Shocked, Kyle fell away from him and looked up at him in outrage. “Did you just spank my ass?”
Furious, Taz yelled back at him. “That’s nothing compared to what I’ll do when I get you home. ”
Leaping forward, Kyle jumped on Taz, bearing him down to the ground. He tried to pin his hands by his head, but Taz quickly recovered and jerked out of his grasp, bucking him off and rolling to his side and back up to his feet. Taz’s entire body language changed as if someone had flipped a switch inside him. He tensed his muscles and a feral gleam came to his eyes. He loomed over Kyle, who was still lying on the ground at his feet and snarled with menace.
“Get up!” he said, but barely gave Kyle a chance to scramble to his feet before he was on him, his volatile temper snapping, he caught Kyle on the chin with a quick left hook. Kyle staggered back, stunned, and Taz came at him again, but this time when he swung, Kyle swung with him and managed to deflect the blow a little, catching some of it on his shoulder. He awkwardly jabbed his elbow into Taz’s midsection and both of them grunted in pain.
They each fell back a little, and Taz began to circle. Kyle still hadn’t had a chance to fully recover from the two stunning blows when Taz charged him again, bending at the waist and plowing into Kyle before he could dance out of his way. It knocked the breath clean out of him and he hit the ground hard, pain slicing through his shoulder where he landed. Instinctively, he rolled and felt Taz land next to him on the ground. He knew he’d had a narrow escape. If Taz had landed on him, this thing would have been over almost before it started. Kyle would have been pinned under his weight and would have had no choice but to surrender.
Kyle jumped back up to his feet and kicked at Taz’s hip, but Taz turned and caught his foot in his hands, twisting it and bringing Kyle crashing back down to the ground. He could feel the pain shooting through his back and knew he’d have plenty of bruises to show for this tomorrow. He knew that he should give up now, but his pride wouldn’t let him. If he gave up meekly, Taz would never have any respect for him. It already looked pretty certain he was going to
wind up as Taz’s bitch, but at least he could keep a little of his self-respect intact.
With no warning, Taz lunged for him again, and this time Kyle couldn’t get out of the way quickly enough. He braced for Taz’s weight to crash down on him, but at the last second, Taz caught him in his arms and rolled with him, keeping him on top so he wouldn’t be crushed by his weight. Kyle knew he was going easy on him, trying not to hurt him too much, and the idea made him furious. Taz pushed Kyle’s arms behind his back and held them there. “Do you yield?” he shouted at Kyle, but he stubbornly shook his head and snarled back at him.
“Never!”
With a loud snort, he released Kyle, pushing him to the side and allowing him to roll away as Taz got to his feet, not even out of breath. Kyle rushed toward him and latched onto his wrist, pulling his arm over his shoulder and then jamming his body into the larger man to launch him head over heels to the ground. Kyle was surprised to hear a smattering of applause. He spared a quick glance to the stands and saw a few of the warriors who’d been sparring alongside of them stopping now to watch.
Taz actually laughed, letting out a huge whoosh of air before springing back up to his feet. He smiled at Kyle in surprise and almost pleasure, and Kyle realized he was enjoying this.
Kyle, however, was getting tired. Throwing Taz’s big body over his shoulder had taken up some of his last reserves and when Taz leaped at him, he was barely able to dodge out of the way in time. Taz landed behind him rolling to miss the brunt of the kick Kyle aimed at his ribs. Kyle’s mouth opened in surprise as Taz twisted and grabbed both of Kyle’s ankles, giving them a tug, and spilling Kyle onto the ground. He sat down hard on his ass, biting his tongue and feeling pain shooting up into his lower back. Damn, Taz was going to kill him if this went on much longer.
Taz stood a few feet away, motioning at him to get back up. Kyle got the strong impression he was only toying with him and could end this whenever he wanted. Wearily Kyle got back up to his feet again, raising his fists as he did. He refused to back down. If Taz wanted to end this, he’d have to do it himself. He lunged forward, striking out with his right fist and hitting Taz in the jaw.
