Changing of the Glads Read Online Free PDF Page B

fights or showing her strength before Clubbers and Arena Boards, but the hard line of her mouth never before changed. Smiling showed pleasure. An emotion. Something not fitting a Glad. Platy often wore a grin when Zalphia was victorious. But Zalphia never allowed any emotion to show in her outward appearance. 
    Her lips curled again, and she reveled in the change to the lines of her face and the burning inside her chest. Maximillion changed not only her life, but her physical appearance. He had given her permission and a reason to let this look creep across her face. She wandered back to the bear hide and snuggled in, wondering where he was.
    A short time later, he appeared with a large buck strung across his massive shoulders. “Been hunting.”
    The deep timbre of his voice sent a shiver up her spine, and her insides twitched. She gasped at the physical effect. Even her skin reacted, rising in small bumps.
    Zalphia climbed from the bed. 
    Maximillion dropped the buck beside the fire. His eyes opened wide, and his hand slipped inside a pouch which hung from the skin girded about his waist. His gaze flitted to the trees, the ground, anywhere but on her. 
    She strode over and noticed a blade protruding from a log nearby. The same knife that Glads used in the arena. A double-sided blade. One side smooth and sharp enough to separate skin and muscle from bone. The other serrated and just as sharp, made to take everything in its path and devour it. She gingerly wrapped her fingers around the black and silver grip, wrenched it from the wood, and then knelt beside the deer.
    “No.” Max grabbed her hand and gently pried her fingers from the hilt before sliding it away from her, his eyes finally meeting her own. “I will do this.”
    She sat back and studied his face. In the Glad training center, the women were expected to clean anything brought in as food. A man would never stoop so low.
    For one second, his gaze raked over her, and then he dropped his eyes to the ground and turned away.
    Fear burned through her. What did he expect of her? Maybe things weren’t as they seemed. Maybe she was his prisoner.
    He laughed, but didn’t turn back around. “Why would you be my prisoner? I came to deliver you from the Glad arena.  And here you are, free as the wind and the animals in this place.”
    Maximillion threw the knife into the ground next to the carcass, then quickly turned and scooped her into his arms. He avoided looking directly at her. Kneeling beside the makeshift bed, he laid her inside and covered her with the bear hide. Then, his eyes again met hers. The blue deepened and pulled her into their depths. She would never feel lost, scared, or alone when he looked at her so. 
    The moment passed, and he glanced back at the buck. “You offered too much of yourself this day already.”
    “No more than you.”
    “But what I have done, I have done for you. I never could have sent the shockwave across the arena without you. You wield a power I could never hope to achieve. I would never be able to physically change things if it hadn’t been for you.”
    “Me? I have power to change things? I don’t understand. All I’ve ever been able to do was read someone’s thoughts. Explain what you mean.”
    “Not now. It can wait until you’ve had time to rest.” He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Oh, Zalphia.” 
    She pushed a mass of black hair from his face. He closed his eyes, and his hand covered hers, pressing it against his cheek.
    The mere act of his simple caress set her stomach tingling like a million sand bugs danced there.
    Maximillion released her hand and stroked her face for just a moment, then jerked his hand away. “Stay inside. I have not yet made a covering for you, and... well, I would regret going too far this first night.”
    Her brow furrowed. Go too far? What did that mean? 
    He drew away, and something in her shuddered at the loss.  But she pulled the skin up to her neck and watched as