All Novel XO
36
Jack laughed then held up his hands. “It’s just the arena. Each of these has a function but the arena is kept simple for a very good reason. This is an arm wrestling table.”
Jack took his tuxedo jacket off and with a smile he put it around SennLann’s shoulders as she looked just a little chilly. Her eyes flared once more and he felt the heat in their gaze.
The Prince’s ears perked up with the word ‘wrestling’ as Jack had expected. “Do as I do,” Jack said as he stood on one side of the table. He took a grip on the dowel with his left hand and placed his right elbow on the square pad on the table, his arm pointed up and hand ready to clasp his opponent’s hand.
FennLann’s face split into a grin as he caught on to how this worked.
“OK, just to get started here are a few simple rules. Your left hand must remain on the dowel. Your right elbow has to remain on the pad at all times. You cannot touch your hand with your body during the match. Push your opponents arm down to touch the touch pad to win. Matches begin when the referee says go. Oh! And no claws!” Jack added as he realized the Phem Kalos were armed with deadly retractable finger hooks.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
He showed FennLann how to grip palm to palm then they were ready. A crowd was gathering but they ignored it.
“Jack, you explained to me earlier that these battles were used to win fortunes. Care to place a wager on this match?” FennLann smiled craftily. Jack had been expecting that.
“It’s our first match. We don’t know how compatible our musculature is. Maybe we should wait for our second match,” Jack reasoned.
“But the first match is the one with the most potential. It must be the first match!” he said excitedly.
Jack grinned at his enthusiasm. “Fine! What did you have in mind?”
“If I win I want this table and more lessons on winning techniques! Should you pull off a miracle and defeat me you may have this amulet.” FennLann pulled a necklace from his shirt and Jack saw an amulet on it with some kind of family crest. Jack had already planned on giving the table to the young warrior so it wasn’t a loss to him but he was uneasy about taking a family heirloom. He couldn’t throw the match.
Jack didn’t see SennLann go still when her cousin offered him the amulet.
“Well… Human?” FennLann grinned. Jack nodded.
Jack explained how to referee the match to Aaros who then put her hand on top of their tight grip. On ‘Go’ she lifted her hand and jumped back. Jack immediately went on the defensive as the Prince surged forward. Jack grimaced and stared into the smiling eyes of the Prince.
Jack detected the Prince was pushing in pulses, maybe it was technique or maybe it was how Phem Kalos muscles worked, in bursts. Jack built up his energy and waited for a trough in the pulses from the Prince’s arm. With a grunt he attacked and the Prince snorted as his arm was pushed back a little. Jack built up once more and surged. They were back to their starting position. The smile was gone from the Prince’s eye. A look of determination replaced it and he struggled to find Jack’s technique. Jack poured on the energy and roared as he pushed FennLann’s arm closer and closer to the touch pad. Then it was down. Aaros tapped the table to indicate a win. The crowd roared. FennLann smiled and shook Jack’s hand.
“You are a worthy opponent!” the Prince said. He walked around the table and took the necklace from his neck and placed it over Jack’s head. He then surprised Jack by pulling him into a tight hug. “Take good care of her Jack. She is precious to me!” FennLann whispered into Jack’s ear.
FennHark and FennDurr roughly pushed through the crowd eliciting shouts of outrage from the Altarian guests.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” FennHark raged.
“I have completed the Phem Kalos bonding ceremony. Jack Danner has shared his food, drink and his warmth with the Princess. Now he has defeated her guardian in combat. She is his. It is Law.”
“WHAT?” Jack and Aaros yelled. The nearby guests also gasped in shock and a buzz spread back through the gathered crowd.
“Impudent pup! You meddle with things you have no experience or right to deal with,” FennDurr growled at the Prince.
“Better she lives on Altaria with an honorable being than die a puppet in your bid to start a new war between our peoples,” the Prince growled back.
At the look of shock on the Councillor’s faces FennLann dropped the overeager warrior act and a look of cold cunning slipped onto his features. “I’ve been aware of your plotting since the outset but I didn’t know how you planned on doing it. Bringing one of our most precious resources to Altaria threw me off track as the thought of harming a female was so far outside of my ability to conceive. When Jack prevented SennLann’s poisoning it was the final push for my mind to accept how monstrous my uncles had become. How thirsty you are for the blood of a war that no one wants. No one but you ancient fossils.”
FennDurr roared and rushed at FennLann. FennHark went for SennLann thinking he could still salvage their bid to start a war if the Princess was killed on the enemy’s world.
