9. Ohara

If I didn't get her body out of sight immediately, I was at risk of tearing what remained of her negligee off and completing what Druin had failed.

Her body was gorgeous. She wasn't stick thin like many of the Prizes I'd seen over the years. She was round and voluptuous, with large breasts and curvy hips.

I'd been so focused on her injuries that I hadn't noticed her for the beauty she was… And my cock hardened immediately.

For ten years, I had kept my distance from the Prize Pool.

For ten years, I had seen the Prizes following in the wake of their Champions.

For ten years, I had refused to go anywhere near the fighting pits that allowed sole entry to the Pool.

And now, I saw all that I had been missing.

The sight of her curves and the softness of her skin was intoxicating. And there, the scent of her sex, fresh like the petals of wild kliac berries after an ice-cold squall.

Suddenly, I was no longer at Ikmal prison. I was a million miles away, back home on my parents' homestead before the Troubles had begun and I'd been forced to steal what little food I could find.

My hunger and my desire were overpowering and I needed to get away from her as quickly as possible. I turned to my books where I often found peace from this metal hell. The books alone could distract my mind from the overpowering throb of desire.

But now, with Lily in my room — naked — I was at risk of losing all control.

Once the shower's water began to flow, I slumped in my chair, pressing my face to the desktop. Just seven more days, I told myself. Just seven more days and I could find a willing mate who wanted to be with me.

I'd already gotten myself in trouble with the likes of Druin and could have extended the length of my stay in this hellhole an extra month or longer for fighting…

And now I risked breaking my own code of conduct and self-promises by bedding this female.

She wasn't even truly mine. I hadn't defeated the other fighters in the pits. Druin had.

I felt the anger rising into my chest again at the sight of him standing over her, belt in hand, welts already decorating her skin…

And I'd lost it.

But I wouldn't lose it again.

I would control myself.

I sat up.

Yes.

I could do that.

I had done it for ten years, what was so difficult about doing the same for just ten more minutes?

Because a succulent Prize has never been so close before.

Because she was the finest Prize I have seen up close in all my years here.

Because I am desperate for her, and nothing soothed the torrent of adrenaline that coursed through the body after a successful bout than the warmth of a willing female.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and got up and paced back and forth. The bed loomed large even though it was a single-person cot barely even big enough for me. I took deep, calming breaths and glanced toward the bathroom.

Lily had left the door open a crack…

On purpose?

I ran my hands through my hair and continued pacing. The slap of the water as it rolled off her naked body pounded the sterile white tiles beneath her bare feet.

I needed something to distract me, to take my mind off her. The books had failed and I knew all the magazine articles by heart.

Then maybe just a taste…?

It wouldn't hurt just to peek a little at her naked body, would it?

I mean, so long as I only looked and didn't touch?

That seemed reasonable enough.

I crept toward the door at an angle away from the crack in case she looked out through it and saw me. She might finish her shower any moment, anyway, I told myself. But that water kept on thundering on the tile, and I slowly bent down and peered through the crack at her.

My mouth turned dry and my cock hardened like it was made of concrete. The water made long strokes around the curves of her body, puddling at her feet. She ran her hands over herself, lathering up with my plain soap and rubbing it into her skin.

It was too good.

It did not have the effect I had hoped it would.

Instead of sating my desires, it inflamed them.

Now I'd had a taste, I wanted more… and more… and more… until I consumed every part of her.

I would—

"Hello? Excuse me?" Lily said, calling out.

I shoved myself back from the door and slammed my head into the overhead shelf. A dozen magazines fluttered like the wings of an adormat swarm to the floor.

I hissed through my teeth and bent down to pick them up. Had she seen me? Had she seen me acting like a total ghizzart, ogling her while she was naked in the shower?

Shame rushed through my system and my scales shivered at the disgrace.

"Uh, yeah?" I called back to her.

"Do you have a shirt or dress I can wear?" Then she grumbled under her breath: "What am I talking about, a dress? Of course you don't have any dresses!"

"A shirt?"

"I mean, something else for me to wear. My… other clothes are torn."

That was a relief! I thought. She hadn't seen me staring at her.

"Yes, sure," I said. "I'll get you one."

She turned back into the hot healing spray of the shower and let it wash over her, humming a tune I didn't know the name of.

I moved to the cabinet and chose a shirt at random… then thought better of it. The white fabric was too thin and the other inmates would ogle her the same way I had while she was in the shower. I chose a black one instead and return to the bathroom.

"I'll hang it on the handle outside," I said.

"Thanks. Great."

She turned the water off and I hurried back from the door and sat back in my chair, my leg tapping a tattoo on the hard floor.

I had to get her out of my room.

Fast.

I wasn't sure I could last much longer.