Survivor Planet Series 2-Book Box Set (12 page)

“I heard you yell ‘avalanche
'
,” he said, coming back in. “Nothing's going on out there.”

I looked at him grimly and rubbed my head. “There's a lot more going on out there than you know.”

He crossed his arms and glared at me. “Don't play games with me, Amanda. I know you're angry, but that's no reason to start...”

“I'm not making things up,” I interrupted. “You have to listen to me, Ayres. The game...it's rigged!” He recoiled as though I'd struck him. Before he could recover, I went on. “Your leader—that Baynar guy on board the ship—he appeared to me as a hologram. He waited till I was alone. We're close to winning and he knows you're going to ask to have your brother freed. He offered me a deal. A deal that would free me and my friends and send us back to Earth, and leave you here to rot. The game is rigged, I swear it.”

Ayres said nothing.

“Baynar told me you killed Uncle Mick and that I don't owe you anything. He's trying to turn me against you. I was afraid of what he'd do to me if I refused his deal. He's exposed himself to me. I'm a dead girl walking. I didn't know what to do, so I yelled ‘avalanche' and ran.”

Ayres walked over to his fur and sat down, putting his head into his hands. It worried me, seeing him like this. He appeared in shock and utterly defeated. I tiptoed over and sat down beside him.

“Are you all right? You believe me, don't you?”

He lifted his head and stared me in the eyes. “Yes, I believe you, Amanda. You have no reason to lie to me.”

When he continued to stare at me I flushed. “What?”

“Why didn't you take his deal? He's right, you don't owe me anything.”

I shivered, recalling Baynar's cold stare. “I don't trust him. How could I trust someone who's willing to cheat like that? Besides, I couldn't just leave you here. Your brother is counting on you.”

He smiled at me.

“And it's not like I have anything to rush back to anyhow, except a straitjacket and rubber room, that is. We're gonna win this tournament, Ayres. You and me. Together.” Don't ask me why I was suddenly team Ayres, especially after how he'd treated me. But the thought of his own kind turning on him made me suddenly protective.

Ayres pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head. It was strangely endearing. “I was afraid something like this would happen,” he said.

I stiffened and pulled away. “What do you mean? You thought the game was fixed?”

“There's been some underhanded dealing going on on Calixtus. Warriors talk. Apparently a lot of money has changed hands. I suppose Baynar and his people bet on the wrong man.”

“So what do we do? It's obvious they're going to do everything they can to make sure we don't win.”
Including killing me.

“There's no way Baynar and his cohorts can allow you to live now that you know the truth,” Ayres said, confirming my fears. “We'll have to outsmart them.”

“How?” Our every move was watched. They probably knew what we were going to do even before we did it. Plus, they may be helping the other team. Lissa and Oro were probably the favorites to win. Good for Lissa—at least she may survive this ordeal—but bad for us.

“We resort to plan B.”

“I didn't know you had a plan B,” I said.

He smiled wickedly. “I'm always prepared.”

When he leaned down and started kissing my neck I found I couldn't relax. “What if they come in here now, ray guns blazing?”

“They won't,” he assured me. “They'll rig some sort of accident along the way. The world will want to be watching when we meet our demise. Better for ratings, and it'll appear to have happened spontaneously.”

“Oh.” I leaned my head against him, enjoying the hard muscle beneath my cheek. If this was our last night together I wanted to enjoy it. I closed my eyes and tried to tune out my fears. Ayres' hands worked their way under my shirt and I felt the cool air on my belly as he lifted it. “I'm cold.”

He stood up and stripped off all his clothes, then began pulling at mine. If this was his idea of warming me up he was failing. I curled into a shivering ball until he sat beside me and pulled me into his arms. Warm kisses rained on my face and warm hands stole all over my body—stroking here, caressing there. Gradually my body responded and soon stopped shivering. My breath came out in little pants as Ayres' hand slipped between my thighs. The first time we'd done it had been slow and gentle. The second, frantic and forceful. What would the third time be like? A combination of both seemed ideal.

