Acting Out Read Online Free PDF Page B

and flex to warm up his muscles. “You are lucky that you are not
in need of a medi-unit yourself. I had to use all my powers of persuasion to
keep Katsuko from coming here herself. She was most upset on behalf of her
friend after receiving a transmission from her this eve. I only managed to
convince her to allow me to come in her stead.”
    “Then consider me in your debt, warrior, for I have seen the
damage that your Mahoney can inflict on unsuspecting males and it would only
undermine my throne further to be bested by your female. Come take her place,
then, Mikael, and let us take our frustrations out on one another,” the king
beckoned his warrior.
    “With pleasure,” the captain growled as he charged at the
shorter man.
    The sound of their flesh impacting echoed in the large room
like a sonic boom when their bodies collided. Mikael got in a good punch to
Korian’s gut and the king grinned as he doubled over in pain even as he reached
down to grab the taller man’s foot and heaved him backward until he lost his
balance and crashed to the floor. Korian followed him down and rained hard
blows on the captain’s face until Mikael cracked him in the temple with a hard
elbow and sent him sprawling.
    Mikael gained his feet and casually wiped away the trail of
blood trickling from his swollen nose. “Perhaps I have knocked some sense into
you, Korian, for I mean to know why Jessica MacGregor contacted my lifemate
with angry tears streaming down her face.”
    Korian felt the warrior’s words like a blow to his face. He
scrambled to his feet as the bigger man stalked him and looked for an opening
for another attack. “It was not my intention to upset her, Mikael. It was only
a misunderstanding,” he tried to explain.
    Mikael swung for his face and Korian just barely managed to
dodge the blow and felt the force of his swing in the air that blew his hair
back from his sweaty face. “Misunderstanding? What part of your conversation
did she misunderstand? Was it the part where you threatened the Warrior Challenge
on any warrior that so much as touched her, or the part where you led her into
believing you wished to join your body with hers moments before rejecting her
altogether?” he snarled as he finally landed a blow to the king’s nose.
    Korian heard the crunch of cartilage and his head snapped
back. Even as the pain exploded behind his eyes, he embraced it. He knew he
deserved every bit of the punishment that Mikael could dish out, but he still
charged forward and tackled the other man to the ground and delivered a
punishing fist into his kidney. The fight continued in earnest as the two
warriors traded blows, rolling around on the springy flooring and escaping
chokeholds until they were both dripping with sweat and blood.
    Finally, Korian held up his hand and called, “I yield, Mikael.”
    Mikael immediately lowered his fists and relaxed the tension
in his body. Limping over to the coolant case, he extracted two containers of zala water and passed one to his liege. Korian accepted the offering with good
grace and slid down the wall until his bottom was flush with the floor and his
friend followed suit.
    As if they hadn’t just spent the better part of the last
hour fighting, Korian picked up on their conversation where it left off. “I
didn’t mean for that to happen, Mikael, I swear it to you. I am still not sure
what came over me. She was just standing there in my garden, her hair floating
on the breeze like living flame, and blithely informing me that she wished to
spend time alone with her warriors. The thought of Zandar Nic’Omar with
his hands all over her drove me to madness. And then for her to offer herself
to me instead? I thought I had died and gone to the stars.”
    Mikael swished the water around in his mouth and swallowed
before answering. “I do not see the problem here, my king. I would have given
anything for Katsuko to fall into my bed so easily. Why do you hold yourself
back from taking what