Gladiator's Prize (5 page)

Her fingers came to rest against her clit, just brushing his penis as he thrust into her, and they both froze. Her eyes fluttered open.

“I used to dream about this,” she whispered. “About meeting my lifemate. I’ve been lying awake at night for years, imagining what it would it would be like to have my mate inside my body. I’d touch myself like this and pretend your fingers were on me, but it was never this good. I wish you’d come for me sooner, Darius.”

Saul stopped moving, overwhelmed. He reached down and took her hand, kissing the back of it gently before placing it back on her clit. He fondled her with her own fingers, feeling them against his penis too, and the moment hung long between them.

“Nothing could have stopped me if I’d known you were here,” he said finally. “I thought I would always be alone.”

She studied his face without replying, her breasts rising gently with each breath.

Her eyes were too intense, her face too open and vulnerable. He didn’t want to contemplate her suffering or remember his own hopeless longing. Instead he thrust into her once more, harder this time. He needed to be close to her, to claim her, to imprint on her body his absolute dedication to never leaving her wanting and waiting again.

She continued the soft fluttering of her fingers, each thrust caressing him and herself as they sank deeper and deeper into the moment. Everything in him focused down to the heat between them, the energy growing as his need and the strain in his cock intensified. Back and forth, in and out, every movement tight with suppressed emotion and a burning physical need beyond anything he’d imagined possible.

And then she came.

32

Gladiator’s Prize

It hit her gradually, the movements of her fingers losing their coherence, her breath coming in quick pants. The flush across her face and upper body grew and she moaned, rolling her head back and forth. Then she clenched him, painfully hard, her muscles gripping his erection like a vise as her back arched. She gave a little moan, then collapsed back against the wall, a slow smile playing across her face as she opened her eyes to look at him.

It was enough to push him over the edge too. He thrust three more times, feeling his seed shoot deep inside, release exploding through his body. It was more than orgasm, more than simple fucking. He claimed her—for the rest of their lives, this moment would be burned into their brains.

It was, quite simply, the best moment of his life.

Saul leaned forward, kissing her softly, and she smiled up at him.

“That was nice,” she said, her voice soft. “Maybe we should do it again some time?”

“Works for me,” he said, her voice melting him. “Any time you want.”

She stretched, arching her back and leaning into him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“How about the bed next time?” she said. “This was great, but the bed might be nice for cuddling afterward…”

“I can take a hint.”

33

Joanna Wylde

K’rilla fell back against the bed with a sigh, happy to be free of her clinging robes.

Darius lay next to her, and she turned her head, studying him. The man was stunning, no question of that. Tall, roped with muscles, and despite the fact that he spent much of his life in space, his skin had a light tan. From his visits to the arena? He had scars too, many little ones and a large one right across his chest. She reached over to trace it, enjoying the way goose bumps formed on his skin, his nipples tightening as his muscles flexed.

“That works,” he murmured, closing his eyes.

“How did you get this?” she asked, musing. “I don’t really know anything about you…”

“I got it on Tyre,” Darius replied. “When they turned on us. It was a slaughter, only a handful of our delegation escaped. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You don’t have to,” she said, feeling sudden sadness for him. Everyone knew about Tyre—after a century without diplomatic relations, the emperor had invited a Saurellian delegation to his capital to discuss peace. Then he betrayed them, killing as many as he could, setting off this newest round of fighting. Like all her people, she’d read the reports breathlessly, praying for survivors, hoping some lucky souls might make it back to safety.

Few did.

“This has been a hard war,” Darius said, his voice a low murmur. “We’ve been on the defensive to this point, but I think we’ve got a chance against them now. They caught us off guard—our navy wasn’t a match for theirs. But you wouldn’t believe the new weapons systems we’ve got. The engineering team has been brilliant. With the changes they’ve made, we have a real shot at victory.”

34

Gladiator’s Prize

His words sent a thrill of pride through her. Those were
her
systems, and if they won the war, she would be a part of it. None of that would have been possible if she’d found her lifemate earlier, K’rilla mused. His face tightened and he rolled over to study her face.

