Page 82 of The Pleasure Contract

“Don’t look at me like that,” I huff, putting on my wrist braces.

Vex points a finger at me. “If you let this get to you out there in the arena-”

“I won’t.”

“If we lose this game to the Capital team today-”

“We won’t.”

“You need to stay calm and keep your head in the game, Az. If we-”

I can’t help it. I explode. “I am fucking calm!”

There are a few seconds of quiet before Ral decides to quip, “Yeah… you seem real calm, Princey, don’t worry.”

Rolling my eyes, I reach for my leather shoulder armor.

Thax clears his throat, about to say something, but is interrupted by someone banging on the locker room doors. “Everything’s set up for pre-game interviews in the media suites when you’re ready!”

Ral rubs his hands together and claps the two nearest to him on their backs – Vex and Rykor. “Let’s go, girls!” he says with glee, turning and leading the way out.

Vex grumbles something about Ral being a giant geliklik under his breath before extending his hand to me. “Come,” he says in a rare gentle tone. “We play this game, and then you can ‘cuddle’ your female, or whatever other disgusting human ritual you two like to partake in after it is done.”

I playfully knock his hand away and grin. “I will indeed do that – after we win this game.”

36

Lois

Ifeel sick.

Somewhere along the line, I’ve forgotten to keep my heart out of this whole fucking mess. Because believe me, I’ve always known that men hide their true selves. It’s a fact of life. As inevitable as death, taxes, and uncomfortable bras.

I’m stupid to have let myself believe anything different, to be honest.

And this whole thing is worse than the usual manly hobbies of cheating, lying, gambling, and whatever-the-fuck-else they seem to gravitate toward.

Az recommended more Xaviann males ‘get a human’.

Get a human.

Like we’re some kind of pet you can fuck.

I’d felt suddenly transported back to Mama Z’rykby’s human trading hellhole.

This is exactly the sort of thing I’m here trying to combat on behalf of all abducted humans, and he’s over there secretly reveling in the fact that I don’t really have any rights?

I didn’t want to believe that he would think that way – that he would say those disgusting words.

But I’d seen it and heard it. And what’s more, he’d mentioned our contract – the ‘pleasure contract’.

No one else knew about that.

It had to have been him.

They had to have been his words.

And I don’t really know what to do about it.