Torch gave her a wink as he lifted the microphone to speak into it. “Good evening, everyone. I know you are all looking forward to watching this next fight. I am too. So I won’t keep you too long.”
He walked around the cage drawing the crowd's attention to him. He paused right in front of Isis. She raised her eyebrow at him. He winked at her.
“I want to formally ask Isis here to go out on a date with me." Isis gasped and the crowd awed. Torch continued.
“Normally this is done a little less publically, but because our natures are so different, Isis with try to get out of it." The crowd was eating up everything and even booed that Isia would do such a thing. Isis glared at him but that did not deter him one bit.
“Also, I hear she is dating another male. This news has left me feeling quite brokenhearted." The crowd awed in sympathy.
“But I am persistent. I won’t stop asking her out until she says yes. So what do you say, Isis. Will you go out with me?” Torch put the microphone right up to her mouth.
Isis felt the heat rise to her face. She glared at him. She was furious he would put her on the spot like this. She wanted to tell him to take a damn hike. But the crowd was already chanting for her to say yes. What was she supposed to do?
“Say yes…say yes…say yes," the crowd kept repeating over and over. She put her hands over her face for a moment to collect herself.
“What do you say, Isis?” Torch asked again.
“Fine, yes! I’ll go out with you." She looked up at him defiantly. She would make him regret ever pulling a stunt like this on her. He’ll regret ever asking her out. She’ll make him pay.
Torch wasn’t done though. He looked around at the crowd. “We should seal this with a kiss. Don’t you all think so?”
“Hell no!" Isis shook her head. But the crowd was now chanting. “Kiss him…kiss him…kiss him.”
“I hate you for this!" she whispered to him low enough the crowd couldn’t hear.
Torch reached for her, pulling her to him, and lowered his lips to hers. At first she kept her lips shut tight. But he felt so good against her. He was persistent about getting inside her mouth. She would give him that. Surprising herself, she found that she longed to let him in, to taste him. Just a little taste. What could it hurt?
She parted her lips and he wasted no time entering. His tongue dueled with hers. She felt her pulse quicken and her whole body was warming. She raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck, which brought her body closer against him. She forgot everything around her except for the feel of his lips and tongue.
She groaned in protest when he pulled her away from him. The sounds around them brought her in focus. The crowd had erupted into applause.
Oh shit!
What had she done?
Torch winked at her again as he spoke into the microphone. “It’s a done deal. I will let you get back to the fight." He tossed the microphone to the side as he climbed out of the cage.
Isis was embarrassed, angry, and more turned on than she had ever been her entire life.
“That was a pathetic ploy from the GCFA. Made me want to puke," the Slurchan said as she walked closer to Isis.
The bell rung to start the round. Isis turned loose her barely contained anger and unleashed her icy fury on the Slurchan. The slug didn’t stand a chance.
Chapter Eight
Isis slammed the door to her suite hard.
That damn Voltan halfsie!
How dare he publicly ask her out? He knew she wouldn’t be able to say no. That’s why he did it. He used the crowd’s sympathy toward his so called broken heart to force her to say yes. Otherwise she wouldn’t have. Nope.
“Fucker!”
Her phone ringing broke through her haze of anger. “Hello?" she answered angrily.
“Hello, Isis.”
“Nigel?" Oh God, not him, not now. How was she supposed to deal with Torch and Nigel? This night was just getting better and better.
“Yes. I wanted to call and talk to you about your fight this evening.”
She slumped down on the couch. “You saw it didn’t you?”
“Yes, in fact the hotel bar I am currently occupying a table in has it replaying over and over. The news stations are calling it the GCFA’s Star Crossed Lovers. The waitress staff are taking bets on how long the romance will last.”
“Shit. I am so sorry. I had no idea he was going to do something like that.” She felt guilty.
“It’s not your fault. He put you on the spot. He made sure you couldn’t say no to him. I have to give him credit for originality. He wins that round.”
