Checkmate (6 page)

Raje’s breathing was so ragged he could barely whisper the
words when next they came together. “End it. Leave you an opening. Left arm.
Twist right.”

It annoyed her that he’d unilaterally decided she should win
the match. But someone had to do it and there was no time for debate. She
watched for the betraying twist.

When she saw it she lunged forward with the knife held out
in front and stabbed at his left arm. It struck him a few inches above the
wrist. She didn’t think the blade went in deeply but blood immediately ran down
his arm.

He dropped his weapon and slapped a hand over the wound. The
Sangari who’d started the match stepped into the ring and declared it over. The
injury worried her. It shouldn’t be deep or serious, requiring nothing more
than a plastiseal bandage to heal it. She hoped. When she questioned him with
her eyes, he made a tiny thumbs-up motion to reassure her.

Devonne continued to watch Raje, even as others moved
between them. She wanted to go to him but dared not.

Instead her Sangari guards escorted her back to the same
room she’d been in earlier and told her to change into her own clothes. She
asked about a shower but apparently that wasn’t happening. She’d have to wait
for a bath when they returned her to her cell.

As the adrenaline began to wear off, she started to shake.
For most of the trip back in the transport, she felt unsteady, though she
managed to walk back to her own room without assistance. Fortunately the
sanitary facilities they provided included a small bathtub and sufficient hot
water to fill it. Devonne stripped down and stepped in for a long soak.

After nearly falling asleep in it, she washed her hair,
climbed out and toweled off. Someone had left a meal tray while she was in the
tub. She ate every bit of it then settled back on the bed and promptly fell
asleep.

Waking early, she did some gentle exercise to loosen muscles
that had stiffened overnight, ate and waited impatiently for the guards to come
get her. Speculation on what the next test would entail kept her occupied until
they arrived.

The lawyers weren’t there to meet her in the locker room of
the coliseum as they had been the previous day, but they arrived a few minutes
later. Both smiled and congratulated her on the job she and Raje had done
yesterday.

“The Sangarians loved it,” Whetlock said. “You two
registered high respect levels. Great way to start.”

“What about today?”

“We’re a bit puzzled about today’s match,” he admitted.
“They call it ‘Find a Way.’ As best we can tell, it involves making your way
through a maze together, but I’m thinking there must be more to it than that.
They couldn’t or wouldn’t tell us, though.”

Devonne shrugged. “A maze doesn’t sound too bad.”

Unlike the previous day, they brought nothing particular for
her to wear. When the guards escorted her to the field, she found the ring
gone, replaced by a large, multi-sided, roofless structure with no windows and
a single door. Raje entered the arena from the opposite side and joined her in
examining the building.

“The maze, I presume?”

Devonne shrugged. “I guess.”

The Sangari guards escorted them to the door. “Go in,” the
nearest one ordered. “Find another exit.”

As soon as they’d entered, the guard slammed the door shut
behind them. Devonne had no doubt it was locked as well.

“There’s another door on the other side,” Raje told her.
“I’m assuming we just have to find our way to it.”

“Want to bet it’s not quite that easy?” Devonne scanned the
space, noting the cameras mounted at intervals along the walls, no doubt to
track and show their progress to the crowd. Otherwise the surfaces were
completely smooth and unadorned.

“No takers. Let’s get moving.”

There was only one way to go, a corridor that led straight
into the heart of the maze. But some twenty feet farther on, an opening offered
the choice of turning to the right or continuing straight. “Votes?” Raje asked,
stopping by the intersection.

“Right,” Devonne said.

Raje nodded and they turned into the new passage. All of the
corridors were so narrow they had to walk single file with Raje taking the
lead. Ten feet on, the passage made a sharp right-hand bend. Several things
happened at once as they cleared the turn. Raje shouted in surprise and backed
up a step. She slammed into him and felt something cool and wet spraying on
her. They both backed up a few more steps.

Laughter burst from the crowd in the arena, some of whom
could look down on them directly. The rest watched the action on screens fed by
the cameras along the walls.

Once Devonne and Raje were out of range, the jets that had
sprayed the liquid onto them stopped and receded back into the wall. Raje
squeezed a few drops from his damp hair onto his fingers, sniffed at it and
tasted cautiously. “Water.”