Again, the applause started up, and Kyle lost his focus just long enough to stagger back as Taz came at him with blinding speed and a hard fist to his stomach, doubling him over. A quick uppercut to the nose, and Kyle was lying on his back again, looking up. The back of his head had cracked the ground a little when he fell, so he was seeing a few stars along with the clouds in the sky. He felt blood trickling down the back of his throat and out of his nose. He wiped at his nose absently with the back of his hand. Maybe the worst thing was that Kyle knew Taz had been pulling his punches.
Taz loomed over him again. “Stay down!” he shouted, but Kyle was already dragging himself back up and trying to steady himself. His knuckles were skinned, his back was in agony, his whole face hurt and his head felt like someone was on the inside trying to hammer their way out. If Taz came at him now, he wouldn’t even be able to get out of his way. He stood swaying on his feet, blood dripping from his nose. Taz stepped up to him and grabbed two handfuls of his vest, pulling Kyle toward him and up onto his toes.
“Are you done?” he asked harshly and Kyle doggedly shook his head. Taz made a sound of impatience and then kissed the shit out of him, sliding his tongue inside his mouth and sweeping it around before pulling away with a little bite to Kyle’s lower lip. He shook Kyle a couple of times, so hard his head flopped backward on his neck. “I said, are you done? Stop this—you’re hurt. Now answer me!”
“Y-yes,” Kyle said this time, too wiped out to fight him any longer.
“Tell me that you yield. ”
“I yield,” Kyle said, his eyes closed and slurring his words.
Taz nodded, hoisted him up to throw him over his shoulder and strode with him from the ring.
* * * *
The five huge Lycan males made the room seem small as they crowded around Kai and Lucas’s main living area. Kai, Lucas’s mate, stood with his back against the counter in the adjoining kitchen. He could see the vid screen from where he was standing, but he’d watched the slightly out of focus film several times now, and he had no wish to see it again. He kept his eyes on the floor as Lucas, his brother Blayde and the cousins watched the short vid that Lucas had received the evening before.
The only sounds in the room were an occasional sympathetic or furious gasp as they watched the smaller figure, dressed, according to Lucas, in traditional Tygerian gladiator gear and being tossed around in some kind of arena setting.
His opponent was much taller and heavier, and it was hard to believe how often the smaller man that had to be Kyle kept getting back up after being slammed to the ground. Near the end of the short vid, when Kyle was viciously punched in his midsection, Nikolai, Kyle’s brother jumped to his feet with a wordless cry. Lucas put a hand on his arm to pull him back down beside him, and the vid ended a few seconds later with the Tygerian male pulling Kai up by the front of his vest. His back was to the camera, but it looked like he was yelling in Kyle’s face before throwing him over his shoulder and carrying him out of the ring.
As the vid ended, there was a short, heavy silence in the room. Then an alarming series of snarls and growls filled the room as at least three of them started shifting into their beasts. Konnor let out a string of Lycan curses and punched the wall near where he was standing with a huge, clawed hand, while Blayde cursed. Nikolai just seemed stunned after his earlier outburst, and Larsson hovered near the vid screen looking like he might be thinking of kicking it in.
“Okay, everyone calm down a minute,” Lucas said, pulling Larsson out of the way just before his big foot connected with the innocent screen. Kai straightened up uneasily. He was glad he’s sent the baby over to Ryan’s house before all this started. He’d known they would be angry, but he’d never seen them all so out of control. Even though it wasn’t directed at him, it was a little frightening, and several of them had ripped right out of their clothes when they turned. Lucas glanced over at him and sent him a brief, reassuring nod before turning back to the others.
“I know you’re all upset, but we have to try to assess this situation calmly or we’ll do something rash. ”
“Calmly?” Nikolai shouted, jumping to his feet to stand next to Larsson’s looming beast. “After watching that son-of-a-bitch almost kill my brother? How do you expect me to be calm?”
“I know,” Lucas said. “I watched the thing ten times at least last night, and it makes me sick, too, but that’s not helping Kyle. ”
Blayde lowered his hands and spoke in a surprisingly quiet voice. “Lucas is right. He called me over last night to see it with him, and I lay awake half the night trying to figure out how we can get to him. ”