“Where are we going?” she asked, as she trailed behind him, trying to keep up with his longer stride.
“Told you. Got something to show you.”
Crash led her to the end of the hall and through the door.
They entered a dark area. Shannon could make out a few shadowy shapes and could tell it was a hug
e room, like warehouse size. It must have been another part of the original manufacturing plant that had once been here. There was just a bit of moonlight coming in from the large multi-paned factory windows up high on the walls. She could see some kind of large metal shape in the middle of the room, but couldn’t make out what it was.
She felt Crash pull on her hand and could sense him feeling around on the wall for a switch. He flipped something, and just a few of the overhead industrial lights came on, casting a small amount of dim light. With his hand at the small of her back, he herded her closer to the metal structure. Her eyes studied it, trying to make sense of what she was seeing. It looked like one of those round cages they kept tigers in at the circus. The ones they used for performances. It was circular, about twenty feet across and about ten feet high. There was a padlock on what looked like the door.
She came to an abrupt halt, not wanting to get any closer, all kinds of horrors running through her head. She felt Crash come up against her back. His left arm came around her shoulder, dropping across the front of her chest, pulling her back against his chest, and his head dipped next to hers. She felt his mouth at her ear as his right hand settled on her bare hip. “Know what it is?” he whispered.
She trembled. “A cage?”
He must have felt the tremor run through her, because a moment later he was reassuring her. “Don’t worry, Princess, it’s not what you’re thinking. We don’t keep recalcitrant women in there.” He bit her ear lobe and smacked her ass. “We deal with them the old fashioned way.”
“Then what is it?”
“It’s a cage for fighting.”
“You mean, like on TV?”
“Yeah. Like on TV. I built it.”
“You built it?”
“Um hmm. I’m pretty good with metal and a blowtorch.”
“It’s nothing like your sculptures. They’re beautiful.”
“Thanks, Princess. Glad you approve. But this has its own kind of beauty, I think. Its own symmetry.”
She studied it.
“I’m fighting next week.” His voice rumbled in her ear.
She turned in his arms, twisting to face him. “In there?”
He nodded. “I’m pretty good.”
“You…fight?”
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and grinned. “Yeah, I fight. If I win, you gonna bestow a gift on me, Princess?”
“You mean like when the knights would joust, and the princess would give them a hair ribbon or something?”
“I was hoping for something a little hotter than a hair ribbon,” he admitted with a grin.
“But, you don’t even like me.”
“I’m likin’ you just fine right now.”
She stared up at him wide-eyed, wondering what it was he would want, what he’d hoped for. She couldn’t stop herself from asking the question. “What would you want?” she whispered.
He stepped closer, backing her up until she felt the bars against her back. She stared up into his eyes. They blazed with desire. With his left hand, he grabbed the bar next to her head, leaning into her. “I know a woman like you doesn’t give it away. And that’s good. With a lady like you, a man’s gotta earn it.” He paused, his eyes dropping to her mouth as he lifted his right hand and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. They parted under his tender touch.
She stared up at him and couldn’t help but slip her tongue out to barely touch the tip to his thumb. When she did, his eyes dilated and swept back up to her eyes.