Changing of the Glads Read Online Free PDF Page A

the one who has helped me endure so much pain... you... you... saved me.”
    No! He’d saved her! Not the other way around. This was her savior, her hero, her... what?
    “Love. And you are mine.” He lowered his face until it was just inches away, then he brushed his thumb against her cheek before gently pressing his lips to hers.
    She had never seen such an action before, but Zalphia’s stomach clenched and all conscious thought seemed to fly. A pulse as sure as the lightning stick shot through her.  But instead of pain, it brought intense pleasure, pleasure that rocked the cold lump inside her breast and settled into the deeper parts beneath the private-regions cloth.
    The gentle pressure of Maximillion’s lips stole all thought, and Zalphia savored the tingle which raced through her body. This strange action clenched her abdominal muscles and dotted her skin with goose bumps. Her desire to escape and grasp freedom melted into a pool of something she didn’t recognize. The urge to run, the threat of the trackers, the visions of being crushed between the stones all felt like a dream as she savored the taste of this strangely familiar man. 
    Their lips parted a fraction, and Maximillion took a shuddering breath. She knew he could feel it, too – the rightness, the connection. But how? How did one simple thing such as touching lips make everything different?
    A quick flick of his tongue to moisten his lips sent need rushing through her. Heat burned in her chest, and she willed him to return, return and sate the aching desire of her own dry mouth.
    His eyes devoured her face before he again closed them and quenched her thirst. He belonged there, touching her skin, laying his lips against her own. Is this what she had dreamt of? Could this be what life outside the arena held? She refused to let her own eyelids slide closed, afraid that it was a dream. A mirage which would fade, and she’d find that, in truth, she had been sent to the afterlife. Whatever the outcome, she wished to remain prone against the packed clay, his massive expanse spread across her like a heavy blanket. 
    His tongue parted her lips. She relished this new sensation and closed her eyes, letting the darkness envelope her. More new sensations jumbled in her mind as he rolled the heat of his tongue through her mouth, exploring and tantalizing. He would kill her now with this gentle torture. Or had he killed her already?
    Memories of being a Glad slipped away like she’d never seen the arena and never ripped someone else’s life from them. Now, him, this moment, and this pleasure was all she desired. Even the terror of what they’d just done faded. She only heard his rapid breaths as they tickled her lips and reveled in his musky smell.
    He drew back, and every inch of her longed to follow his movement, but she remained pinned beneath his massive frame. She had been cleansed, changed, the killer instinct driven from her mind. The simple plan he shared with her fashioned a different person from this hardened arena Glad. She quivered with the one thing she had been taught would be the worst thing to happen to her – the ability to feel. She had become human again. No Mercy Zalph had been executed right along with the Clubbers, the Armors, and the trainers. 
    Maximillion’s eyes settled on hers, and the feeling he called peace flowed through her. What she had caught a glimpse of inside her cell would now be hers. She could live again, but not like she had ever lived before. There had never been anything but making it through one more day, one more fight. Now, Maximillion would give her a real life and a future she’d only dreamt about.
    He rose, scooping her into his arms and then stood without even a grimace.
    Weakness pulled at her limbs, giving her the sensation they were made of lead, heavy and unyielding. Grateful for the strength of his muscles beneath her, she let him cradle her against his massive chest. She never could have stood on her