Rage (Galactic Cage Fighters) (15 page)

“It wasn’t me that left the note
,” Rachel told her, plopping down on the sofa.

“I know that now. But at the time I didn’t. I wondered if maybe I pissed you off or something.”

“Of course not. I …” she was about to tell Sersan the truth but was interrupted when Rage came charging in.

He lifted her up into his arms and held her there breathing in her scent. “I’m okay. I promise. The healers say I can participate in the match tomorrow night.”

“No. You will rest.” He was insistent.

But she was more determined. “I need to fight
, Rage. I would never ask you to stop being the fighter that you are. Please don’t ask me to stop being … what I am.”

Sersan
quietly walked to the door. “I’m glad you two made up. I’ll give you a couple of hours alone together. Then I’m kicking Rage’s ass out. I want to sleep in my own bed, thank you very much.”

Rachel laughed, “Thanks
, Sersan.” All Rage did was grunt.

“My beast wants inside you now, but I don’t want to injure you more.” His voice was gruff with longing.

“If we take it easy, go a little slower, I should be okay.”

He let her slide down his body till she was standing on her own feet
, but he wouldn’t release her completely. He kept hold of her with one large hand while his other tried to rip her clothes from her body.

Her
body tensed with need. Desperate to have him inside of her, she pulled at his shirt, popping off every single one of his shirt buttons. She pushed the offending garment off his shoulders, savoring the feel of him. He had already undone his pants and was wiggling them down his legs.

She reached for her own jeans
, wanting to get them off as quick as possible. Her shoes proved to be a problem. She managed to get off one shoe and one pants leg. Rage couldn’t wait for her any longer. He picked her up and plunged himself into her. They both moaned from the pleasure of being joined.

Rachel wrapped her legs around his waist and rode him hard. She loved this, being with him like this.
Loved making him lose control and his beast rise up in him. She loved feeling completely full. She loved his mouth on hers, devouring her as his body was doing to her body. She just … loved
him.

All thoughts fled her mind as Rage pushed her up against the wall. She would have bruises
, but the healing implants would take care of that. He sank down to his knees, taking her with him. When they got to the floor Rage lifted her legs higher, allowing him to get further, deeper inside of her.

She felt him bite a place between her shoulder and neck. It didn’t hurt. In fact it increased her pleasure
, making her come immediately. She felt her very soul shatter from her release. But lying wrapped up in his arms, those pieces of her were put back together and additional pieces had been added. Pieces from Rage’s soul. She knew she would never be the same again. But she needed him to accept her as she accepted him.

“I have to
, Rage. The case isn’t over yet. Two are under arrest and Tipin escaped from the warehouse. We still don’t know who headed this whole thing up, but we know it is someone from within the GCFA.”

“You just recovered from one fight, then you get drugged, and now you want to go straight into another fight?”

“To be fair, I drugged myself. I am completely healed and have clearance from the healers to fight. I have to continue with my cover story. No one knows who this Mr. Talis is except maybe Sergin and Rork. They both supposedly tried to commit suicide and are both in comas. That is too coincidental, in my opinion.”

She sighed
. “I need to stay out in the open. Try to draw out this Mr. Talis. He is going to see me as a threat to his little money-making venture and will act against me in some way. My partner Trig will be watching my back and will catch him when he tries to make a move against me.”

Rage growled at the mention of this other man. He
had been briefly introduced to Rage as her cousin, but the cousin part was his cover. The pure human male interacted with Rachel way too intimately for his taste. “I don’t like you being a target, but I know that can’t stop you from doing your job.”

“No, you can’t.”

There was a long pause, then Rage sighed. “How did you get into law enforcement?”

She told him about her parents
’ deaths and how she went to live with her Uncle Ted, who was part of the Intergalactic Police Force. She even told him how she had gotten beat up at school by bullies and her uncle and his friends started training her. Rage wanted the names of the bullies. There was retribution in his eyes.

Rachel just laughed, “They were just kids like me
, Rage. Can’t beat up on them now.” When she tried to ask him questions about his childhood, he was resistant.

“Come on
, Rage, I told you about my childhood. I want to know more about you. Were you born of a natural coupling or were you … created?”

“I believe Talon has told you a little too much already,” he grumbled.

“Not about you. Though I have tried on many occasions to get him to open up about you, he refused. Please, Rage, I want to know you.”

Rage sat up on the bed and turned his back on her. She had an expressive face and he didn’t want to see pity for him there. “I wasn’t
created, I was born from a Bestial and Human mating. My father was … angry. He had lost his true mate years before he met my mother. They had never had any children. When he met my mother, she seduced him because she wanted to see what it was like to sleep with an animal.

“
Neither expected that their sexual escapades would end with her getting pregnant. She didn’t know until she had gone back home to plan her wedding to a rich human senator. When she found out she carried a baby, a Bestial baby, she freaked. She tried to get rid of the pregnancy, but Bestial babies are strong and it—I—resisted every effort made to abort it. She called my father in a panic telling him that it was his fault and she couldn’t get rid of the little runt.” There was such pain in Rage’s voice. His own mother tried to get rid of him while she was still pregnant. Rachel tried to comfort him by putting her hand on his back, but he moved out of reach.

“She made up some excuse to her
fiancé that she was going on a retreat for a few months in preparation for their wedding. She went away and gave birth to me, then dumped me with my father. My father didn’t take to me. Every time he looked at me, he saw only what he would never have with his long dead mate. I was with him for five years. He was a fighter for a circuit, too, but he never made it big. He was too heavy into drugs and drinking to get very far.”