“You’re not mad?” Isis wasn’t sure she liked the way Nigel said
he wins that round
.
“I am furious with Torch. But not with you, never. His theatrics were over the top and some of it was acting. But the kiss…that wasn’t fake.”
She felt the heat rising to her face again. She needed a glass of water badly. “I…have no excuse.”
There was a pause. “You’re attracted to him.”
“I find you attractive as well." She tried to divert answering that loaded question.
“My dear sweet Isis, I have kissed you twice. Neither of them were like that. That kiss spoke of something more, something explosive.”
“Are you giving up on me?” Isis wasn’t sure she could take something explosive. Nigel was much more her speed.
“Oh no. Torch threw down a challenge and I never back down from a challenge,” Nigel told her.
“Wait a second, I’m not some kind of prize for you two to compete for." She was getting fed up with both of them.
“I know that and so does Torch. But when males, especially halfsies who’ve been denied things most of their lives, wants something someone else wants, they tend to make it a bit of a competition. It will be interesting to see what he tries to come up with next. I will need to counteract that in some way,” he said it like he was thinking strategy while talking to her.
“You know what, Nigel, I have to go." She didn’t wait for him to say goodbye. She slammed the phone down.
Men!
She might have to go back to being dateless. This was just too much.
Her phone started ringing again but she refused to answer it. Then her doorbell rang. She stomped over and opened it up angrily. “What?”
Zara stood on the other side and raised her eyebrow. “I am to make sure you attend the after party this evening.”
“I’m not going!" Isis folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.
“You signed a GCFA contract to make appearances at the after party when it is a fight you have participated in. Unless you have a pressing medical or family need to excuse you from your contractual agreement, you have to go for at least a few minutes for pictures.”
Damn that contract
! She sighed. “Fine, I will go. Next time I am paying closer attention to the damn obligation section!" She started to come out into the hallway but Zara stopped her.
“You need to shower and change. You have Slurchan goo all over you.” Zara sniffed her and made a face.
“Fine, I’ll be down in about twenty minutes." Isis shut the door on Zara. She was probably going to pay during practice for her rude behavior toward the Amazon. But she was pissed off. Torch better not be there. She might kick the shit out of him. That thought put a smile on her face. That’s exactly what she should do.
In the cold shower she couldn’t stop replaying the whole Torch act in the cage. If she was an outsider looking in, they might consider it romantic. She found it a little flattering that he would do all that for her. But only just a little. She was still livid he would put her in a position like that, leaving her with so few choices. She swore never to let anyone else control her when she left Isia. She was determined to keep that promise to herself.
*****
Torch was frowning. He was standing near the buffet table watching the door to the banquet room. But Isis hadn’t showed up yet. She was supposed to make an appearance. He was worried he had taken it too far, pushed her too far.
“Dance with us, Torch." Two human females on either side of him were trying to drag him onto the dance floor. He didn’t want to dance with them. They were both gorgeous, and well built, but they didn’t interest him. He tried to pull free but they had a tight grip on him. He couldn’t pull harder for fear he might hurt one of them. So he ended up on the dance floor with two females gyrating their bodies around him. He looked up just was Isis walked in. His breath caught.
Isis was wearing red leather pants and a matching red leather halter-top. Her outfit was complete with three-inch heel boots. She was hot. He saw her catch sight of him with the two females running their hands over him and her expression changed from shock, to hurt, to pissed off. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped by about ten degrees.
Oh hell.
“Excuse me, ladies, my date is here." Torch was finally able to break free. He headed straight for Isis who looked like she was about to leave. He grabbed her arm and led her to the dance floor. He almost had to drag her there because she wasn’t picking up her feet.
“You look beautiful,” Torch told her, looking her up and down with appreciation.
“You look like a cheating bastard.” She glared at him. He couldn’t wait twenty minutes for her before he was already hitting on other females.
“How can I be cheating when we haven’t even gone on our first date together yet?” he asked.
Damn, he had her there.
