Chapter Two
Shane
A first blow like that could have spelled the end of this fight for him.
Shane grit his teeth as the pain exploded up and down his knee. He knew that his natural healing processes would start up right away to fix the injury but he had no time to let it do its work. His fires burned low and hot in his stomach, building strength, ready to explode at any minute. He had no idea who these men were or why there were here, though. He could not risk hurting people who had been blackmailed or otherwise forced into this ring.
One of the men came at him with chains wrapped around his fist. Shane dodged the blow and took advantage of the opening the man gave him with a fist to the stomach. His face blanched and he hunched over but followed it up by whipping his chains out wildly. Shane threw his arm in the way of the metal, grunting as it whipped over his skin. He quickly wrapped his arm around it and gave a mighty yank. As the man tumbled to the ground, Shane kneed him in the face.
That’d put him out of commission for a bit.
Taking the opportunity to rest, Shane backed away from the fight. The men were going at each other like rabid dogs. If he stood on the edges, waiting for them to tire themselves out—
No luck. Two more of the men rushed him. Shane inhaled through his nose. The adrenaline surged but he centered himself, calming the desire to just shift into his dragon form and burn them all. With the chains now wrapped around his own fists, he met his attackers mid-air. More of them started to turn towards him but he put aside any fear or anxieties and one by one knocked them down, until he was the only one standing.
Sweat and blood dripped down his body as he tossed the chains down.
Shane rolled his shoulders to ease the ache in them and looked upwards, quickly finding a camera. “Give her to me!” he roared.
There were cheers and shouting from all around him. It was only then that he realized that the arena that they had been fighting in didn’t have solid walls as he had thought. Instead, it was a mesh grating that allowed spectators to see while being protected from the fight itself. There was a large image of Kayla sitting on the golden throne, elegantly draped and barely covered. Whether they had gotten a shot at her at just the right moment or had digitally altered her, he didn’t know. But she didn’t look afraid. She looked sultry, with a come-hither look on her face.
The screen blinked off and the lights, which had been blazing, dimmed. A door behind him opened and a couple of Gordon’s goons entered. They gestured him to follow and he did. His muscles pulled as he walked, and his left leg screamed with pain. If Gordon didn’t give him Kayla, he would be hard-pressed to fight his way out of this.
It wasn’t long until he was standing before Gordon. Kayla was nowhere in sight. This wasn’t the same place as before. Here, there was a large hearth on one side of the room, a blood-red carpet on the floor and two wing-backed chairs set up facing one another. Shane glared at Gordon, fists clenched.
“Where is she?”
Gordon smiled and waved a hand. “You’ve earned her and she’s waiting for you to collect her, don’t worry. That was some very impressive fighting that you did. Are you a dragon?”
The fact that Kayla wasn’t already there, where he could see that she was okay, made his flames roar higher than the battle had. He let out a puff of smoke as he glared at Gordon.
A cunning light lit in Gordon’s eyes. The look immediately set Shane on edge. His muscles tensed and his fires retreated, building strength in the core of him again. The agony in his muscles faded as another surge of adrenaline washed over him. One false move and it would be all over for Gordon…
The man waved a hand and sat in one of his chairs. “You’ve earned her, so you can have her. And before you start accusing me of anything, she was not molested. Go ahead and take her to the hospital to make sure if you want. Nobody touched her. I had the women change her and everything.”
Shane’s rage wasn’t eased but he knew he couldn’t act on it. His first priority was to get Kayla away from this place.
The goons took him to where she waited, dressed in regular clothing again. She collapsed into his arms when he rushed to her, and he picked her up into his arms and carried her out of the underground lair. By the time he had put her on his motorcycle and driven away, she was sobbing. He headed for the hospital at once, not letting himself think of what he would do if Gordon had lied.
Kayla refused to release his hand during her examination, and in the end, it was confirmed that nothing had happened to her. Kayla broke down in sobs again, holding him and telling him that she had been unconscious and had no idea what they might have done to her. Shane held her comfortingly, pushing aside his own anger to focus on her.
“You’re safe now,” he promised her. “I won’t let anybody hurt you.”
“I’m a mess,” she sobbed, still clinging to him. “I’m crying all over you and I barely know you.”
Shane stroked her hair soothingly. “That’s not really true. We met even before you started working for me. I’m funding the dig you work at, remember?”