“It’s worse than they’ve been telling the people, you know. Billions will die before this ends.”

K’rilla leaned against him, wanting to feel the safety of his arms cradling her.

Darius pulled her close and she closed her eyes, inhaling his scent. No matter the situation, she wanted to be with him, she knew that with a certainty deep within her bones.

“I’m going with you,” she said. He stiffened.

“No you aren’t. It won’t be safe.”

“If this invasion fails, none of us will be safe. The Imperials will swarm Saurellian space and you know we don’t have enough ships to defend ourselves and launch this offensive. It’s a gamble—if we lose it, I want to die with you.”

Darius rolled abruptly, trapping her beneath his body. His hands cradled her face gently, as if to soften his words.

“I can’t let you do that,” he said. “You’ll stay on Saurellia, where it’s safe.”

K’rilla met his gaze, refusing to be intimidated.

“No, I’m coming with you,” she insisted. “I’ve waited for you my entire life. I’ll be damned if I’ll let you leave me behind to watch and wait.”

He shook his head and she read the frustration in his face all too clearly. His eyes narrowed, reminding her of her father, and she instinctively set her chin forward defiantly.

“I’m an adult woman and I make my own decisions.”

“Listen—” he said, and suddenly stopped talking. “Goddess, I don’t even know your name.”

35

Joanna Wylde

They both froze and she laughed, breaking the tension.

“I can’t believe this,” she said, shaking her head. He rolled off her and sat on the edge of the bed. She joined him, taking his hand in hers. He offered her a rueful look.

“This has got to be the strangest, most surreal day of my life.”

“I’d like to tell you that I’ve been wondering about your name all along, but I never thought about it,” he said. “All I could think about was getting inside you.”

“I’m Kerill d’Pecoraio, although I go by K’rilla,” she said, offering him a formal nod of her head. “And I’m the woman who’s going with you on this ship when you leave for the invasion. I’ll be a big help, actually. I’m head of the—”

A klaxon cut through the air, accompanied by a strobing light that filled the room with bright flashes.

“Admiral, this is Captain Markus,” a man’s voice called across the intercom. “We have a weapons-system emergency. I’d like you to join me on the bridge as quickly as possible. It’s very serious.”

“Acknowledged,” Darius snapped. “I’m on my way.”

“I should come with you,” K’rilla said, her mind filling with scenarios as she ran through schematics in her head. “I’m probably more qualified—”

“You’ll stay here,” Darius declared, cutting her off. He grabbed his clothing and started toward the hatch. “I can’t do my job and worry about you too. This isn’t a game.

Wait in the cabin for me and I’ll come back to check on you as soon as possible.”

Oblivious to her nudity, K’rilla followed him, determined.

“If there’s a weapons system problem, I should go with you,” she said, trying to explain. Darius ignored her, running out of his quarters still half dressed, leaving her naked in the center of the room, fuming. Just like school all over again. Why did men find it so hard to believe she knew what she was doing?

36

Gladiator’s Prize

K’rilla shook her head, forcing herself to snap out of her pique. This wasn’t about her, it was about the ship. Nobody was more qualified to evaluate the problem than her. If he couldn’t recognize that, she’d take matters into her own hands.

First she needed something to wear.

The shreds of her dress were useless, so she grabbed the first shirt she found and pulled it on. It draped over her like a tent, which she decided wasn’t a bad thing—

flaunting her curves wouldn’t help the situation a bit. She found a pair of pants, yanking a man’s leather belt around her waist to hold them, quickly rolling the bottoms up. She must look ridiculous, but that hardly mattered. She needed to find out what was happening. K’rilla took a deep breath, steeling herself, and turned to the main hatch door, slapping the panel, hoping the damn thing wasn’t locked.

It slid open, revealing the uniformed marine standing guard.

“I need you to take me to the main weapons engineering section,” she told him, her voice firm. He gaped at her.

“Ma’am, you have to stay inside,” he said. “We’re at general quarters. Now isn’t the time for a tour.”

