Taurus (Galactic Cage Fighters (Book Three)) Read online

  Chapter Five

  Maya was taken to the healing facility first. The tracking implant didn’t hurt. After hearing a little bit about what happened to Talon’s wife, she was grateful the GCFA was taking security precautions so seriously. Her grandparents will be relieved to know there was a tracking device implanted.

  “Where to next?’’ she asked Coco when they left the healing facility.

  “We need to go to wardrobe and get you fitted. Then we’ll do hair and makeup.”

  “I didn’t think there was a fighting event tonight.” She looked worried.

  ‘There isn’t. But we still need to see what looks best on you so come fight night it won’t be a guessing game. Then, we’ll take some photo stills with a few of the fighters for promotional pages in magazines. I didn’t see your audition tape, but I take it that you sounded okay for commercials.”

  She nodded her head. “Zen says that I am photogenic and that my voice comes out very good recorded.”

  “Excellent. We don’t have any commercials to do tonight, but we will after breakfast tomorrow. We’ll practice walking the cage as soon as the fighters are done with their practice and then we’ll take some Calendar shots. We usually have three ring girls in all but Joanne just recently told us she was pregnant, so she is going on maternity leave in a few months. She wasn’t here today because she has a few appointments for the baby. I am going to need your help in planning the baby shower because now there are two females that will need baby showers, Joanne, and then Talon’s wife, Lindy. Honestly, I don’t know anything about babies.”

  Maya smiled with excitement. “I love children. Back home I volunteer at least two days a week at a daycare.”

  “Thank goodness. The other females here are all fighters and I don’t think they will be much help to me unless the kids come out wearing leather and swinging a rope chain,” Coco said laughing with relief.

  Their first stop was to wardrobe, then to hair and makeup. This was different. She walked into a room and had at least three people circling her. They took her measurements with and without her clothing. She was grateful she wore another sports bra and boy shorts. She would have to stock up on those. It was uncomfortable having people eyeing her body so closely.

  “Try this top and these bottoms,” the female seamstress said, handing Maya something blue and red.

  She looked down at the items given to her to try on. What part of her body was she supposed to cover with such small material? “Do you have any bigger sizes?”

  The seamstress gave her a disapproving look. “You do not need a bigger size. These will stretch to accommodate you.”

  Stretch? They didn’t stretch much. She wouldn’t be able to wear underwear because it would show too much through the small, extremely tight shorts. The top was similar to a sports bra, but it had tassels that hung down hitting her stomach, sides, and back. This was the conservative costume they gave her to wear. The other two costumes were smaller and tighter.

  “What about shoes?” Maya almost forgot to ask.

  “We all wear the same style of shoes just different colors.” Coco went to the shoe shelving area and pulled down a pair to show her.

  Holy crap! They were three-inch skinny heel boots that laced in the front. She would be lucky if she didn’t kill herself trying to walk on those. Something must have shown on her face.

  “What’s wrong?” Coco asked with concern.

  “I have been a klutz my whole life. I usually wear flats to prevent falls and injuries. I don’t know if I can walk in something like that.”

  “We’ll take them back with us so you can practice walking. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll find some pretty sandals for you to wear.”

  “Thanks.” She still wasn’t sure about those heels.

  Her next stop was next door where they did hair and makeup. She thought this shouldn’t take as long as wardrobe did. She was wrong.

  “We need to add hair extensions,” the hairstylist, Klyde, told her while blow-drying her hair.

  “Why?” She usually wore her hair up in a ponytail or kept it cut above her shoulders and out of the way.

  “The male fans usually prefer females with longer hair.”

  Maya looked over at Coco who just shrugged. “It’s my job to look attractive so I can sell the whole GCFA experience. I have them add extensions to my hair before the fights and then have them remove them when we leave the spaceport. It doesn’t take long for them to do.”

  “Okay.” She sat there for about ten minutes while they put clip extensions in her hair. It looked pretty good on her.

  “On to makeup!” Coco shuffled her out the door.

  It actually took longer in makeup than it did for her hair analysis and clip-ons added. They tested a few designs, took pictures of what they liked and wrote down the color combinations. They then had her try on all three of her costumes so they could make sure the colors matched up with her outfits. When she was about to put on her regular clothes, Coco stopped her.

  “Leave that outfit on. We need to get a few shots of you with a couple of fighters and do a practice take for a commercial.”

  “Can I have a robe or something. I’m not comfortable walking around like this.” Maya looked down and winced at seeing that she was wearing the flimsiest outfit. It was red with the GCFA logo on it.

  Coco walked over to wardrobe and grabbed a small robe that barely came down to mid-thigh. “Ready?”

  Not really. “Sure.”

  *****

  Taurus growled. “Why do I have to do it?”

  Zen smiled a secretive smile. “You were next on the list to do it. Plus, you haven’t taken any promotional shots in a while and we need a new commercial.” It wasn’t all true. Hammer was actually next on the list, but Zen had taken the liberty to switch Hammer’s name with Taurus. He had his reasons.