“Sorry.” She pulled away and wiped her eyes. “I must seem like such an idiot right now.”
“No,” Shane assured her. “You just went through something terrifying. There’s no reason to be sorry about this.”
It must have been the violence and adrenaline. Shane suddenly had the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her soundly, to erase her fear. It was the worst idea he’d ever had. After going through what she had gone through, the last thing she needed was him–a near-stranger, even if they had gone through a few situations together–slobbering all over her. Not that he gave slobbery kisses…
Shane shook his head. “The police are going to be here soon and—”
“No!” Kayla’s eyes widened. “That’s the last thing I want right now, talking to them. Take me back to camp, please.”
“Kayla…”
“I can’t. I don’t want to talk to them and have them asking me why I didn’t do this or didn’t do that. Okay? I just can’t right now.”
Shane held his breath for a moment but nodded. The truth was that it probably wouldn’t do any good anyway. He hadn’t been at that fighting ring for Kayla, he had just heard her screaming and had instantly reacted. No, he had been doing a little investigation on his own. As an ex-Navy SEAL he got bored with civilian life. He’d been hearing rumors about an illegal fighting ring for some time. There was even talk that the local cops got a cut out of the profits. Tickets to see it in person were incredibly expensive, and then there was a paid online subscription, too.
It was no wonder why Gordon Hunt had picked a random woman off the street as the ‘prize’ for his fighters. The man must feel invincible.
Kayla was silent on the way back to the camp. It was a couple hours drive outside of town and about a half-hour drive from the dig itself.
By the time they got there, the camp was mostly quiet. Shane could smell the presence of Bryant, Esther’s dragon mate, and scowled. Bryant was the head of the guard meant to protect the Emperor of the dragons. While it made sense for him to be with his mate on occasion, Shane had hoped that he wouldn’t be here. He had had an unfortunate experience with the man that had left bad blood between them.
As soon as they exited the car, a woman jogged over to them. Normally Shane would have given her a once-over but now he was too worried about Kayla to even consider looking at another woman.
“Kayla!” The woman skidded to a stop. “I’ve been calling you, why haven’t you answered?”
“Phone died,” Kayla mumbled, not looking at her. “Bernie, this is Shane. Shane, this is Bernie. Bernice. She’s working with Esther and me to run the dig.”
Shane barely gave her a glance. “Pleased to meet you.”
A sly smile crossed her face and a giggle erupted from Bernie’s throat. “Oh, phone died, huh? While you are out having fun in town? You know Esther’s not going to want you bringing home guys once the students arrive, right?”
“It wasn’t like that at all,” Kayla snapped. “Look I’m tired. I’m back, you can stop worrying. I’m going to bed.”
“Alone?” Bernie pressed.
Shane gave her a black glare, moving closer to Kayla as though that would shield her from Bernie’s assumptions. He put an arm around her and walked with her as she headed away. Luckily Bernie didn’t follow, nor did she make any more comments. Kayla still shook, and he pulled her full-figured, curvy body to his.
“It’s okay. Nothing is going to hurt you.” He stroked her hair soothingly until she relaxed against him.
The urge to kiss her came again and he gently extracted himself. While it was true that he would have gone into that fighting ring for anybody, Kayla was a special case to him. He had been oddly protective of her from the first moment they had met. Of course, that could be because they had first met when both were taken prisoner and he’d had to break their way out of a dungeon.
But whatever the reason, he was protective of her. More so than what was normal, even for him.
Kayla’s big eyes peered up at him in the dark night. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
Something inside him clenched. The yes was already on his lips by the time he stopped himself. As much as he would have liked to have said yes, to crawl into her tent with her and sleep with her in his arms, he knew it wasn’t going to end like that. They’d either sleep together or he’d frighten her, thinking she wanted more than she did. He ached for her, and that was enough for him to take a step back and shake his head.
After what she had been through tonight, even if she wanted to sleep with him it would lead to regrets in the morning. She deserved better than that.
“I’ve got a hammock,” he said reluctantly. “I’ll set it up out here. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to share your tent.”
Disappointment flared in her eyes but she nodded. “I guess… goodnight then?”
Shane squeezed her hand gently. “Goodnight, Kayla. Tomorrow will be better.”
He sighed as she disappeared into her tent. Morning couldn’t come soon enough.