Anzil (Gladiators of Krix #2) - Miranda Martin Page 0,6

circulating in there. Nice. Well my map should be safe here, so I hide it then finish undressing.

As I slide into the water, I sigh in contentment. The water turns brown as the filth is washed away, but it doesn’t stay that way for long. The water swirls on its own and the filth is taken away quickly.

This planet is a series of contradictions. High tech stuff like this contrasts sharply with the gladiatorial system and the weapons they use. There’s too many things that don’t go together. Maybe if I can get a better grasp on this place it will help me get my girls back. Once I have them, then I can figure out the bigger plan.

How to get us all free.

Chapter 4

Anzil

The door is thin. A minuscule barrier between me and the object of my desire. Except it’s not the barrier that stops me. No piece of wood or anything like that could ever keep me from what I want. The barrier stopping me is her.

She isn’t ready. Yet.

I harbor no doubts as to her desires. She wants me, of that I am sure. I’ve not missed her furtive glances or the fire that burns in her eyes. The way she looked at me across the bath as the water filled it. No, there is no question of her wants.

I hear her clothes hitting the floor and barely suppress a groan. My cock leaps to its full length, trying to stab its way free of my constraining pants. I hear the soft splash of the water as she slides in, and I imagine her hard, toned body slipping into it. When she sighs, my cock spasms.

I imagine the sighs she would make as I massage her sore muscles. I could walk through that door. She wouldn’t deny me. I saw it in her eyes, the debate of giving in to pleasure, but I understand her. Personal desires and pleasures must wait until her people are safe.

And that makes me want her more. There could not be a more perfect mate.

The water splashes again, and this time I can’t hold back a soft groan as my cock thrums with aching need. I turn away from the door and prepare the bed for her. I fluff the pillows and pull down the blankets so the bed will be ready for her to slide into. Once I’m satisfied with the work, I pull extra blankets out of my trunk and set myself up a place to sleep on the opposite side of the room.

She fills my thoughts, but thinking of her calls to the past. The bones of the past I’ve buried. I don’t want to think of it, but her single-mindedness, her driven purpose, unburies the bones and lays them bare.

Her burning need to be free—I had that once. Before the mark on my arm. Before I came to Krix. When I was young and proud. A warrior of my race, burning to prove myself on the fields of battle. I was a fool. My brashness wasn’t enough. We weren’t ready for what came.

I hear the sound of her dunking under the water and then rising, gasping. I grit my teeth and try to force my thoughts away from her. My imagination runs wild. Her perfect, hard body, massaging her dark skin. Running my fingers through her curls.

Without thought I’m standing at the door, forehead resting on the cool wood, listening to the sounds of her scrubbing her body. An activity I would do for her. I would place her on a pedestal and attend to her every need. I would revere her as she deserves. No female in the universe would feel more loved than she.

Jerking myself upright, I turn my back on the door. I slide off my pants and slip under the blankets I’ve laid out for myself. Closing my eyes, I force my thoughts away from her.

I raise my forearm and stare at the mark marring my skin. I understand her need to be free. I was driven by that same need once. It’s been so long since I dreamed of it that I had almost forgotten it. My life has been consumed by the arena. The other gladiators fight to earn their freedom, but not me. I fight for the fight.

When I’m fighting, the past is gone. There are no failures. No losses. No accusing dead eyes staring. In the arena there is my opponent and there is me. Nothing else matters.

The door to