He laid me back and leaned over to lick and kiss my breasts. He suckled my nipples, one, then the other, making them both stand at attention. All the while, his hand stroked between my legs. I spread my thighs wide and was rewarded for my compliance with a large finger slipped into my pussy. Now he licked a trail from my breasts down to my belly. A second finger slipped inside of me. His movements were slow, drawn out. It would take him forever to put out the fire raging inside of me.

“Ayres,” I cried. Damn him, he was taunting me on purpose. I wanted his cock inside of me...now. Suddenly I felt like such a harlot, but I didn't care. If my life were to end tomorrow, I wanted to die with an ache in my pussy and a smile on my face. I almost forgot my resolve to torment him this time around.

“Yes?” he practically purred.

“Fuck me already.”

“Such language, Amanda. I'm shocked.”

Wiggling around until I got free of him, I pushed at his chest urging him to lie on his back.
Torment me, will you?
I got down to business with his cock, licking the long length of him until I had him gripping the furs. Next I slipped him into my mouth and deep throated as far as I could go, all the while cuddling his ball sack with both hands.
Now who wants it bad?
For several minutes I sucked and teased until he broke out in a sheen of sweat. At last, taking mercy on him, I straddled his body and guided his enormous cock to the opening of my pussy. I slowly sat up, letting him slide inside— controlling the speed at which he advanced. He gripped my hips and I began to ride him like a cowgirl.

“Hang on,” he ground out.

My hands braced against his chest, until I let go and brazenly gripped my breasts, lifting and squeezing them as though an offering. The effect seemed to turn him on even more. His eyes shut. Swiftly he rolled me over onto my back. Now he was the one on top and in control.

“You want me to fuck you?” he demanded.

“Yes!”

His cock pushed inside of me right to the hilt. He thrust over and over until I was in a mindless frenzy. Soon my world exploded and for the first time I screamed my head off. I don't know what came over me in that instant, be it the frantic sex or the threat of death, but my guard slipped. “I love you,” I cried.

Ayres didn't respond. He only increased his pace until he came as well, this time he actually yelled.

Afterward, curled in his arms, just as I began to doze, I could have sworn I heard him whisper, “Love you, too.”

But it was probably a dream.

We got an early start the next morning. The air was freezing but the snow had lightened up. I'd slept restlessly, being worried about what today would bring. The surrounding snowy mountains suddenly seemed much more ominous. I hoped my yelling ‘avalanche' hadn't given Baynar any ideas.

Ayres was ever watchful, appearing even more so today. He wouldn't allow me to trail him by more than a few paces. When one of the viewer bubbles floated past, I was tempted to tell the world about Baynar's offer last night. How would the inhabitants of Calixtus feel knowing their precious game was rigged? When I'd made this suggestion to Ayres he had shrugged it off.

“Won't do any good,” he'd said. “No one would believe you. Besides, who's to say the viewers aren't already getting an edited version of what's happening here?”

He was right. There was no way of knowing.

“How long till we're out of the Cold Land?” I asked, shivering under my fur.

“If we keep up this pace, should be by sundown.”

Hours later we sat by a small fire and cooked more of the Deaodon meat. We ate quickly, leery of an ambush, and continued on our way. It seemed strange that we'd been allowed to come so far. I wondered if perhaps Baynar had another fate in store for us. This was day six. Tonight we'd reach the edge of the Safe Zone and soon the game would be over. Had it already been almost a week? How time flew when you were playing for your life.

Sun peeked over the mountain, reflecting off the snow. My feet were freezing despite my boots, which were made more for warmer weather hiking. I had given up on feeling my hands, which gripped the edges of my fur around my shaking body. Gradually, the farther we traveled the warmer the air became, and tufts of grass poked up through the snow. The closer we got to the Safe Zone, the more my anxiety grew. Every whisper of wind, snap of an overhead branch, or scurry in the snow made my hair stand on end.