“Go on back to your fan club, Torch, and leave me alone.”
“I’m not with them. I was waiting for you." Torch pulled her into his arms and began dancing with her.
She snorted. “You didn’t look like you were waiting.”
“Baby, I only have eyes for you,” he said softly near her ear.
Part of her leapt for joy to have someone say something like that. He sounded practiced at saying it. “Do these lines work on other females?”
“They’re good lines." He winked, making her growl at him. He just chuckled.
Zen danced by them with his mate, Shawna, in his arms. He leaned over and tried to offer help. “He does need new material. Try this one…
No one holds a candle to your beauty.
”
Hammer danced by on the other side of them with his mate. “If that doesn’t work, you can try my favorite;
Did it hurt…when you fell from the stars?
" His mate giggled as they danced off.
Torch growled as he glared at his friends. “I don’t need any help from you guys!”
Isis couldn’t help herself. She giggled which turned into a full laugh. Torch looked down at her and joined in the laughing. He pulled her even closer. “I had no idea my asking you out would entitle all of the GCFA to participate in our courtship.”
She smiled up at him. “That will teach you to do something so publicly. It’s your punishment." She was still frustrated, but now her anger had ebbed some. He did seem to genuinely want to go out with her. It was flattering.
He looked directly in her eyes. “I really wasn’t with those other females. The truth is, I haven’t been able to think of anyone but you for a while now. It just took seeing another male make a move on you that finally made me act on my feelings.”
She looked away. She believed him. It was kind of hot how he seemed to want her. By the feel of what was pressing behind his pants against her stomach, he wanted her a hell of a lot. She liked that.
“I don’t have a problem with you…when you are not being an ass. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better. But there is Nigel. I am supposed to be dating him. I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“Are you in love with Nigel?” Torch looked at her worriedly.
“No.” Isis shook her head. “I was just getting to know him.”
“Has he told you that he is in love with you?” Torch held his breath.
“No. But we have only went out on one date so far.” Where was he going with this?
“Then your feelings aren’t involved yet, and therefore, his feeling won’t be hurt.”
She was having a hard time arguing with his logic. She was about to say something else when the music stopped and a female GCFA representative used a microphone to make an announcement.
*****
“Hello, everyone, on behalf of the GCFA we want to welcome you. Tonight marks a special moment that will not soon be forgotten. Two of our own have made their intentions for one another open and clear." The female looked their way. Oh great, more publicity.
“Have you made your first date plans? The GCFA would like to pay to take you guys anywhere you would like.”
Isis cleared her throat. “We haven’t planned…”
Torch interrupted her. “We will have our first date tomorrow evening. Unfortunately, we won’t be announcing where we are going because we want our privacy." Isis looked up at him in shock.
There was flashes as reporters were taking their picture. Isis had to quickly school her expression and smile up at him.
The female rep lifted her glass. “Torch and Isis, we raise our glasses to your new relationship, may it blossom and grow, and may there be a mating sometime in your futures.” Isis was floored.
A mating?
Everyone raised their glasses at the toast. Once the toast was over people went back to enjoying the party, but Isis could still feel eyes glancing her way and heard whispers throughout the room. She was the focus of this attention and she didn’t like it. Isis felt a little dizzy.
“I need to leave," she whispered to Torch.
Torch guided her across the room and out of the banquet doors. “Let me walk you back to your suite." She just nodded and followed him to the elevators. He kept her close to him until the elevator doors closed. “Are you okay?”
“I just…don’t like to be the focus of so much attention,” she admitted.
“Then you picked the wrong job, honey." He pulled her tight against him and rubbed circles on her back.
She relaxed at his touch. They got out on Isis’s floor and walked to her suite. She opened the door and paused looking up at him. She expected him to swoop down and kiss her, forcing his tongue into her mouth, maybe try to get to second base. But he didn’t. All he did was stare into her eyes, lean forward so their breaths mingled. They barely touched but she felt like it went straight to her soul.