Cage Match Read Online Free PDF

continued to speak in that quiet, soothing voice that made Jabez
    even angrier.
    “No,” he snapped, refusing both the food and the false compassion. He was here
    for one reason only: to provide amusement for a bored, jaded playboy. To believe
    anything else was to be a fool.

    Cage Match

    17
    “All right then. I‟ll leave you alone for a while so you can go back to sleep. There‟s
    a com by the bedside. If you need anything, just call.”
    Jabez already had his eyes closed. He listened to the soft pad of footsteps crossing
    the room and the door closing quietly. Had Andreas locked it behind him? He didn‟t
    care enough to climb out of bed and find out. For now, he‟d remain in this gilded cage
    and gather his strength until he could fly again.

    18
    Bonnie Dee
    Chapter Three

    Andreas‟s stomach had been upset since the moment he‟d made his impulsive
    decision to buy Jabez and take him home. When he‟d seen the man sprawled on the
    bloodstained sand of the arena, a half-dead victor, he‟d been seized with the desire to
    save him. The vague plan that he‟d entertained since the previous evening to hire him
    as a servant became concrete. Leaving the stands, he‟d gone in search of management to
    find out if “his” gladiator was alive or dead. Since he‟d come to the fights without
    Timon or any of his other friends, there was no one to sway him to reason, so his
    overwhelming need to save this man took over.
    Money and the Fortias name got Andreas exactly what he wanted, as they always
    did, but now that he had the rough warrior sleeping in his spare bedroom, he was a
    little terrified by his rash decision. Uncaged, the man could murder him, steal whatever
    he could grab, and run away.
    On the other hand, he appeared to be as worn and weak as a sick puppy. It wasn‟t
    likely he‟d try to go anywhere soon. Hopefully, by the time he was healed, he‟d realize
    it was to his advantage to work for Andreas rather than break the law and end up back
    on the streets of Brick Town, where he‟d probably come from.
    Andreas drew a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He picked up the breakfast
    tray he was personally delivering to Jabez—no point in exposing Mrs. Gamble to his
    experiment in social reform—and carried it upstairs. He paused in front of the spare
    bedroom, balanced the tray awkwardly with one hand, and knocked on the door.
    There was a long pause, long enough that Andreas began to wonder if his guest
    was still sleeping or if he‟d taken off out the window before that low, rough voice
    finally growled, “Come in.”
    Andreas inhaled and muttered, “Open,” and the door slid into the wall, granting
    him access. His lips were numb, as if he‟d had a shot of painkiller, and he worked to
    curve them into a friendly smile as he walked toward his patient.

    Cage Match

    19
    Jabez sat up in the bed, the sheet pooled around his waist and the rest of his torso,
    except where bandaged, gloriously naked. His skin was sleek yet marked by numerous
    pale scars, the badges of his victories.
    “Good morning. I didn‟t think you‟d sleep the night through. You must be
    starving.”
    “How do you know I slept all night? You watch me?” Killer blue eyes burned into
    him.
    “No. I just looked in once before I went to bed. I assumed you didn‟t wake up,
    because you never used the communicator.”
    Jabez glanced at the device on the nightstand, then back at Andreas. “I need to
    piss.”
    “The bathroom‟s there.” Andreas nodded with his head and set the tray on the
    foot of the bed. “Do you need help getting up?”
    “No.” He tossed back the sheet and swung his legs out of bed—long, sculpted,
    beautiful legs and big bare feet. Andreas reminded himself that he hadn‟t hired the man
    for sex.
    Jabez swayed for a moment as he stood upright, then straightened his shoulders
    and his back and gave Andreas another of those angry, challenging stares. Andreas
    refrained from offering his arm to lean on