Devonne pushed a wet strand of hair off her face.
“Somebody’s got a second grade sense of humor.”

Raje grinned and pushed back wet hair that flopped into his
eyes. “Keep that in mind. I’m betting this isn’t the only booby trap.”

Because they were careful, they managed to avoid the slick
spot in the floor, though Raje had a foot on it before he recognized the
danger. A rain of feathers poured over them a little farther on. They let them
gather in a pile on the floor ahead before they proceeded. To avoid a spot
where electrical sparks shot from one side of the corridor to the other from
knee height to just over their heads, they had to get down on their bellies and
slither along the ground.

Nothing could have gotten them past the swarm of biting
insects without losing a few bits of flesh. They had no repellant with them and
could find no way around the area that didn’t dead-end. Since they saw the bugs
ahead, however, they did race past and thus got by with only a few annoying
bites. More laughter rose from the crowd along with some applause.

By Devonne’s calculation, they had to be getting close to
the end when they met with a nastier obstacle. They made a ninety-degree turn
to the right, and then another just a few feet beyond. As Raje cleared the
second bend, Devonne heard a solid
whack
and he shouted in surprise and
pain. When he backed up, Devonne stopped and waited for him.

“What—” She leaned around the corner and got her answer.

A lone Sangari warrior-male stood there, armed with a pistol
in one hand and a narrow, two-foot-long rod in the other. The pistol moved from
its aim on Raje to focus on her when the Sangari saw her. He took up more than
half the width of the corridor.

Raje rubbed at his thighs and swore with enthusiasm. Devonne
looked back the way they’d come. “You think it’s even worth trying to find
another way?”

“What have we got to lose?” he asked.

“A few more pounds of flesh to the bugs?”

“Votes?”

“Let’s try,” she suggested.

“My vote, too.”

They retraced their route and tried alternate turns. As
Devonne expected, each of them ended abruptly at some point, leaving them with
only the option of braving the armed Sangari.

“Stay close behind me,” Raje suggested as they prepared to
pass him.

“Hey, thanks for the gallantry, but you’ve already got a
bruise from him once today.”

“I can handle it.”

He didn’t have to, though. The Sangari let him go by without
making any attempt to swing his rod. She wished the same were true for her. He
couldn’t reach the front of her body since she followed so closely behind Raje,
but as they passed, the Sangari struck her a backhanded blow right across her
buttocks. She jumped and swore at the sting. The crowd cheered and roared with
laughter.

“You all right?” Raje turned around to check.

“Okay. The stupid Sangari decided I needed a spanking.”

“Got a heavy hand, too, doesn’t he?”

“Yeah. Let’s get out of here before he decides he isn’t
finished.”

They couldn’t manage to avoid the rain of dirt that sprayed
down on them at one point on the trip but raced through it quickly enough to
come out with just a few sprinkles on them instead of the thick layer they
might have acquired.

At the next intersection some change in quality of light and
shadows indicated that corridor would be the last. It wasn’t until they made a
sharp turn, though, that she saw the last challenge before they reached the
opening at the far end of the passage.

The corridor widened for its final hundred feet. The last
half of that length was lined with Sangari on either side. Each one held a
thin, whippy staff.

“Transport them all to a supernova and let them burn,” Raje
growled through clenched teeth.

“I second the motion.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish this whole thing hadn’t
happened.”

“Me, too, but it’s not your guilt. Anyway, I’ve tackled
worse than this.” She drew a deep breath. “Let’s get it over with.”

He nodded. “Just make sure you stay on your feet.”

It wasn’t fun and it wasn’t always easy to stay upright as
the flailing sticks landed on her shoulders, back and rear end, but they fought
their way through it to the end. Once back out in the open, Raje embraced her,
holding her close against him. It felt good to be there. Entirely too good. He
was a Gambrian
prince
. Still, she had him for now. No point in not
taking what she could.

“Okay?” he asked again.

“A few new bruises. Nothing a few plastrons won’t take care
of in an hour or so. You?”

“Same.” They clung to each other for a while. Gradually the
cheering and applause worked its way into her awareness. Several Sangari guards
showed up to separate them and take them back to the dressing rooms. They also
supplied plastrons at her request.

