Cyborg Fever. Grace Goodwin
I could or could not do. I was not ready to settle down and be a baby machine for an alien when there were people out there who needed me, people I could save.
The way I hadn’t been able to save my parents.
“Who said anything about a mate? I thought we were talking about hot sex here, sister. And he’s practically screaming with hotness.”
“If I wanted a mate, I’d have joined the Interstellar Brides Program,” I added, making it blatantly clear my stance.
“Okay, but you have had a fling before? Back on Earth? At least one?”
I offered her a shrug in response. Earth was behind me. What I’d done there was irrelevant to my life now. Although I could say I’d never seen such a fine specimen of the XY chromosome on display as in the fighting Atlan.
All at once the crowd cheered, many stood, some put their hands to their mouths and shouted. The two fighters in the pit began to pace back and forth. I didn’t know how this fighting thing worked here, what the rules were. There was no ring, no ropes, no corner stool. There weren’t mouth guards or headgear either. No referee.
“Well?” Melody asked, and I remembered her original question.
“Yes, I had a couple one-night stands,” I replied, as if I was weird if I hadn’t. “Nothing all that wild.”
She laughed and pointed at the Atlan who was moving to the center of the pit. “That’s because there is nothing as wild as him back on Earth.” Her hand came up and she fanned herself.
No, there wasn’t.
The two fighters kept their distance, about five feet between them, as they circled. I could see the play of muscle across the Atlan’s back, the way his shoulders bunched and relaxed as his arms moved in front of him. Even with their size and heft, their feet were quiet on the packed earth. These weren’t newbies at the Academy, fresh faced and eager to prove how brilliant and ruthless they supposedly were. No, these two had met the Hive personally, seen too much and were most likely jaded, dark edged and ruthless.
The Prillon warrior was handsome, in his own way. Big. Muscular. Focused. But I barely noticed him. I couldn’t take my eyes off the Atlan.
Based on my Coalition training, I knew they were sizing each other up, discovering their dominant stance and other tells. They spoke to one another, their low, baritone voices making my pussy clench in heat. His voice. God. I leaned forward, trying to hear their words. The threats. The challenge.
I wasn’t normally one to enjoy violence, but I had to hit my thighs with fists to keep myself from standing, from yelling at the Atlan to end him. I knew my Atlan was going to be impressive. His size. His strength. The intensity in his eyes. I wanted him to be powerful. I needed him to be magnificent. The need was shocking, but pounding through my blood like a low level electrical current. Like a pulse. And I couldn’t look away.
I held my breath and waited for the first strike. This was going to be quite a match.
The Atlan came about so he faced us once again. His eyes were on his opponent, laser sharp. His left leg was forward, his left hand up, open handed, his right lower and guarding his center.
“Yes! Go, go go! Do it!” The words exploded out of me with a violence that was shocking. I wanted to hear the strike of his fist on the Prillon’s flesh. I suspected I was losing my mind a bit, maybe overreacting because of all the stress I’d been under the last few months, but I felt wild. Totally out of control. I needed the satisfaction of watching my Atlan pound his opponent into dust.
My pussy wanted it too, so hot and wet I was throbbing with need, like this was foreplay, not a pit fight on what amounted to an alien prison colony.
For some reason, he glanced away, into the stands. He smiled, said something to the other fighter. I didn’t have to hear the words to know it was a taunt and I wished I could hear what he’d said. Right or wrong, I knew it would turn me on.
Once again, he looked to the audience, this time though, his eyes met mine.
Held.
My heart skipped a beat. It was that weird feeling, like riding in a car and going over a rise, the plummeting sensation that makes one’s skin hot, sweat breaking out on a cool brow.
“Holy shit,” Melody mumbled. I felt her grip my elbow, dig her fingers in, but I didn’t turn my head. I couldn’t.
Those dark eyes looked at me. Saw me. Held me pinned in place. My breath was trapped in my lungs. My breasts were heavy and hot and I couldn’t move.
“Um, Dahl. He’s looking at you.”
No shit.
The Atlan, seemingly brought out of his stupor over me—which was ridiculous because I was far from exciting in my plain uniform, my hair pulled back in the usual low ponytail—began to move again, doing that circling thing once more, but he continued to watch me.
Me!
“He’s going to get knocked out if he doesn’t focus on the match,” I murmured. I bit my lip, suddenly worried for the big guy. Distraction was not what he needed at the moment.
My ovaries liked that I was his distraction though. My pussy clenched, my nipples got hard from the way he was watching me. God, it was powerful. Was this what the Everians felt like when their marks awakened?
No, this wasn’t like that. I didn’t feel it in my soul. This I felt in all my female parts. Every single one of them. This was pure lust. I was aroused by him. Seriously turned on. I wanted him. Not to keep, but to make this ache go away. And if he was as big everywhere as Melody had been joking about, then it would be an amazing ride.
I did have twelve hours free and clear of my duties. No teaching, no missions for the I.C. Nothing but downtime where I could relieve this ache that was growing by the second. And I wanted the Atlan to take care of it for me.
If he didn’t end up in the med unit first.
The Prillon let out a bellow and attacked. I sucked in a breath as he charged, fists at the ready. The Atlan didn’t look away from me until the Prillon landed a punch. I grimaced at the sound of the two brutes colliding, but the Atlan barely seemed to notice the attack. Lightning fast, he retaliated.
The crunching sound of bone breaking could be heard over the din of the crowd. Blood spurted from the Prillon’s nose as he fell, like a redwood in the forest, to the ground. His arms didn’t go up to stop his fall, indicating he’d been knocked unconscious immediately.
One punch. That was all it took. The fight was over.
The Atlan took a deep breath, let it out, and I watched the ripple of his eight-pack abs as he did so. He gave the Prillon a quick look, glanced at the medical team, who was already running toward the fallen warrior, then looked back at me.
He strode across the pit and to the edge of the stands, straight toward me, like we were connected by a wire.
The crowd parted like the Red Sea before Moses and they turned to see what held the Atlan’s attention. Behind him, the Prillon was being assisted and I could see he was coming to, his blood staining the dirt. His jaw at an awkward angle, obviously broken.
Ouch.
“Um, Dahl, he’s really staring at you.”
I glanced at the others who had come to watch the fights and they were all looking at me, too.
When I looked back at the Atlan, he had his hand up and he curled his finger. Beckoning me.
I gulped. Swallowed. Was he really talking to me?
I looked around. Everyone was watching me, waiting to see what I would do.
Oh, shit. All me. I wasn’t imagining things.
Melody pushed me and I stumbled forward. “Go, woman!”
I