The Gladiator's Prize (4 page)

Matt let out a low growl and clenched
his fists tight. For one quick flash he had an image of himself
bent down on all fours waiting to be claimed. Tough he might be,
but truth was Matt would have little chance against some of the
gladiators. They were too big, too skilled.

“
I have no intention of
fighting,” he grated. “None. And I have even less intention of
being fucked. By anyone.”

Jarv waved his hand. “Your intentions
bother me not. You’ll remain in this room until I take you to the
arena. There is no way out without these.” He held up a ring of
keys. “So do not waste your energy by trying. Please me well in the
arena and I will allow more freedoms.”

“
This is fucking
kidnapping,” Matt roared. “You can’t keep me here. I demand to see
someone.”

“
To see who?”

“
Whoever is in
charge.”

The alien grinned. “That would be
me.”

“
You bastard!”

His grin widened. Considering he’d
commanded Matt to not speak until he was told, Matt got the
impression Jarv liked the banter. A moment later and his tongue
flicked back through the bars. This time it did not wound him.
Instead it travelled down Matt’s chest and towards his
cock.

Matt jumped back in horror
as the alien spoke. “I am almost tempted to take you myself,” he
said. “I bet your ass is tight, sweet, they say all humans are.
Mmmmm,
alik, brokall
, I can just imagine sinking my cock into your
throat…”

“
Come near me and I’ll
kill you!”

Jarv’s tongue retreated.
“No doubt.” He paused. “I could subdue you, of course, in other
ways. My friends from
Severo Six
would be more than willing to lend a hand. But
luckily for you you’re more valuable to me whole instead of as a
quick fuck. Perhaps I will have you in a few months time. Once
you’ve been fucked properly and you’re too tired to fight me
off.”

Matt felt both enraged and
sick. Had the other alien, the one that Logan had fucked, been
coerced like this too? And to think Matt had jacked off to the
image of the two of them together…
Fuck
… “I swear to the Gods,” he
began. “If you don’t let me out—”

“
You’ll do what?” Jarv
demanded. “You have false papers. You are not a citizen of
A’lton
or a legal
visitor. That means you can be owned by whoever decides to take
you.”

“
Because I couldn’t get
legal papers!” Matt roared.

“
Because you are human,”
Jarv snapped. “And humans have no rights. You came out of your
system and did as you pleased, never once inviting any other
species back there.”

“
You’re talking of events
that happened hundreds of years ago,” Matt grated. “Even I don’t
know why they kept the Earth’s location a secret. Though judging by
you lot is it any wonder. You’re all fucking perverts and
bastards.”

Jarv’s eyes bulged and his tongue
quivered in his fleshy mouth. “Let’s see if you’re as mouthy after
you’ve been bent over in front of ten thousand and ass fucked until
you scream. Over and over and over…I’ll get years of use out of
you. You’ll make me a fortune. You’ll take cock after cock. In your
ass, down your mouth and wherever else I demand.”

“
Fucker! Let me out of
here. Let me out!”

Jarv laughed and slammed the door. As
it closed he could hear the alien’s taunting voice echoing in the
room. “Take care of yourself, human, and I will see you very
soon.”

Chapter Five

A human! A fucking human! Logan could
barely believe it to be true, and yet as he made his way to the
arena master’s office he was practically thrumming with excitement.
He walked quickly, the crowd of aliens in the market place easily
parting for him. Several recognized him and shouted his name, or
else reached out to touch him. Logan ignored them all, his mind
filled instead with thoughts of the mysterious human, and the
impossibility that Jarv had actually managed to find him. Logan had
seen maybe a half dozen over the years and each and every one of
them had been something to behold. Their skin was usually an odd
pinkishly pale or silky brown color, rather than green, orange or
even the yellow color of most the aliens around him. They were also
generally smaller, smoother and their muscles more corded. They
didn’t have antennae, scales or even horns, tending to be perfectly
unadorned instead. Logan had also heard, in the taverns and slaver
ports, that some humans even had golden or red hair. He had tried
to imagine such a thing but couldn’t quite bring it to mind
properly. Gold hair?

