Entered in the Alien Bride Lottery by Margo Collins (best large ebook reader TXT) 📗

“Yes, I can. I’m a soldier. We are taught to kill. I’ve trained for it since I was a child.”

“That’s a…” She heaved a put-upon sigh. “Of course you are capable of killing him. That’s not what I meant. Killing him is a terrible idea.”

“You don’t think Vos will say it’ll make for a good show?”

She dropped her face into her hands.

“I don’t give a flying space-fuck what Vos thinks makes good television. Or what he thinks we should do. I will never forgive you if you kill him because of these damned Bride Games.” Her voice came out muffled from behind her hands.

I placed one finger under her chin and tilted her face up toward me. “What if I promise not to kill him?”

“You’ll be holding back, and he won’t, and I’m not sure that you will win under those conditions.”

So much for that warm little glow inside.

Still…did that mean she was worried about me? The thought made me want to kiss her again. To make her smile.

To make her happy.

At that moment, I realized that even more than I wanted to make her mine, I wanted to make her happy.

And I know exactly how to do it.

I shook my head. “I won’t lose. I promise not to kill him. And I promise I won’t let him kill me.”

“Why are you going to do it at all?” she wailed.

“Come on.” I took her hand in mine again and pulled her back to the games area. “Let’s go talk to Vos again. I have an idea.”

Chapter Seventeen

Natalie

“Two visits in one day. To what do I owe this honor?” Vos remained behind his desk this time, and Cav and I didn’t even bother to sit down.

“I assume your cameras caught that little exchange in the garden?” Cav asked, his tone daring Vos to lie.

“Of course.”

“Oh,” I realized. “That’s how Tiziani knew where to find us, wasn’t it? You were filming us the whole time.” I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the Games Administrator.

His laugh had always sounded so cheerful and real when I’d watched the games in previous years. Now it made me want to claw his eyes out.

“You two are this year’s most favored couple. If you want a job in entertainment when this year’s games end, you’ll be able to name your price.”

I clenched my fists by my side, fighting myself not to pick up the stupid paperweight of Earth, the station, and Khanav Prime he had on his desk and bash him over the head with it.

Cav placed a calming hand on the center of my back, and I instantly felt better.

Fine. I won’t murder the Games Administrator.

Not yet, anyway.

“I have a proposal for you,” Cav said.

Vos raised one amused eyebrow. “You’re supposed to propose to the bride, not to me.” When neither of us joined in his laughter, he sat back in his chair and clasped his hands over his stomach. “Do tell.”

“Turn this duel Tiziani has requested into a real spectacle. Hold it in the main arena with a full audience. Set it up however you like—”

I opened my mouth to speak, and Cav increased the pressure of his hand on my back. “—but do not allow it to be to the death. That will alienate too many of your human viewers.”

Alienate. Interesting translation. I wondered about the connotations of the original Khanavai word.

Vos leaned forward, his elbows on the desk. “I’m intrigued. Go on. What do you get out of this? I assume if you win, you want to be named Natalie’s mate?”

He gestured at me as if I had no real part in this conversation. As if I were merely a prize to be given out. I was tired of being treated like an accessory to discussions rather than a full participant.

But Cav was already answering. “No.”

This time, both Vos’s eyebrows went up in surprise—the first genuine expression I had seen from him since I arrived. “Then what do you want?”

“If I win, Natalie gets to go back to Earth, totally free of any further obligation to you, the Bride Lottery, the Bride Games, or Khanav Prime.”

I gasped. Cav had made it clear that he wanted nothing more than to choose me as his mate. So why was he doing this?

Because he cares about me, the tiny voice inside my head whispered.

Vos gave us both a calculating look, then slowly smiled. His amused expression once again made me want to slap him. “And if you lose?”

“I won’t lose.”

“Come now, Cav. A wager without a penalty is no game at all.”

Cav glanced at me, a flicker of anguish flashing through his eyes. Then his gaze hardened, and he turned back to Vos. “If I lose, you do not allow Tiziani to claim Natalie as a mate. Instead, I will agree to be stationed here for a complete Earth year, working for you. Through the next year’s Bride Games.”

No. That would ruin his chance to attend the Special Ops school.

“On camera?” Vos leaned forward.

“Yes.”

“As a returning groom? The first Khanavai male ever invited back to try again?”

“Sure.”

“No.” Both Khanavai males’ heads whipped around to stare at me as if they had forgotten I was there at all until I spoke. I glanced back and forth between them. Then I pointed at Vos. “You make sure this duel is not to the death. Cav winning will make every woman on Earth swoon. And if Cav loses, I will marry him—in the first-ever live broadcast of a Bride Games wedding.”

Vos clapped his hands together and laughed aloud, even as Cav said, “You can’t do that.”

I spoke over them both. “If Cav wins, you get your TV hero, and we get total freedom. If he loses, you get your broadcast version of a happy-ever-after, and Cav and I still get to leave—after the wedding. Either way, this year’s Bride Games will be the show to beat for years to come.”

There. That should give Vos an offer he couldn’t refuse.