When she arrived on the third day, both lawyers awaited her.
They looked uncomfortable.

“Well done again yesterday,” Raje’s attorney said. “Your
respect levels are very high.”

“That’s something, I guess. What’s today’s agenda?”

“Um…” Color flushed his cheeks. “It’s sex.”

“Sex?”

The lawyer sighed. “Sex. You and Raje. On center stage. It
could be worse. I’m told they like variations, too. Group sex. Kinky sex.
Practically every variation of sentient reproductive activity. They do find the
human variations particularly fascinating. They’re partial to chains and
leather and whips, I’m afraid, although that doesn’t seem to be on today’s
program.”

“Thank the Five Faces of God for small mercies.”

Chapter Six

“Don’t thank her too quickly,” Whetlock advised. “There are
seven more rounds to go. I feel sure some of it will come up.”

“I’ll worry about today’s problem today. I hate to ask,
but…have they assigned me something to wear?”

The two men looked at each other. “I fear so.”

She sighed. “Just hand it over. I’ll do what I have to.”

He handed her a pile of fluffy, gauzy stuff that would
obviously cover nothing. “You put this over it,” he added, passing something of
a heavier material.

Devonne shook out the lighter fabric to find harem pants,
tied together with ribbons at hips and ankles, and a tunic top also fastened
with ribbons at shoulders and sides. It was all in shades of pale pink and
green. “Yech. Somebody’s got really terrible taste. And pink is not my color at
all. I hope it doesn’t put Raje off.”

The lawyers looked at each with a shade of relief lightening
each face. They really had been worried about her reaction. Then his attorney
grinned. “I don’t think you need to worry about
that
.”

“Well I hope not. He’s got the tougher job today. I can
hardly wait to see how they’ve outfitted him.”

“It’s…interesting,” Whetlock said. “I think he may be more
embarrassed about it than you.”

She shrugged. “I haven’t gotten into this mess yet. I
haven’t exactly got a holovid model figure.”

Both men looked her up and down. Whetlock said, “You’ll look
fine in those things.”

The buzzer sounded, warning her to prepare. The men left.

Devonne had to draw in a deep breath to steady herself. She
wasn’t nearly as complacent about putting on that gauzy stuff and performing
sexually in public as she tried to act.

Her irritation grew as she struggled to get into the mess of
transparent fluff and tied the prissy ribbons holding it together. There were
no shoes and the material covered nothing. The heavier cloak did provide cover,
but she figured that was just to make her unveiling all the more dramatic.

They escorted her out to the field to a swelling roar of
approval from the crowd. Instead of the maze from yesterday, the center circle
contained a raised circular dais. In the center of it sat a padded platform
with posts at all four corners but no curtains hanging from them. A sheet of
white material lay on top of it. Halfway there, one of her guards stopped her.

“Give me the cloak,” he ordered.

The crowd went wild when she removed it. Her figure wasn’t
even slightly obscured by the gauzy garments.

“Go,” the guard said, nodding toward the platform bed.

Devonne squared her shoulders and marched toward the
platform. She froze when she saw Raje approaching from the other side of the
field. Damn, but the man looked good no matter what he wore. Even this. The
skintight, red leather leggings accented his long, strong legs and narrow hips.
The slit in the front allowed his erect penis to poke through, showing off its
proud length and graceful shape.

Before he reached her side, he stopped and gave a cheeky
wave to the crowd. They roared their appreciation back at him.

“Show-off,” she said, not caring if the microphones caught
the words. “You always did want to take that pretty penis into a contest.”

He shrugged and gave her a wry smile. “This is undoubtedly
the closest I’ll get. Might as well enjoy it.”

“Unleashing your inner flasher?”

“Whatever it takes. Speaking of which, I like that outfit,
but I wish they’d got it in a different color. Blue would be much better on
you. Not that it matters. It won’t be on you all that long anyway.”

“Red definitely works for you,” she said as he took her arm
and helped her up the one step onto the dais.

“Shows off my green eyes and pale penis to good effect,” he
agreed. He pulled her into his arms and claimed her mouth for a long, hard,
deep kiss.

It fired her blood into steam and sizzled along every nerve
in her body. She wanted him so badly it was all she could do to keep from
jumping on him right then and impaling herself. Even in public. The man had the
power to make her forget everything else but him.

