myself to let my guard down. My tears flow freely, immediately being whipped away by the wind.
I know Wrage can’t fix this. There’s clearly no escape, but I can’t wait to feel his hand in mine. I wonder if in some small way the touch of his skin will make this better.
It’s quite a trek to the Pits. It’s built in the same fashion as the mine I saw earlier. We’re prodded down a ramp into the soil, then keep following the tamped-down dirt in switchbacks until we’re deep underground.
Although it’s maybe ten degrees cooler down here, and out of the sandblasting, it’s no more comfortable. It’s oddly humid, and there’s a stench of something. Perhaps it’s one-hundred years of humanoid effluvia. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.
We’re running the gauntlet now, passing dozens of cells. There are many races on display here. They’re all big and angry as they inspect us. The catcalls started as we approached the first cell, and get louder with each cell we pass.
They must not get many females down here, because by their comments you’d think I was a movie star—an extremely sexy one that they’d like to do many specific and unsavory things to.
Wrage is practically vibrating with anger, but he says nothing. He told me he learned early that letting this type of male know something bothered you ensured their continued bad behavior. He acts as if I’m nothing to him, his head held high as he surveys our surroundings.
We get to the last cell in the row. Maybe eight by eight, it’s hewn into the rock on one side and the back wall, with a stone wall between us and an orange amphibious humanoid on the other side. A wall of bars faces the walkway.
Two techs hurry in, their hands laden with gear. We’re pushed into our cell at gunpoint and made to watch as cameras are mounted in three places on the ceiling.
“In case you’re wondering,” one of the males who forced us out of our room back on Wryth’N says, “I have a feeling pulling these out of the wall will have severe consequences.” He swipes his cheekbone with his fingers, taunting Wrage about his cheek.
“Settling in?” Sooma Ryone’s smarmy voice pierces the noise of the fighters’ jeers still reverberating down the hallway. “Don’t get too comfortable here, Wryth’N. No one lasts long in the Pits.”
Well, that effectively sucked the air out of the room. The techs fold their ladder and leave, and our contingent of guards exits also, clanging the door shut and locking it with a flourish. Point taken. We’re locked in.
Wrage and I, still standing, face each other and drink in each other’s presence. I thought I’d been handling this well, but now that we’ve been left alone for a moment, my tears flow unbidden.
He folds his arms around me and leans my cheek against his pec. Settling his chin on my head, he rocks me gently.
“I wish I could tell you this will be alright, love. I don’t think I can fix this. I’m sorr—”
“If you apologize one more time I’m going to have to beat your ass,” I sass as I step back and look up into his face. “Enough! You didn’t do anything on purpose to hurt me. Let it go. We need to put our energy into trying to esc—”
He presses a finger to my lips and shakes his head. “I assume our collars are bugged.”
My lids snap closed and my lips quiver as I hold back my tears. Knowing that the cobra asshole was going to watch our lovemaking—because I’m not going to let the voyeur stop me from having sex with my beloved mate—was one thing. The fact that he can hear every word we say, feeding off our love and our fear, that’s even worse.
We won’t be able to plan our escape together. I’m going to have to think of something on my own.
Wrage turns his back as I finally have time to relieve myself, then nudges me onto the bed and slides in next to me. The disgusting mattress is beyond filthy. I shiver as I imagine the dirty, sweaty, possibly bleeding fighting males who’ve lain here before me. It wreaks the same as the air in the Pits, only this smells in an up-close-and-personal way that makes me shudder.
I lean closer to Wrage and breathe in the air next to his beautiful blue flesh. I can smell him over the hideous stench around me.