The Phantom Pilot Ch. 02

The Sheikh popped his whip. Kyle and I met in the center of the ring with me in the dominant position again and him in the neutral one on hands and knees. In that moment of respite before the third round I realized two things. First, while concentrating on the fight, the amount of noise hadn't registered with me, but the crowd was making a lot of it. Second, I glimpsed the girls on the dais, their heads buried between each other's thighs. Most of the attention centered on Kyle and me, but even the judges on the dais stole glances toward the ring.

Before the whip cracked again a clarity of strategy filled my being as it had earlier on the jungle plain when I faced Kyle with my sword. Another plan formed in my mind. I looked up from Kyle, taking a dangerous chance, and watched the Sheikh. He'd flexed his wrist in preparation of signaling the beginning of the next fall.

I waited for the snap of his bullwhip.