“When he was killed in a fight, I was on my own for a few months
, until someone who knew my father remembered he had a child. They called my grandfather, who came and got me. Things were better after that. My grandfather taught me what it meant to be a Bestial. My human mother was never mentioned again. I had never met her until I decided at the age of eighteen that I would search her out. She had married the senator and had a daughter, a sister I had never met before she answered the door. She was so little, maybe six at the time. When my mother saw me, she knew immediately who I was. She grabbed my sister and pushed her behind her as if I would attack them and called security. I was arrested but released when I agreed to never approach them again.”

Rachel was crying for him silently. She couldn’t hold back anymore. She threw herself at him
, wrapping him in her arms. At first he tried to struggle out of her embrace, but soon he relented, letting her hold him.

“I’m so sorry. Some people just don’t know how precious children are. You were innocent and deserved so much better than that.”

Rage wanted to forget. Forget his childhood pain of not being wanted. He turned into Rachel and kissed her. He would bury himself in her, console himself in her. He loved her kindness, her determination to protect others. He loved how she wanted to comfort him. He loved being with her, loved holding her, loved her. The emotion was so strong that he felt a little overwhelmed. He made love to her, showing her with his body what he couldn’t say with his words.

Sersan had kicked Rage out of the suite when she returned three hours later. He growled his displeasure, but Rachel laughed it off. The next day they walked together towards the holding area to wait for their matches to be called.

“Have you heard from Talon?” Rachel asked.

“No. I’m worried that he is going to get into trouble.” Rage admitted. Talon had informed the GCFA prior to Rachel’s kidnapping that he had personal matters he needed to attend to and requested a leave of absence. Since he had not taken one in all the years he had been with the GCFA, they easily granted his request.

The local authorities released a statement to the public that several fighters from the GCFA had been kidnapped. One was recovered with only minor
injuries, which was Rachel. One was found dead, which was Resa, and one was still missing, which was Tipin. The authorities implied that once Rachel Starr had given a full report with descriptions of all the culprits once she had recovered from her minor injuries. They further insinuated that Rachel had given them vital information that would lead to the arrest of all parties involved. All of this was done to set Rachel up as a target, to drag those responsible out from their hidden places.

They found the rest of the fighters already in the holding room. Rage stayed by her side.
Sersan and Alana approached, looking worried.

“I just can’t believe the GCFA is going on with the fights tonight after what happened.
Poor Tipin. I didn’t care for him personally, but to have your wife killed must be devastating. Has anyone heard whether the authorities have located him?” Alana asked with tears in her eyes. She was the most sensitive of the group.

Rachel shook her head. “No. I’m just grateful I was found in time
, before something worse happened to me.”

Sersan
reached over and patted Rachel on her back. She felt really bad for keeping things from these two women. They had become her friends in such a short time. But she had a job to do and other women’s lives were at stake. They all grew quiet.

“Hey, did you guys know about this?” Zen asked
, staring at the monitor. He turned up the volume so the others could hear.

“Know about what?” Rage asked as he moved forward to look at the monitor. The two commentators were going on about something.

“This is so exciting. Johann, have you ever heard of a venue changing in such a short time? This new event usually only happens when we get closer to the Championship Finals, not this early in the circuit!”

“
No, Poland, this is the first I’ve heard of it. I’m very excited.”

“Do you think this is just a publicity stunt by the GCFA to sweep the latest news reports under the rug?”

“Well
, if it is, then it’s working. Since the announcement was made ten minutes ago, it’s all people are talking about.”

Rage looked at Zen confused. “What are they talking about?”

Zen faced everyone in the room. “Less than ten minutes ago a representative for the GCFA announced that t
hey were cancelling all the individual matches. They announced this evening’s event would be a triple cage match.”

“What’s a triple cage match?” Rachel asked.

“There are going to be three cages stacked on top of each other. All the fighters start on the bottom cage and work their way to the top. Usually the one to reach the top first wins a reward or prize.” Alana answered her. Then she asked, “Hey Zen, what’s the reward?”

“Half a million credits,” Zen answered.

“Half a million creditsss?” Sersan asked in disbelief.

Rage looked at Rachel. Whoever ordered this special match was more than likely setting it up as a way to kill off Rachel. All the fighters would be present
, males and females, and they were going to be trying to kill each other to get that reward. “You can’t fight in this.”

“I don’t think I have a choice
, Rage. Trig is watching closely. If the person or persons in charge show, he’ll be there to catch them.

Rage didn’t like it at all,
and he was going to protest more but security came to escort them down to the cages. He pulled Zara up next to him and whispered to her, “Protect Rachel at all costs.”

“Look
, Rage, I know you want to protect your human, but I want that 500,000 for myself. I don’t have time to babysit.”

Rage grabbed her arm
to stop her and leaned closer so no one could hear. “She’s an undercover IDJ agent trying to locate some missing women, including Lindy. The ones that took Lindy tried to take her last night. Now they have ordered this match. It’s a set-up to take Rachel out of the picture.”

“A set
-up? Only someone high up in the GCFA would have the authority to change the venue.”

Rage nodded as a security guard pushed them to keep moving. Zara wondered how she could have not noticed the missing women
. She bet that Tipin and Resa had been involved. That’s probably why Resa had ended up dead. Who knew what had happened to Tipin?