She fixed him with a stern gaze.

“My name is Kerill d’Pecoraio, and I am the engineer who designed your weapons system,” she told him firmly. “You have an emergency and I am the most qualified person in all of Saurellian space to deal with it, but I can’t do a damn thing if I’m stuck in this cabin. You’ll take me to the weapons section right now or I’ll see that you’re held personally responsible for the consequences.”

She strode past him and stepped through the entry into the waiting transit pod. He gaped at her as he fumbled with his ‘com unit.

“I need to check,” he said.

37

Joanna Wylde

“I’m leaving,” she replied, and reached up to close the pod’s door. He dove in after her, having completely lost control of the situation. She almost felt sorry for the boy.

Definitely a new recruit.

“Primary weapons engineering,” she told the pod, and it slid smoothly down the passageway. The marine sat across from her, gaping. Then he closed his mouth, suddenly remembering his duty. He clicked the ‘com, and a voice answered.

“Balfour here,” the ‘com crackled. “This had better be important.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy said, gulping. “I have a visitor here—”

“We’re in the middle of a crisis,” his superior snapped back. “I don’t care about visitors. Use your judgment and don’t bother me again unless it’s a matter of ship’s security.”

“Yes, sir,” he said, his face miserable. He clicked the ‘com off. “I’m going to get in trouble for this.”

“Do you care more about your own hide or saving this ship?” K’rilla asked, starting to lose patience. “If the system fails and I could have saved it, who do you think they’ll blame?”

He shrugged his shoulders, studying the brightly lit schematic glowing from the door panel. He nodded toward it.

“We’re almost there.”

She didn’t respond, closing her eyes and running through the systems in her head again, envisioning potential trouble spots. She wished she had her team with her.

Together they could handle almost anything, but they wouldn’t be nearly as useful to her planetside. Not unless she slaved the battle cruiser’s controls to the lab…but that would only work for a software-related problem. Knowing her luck it would be the hardware itself. The
Glory
’s weapons were fully powered, which meant working on them would be extremely dangerous. They might even have to jettison hardware to save the ship.
Don’t make it worse than it needs to be. Just because there’s a problem doesn’t
mean it’s serious. The systems are new enough that the captain might just be jumpy…

38

Gladiator’s Prize

K’rilla lost that hope the minute the pod stopped and she stepped out into engineering. Six men stood around a central monitoring station, eyeing screens nervously, while several others had jacked in directly at consoles around the room.

K’rilla took a deep breath and walked up to the nearest man wearing the distinctive engineering insignia.

“Who’s in charge here?” she asked. She looked at him like she expected to be answered and he didn’t disappoint her.

“Commander Northman,” he said, nodding toward one of the men studying the screens. She started toward him, managing not to jump as a siren went off. One of the men jacked in to the system directly gave an answering shriek before his body started seizing. Brain burn.

“Medic!” Northman called without taking his eyes off the screen. Another man rushed forward, fussing over the wounded tech. “Situation report?”

“Commander, I’m Kerill d’Pecoraio,” K’rilla said, interrupting him. He glanced at her, then looked away.

“Get her out of here,” he said. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

Two marines started forward, and she held up a hand.

“Did you hear my name? I’m the designer of this system and I’m the best chance you have of fixing it before things get even worse,” she said, projecting calm competence. “If you doubt my credentials, contact fleet headquarters, groundside. I know this ship from the inside out. If you kick me out of here without even bothering to check my story you may not live to regret it. If you do live, you’ll be directly responsible for whatever happens here today.”

He looked at her again, really seeing her, skepticism radiating visibly.

“Kerill d’Pecoraio is a man.”

“I was named for my grandfather,” she replied shortly. “I
am
Kerill d’Pecoraio.”

39

Joanna Wylde

“Check her story,” he said and turned back to the screens. Another man opened up a ‘com channel, whispering quickly. Then the ship’s captain’s voice cracked through the room. She looked up to see him on a wide view screen, flanked by Darius.