“Fire and Ashes,” he said and then echoed her thoughts. “I
thought I was going to come when we did the knife dance, and then again
yesterday. Now seeing you in that…I don’t know how to make this last. We need
to give them a good show.”

She kissed along his throat while his hands slid down her
back to cup her buttocks and pull her against his straining cock. “Twice,” she
said. “We do it twice. Fast and rough the first time, then long, slow and
tender.”

He sighed as she nipped at his neck. “We have to talk when
this is over. I can’t stand it.”

“What?”

“Not having you to talk to. And other things. I miss you.”

“We’ll talk, but don’t get your hopes up. Now get romantic.”

He jerked his head back so he could her in the eye. “I
thought I was.”

“You’re right. I should have said stop being romantic and
start being rough. I’m so hungry for you anyway, I’m ready to eat you.”

“I think that’s on the second half of the program.”

“Stop talking and start ripping this stuff off me,” she
ordered.

He grinned. “Yes, ma’am!” He set to the task with
considerable gusto, roughly yanking open the bows she’d tied. He started with
the top ones until the two pieces of the tunic came apart. They slid down her
body to puddle on the floor, leaving her bare from the waist up. A shiver that
owed nothing to any breeze rippled along her spine. Pure desire to be joined to
him as closely as possible shook her. He leaned down to take first one, then
the other nipple into his mouth. He lapped them with his tongue and sucked hard
until she had to put her hands on his shoulders to support herself.

She squealed and wriggled. Experience had taught him what
she liked.

He kissed his way back up to her mouth, but stopped at her
ear to say, “You might want to get a bit louder with those moans and groans.
The occasional scream would be good, too.”

“Make me.”

“You’ve got it.”

He lifted her in his arms, to a chorus of cheers from the
crowd. For a moment, Devonne had forgotten about the onlookers. Raje swore
quietly, then placed her on the bed and knelt beside her.

He kissed her on the mouth almost brutally, tangling his
tongue with hers, until she forgot about everything else but him and the rush
of heat surging through her. Her cunt throbbed with need, oozing moisture.

He nudged her legs apart and tested her readiness with a
finger. Satisfied, he moved over her. His cock protruded hard and ready from
the slit in the front of the leather leggings. The slick surface of the leather
made an odd sensation against her when he entered her.

He filled and completed her. As always it seemed her mind
and soul recognized him at some level so deep only sex could reach it, and then
only for too brief a time.

He pounded into her hard and fast, deeply, almost savagely.
No buildup, just the abrupt intrusion planting sparks in her. They matched
rhythm with practiced ease. Sex was always so easy and so right with him. It
never had been that way with any other man, no matter how long she’d known him.
A star swelled inside her, growing and threatening to explode as its forces
pulsed hotter and harder.

Devonne sobbed and moaned and strained to take him even
deeper, ever faster. It took just a few more desperate, violent plunges until
the blazing ball of heat inside her went supernova, exploding with a force that
shook her body to its core. She screamed in joy and triumph. A couple more
pushes and Raje came as well, with a roar that echoed through her head.

He collapsed against her. Wrapping her arms around him, she
held him close. For the moment his lying and betrayal were forgotten.
Tenderness for him filled her.

After a bit, though, the noise of the crowd filtered into
her awareness. Some cheers came from them, but there were many impatient calls
for more.

Raje rolled off her. Using a corner of the fabric that
covered the platform, he cleaned her, then himself.

“Got another round in you?” he asked.

“With you? Yes.” Ouch. The words gave away far too much about
her feelings.

“Slow and gentle this time.”

He did slow and gentle just magnificently. Using fingers and
tongue, he embarked on a languid exploration of every fold and crevice of her
body. The heat roused more slowly this time, but he knew just how to touch,
lick and pinch to fire up the pressure again. Gentle strokes on cheek, nipples
and abdomen alternated with harder tugs and squeezes.

She let him work on her for a while, then she pushed him
onto his back and levered herself up on an elbow. “My turn,” she said, brushing
her fingers along his chest and down to his stomach.

