“The winner takes her,” a deep voice hissed from above. “I want fighting in fours.

Clear the area and pick the fighters.”

Ariel forced her eyes to remain open. She didn’t want to look but she had to. The growling had stopped. She saw the men moving back into the shadows. She couldn’t see anything beyond the well-lit area in front of her. She took deep breaths to try to calm down. These animalistic men were going to fight over her.

They looked savage. Would the winner eat her? Was she dinner? She didn’t know what would be worse, the idea that they were fighting over her to eat or to have sex with her.

Four men walked out of the shadows. She stared at them. They didn’t look at her.

They looked up.

“Begin,” the male voice demanded from above.

The men split into pairs to attack each other. They used fists. They kicked out. The sounds of flesh hitting flesh were loud. She heard growling and grunts as blows landed.

Two men went down. The remaining two turned on each other. One of the men did a roundhouse move that threw the other man out of the lit area. He didn’t return. The last man standing walked to the side of the fighting area. He waited, crossing his arms over his chest.

Four more men came out. It began again. Ariel flinched at the brutality of it. These men were not messing around. Blood splattered on the floor. She heard one man’s arm break. It was that loud. The man roared as he went down holding his arm. Someone came from the shadows to drag him away. The man who’d won that match waited for the other two to finish. When one remained the two attacked each other.

Ariel shut her eyes. She didn’t want to watch anymore. The sounds of fighting continued. It was a brutal sound. Finally silence filled her ears. Her eyes opened from curiosity. Large, muscular men were waiting on the sideline. Some of them were smeared with blood. A few of the men eyed the others and backed away into the darkness to bow out of fighting. Ariel counted the remaining men who stood there waiting to fight.

“Begin,” the voice ordered from above.

All sixteen ended up in the lit area. They were fighting in groups together. Roars and growls erupted as they fought. The injured were dragged away into the shadows. It went down to three males. Two of them teamed together to attack the biggest one.

Ariel studied the lone man being attacked by the other two. He was a huge son of a bitch. He was bigger than his opponents by a few inches and he looked thicker in the arms and shoulders. He fought with amazing speed as he dodged fists and feet. He punched one man in the face. Ariel heard something crack. The man he hit went staggering back, collapsing on the floor. She saw blood on the fallen man’s face. He whimpered and rolled to his side to hold his face with both hands. He didn’t get up.

Her eyes flew to the last two men fighting. The larger one swung out a foot to hit the other man in the chest. The man gasped as he grabbed at his ribs. He dropped to his knees while blood dripped out of his mouth. He looked down before he crashed facedown on the floor. The lone man stood there growling. He threw his head back roaring out into the cavern. Ariel wished she could cover her ears so the terrifying noise could be muffled. The man’s roar cut off as he turned around to glare up at the bluish aliens.

“She’s yours, Ral,” the alien above her hissed. “Release her to him.” Ariel felt terror as the man named Ral moved toward the platform. She heard someone close to her move. From the darkness, one of the bluish men in a black uniform appeared behind her. He gripped her wrist, freeing it with a jerk, and reached for her other one to free it too.

Blood rushed back into her arms as she lowered them to her sides. Ariel experienced that pins-and-needles sensation. She gasped as the bluish man gripped her arms firmly. He shoved her forward until she found herself staring up a good foot and some inches into the face of the man who’d won her. He had to be six and a half feet tall to her five foot three.

She recognized him instantly from his eyes. Those bright electric blue eyes looked like they glowed. He was breathing hard. She saw sharp white teeth peeking through his wide full lips. His flattened nose twitched and a soft growl came from his throat. His hands were large and warm as he gripped her hips. He tugged her from the platform, turning her toward the darkness of the cavern. He snarled.

Ariel’s knees started to buckle. She would have crashed to the rock floor if the man’s large hands weren’t gripping her hard enough to hold her up. He spun her around and stared down at her.

“Mine,” he growled.

Ariel opened her mouth but nothing came out. The man lifted her so they were face-to-face. She automatically put her hands on his chest so her upper body didn’t slam into his. Her hands were pale compared to his dark brown skin. She touched hard muscles covered by hot flesh. She stared into his eyes. He had long, thick black eyelashes that matched his thick black mane of hair. His skin was hotter than hers by far.

“Mine,” he growled softly at her.

Ariel gasped when tossed her over his shoulder. A thickly muscled arm trapped her legs against his chest while a firm hand gripped her ass, holding her in place. He stormed away from the platform into the darkness with her. Ariel couldn’t see a thing.

She shut her eyes and fought the terror she was feeling. What would he do to her?

Chapter Two

Ariel could smell him. He didn’t smell bad. He actually smelled good considering he’d just been fighting. She realized he had skin under the hair that fell to his waist. At first glance she’d thought they just had hairy backs but the hair grew from their heads.

It was softer to the touch than it looked.

She heard low growls as he walked away quickly with her. She wished it weren’t so dark so she could see. Faint light started to penetrate as he walked so she could make out rough walls. The light grew brighter until she could make out the floor. It was an uneven stone, not smooth like the hallways she’d seen above.

“You won,” a voice growled softly. “Who will you give this one to, Ral?” Ral stopped walking. “She is mine.”

There was a pause. “But you always give away what you win. I have been waiting the longest.”

“Not her,” Ral growled. “This one is mine.”