Gladiator's Prize Read Online Free Page B

alarm sounded and he looked up quickly toward the cockpit.
    “Message coming in, sir,” someone said and he floated away from her, pulling himself back through the hatch. An eternity passed before she felt the slight bumping of 21
    Joanna Wylde
    the transport as the ship docked with the Glory . Then the gravity kicked in and her stomach dropped. Darius left the cockpit, released her from the acceleration couch and pulled her to her feet. He kept tight hold of her hand as they left the ship, acknowledging the salutes of the men who greeted them, oblivious of his arena garb.
    He marched her past his lieutenants without a word of explanation, drawing her to one side of the hangar where a transit pod waited. Even in those few seconds of exposure, she felt eyes following her. And as the pod doors shut, she heard the quick murmur of voices. Male voices. Hungry voices.
    Her father had been right—a battle cruiser was no place for a Saurellian maiden.
    “What are you going to tell them?” she asked Darius as they settled into the pod’s seats. “You can’t bring a woman onto a warship. Everyone knows that.”
    “Admirals have been known to bring their lifemates with them,” he said.
    Her head snapped toward him and she gave a nervous laugh.
    “That’s ridiculous, you aren’t my lifemate. I don’t have one.”
    In an instant K’rilla found herself sprawled across his lap. She gasped, and he took advantage of the moment to kiss her, his tongue plunging deep as she forgot what she’d meant to tell him. His body was hard and unforgiving, from the pillar of his erection to the sleek bulk of his muscles. Everything about him contrasted with her. Delicious.
    K’rilla smelled him too—male, sweaty and heady, and she felt a sudden desire to lick his chest. Darius released his grasp as she reached up, twining her fingers into his hair and pulling him back down toward her. He slid his hands down her back, reaching between the cleft of her bottom, pulling her legs apart until she straddled him. His cock pressed against her cleft, offering a taste of things to come. His fingers played along the tops of the backs of her thighs. Sweet fire teased her and she gave a small moan of desire.
    “I need you,” Darius muttered. “I need you more than I need to be alive. I’ve fucked a lot of women, but it’s never been like this. I just can’t believe it took me so long to find you. If you aren’t my lifemate, then you’re close enough. I won’t let you go.”
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    Gladiator’s Prize
    The intensity of his voice caught her, forcing her to focus on his expression. If anything, the man looked almost vulnerable. She felt a compelling urge to comfort him, to keep him from hurting or ever being alone again. That, combined with her desire, almost won her over. K’rilla shifted, feeling the length of his penis against her body, wondering what it would feel like to have that hard length slide up inside her opening, planting his seed. His face grew strained and he rocked against her. K’rilla felt sudden, heady power. This mighty warrior—the greatest their people had to offer—needed her profoundly. There could be no doubt.
    “Are you sure it’s a lifemating?” she asked, wishing her voice had more self-assurance. “I’ve heard that males lose perspective, and that as they get older things grow…difficult…”
    He laughed.
    “I lost perspective a long time ago,” he said. “I know how that feels. You want to kill people, smash things until the rage and frustration burns itself out. But it never burns out. Touching you is like drinking cool fire and I want to guzzle until I’m quenched. You’re my lifemate, I’d stake everything on it. Have, probably. They’ll catch me and punish me sooner or later if we don’t make a mating of it.”
    She thought about that, sliding herself back and forth across his stiffened length. Oh yes. She wanted him inside her body and she wanted it now. And it wasn’t like she had a lot of