The presence of the crowd weighed on her more in this
position, while pleasuring him. She forced herself to focus her awareness on
Raje, but even that had its own discomfort in her mixed emotions toward him.
She had to bury the hurt for the time. Touching him brought back so many
memories that tears threatened.

She leaned over to kiss him, moving her lips on his mouth,
sucking and nipping. He opened for her and let her explore. His taste reminded
her of glorious dinners, exploring new worlds and adventures in space piracy.
Heady and intoxicating. So much so, she had to pull back and let her lips
wander over his cheeks and the rest of his face, across to his ear and down his
throat.

A stop at his chest let her explore that territory, tasting
the skin beneath the light mat of dark hair and licking at his nipples. He
groaned loudly when she closed her mouth over one, swiped it with her tongue
and sucked at it. A surge of elation shot through her. She could rob this
strong man of his formidable control. The power of that knowledge went to her
head like a drug. He continued the moans and pants as she moved lower, kissing
down his abdomen. When she got to his cock and swiped her tongue along its
erect length, he roared his pleasure. He tasted of salt and essential
masculinity.

It shocked her when he reached for her and pulled her up to
their faces were together again. “Sixty-nine? They’ll appreciate it. If you’re
willing?”

She considered it for a second or two. “Not happy but
willing. Sides?”

“Sides are good.”

He twisted and rolled, while she shifted. They ended up on
their sides, with their heads at opposite ends of the bed and their knees at
each other’s eye level. He leaned forward, lifted her upper leg onto his
shoulder and rested his head on her thigh. All she had to do was duck her head
and lean in to get her hands on his balls and her mouth around his cock.

Knowing she’d take longer to come, she went slow with him,
massaging and kneading his balls, exploring with her fingers the smooth path
behind them, tracking around his anus and then up his penis. She dipped into
every crease and crook. Fascination with his body drove everything else from
her mind for a time, even the presence of an audience.

Meanwhile his tongue did wicked things to her. It roved, hot
and slick, up and down her thigh, across the labia and then plunged inside to
find her clit. She squealed and groaned deliberately making the sound louder
than she normally would have. A piercing shriek forced its way out when his
clever lips closed over the bud and began to roll and squeeze it. The man had
the most versatile mouth.

The aroma of his sex surrounded her. The feel of him beneath
her fingers and the strange vulnerability of it lent a further enticement. She
was drowning in him and couldn’t imagine wanting to do this with anyone else.
With him it was perfectly right, no matter where or when or who was watching.

Then the building pressure in her cunt drove out all
thoughts. The explosion almost caught her by surprise as she suddenly came
apart in a huge jerk. It drew from her a full-throated scream.

While still jerking from the shock of it, she took him deep
in her mouth and sucked, hard. He roared, too, and his cum spurted.

By the time they’d each calmed enough to be aware again,
Devonne couldn’t handle the emotion anymore and burst into tears.

Amidst the cheers and foot-stomping of the crowd, Raje
twisted until he could enclose her in his arms. “Too much for you?” he asked
quietly, brushing away a tear.

“I’m just a bit overwhelmed.” How could she tell him that
she remembered she loved him and didn’t believe they could have any future? How
could they, when he’d lied to her, abused her trust and used her assistance to
further his own personal agenda?

“Me, too.” He hugged her closer. “But we’re getting through
this, and then we’ll see where we are.”

The next day, Whetlock told her they’d be fighting treckles.
As far as he’d been able to determine, treckles were small creatures with nasty
bites. Devonne and Raje were outfitted in plain shorts and sleeveless T-shirts
with ankle boots. The Sangari handed her a five-foot-long pike with a point at
the end. It also had a broad blade about a foot long and six inches wide below
the point on one side and a hook on the other.

The center of the field held no ring or platform that day,
nothing at all to break up the circular expanse of grayish green vegetation on
the ground. Once she’d met Raje in the middle of it, several doors opened in
the wall, releasing packs of six-inch-tall, six-inch-wide creatures that each
looked like a cross between a crab and a large spider. The treckles moved
quickly in any direction on eight spindly legs. A tough carapace protected the
upper surfaces of their bodies and heads. They also had nasty, sharp teeth. Due
to their size, a single bite wouldn’t do much damage, but in a mass they could
strip the flesh from a man if they overwhelmed him. Devonne guessed there might
be two hundred of them.