  Taurus hated this part of the business. He didn’t mind the little bit of showmanship he demonstrated in the Cage. It was all the other promotional stuff that made him feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it was in their contracts that all fighters must routinely submit shots for promotions and participate in a commercial. It was acting a part that was not suited to him.

  Zen, on the other hand, was a pro in front of the cameras. He dazzled people with his smile. He never had to take more than a handful of shots because he never took a bad picture. With Taurus it was always, “You’re growling too much…you need to smile more…that expression makes you look constipated.” Don’t get him started on the commercials. His voice just didn’t carry over like Zen’s.

  As they approached the photo shoot, he saw Coco talking to someone with really long hair. Wow, the hair was dead on sexy. When the female turned his way, he felt his breath catch. Maya.

  Zen greeted the females first. “Two beautiful ladies, what a treat.”

  “Hi.” Maya returned the greeting, but she was looking at Taurus.

  Taurus had gone to wardrobe to get a photo shoot costume. He had a black and red striped stretchy, spandex wrestling shorts. No shoes and no shirt. His body gleamed a golden bronze.

  Maya soaked in every square inch of him. When she got to his spandex shorts, she couldn’t seem to look away. They showed everything. And it seemed to expand the longer she gazed. A throat clearing itself got her to look back up to his face. She blushed from having ogled the man.

  Taurus nodded his greeting. He felt his body respond to her perusal. Damn it! He should have more control over himself than this.

  The photographer came over to get Zen, Coco, and Maya. “Let’s get some shots with the three of you. One girl on each side facing Zen. Zen sandwiched in the middle facing the camera.”

  “Wow, just like in real life huh?” Zen commented, winking at Maya.

  “In your dreams, Zen,” Coco responded back quickly.

  “Come on, Coco. You haven’t forgotten already, have you? It was just last Saturday that you, me, and the little brunette Venetian got busy.”

  “Shu
t up and concentrate,” Coco growled.

  Maya felt herself blush from just listening to them. She glanced up at Taurus to find him looking away from her. So much for third impressions.

  “New girl, take the robe off,” the photographer yelled out at her.

  She noticed that Taurus’s head snapped back in her direction immediately. Well, he sure looked interested in her now. She slowly opened the robe and threw it to the side. She could feel his eyes still on her and her body responded.

  “New girl, I need you to move closer to Zen.”

  She moved closer keeping a few inches between their bodies. She kept telling herself to not look in Taurus’s direction. Focus on what the photographer was telling her to do.

  “Closer. Take your right hand and rest it on his shoulder. I like your left hand on your hip. Coco, copy her pose.” The photographer started taking rapid shots. “Great. Now both of you kiss Zen’s cheek.”

  Taurus growled. He didn’t even know he was doing it until everyone turned to look at him. The sight of another male with his arm around Maya was doing strange things to him. He tried to play it off by saying her green eyes and brown hair reminded him of June, the little sister of his heart that he lost so many years ago. However, what he was feeling toward Maya was anything but brotherly.

  The photographer kept shooting. “Okay, let’s have Taurus change places with Zen.”

  Zen stepped away letting Taurus move up in his place. The moment Taurus wrapped his arm around Maya’s waist and skin met skin, he knew he was in trouble.

  “Get closer together all of you,” the photographer ordered without putting down his camera.

  Maya couldn’t stop blushing. She was pressing her breasts up against Taurus’s side. Her nipples were hard. Her pussy slick with her juices. He smelled so good. She had never paid attention to how men smelled before because she didn’t have the same senses as other halfsies. The thought of Coco also pressing her body against Taurus was the only thing that dampened her rising arousal.

  Taurus was having a hard time keeping his eyes off Maya. With her pressed against him, he could feel her hard nipples and he knew it wasn’t because the room was cold. He smelled her arousal and it was intoxicating. It had his own cock stiffen more. He felt uncomfortable on his other side for a different reason. His side itched where Coco was pressed against him. He kept wanting to push her away. It was weird because he had taken many pictures with Coco in the past.

  “Let’s get a few with Coco and Taurus alone,” the photographer said.

  Maya stepped away reluctantly, hating to leave the warmth of Taurus’s arms. She watched the different poses the photographer had them do. They looked like a couple. But something in the eyes gave away that they were not really together.

  “Let’s take a few with the new girl.”

  Maya walked back up to Taurus. He looked down at her and she felt her heart flutter. He was so much more taller and bigger, it made her feel feminine. She couldn’t help but shiver a little.

  She resumed the previous pose except now the photographer had Taurus turn toward her. Her breasts were pressing into his chest. She tried not to think about his stiffened manhood that she could feel pressing against her flat, exposed belly. She looked up at him and was trapped in his gaze. She was helpless to avoid it and it was impossible to deny. There were sparks that erupted instantaneously between them. They were not the only ones to notice.

  “Good chemistry. Taurus, lift her up higher using one arm.”

  Taurus reached down to get a good grip on her and then pulled her up his body. More skin sliding against skin was making her whole body tingle. The new position brought her face-to-face, eye level with him. She watched as his eyes clouded a little which she assumed was arousal. Oh, yeah.

  “Damn that’s hot,” Zen commented, adjusting himself.

  “Mmmm…I agree,” Coco added.

