Page 14 of Last Minion Standing
I quickly smoothed my face into a smile, but inside, I seethed.
My five contestants stood in a row before me on a mini stage in the center of the coliseum. My eyes focused on one man only, though, and I found him watching me back just as intently. He raised a brow and gave me a sensual smile that sent a gushing heat to my pussy. Ugh. The jerk with his super-panty-creaming smile. I really needed to get laid.
My nails kept tapping as the announcer did his thing in his deep voice.
“First up, Dretnor. This savage demon comes from the outer rings and is the seventh son of a seventh son. He likes walks on the beach, a good grog of ale, and eviscerating his enemy. Tell us, Dretnor, what item from our lady Sally did you acquire?”
The tall demon bared his teeth in a toothy smile and strutted forward, holding forth a lock of hair.
It couldn’t be mine. I would never give away a single tress.
The large, four-sided video screen hanging above the stadium lit up, and a video of me in the club the previous night dancing appeared. I watched as the demon in human guise cozied up to my backside and managed to snip off some hair unbeknownst to me as I gyrated, eyes closed.
The bastard had cut my hair. I seethed on the throne as I plotted his demise.
The crowd clapped, and I made a mental vow, after I’d ripped his intestines from his body, to always have my hair tied up tight when I went out partying in the future. The clip on the screen kept playing after Dretnor’s impromptu trim, and the audience tittered when Drake appeared behind his boogying body and removed him, none too gently, to take his place.
I bit back a smile and quashed the warmth spreading through me. So what if Drake had shown jealousy? It changed nothing. He needed to learn he couldn’t jerk me around. Maybe to irritate Drake, I’d shag Dretnor.
The emcee spoke. “Dretnor moves on. Next up, Allsor. This overgrown reptile hails from the wild swamps outside the ninth circle. In his spare time, he likes to bowl with skulls, play the banjo, and deep-fried, battered hellfrogs. Show us, Allsor, what you retrieved.”
The lizard dude strutted forward and held out an envelope. The video screen lit up and showed him breaking into my postal box and stealing the piece of mail.
What a cop-out. I wasn’t the only one to think so.
The crowd booed, and the announcer came back on. “We said something personal, pea brain. While the mail was addressed to her, she never touched your item. You have…failed!”
At his words, the folks in the stands cheered and then screamed in delight as a trap door suddenly appeared beneath lizard man’s feet. With a gargling noise of surprise, down he went, disappearing from sight. I wondered if he’d be landing in the traditional alligator pit and thought it a pity they didn’t show us. I’d have liked to have seen the outcome of that match.
Up next, the dwarf Raxnor, who had gone dumpster diving and found an apple core I’d discarded. Gross, but it fit the bill of the task.
Second last was the wolfman, named a boring Pete. He’d used his agility to sneak into my apartment and steal some eye shadow. Only one problem, it was Jezzie’s, not mine. Like I would be caught dead wearing that shade of blue with my coloring, the idiot. Bye-bye, wolfman. Then it was the turn of the last contestant, the one who refused to get out of my mind: Drake.
I almost held my breath when he came forward, and my hands clutched at the armrests of the chair wetly. Surely I wasn’t nervous for him? I wanted nothing to do with him and, by extension, didn’t want him to win. Right?
With a cocky smile aimed right at me, even if my crotch bore the brunt, he whipped a scrap of fabric out of his pocket. I swear it was only the fact that cameras watched my every move and the approving roar of the crowd that kept me from diving on him and tearing the smile off his face. For dangling from his fingertips were the panties he’d ripped off me the night before.
I didn’t remember the rest of the show—a foggy rage clouded my mind—but as soon as the curtain came down, I stalked off, grumbling darkly.
It took a bit of lube and some help from the backstage staff to peel the skintight bathing suit from me, and then more staff to help me yank on even tighter pants. I opted to wear a bra under my shirt—a shirt that wasn’t even see-through. Gasp. I know, so conservative of me considering most of my outfits were designed to make me look like a high priced hooker. Those ladies of the night knew how to turn heads and get paid for it.
As I prepared to open a portal to head back to my place, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind. Instinct kicked in, and my foot slammed down on my accoster’s instep while, in the same motion, I jabbed back hard with my elbow.
I heard a grunt then a familiar voice whispered, “Is this foreplay?”
Drake. I should have known. “Let me go,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
He didn’t quite obey, loosening his arms only enough for me to turn in them to face him. When we were eye to eye, he tightened his arms again, pressing me against his hard length. I tried not to let the evidence of his happiness to see me, throbbing against my lower tummy, distract me. It didn’t stop me from creaming myself, though.
He inhaled and smiled. “Your body seems happy to see me, but your face is saying a different thing.”
“You asshole. I can’t believe you made out with me just so you could steal my panties and move on to the next round.”
He laughed, a throaty sound, which sent shivers down my spine. “Actually, I already had an item, an earring from our first encounter. What happened last night was because I want you, baby.”
“Yeah, like I believe that after the way you left me hanging.” I barely controlled my lips from curling into a pout, but my words still sounded petulant.
“It wasn’t because I wanted to.”