Despite all my concerns, I was glad the end was coming—one way or another. All this stress was killing me. If by some miracle we were able to complete the game and actually win, Ayres would have his boon and I'd be free. Back to Earth I'd go. Perhaps I'd get them to beam me somewhere safe where nobody knew who I was. I'd always wanted to see England. Maybe I could get Ayres to toss in some money as well. I deserved some compensation for all my troubles. Returning to Earth, and what would happen to me afterward, hadn't entered much into my thoughts. Ayres had been such an overwhelming presence in my life. I didn't know what I'd do once he was gone.

Gone.

A pang gripped my belly at the thought. For years he'd tormented me; lovingly, teasingly, and terrifyingly. He'd been my constant companion for so long I wasn't sure how to function without him. I put a hand to my head, thinking about the implant he'd hidden there to keep tabs on me. Would it remain? Could he use it to find me again...if he even wanted to? Or would he forget me easily and slide back into his life, glad to have all this trouble behind him? Welcome heat flushed over me when I remembered the feel of his hands on my body. Each touch of his lips on mine made me quiver in anticipation. And when we joined as one, I felt truly complete. Love, or lust, the reality of him was far better than any fantasy I'd had.

Ayres froze suddenly and I walked into his back. “What the h—” Rudely, I broke from my rumination.

“Shhh!” he hissed.

“Why, what's wrong?” I whispered, staring all around expecting the worst. As usual his supersonic hearing picked up sounds long before I did. Ayres swung off his scythe and gestured at me to take cover behind an outcropping of rock. We'd traveled for hours and now that the sun was setting the snowy landscape had slowly tapered off into a wave of green fields. Once I was hidden, I heard the frantic prodding steps coming from behind us.

A figure emerged, snow covered and small. Black curls poked out from the layer of white on her head.
Lissa!
She ran so blindly she almost ran into Ayres as I had. His hand came up before she made contact and sent her reeling onto her backside. She sat there stunned, but then scrambled to get up. Ayres angled his scythe at her.

“Do not,” he said.

Being a lone female, probably unarmed, I didn't think Ayres would harm her. He'd been nice enough to
what's her name
. I scanned the area for Oro, yet saw nothing. Surprising, considering they were the couple voted most likely to succeed. A tinge of hope entered my breast. If Oro was dead, or even wounded, and could not complete the game, Baynar would have no choice but to let us win.

I waited until Ayres gave the ‘all-clear' before I came out. When I would have bent down to Lissa, Ayres kept me at his side.

“Lissa, what's wrong? You look terrified,” I said. “Where's Oro?”

“Yes, where is he?” Ayres asked coldly.

“G-gone.”

“What do you mean,
gone
?” I asked, trying to keep the glee from my voice.

“There was...an accident. In the mountains,” Lissa said, her voice choked with sobs. Maybe Baynar hijacked the wrong couple? Wouldn't he be pissed!

“What should we do?” I asked Ayres. Lissa was helpless and broken. She'd probably finally figured out she wasn't in La La Land. We couldn't just leave her here. Ayres looked out across the field. It was smooth as a golf course. Off in the distance, just visible in the dusky landscape, was a large green hill. Halfway up appeared to be a sandy area, or maybe the grass was just dead, but in the center of that was a tall white flagpole. The finish line, I supposed. We were so close...

Lissa's sobbing had no effect on Ayres. He stood stone cold, his gaze alternating from her to the white flag pole. “We can't leave her,” I said.

“We will soon have no choice.”

I knew he meant when the game was over. I wondered if it was possible for me to ask to have her returned to Earth along with Danny and Jack? Although, the rules of the game must be followed—at least in our case—losers had to remain. All of this was so unfair. We hadn't asked for any of this, and yet, for the sake of a stupid game, our lives were irrevocably changed. I guess my miserable face made Ayres soften a bit.

“She may continue on with us for a while,” he said.

I reached out to pull Lissa to her feet. “Come with us.”

Her shoulders slumped, but she allowed me to guide her along, trailing Ayres as he took up the lead. We'd traveled far and I was exhausted. I could see Lissa was in no condition to keep going, either.

“As soon as I find a place suitable, we'll rest for the night,” Ayres said. There wasn't much need to hurry now, considering we were the only team remaining. Whether Baynar liked it or not, he'd have to declare us the victors tomorrow.