Zen (12 page)

“Who’s eye candy?” a man’s voice said from the doorway.

Shawna looked over at the handsome Priman halfsie. She stood to shake his hand. “Hi, Mr. Taurus. I’m Shawna and that’s my cameraman, Jimmie. Thank you for meeting with us.”

“Sure. Who’s eye candy?” he repeated his question.

“Zen,” Maya answered, moving over on the sofa for him to sit next to her. She kissed him quickly.

He pulled her back to him kissing her longer. “You are not to think of anyone but me as eye candy.”

Maya giggled, “Of course not.”

It was clear to Shawna the two of them were deeply in love. She cleared her throat reminding them that they were not alone.

“Are you ready?” she asked Taurus.

“Yes.”

Shawna motioned for Jimmie to start filming.

“Just a few quick questions for you. How long have you known Zen?”

“About seven years. I started with the GCFA after he did,” Taurus replied.

“He seems to enjoy being in the spotlight.”

“He’s a Felon halfsie. It’s in their nature to be a little showy. It can be annoying, but it's harmless.”

“This next question is a bit sensitive. There are rumors going around that Zen and you have been close at one point, really, really close. Is that true?”

Maya spit out her tea at the same time that Taurus roared, “Absolutely not! Who is saying such things like this?”

Shawna couldn’t help but laugh, “I am so sorry.” His whole face had turned beet red. “I take it that is completely false.”

“Damn straight!” Taurus said, grabbing Maya closer to him.

Jimmie had a hard time keeping a straight face. Taurus was glaring at him. She wrapped up the interview and thanked them for their time.

Jimmie gently punched her arm. “Man, it was the funniest thing ever. But I think we need to get the hell out of here. Who’s our last interview with?”

“Hammer.”

Shawna was trying her best not to laugh, but it was damn hard. Ever since they arrived at Hammer’s suite, Jimmie had been staring wide eyed at the large Byclops. She had to smack Jimmie in the back of the head to get him moving on setting up the camera.

“Sorry about Jimmie, he’s still learning manners. Like how rude it is to stare at people,” she growled the last at Jimmie who blushed.

“It’s okay, people are always put off by my size,” Hammer reassured her. They decided to sit at the dining table for the interview. Hammer wanted to watch as his mate Molly was cooking them something for lunch.

“Are you ready?” she asked him.

“Yes.”

“The first question on the top of the list is how long have you known Zen?” Shawna asked.

“Eight years.”

“Zen has a reputation with the ladies. Is it all true or is there a lot of false rumors going on?” she asked.

Hammer snorted. “Some of it is true. The females seem to love him.”

“But he’s not a womanizer. He can’t help that they flock to him,” Molly called out from the kitchen. She came out and Hammer pulled her onto his lap.

“May I ask you a question, Molly?”

“Sure.”

“I heard that you used to date Zen. What happened to your relationship?”

Hammer growled. Molly glared down at him. “Stop that.” She looked back over at Shawna. “Zen and I didn’t really date. He took me to dinner and discussed how he was going to help me win Hammer’s heart.”

Hammer chuckled, “You already had it.”

Molly smiled down at him with all the love in her heart showing. “I didn’t know that at the time. You were ignoring me. Zen wanted to help push you to act.”

“He certainly did.” He still wasn’t happy that Zen had Torch show up.

“From what I can tell, Zen seems to be close to his friends here at the GCFA.”

Hammer nodded. “Zen didn’t grow up with a family. The GCFA fighters became his family when he came here. He is a good male. I would trust him with my life and the life of my family.”

“I think we have enough for now. Thank you for taking time to talk with me.” Shawna signaled Jimmie to pack up.

“You are welcome.” Hammer and Molly stood together to walk Shawna and Jimmie out.

“It was nice meeting you,” Molly told her.

“You too.”

After morning practice Zen went back to his suite. He was hoping he could take Shawna out for lunch. He tossed and turned the night before. His body was still turned on and dying for satisfaction. He needed to bury himself in her sweet body, badly.

He entered his suite and felt a strange feeling that someone had been there. He looked around and nothing really looked out of place. But he couldn’t shake the feeling. He went into his bedroom and still didn’t see anything out of place.

He shook it off and went to take his shower to get ready for the fight. He hoped to see Shawna afterwards. Man he had missed her.

Later that evening, Zen sat in the holding room where all the fighters waited until their fight was called. The arena was overflowing with fans. The idea that somewhere out there was a fan who was crazy obsessed with him made him feel very uncomfortable. He watched the commentators on the TV.

“
Welcome everyone to the beautiful sports arena here at the North Delta Region. I am Johann and this is my fellow commentator, Poland. We are coming to you live at the Galactic Cage Fighters circuit event.”

“
Johann, it is certainly a packed crowd tonight.”

“
Yes it is, Poland. I believe we hit box office record for most ticket sales.”

“
I am sure it had something to do with our very own Zen the Sin being selected as the Sexiest Male by the Galactic Times.”

“
Absolutely. The GCFA is very proud of Zen for this recognition. It is well earned if the females in the crowd are any indication.”

“
Johann, there is some more exciting news that I am sure our GCFA fans would love to know.”

“
I believe I know what you are talking about, Poland. Talon the Fallen Angel and his mate, Lindy, have given birth to a healthy, beautiful, little girl.”

“
That is exciting. Talon was scheduled for a small fight tonight so I take it he is not here.”

“
No, he is home with his mate and daughter, which he should be. We have GCFA substitute fighter stepping in tonight.”

“
Johann, what is in the line-up for this evening?”

“
First up we have the substitute fighter, a Plutian halfsie, Hercules. We have a pair match with Torch and Maxim. Zen the Sin will finish off the night of events.”

“
Stay with us for what will prove to be an interesting evening here at the GCFA.”

Zen tried to catch a glimpse of Shawna. She said she would come to the fight with Jimmie and Nigel. He growled. The idea of Nigel touching her set him off. He wanted to punch something. Luckily, he was about to take out his aggression on his opponent. Lucky for him, but too bad for his opponent.

Once Zen’s music started playing he walked out. He blinked to moisturize his contacts. The lights seemed to be glaring at him. He couldn’t help but cringe at the roar of the crowd. There were implants for his ears too but he felt those would impair him too much for fighting. He needed all his senses to pinpoint the weakest spot on his opponent.

He continued to look for Shawna but didn’t see her until he finally climbed into the cage. There, she was wearing a red tank top and low riding jeans. She had her hair up in a ponytail and those ridiculous glasses were back on. He smiled at her giving her a wink. He threw his robe out of the cage bars and then turned around facing his opponent for the night. Great, a full Felon. It looked like Jasper or one of his brothers. They were quintuplets and Zen never could tell them apart.

Round one started out with Zen being caught off guard by the Felon. The male went after Zen immediately using jabs. Zen punched out and missed. Damn his opponent was slippery. The Felon tried for an arm bar but Zen used his Felon stretching abilities to slip out of it. Zen managed to land a few punches before the bell rang ending the round.

Round two Zen landed an elbow to the Felon’s face. He thought he broke the other male’s nose. Blood was gushing out. The Felon glared at Zen. “You’ll pay for that, halfsie.” He then surprised Zen by landing a body shot. Both of them were winded by the end of the round.

Things got much bloodier during round three. Punches and knees were flying. Zen looked for an opening to go for a submission hold but the Felon was not giving him any room. Zen got kicked hard in the head, making him spin and fall on his back. He used his Felon abilities and flipped himself up to his feet. Zen had to take the male out soon because he wasn’t going to last much longer.