Page 38 of Baited

There are a number of twists and turns until finally I reach a set of stairs leading down. Izzy’s scent gets lost in a maelstrom of others, and as hard as I try, I cannot catch it again.

The stairway fills with a cacophony of female voices and laughing. Footsteps ring as a gaggle of them appear. They halt at the bottom of the last set below me.

“You!” An Oykig female, covered in glittering scales, glares up at me.

I puff out my feathers. This is not the dome, but I feel like I’m about to go into battle.

“Yes, me,” I respond. “Where’s Izzy?” I demand, holding my wings higher and blocking out some of the light.

At least two of the females whimper.

“Izzy? What’s an Izzy?” the Oykig says with a nasty smile. “If you’re looking for a good time, gladiator, I can assure you there are plenty of females here for you.”

The way the other females are pressed against the wall and stink of fear leads me to think she might be lying.

“Want Izzy,” I growl.

One of the females drops to the floor.

I didn’t even touch her and I don’t like any of this.

“Blayn? What are you doing?” I turn to see Izzy behind me.

She’s wearing a pair of pants similar to mine, which cling to her body, a soft top which skirts her midriff, giving a tantalizing glimpse of skin underneath, and a long jacket which sweeps the floor, like my wings.

The others are completely forgotten as I drink her in, every single inch of her, my cocks instantly rising with the need to be buried in her.

“I was looking for you,” I reply. “You were gone a long time.”

“I was gone ten nova-minutes, like I said I would be.” She laughs, strolling up to me.

I wrap my arm around her waist. “I missed your ky-ss,” I say, pulling her against me.

The Oykig on the stairs snorts, and Izzy spots her. I feel her shrink back from me as she stares at the other female.

I do not like that at all.

So, I release a growl which peals in the echoing space. The remainder of the upright females scream and dart away, dragging the unconscious one with them. Only the Oykig stands her ground, at least until I take a pace towards her, and then she turns and flees.

“Thank you, Blayn, but I don’t think you should have done that,” Izzy says, extracting herself from my grip. “Yelii will tell Madame, and I can be sure the story will be embellished with how terrible and dangerous you are.”

“But I am terrible and dangerous,” I say. “What embellishment can there be?”

Izzy stares at me for a nova-second or two, and then the most incredible thing happens. Her face lights up and she smiles.

She smiles at me. She smiles because of something I said.

My heart pounds in my chest like I’ve been fighting a ziggurag. My entire body feels tight with the need to ensure she always looks like this.

“I guess you’re right. We’d better get out of here for a while before you prove yourself terrible and dangerous all over again.” She lifts her hand to my chest, and it hovers there for an instant until she places it on my skin.

I hum in delight.

“We could always stay,” I suggest, my cocks straining in my pants.

“Not with Yelii looking for trouble,” Izzy says, walking away from me so I have no choice but to follow.

“If she’s looking for trouble, she’s found it,” I reply.

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