Jack plowed into him from the side knocking him away from SennLann and the two rolled onto the floor. They grappled and FennHark rolled onto his back with Jack on his chest. He had his left arm around Jack’s chest with his claws dug into his shoulder. His right hand had a knife and he was trying to pull his arm down to drive it into Jack’s chest. Jack had a grip on the arm but he was weakening.
Jack desperately tried to headbutt FennHark but instead heard a sickening wet thunk as the point of his horn drove through the Councillor’s eye into his brain. FennHark stiffened and twitched then went slack. Jack pulled free and shook himself.
He looked to where FennDurr was beating FennLann against the balcony edge. The next moment Jack was charging full out. At the last moment FennLann saw Jack and dropped himself to the floor. FennDurr spun in place. Jack crashed into the big warrior’s chest who flew backwards and up. His legs caught the balcony edge but his heavy torso pulled him over the top. FennLann grappled Jack’s legs to keep him from following.
Seconds later there was a loud crash as FennDurr’s body landed atop a press truck.
Jack sank to his butt panting and shaking with reaction. He leaned back against the wall and looked over at FennLann who was battered, bruised, and bleeding but alive and smiling back at Jack. “You are a very worthy opponent but a better friend I think!”
Jack smiled then a black furred Phem Kalos female was on his lap clinging to him. She grabbed his face and kissed him. Her clever tongue darted into his mouth and tangled with his and his need exploded. Rational thought washed away as he kissed her deeply and ran his hands over her sleek form. She purred as his hands touched her and she dragged him to the floor. She ground herself against him and he felt like he might pass out from how good that felt. He felt his cock pulled free of his pants then the indescribable bliss of it slipping into the hot velvet depths of a female. SennLann rode him hard and fast, undulating her body like a whip as she panted and moaned against his neck. Jack was so over primed he didn’t last long but neither did she. He erupted into her and the need broke. That pressure, the unending ache, was gone. He felt a satisfaction like he’d never had before. His mind cleared and he floated on the bliss.
Then hands were pulling them apart. That was WRONG! He NEEDED her! His eyes snapped open and he looked at the tragic expression on Aaros’ face.
“I’m so sorry Jack! She got to you before we could stop her. She was overcome with emotion. Oh Jack. I’m so sorry!” Aaros cried.
Then reality reared its ugly head and kicked him in the teeth. The Challenge. The Abstinence Clause. Banishment. He sat up and saw SennLann was being held back by her cousin who looked like he was in a lot of pain. Jack noticed he was still showing so he tucked himself back into his pants. He stood up and wobbled but hands steadied him.
“Jack. She must go with you. It is our way,” the Prince said quietly.
Jack looked into her desperate gold eyes and felt his heart being pulled in multiple directions. He nodded and held out his arm. She was instantly against him and he felt the rumble of her purr.
He looked at Aaros. “How does this work? Am I kicked off the planet immediately? Can I go home and pack?”
“We go back to your apartment and get some rest. Tomorrow at 10AM we will meet your combatant and I will notify him that you have defaulted. You will then be taken to the Gate and sent away. You take nothing with you but the clothes on your back.”
“Ah. OK. Well, do you suppose I might be welcome on Phem Kalos?” Jack asked the Prince.
“You are welcome in my heart but as you have killed a Councillor…” The Prince was looking at FennHark but paused to look over the balcony edge to see FennDurr impaled on some jagged metal below, quite dead. “… two Councillors, you would not be welcome on the planet. Also, SennLann must never again set foot on Phem Kalos soil. Were she to return she would be executed for having sex outside our species. These are both ancient and stupid laws I am powerless to change.”
“Ah. Well. That’s going to make my choice of destination more difficult. I’m not exactly welcome on Earth either,” he sighed. “I’ll think about it tomorrow. Let’s go home.”
Jack woke with the strangest sensation. A tickling, scratching sensation on his balls and his cock was standing to attention as was its normal morning routine. He looked to his right and saw Aaros’ back as she slept on her side of the bed.
He carefully lifted the sheets and he saw golden eyes looking up at him. He gestured for SennLann to climb up and she did, eyes on his, dragging her body slowly up his, rubbing against his cock the entire way. He sucked in his breath as his eyes closed with the wonderful sensation. Then he felt her lips on his and her tongue darted into his mouth. He sucked on it and she moaned and squirmed against his body. God! She moved like she had no bones!