“
Brok olak, on,
A’lars
?”

Logan shot the stall holder who had
hailed him a glare. The male was holding out a golden robe and
gesturing in his direction. Logan tilted his head and considered
the product. A moment later and he knew he’d never fit into the
damn thing, beautiful though it was. Even for his species Logan was
huge. He’d trained hard over the years and his muscles showed it.
And yet…something about the robe made Logan’s stomach clench.
Perhaps it was because of his fantasies over the golden-haired
humans. Before he could stop himself he was waving a hand. The
stall holder gibbered excitedly and Logan had to slice a hand to
shut him up. The transaction was over in no time, the robe being
wrapped to send to his home, though Logan had no idea what he was
going to do with it. For fucks sake he was becoming sentimental in
his old age!

He sighed as he made his way up the
steps to the arena master’s office, his mind filled with a million
different thoughts. Chief among them the fact that he hadn’t
imagined he’d be walking these steps again. When he’d told Jarv
that he was retiring the arena master had been almost insensible
with rage. Logan had been his prize draw for almost half a decade
and his shows had made the other man very rich. Still, once his
rage had cooled Jarv had been as fawning are ever, hoping, Logan
suspected, to convince him to change his mind.

And you said that would
never happen…

The outer room of the office was a
bustle of activity. Queues of would-be gladiators stood waiting for
their inspection and tests. No doubt they had heard all about the
human too, Logan thought, and were eager to be the one to fight
him. Hell, any male in the same arena would have an instant
passport to fame and riches.

Logan stalked past them all and went
directly to the arena master’s office. His assistant opened her
mouth to say something as he passed, but closed it the moment she
realized exactly who he was.

Jarv was sat on his overly
large chair pouring over some sort of ledger and licking his staff
with frantic motions. Logan was one of the few people that knew the
staff was actually filled with a chemical that Jarv’s species
needed to help them metabolize the water on
A’lton
. He thought the staff less
conspicuous than a water canister, though Logan disagreed. The
arena master’s staff was the subject of much conjecture between the
gladiators he both hired and put his people up against.

He looked up as Logan entered, his
beady little eyes widening in surprise. He clutched his staff to
him and flicked his tongue before speaking. “Logan. I thought you’d
be off planet by now. You have a big trip planned, I
hear.”

What was it with everyone’s interest
in his trip? Logan scowled and took the seat opposite Jarv. Even
for his size it was much too big for him, built to accommodate the
arena master instead no doubt. “It is my intention to leave soon,
yes,” Logan said.

Jarv shot him a grin before reaching
out and dropping two glasses on the table. He filled both with a
generous portion of alcolo and nudged one Logan’s way. “Drink up,
my friend.”

Logan picked up the glass but did not
drink from it. Instead he watched Jarv with hooded eyes and tried
to get a bead on the other man’s mood. He was definitely
self-satisfied, his smug grin said that much. He was also thrumming
with excitement, his tongue quivering back and forth.

“
To your good health,”
Jarv said, lifting his glass. “And a speedy return from your
travels.”

“
I am not to leave yet,”
Logan said.

Jarv drained his glass in one and
immediately began to re-fill it. “And you are waiting
for…”

Logan exhaled heavily and decided to
get straight to the point. “My final battle.”

Jarv drained another glass of alcolo.
“I thought we’d already done that. A’rees was, how shall we say,
very accommodating. In fact, I am hoping to sign him up for another
battle soon. This time we will ensure he is the winner, a
triumphant comeback…yes…” Jarv’s tongue flickered back and forth.
“It will be good marketing. The females loved him.”

“
A’rees is a fine male,”
Logan said slowly. “But he was not my last.”

“
You are
retired.”

