decided that the best way to get back at her – and not to lose his mind in the process – was to play along.
If she wanted him to choose her as his prize, why not? She would belong to him anyway.
Whatever she had planned, she would still belong to him.
And if she bothered him, he could always get rid of her. He could sell her. Or he could set her free.
He had done that before. He had set the females he’d won in the past free.
He didn’t really care for slaves, didn’t really want to own anyone. There was no reason for him not to grant them their wishes. After all, Gage only cared about the prize money. The living creatures, the female slaves, those were all added extras that were frustrating sometimes.
So, that was what he could do with Amelia.
“Actually, I don’t want to see the other females, but I do have a request to aid in my decision,” Gage said to the Saithin guard.
The guard nodded, eagerly stepping closer, happy to oblige.
“I need a private room,” Gage said. “With her.”
The guard nodded. Gage turned, and so did the guard, prodding Amelia forward. She walked with her head held high, her expression solemn.
They were taken to a small sitting room, the door opening out of the passageway. Gage had never requested a private room before and hadn’t known that they had them, but he would remember it for the future. He would be a finalist more often, it was in his nature to win.
The guard closed the door and it was just the three of them. Comfortable-looking couches had been arranged in a semicircle, with a table in the middle, a buffet along the side with all kinds of foods, and music floating from invisible speakers. It was all very comfortable, well decorated, clearly set up for the finalists.
Why had Gage not been told about this?
“Turn,” he said to Amelia.
She looked at him with a seductive expression, but this time, there was a defiant spark in her eyes. Gage’s lip twitched. Was he finally getting through her mask? Seeing through her pretense?
But Amelia didn’t act on it. Slowly, seductively swaying her hips, she obeyed him, turning around so that he could admire her.
And admire her he did. The dress she wore left nothing to the imagination. It shimmered in the dim lighting and it made her look delicious.
He felt his cock harden, an incredible lust building at his core. He wanted her. He wanted all of her. He wanted to strip her of her clothing, he wanted to taste her skin. He wanted to slide his hands over her naked body and run his fingers through her hair.
Despite her betrayal, he wanted to bury himself inside of her. He wanted to fuck her until she cried out his name, until she whimpered and begged for release.
Then, he wanted to finish inside of her.
When he thought about it, his body grew hot, his skin on fire, and his cock strained against his pants. He took a deep breath, and her scent filled his nostrils. He had to control himself so that he wouldn’t reach out and touch her.
He had to figure out what was her game first.
His eyes slid down her body again. They rested on her breasts, her nipples dark and tight, poking against the material. Her breasts were the perfect size, he imagined they would fit into his hand.
Her stomach was flat, her waist narrow but her hips wide.
The V between her legs was magnetic. Gage wanted to touch her there. To taste her.
He knew that the females were pampered and prepared for them, for the finalists. For him. All of this, everything she was and everything she had done to her the past while, was all for him.
And by all that was sacred, he wanted it. He wanted it all and he wanted it now.
But first things first…
“Leave us,” Gage said to the guard. He didn’t look at him, only talked over his shoulder. His eyes were still glued to Amelia.
When the door didn’t slide open again and then close, indicating that the guard had left, Gage turned to the door. He was irritated now, but for a different reason. He was angry that the guard wouldn’t leave. He was frustrated. He wanted a private moment with Amelia – truly private, so he could talk to her freely – and the guard was in the way.
“I said leave us,” he repeated, saying the words through gritted teeth, trying to keep himself calm.
The guard shook his head. “I can’t do that. It’s against the rules for a finalist to be alone with a prize before the final match.”
Gage narrowed his eyes at the guard. He suddenly had violent thoughts, feral thoughts, thoughts like an animal that was protecting his territory. He wanted the guard gone, he wanted to be alone with Amelia, and it was all distinctly primal.
“Do you know who I am?” he asked in a measured voice instead.
The guard was visibly confused. “You’re a contestant for the final match,” he said carefully.
Gage nodded. “And a fan favorite, seeing that this will be my third tournament. Do you know what that means?”
The Saithin thought about it for a moment and then shook his head, unsure.
“It means that I am very valuable. Not just as a fighter in the tournament, but as a marketable asset.”
The guard shook his head slowly, not quite understanding what Gage was getting at.
“I am going to fight tomorrow,” Gage explained. “Do you have any idea how many viewers tune into the fight whenever there is a finals match? Let alone the people who pay to view, the tickets that are sold?”
The guard nodded this time, knowing what the numbers were.
“Imagine if I don’t get what I want. If I forfeit the match. If I walk away the tournament will not be aired. Imagine if all those ticket sales will have to be refunded. If something else will need to be carried in the prime-time slot on television. It will be a very big loss, the amount of money down the drain will be incredible.”
The guard blinked at Gage. He wondered how much the guard understood.
“If I don’t get what I want, I am going to cost a lot of people a lot of money. Do you want something like that to be on your head?”
The guard hesitated, finally looking like maybe he understood. Although it was difficult to read the faces of the Saithin guards, expression wasn’t something they used very often.
“Wait a moment,” the guard said and turned his back to Gage, talking into the radio. He was contacting someone higher up, someone with command. Maybe even Qhin. It didn’t matter who the guard contacted. Just that the message was
coming across.
The guard was on the radio for a long time, talking urgently. There was a lot of back and forth and Gage wondered if his threat would be taken seriously enough. He knew how it worked, he understood that a lot of money would be lost and to the Saithin, money was extremely important.
There was a reason why prize-money was one of the biggest parts of the tournament, why they made an effort to find priceless artifacts, why they tried to make the fighters as rich as possible. That was the appeal. That was what was important to them.
If Gage threatened to take it away, it would be the best way to get what he wanted.
Still, he wasn’t quite sure.
Finally, the guard nodded, clicked the radio off, and turned to Gage.
“This is a serious breach of the standard procedure, but I have been instructed to allow your request,” he said.
Gage nodded, satisfied.
“You only get thirty minutes. The prize must appear untouched or there will be dire consequences.”
Appear? Well, wasn’t that a giant loophole.
Gage nodded. The guard glanced at Amelia once and then the doors slid open so that he could leave the room.
Finally, Gage and Amelia were alone. When was the last time this had happened? When he had seen her the first time, when she had been asleep and then woken up. Since then, there had always been a guard present.
He had never been able to touch her properly, to have a conversation that would not be overheard. It was only half an hour, but it was time Gage knew that he had to capitalize on.
After all, he was lucky that he had been granted this time.
He turned to Amelia. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking – she looked nervous but defiant. He struggled to read her expression, to know her emotions through what he saw in her eyes. He was fascinated by her expressions, but he still couldn’t read her as well as he would’ve liked.
He had a lot to get off his chest. He felt so much, and he had so much he wanted to say.
And he didn’t have much time.