The warden and the alien civilizations that sent their worst criminals didn’t care if the criminals disappeared, never to be seen again. Many of the prisoners would never get out of this place. For many, their stay at Ikmal was a life sentence.
And so, Krial took their lives from them.
“They would only waste their time in this place,” Krial would say. “I would use their time far more effectively than they ever would.”
I was relieved when it turned out Harper wasn’t the fated mate Kren had claimed for himself. The last thing I needed was to bring more attention to myself, especially if Kren was hiding in the prison somewhere, undetected by the guards.
He would swoop down on me and attack in the dead of night for taking his fated mate for my own.
But Harper wasn’t his fated mate. Some girl called Ivy was.
Relief unlike anything I had ever felt before eased off my chest and I hugged Harper even closer in bed.
That meant she could be mine.
All mine.
In the Prize Pool, my intention had been to simply look at her, glance at her across the room, and then be on my way. But when I looked upon her and caught that faraway look in her eye, I felt my heart rate quicken and my blood pound in my ears.
I pictured her without that sheer dress. Instead, she was in my arms, tucked up close and warm and soft, and I was inside her. She gasped and groaned, gripping my arm, on the cusp of telling me to stop, to slow down, to take it easy…
But she couldn’t bring herself to utter those words any more than I could obey the command.
She wanted me inside her.
She wanted me to take her.
She wanted me to fuck her.
And I did.
I claimed her once more and took her to my cell.
I wondered what I was thinking.
I couldn’t have sex with her. I already knew Krial had removed the birth control pills and medicines from the Prizes.
It made me shudder to think of the purpose he had in mind.
The least I could do was prevent her from being the first to get pregnant. Let one of the other girls suffer at Krial’s hand.
Poor girl.
Not my Harper.
Never my Harper.
She came up with her “favor” and I smiled.
For us not to have sex tonight. She was tired and couldn’t do it.
I was relieved she thought of a reason for us not to do it.
As much as I wanted to be inside her again, I couldn’t let that fate befall her.
Still, I was at war with myself, torn between what I wanted and what I knew was best for her.
And when we kissed and touched that night, her in multiple layers of protective clothing, me naked the way I always slept, I kissed her and felt her in my arms, and grew stiff and firm and pressed against her.
I never meant for us to have sex.
I never meant for us to do anything else.
I only meant for us to hug close and yes, for my cock to press against her while we both fell asleep.
And then it happened.
Sex.
She put me inside her and I knew it was wrong, I knew what the consequences would be…
I managed to control myself enough to pull free and come over her flat stomach rather than plant my seed in her.
It wasn’t guaranteed, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it was better than nothing.
I sat on the edge of my bed, Harper having just left.
Footsteps approached and came to a stop outside my door. The shadows leaked underneath the frame and someone bent down and shoved a folded piece of paper under it. It made a rough hissing noise like a coiled viper.
Then the unknown figure backed away and left.
I waited a moment before tossing the blankets aside and crossing to the door. I bent down and picked up the scrap of paper and unfolded it.
Written across the fold in a scratchy scrawl was a single word, a command I was obliged to obey:
“LOSE”.
The order had come from Krial himself, the way it always did. None of us ever got to understand the logic behind his decisions. We were merely expected to follow them.
I gathered my things from the wardrobe and prepared for the upcoming battle.
I shivered.
Lose.
That meant I would be taking a beating today for sure.
It was hard to lose against such a poor fighter.
He was a snorlak and they were tunic-wearing barbarians, muscular across the chest, their heads almost as thick as their shoulders.
They were ugly beasts.
Even worse, they were great showmen.
“Yeah!” he bellowed, turning to survey the crowd, beating his ax against his shield to rally their roaring cry.
I wished he would stop showing off and just get it over with already.
His movements were slow and lethargic. His heavily muscled arms and legs moved the speed of mating molasses. I could have dodged each blow three times before it finally landed.
I might have been ordered to throw the fight, but it didn’t mean I had to enjoy it.
“Hahahaha!” the ugly tusked beast said. “I’m going to tear you apart piece by piece and serve you to the dogs!”
What dogs? Why serve me up?
None of his chants made any sense.
The snorlak turned and raised his arms again to his adoring crowd.
I needed to hurry this whole shit show along before he took two days to finish me off in what should have taken him a couple of minutes.
I got to my feet and staggered as if I was badly injured.
I wasn’t, but I needed to make it look at least a little realistic.
I’d gotten good at pretending to lose. That was why I was ranked in the mid-five hundreds. So low, nobody bothered to figure out exactly what my rank was.
The snorlak turned and saw me standing there, wavering uncertainly.
Come on, asshole. Deal me the final blow already!
I was hurt. A trickle of blood ran from the top of