  “Good…good…good. Now give her a kiss,” the photographer ordered.

  * * *

  Chapter Six

  Maya’s breath caught as he lowered his mouth to hers. At first, it was a simple closed mouth kiss. But even that had her body responding full force. She opened up to him and their tongues mingled.

  She heard people say that kissing was like sex, and she could believe it. He kissed her like she imagined he would make love to her. Slow steady strokes. Hard and demanding a response from her. She moaned, pressing herself against him. They would have kept going at it if not for several cleared throats around them, reminding them that they were not alone.

  They pulled apart and Taurus let her slide down to the floor. Everyone was looking at them strangely. She realized if they hadn’t been interrupted, she would have let him do just about anything he wanted to do to her. She blushed and looked away. Taurus blocked her from everyone’s view until she was ready.

  “I think we have enough stills. How about we shoot Zen with the girls in a commercial. I know you don’t like doing the talkies, Taurus, you can leave if you want,” the photographer said looking over the film that he took.

  Taurus walked to the door trying not to look back. However, that was an impossible thing to ask of himself. His body was still wound up tight with an aching need. He turned to find that Maya’s eyes were on him.

  Damn, if she didn’t look like a female sexually satisfied. Her eyes were soft and droopy. Her cheeks were pink from blushing, and her lips were puffy from his kisses. He wanted to grab her and take her back to his suite to fulfill the promise that her appearance made. Instead, he forced himself to walk out the door.

  *****

  It took about fifteen commercial takes before she was able to get her body’s response under control. She couldn’t stop looking at the door hoping that Taurus would come back. The photographer and the videographer finally called it a day. She felt like her makeup was rubbing off and she was itching to get out of the outfit she was barely wearing.

  Maya put her robe back on and told Coco she needed a rest. When Coco offered to show her back to their suite, she reassured the other female that she could find her way back on her own. Coco went off with Zen to grab a snack.

  She should have at least asked Coco to verify the directions back to the suite. She was horrible with directions. She somehow got turned around on the ship and ended up on the other end, where she had never been before. She saw security, but she was too embarrassed to stop and ask. They would look down at her even more because she could not scent her way back to her own suite. A real halfsie wouldn’t have that kind of problem.

  She had just about given up hope when she spotted a set of elevators. She didn’t care where they led to as long as it was off that floor. She saw the doors were beginning to close and started to run to catch them. She stopped in her tracks the moment she saw the occupants of the elevators.

  No…no…no…no. Taurus was kissing one of the Venetian females. It happened so quick before the doors closed. But the image was replaying over and over in her head. The female was beautiful with long dark hair and long legs and one was wrapped around Taurus’s body.

  Her heart sank. She thought they had connected with their kiss at the photo studio. She had wanted him to wait for her until the photo shoot was finished so they could—go off somewhere together. But it looked like anyone could take care of his needs and what happened between them obviously meant nothing to him. All her fantasies about coming to the GCFA and working on the circuit in hopes of being near Taurus, went right out the door.

  She should leave and go back home to her grandparents. But she didn’t want to do that. It was a reality check. She had her head in the clouds believing all she had to do was be in the same room with him. She might not be a full alien or even a halfsie, but she deserved to be treated better than that.

  The elevator doors opened to take her upstairs. She would rethink her action plan tomorrow. Tonight, she wanted to cry herself to sleep. So that was what she did.

  *****

  “Taurus?” the Venetian’s se
xy voice asked in concern.

  “Gypsy…I can’t. I’m sorry.” He looked away in shame.

  “I don’t understand it. When you came to get me earlier, you were completely aroused. We kissed and rubbed on each other, but it seems to have all just gone away. Usually the foreplay has the opposite reaction.”

  They were both in Taurus’s suite in bed and completely naked. But while Gypsy was wet and ready, Taurus could not summon his dick to obey him. It was humiliating. No male wanted a female to see him act less than a male should. He should have known better.

  The moment they began kissing in the elevator, his interest physically started to die down. He hoped that by removing their clothing a spark would renew. Gypsy was an expert at getting a response from males. She had to coax one from him more than once—but tonight was different. There was only one female that seemed to spark a response in him.

  At the thought of Maya, his cock started to stiffen up. It got Gypsy’s attention immediately. She bent down and took him inside her warm mouth. She started pumping him with her hands and sucking hard. But his new arousal went away again.

  Gypsy pulled up from him and stared in shock. “What did I do wrong?”

  “Nothing, you did nothing wrong. It’s me—my body.” Taurus got up and pulled on his pants.

  “The healers have medicines to help give you an erection,” Gypsy offered.

  “You saw that I can get an erection. That’s not the problem.”

  “What is it then?” Gypsy finally started putting her own clothes back on.

  “My body is craving something else—someone else.”

  There was a pause and then Gypsy gave him a genuine smile. “I’m happy for you, but why are you with me if there is another you wish to be with?”

  “I’m not sure that I’m enough for her.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You are one of the kindest males that I know.” She patted his shoulder.

  “Not according to Zen. Evidently, I am a loner that pushes even my closest friends away.” He watched Gypsy’s reaction and noticed that she cringed. “Am I that bad?”