Page 58 of Baited

“Fu-k!” she snorts and slams her lips on mine.

Her ky-ss is nectar. It is everything I desire and more.

“Blayn, you have to let go. You have to delve deep inside you, find who you are, because I know you’re not just some gladiator who thinks he is deserving of nothing and no one.” Her eyes search my face. “I know because I found you and I love you.”

IZZY

Was it too soon to tell Blayn how I feel about him? Is it too soon for me to have these feelings? I’ve known him for such a short time, but I can’t imagine being away from him.

When all I wanted was my freedom, being caught in his claws was the last thing I expected.

A smile, bigger than anything he’s done before, spreads over his face.

“You are the star around which I turn, my beautiful mate. My love is unending, unstoppable, invincible,” he murmurs, brushing his lips over mine.

“Gladiator!” the captain calls out gruffly across the arena. “Why are you not in the ante-chamber?”

“My mate needs to be somewhere safe while I fight,” I state. “You are to do this.”

Is that a smile I see on the grizzled captain’s bovine features? If it is, it’s gone almost immediately.

“But you will fight?”

Blayn pulls himself up to his impressive height and sets his wings. “I always fight, captain. But today, I fight for my mate.”

If the captain reacts to any of what Blayn says, he doesn’t show it. Instead he gives Blayn a swift bow.

“Then go and ready yourself. I will ensure your mate’s safety,” he replies. “Go,” he adds when my massive Gryn hesitates.

“Go,” I breathe. “I’ll be here for you.”

I get another swift kiss, and then Blayn is gone, a sweep of his dark wings the last I see of him as he exits.

“Well then, little female, I guess I’d better find you somewhere safe,” the captain says. “After all, I’m not going to risk the wrath of the gladiators…or your madame.”

“The madame?” I’m at once surprised and intrigued, but the captain is already exiting the training area, and I have to run to catch up.

“You are worried what Madame might say?” I push him, but he ignores me, and I’m out of breath from keeping up with him anyway, given his legs are longer than mine.

Multiple twists and turns later, we exit from a utilitarian corridor to something similar to the one leading to the parade hall. Only the walls are a subtle, expensive dark color, and the carpet is even deeper.

“In here,” the captain says, opening a door out of which a bright light shines.

I peer in, and I’m greeted by a myriad of faces looking back at me.

“Is this her?” a short, stocky blue Regah sporting an eyewatering robe of neon swirls asks as soon as I enter.

“This is Blayn’s mate,” the captain says. “He wanted her somewhere safe, and I knew you wanted to meet her.”

I look between the two. I can see the captain doesn’t mean me any harm, but as for this creature? He looks slimier than most of the clients we get at the pleasure house.

I just have to trust him. It’s all I can do.

“Izzy, this is the procurator of the dome,” the captain says by way of introduction.

My blood chills.Thisis the creature who sets Blayn fighting and killing, who keeps him barely more than a prisoner in this place.

“One of my best gladiators, and now even better since you tamed him,” the procurator simpers.

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