Logan settled back into his chair,
drink in hand. “Almost.”

“
You said you would never
return to the arena,” Jarv reminded him. “I begged you, did I not?
Offered you obscene amounts of money and yet you
refused.”

“
I was bored,” Logan
said.

Jarv narrowed his eyes. “There are
worse things than being bored.”

“
Not many.” Logan drained
his drink. The alcolo was far too perfumed for his taste, but he
swallowed it anyway and let its warmth fill his chest. “Let us get
straight to the point. We both know why I am here. The only thing
that could convince me to enter the arena once more.”

“
I do not—”

“
The human.”

Jarv grinned. “Ah. News travels fast,
does it not?”

“
Then you
do
have him?” Logan
asked, leaning forward.

“
Yes,” Jarv said. “I do
and he is a perfect specimen in every way.”

Perfect
. The excitement was back, racing through Logan’s body and
making his cock thicken.

“
He is smooth. Muscular,”
the arena master continued. “I cannot vouch for the size of his
cock, but that hardly matters to you, does it, Logan? They never
fuck you and you never take them in your mouth.”

Logan waved a hand, ignoring those
words. Only one thought was paramount in his mind. “I want
him.”

Jarv laughed, sending his
tongue flying off in all directions. “You and a thousand others. I
have had males queuing up since dawn, not to mention all of the
off-world messages. The emissary of
Rikan
Six
has already offered me my own island
on planet for the human and the queen of
Sharda’s
Moon has promised me a
place in her court if I give him to her for just one
week.”

“
The queen of Sharda is a
treacherous bitch,” Logan said. “You would never get him
back.”

“
I know,” Jarv said. “They
all want him and once they have him they will try to keep him.
Because of this I have decided to keep him for myself. He will
battle in
my
arena and any who wish to see him will come to me.” He
grinned. “I have already doubled ticket prices. Should have tripled
them really. Ah, not to worry! There will be time to do
so!”

“
No doubt.” Logan paused.
“You intend to put him in the next battle. Tomorrow, I
hear.”

“
I do.”

“
Then I too will fight in
it,” Logan said simply. “I will be his opponent.”

Jarv shook his head, his eyes wide. “I
cannot afford your price, Logan. Even with the high ticket
price.”

Logan shrugged one brawny shoulder.
“There will be no price.”

For a male with such beady little eyes
Logan was shocked by how round Jarv’s had gotten. “You will fight
without payment?”

“
I will.”

“
But why?” Jarv
asked.

“
Because I want him,”
Logan said honestly. “I have fucked almost every species. Only the
humans have eluded me. If he is as fine as you say…” He shrugged.
“I want to fuck him.”

Jarv licked his staff and looked down
at his ledger. Logan could see that he had been ordering names,
obviously trying to decide on an opponent for the human. Casually,
though he felt anything but, Logan picked up the ledger and removed
the power cable.

“
No need for this,” he
said.

Jarv shook his head, though he was
grinning now. “The finest gladiator to ever enter the arena
mastering a human at last…” His tongue quivered. “Yes…of course
that will work. In fact, the crowds will be superb.”

Logan stood up, his muscles tense, his
stomach clenching. Excitement filled him from head to foot and his
dick was practically pulsing in his pants.

A human…at
last.

“
Take me to him,” he
demanded. “I would speak with him before we battle.”

Chapter Six

When the door of his cell
opened Matt didn’t even bother to open his eyes, never mind jump
up. It had been swinging back and forth all day. Jarv, his guards,
people capturing his image, seemed everyone wanted to take a look
at the human, and he was damn sick of it. Besides, the bars stayed
in place no matter how many times the door opened. Matt would not
be getting free that way. In fact, he didn’t yet have any idea how
he
was
going to
get free, but the problem was chief in his mind. He had spent the
better part of the day going over options and plans, discarding one
after the other. He just needed a stroke of inspiration…a wild plan
that would outwit them all…something…