GladiatorsAtonement (5 page)

Snaking her arms around his neck, she clutched his muscular
shoulder blades. Burying her face in his neck, she inhaled his spicy, musky
scent as he began to knead the cheeks of her bottom, pumping in and out of her.
His fingers dug into her hips as he helped her ride him, sliding up and down
the length of his cock. Grinding her hips, she matched his rhythm. Her nipples
puckered and she felt his hot mouth on them, laving each with his tongue as he
began to fuck her faster.

Her body was so tense and he knew she was on the verge of
releasing. His blood coursed through his veins like liquid fire. It was if he
was going to melt.

Digging her nails into his skin, she cried out as her pussy
clenched fast and hard around his shaft, her orgasm flowing through her at the
same moment as he grunted his release.

Breathing heavily, she looked at him, her eyes piercing,
seeming to delve deep into his soul. Then it struck him. He was falling for his
former master’s wife.

Helena could not remember the last time she had lain out
under the stars and just watched the sky. The stars glittered like jewels. Once
in a while she would catch a glimpse of one falling and she would gasp. Eratos
chuckled, but held her close, keeping her warm.

“My father once told me that a falling star was the gods
racing their chariots.” An acute pang of pain assailed her. She missed her
father so much.

“I was told they were souls of those who had died honorably
on their way to paradise.” Eratos spoke softly, tracing circles on her arm.

Helena chuckled. “Well, that is a nice way to think of it
too.”

“Why do you hate Thelonius so much?”

The question stunned her. “Why?”

“Well, you know why I seek revenge. What is your reason?
You’ve never told me, but I know something painful is hidden there.”

Letting out a sigh, she moved closer to him, running her
fingers over the scars on his chest. Scars she knew Thelonius had put there.

“Thelonius planned my father’s death.”

“
Anam cara
, I am so sorry.” She felt him kiss the top
of her head. “Why?”

“Because he wanted me, or should I say the money and
prestige of having me as a wife.” She rolled on her back and stared up at the
stars. “I was my father’s only child. He was a powerful senator with a lot of
influence and money. It allowed my father to be picky over who was to have me.
Many suitors tried, Thelonius even tried, but I could tell just by looking at
him he was no good.

“I told my father this and of course he turned down
Thelonius’ suit. He was not going to marry me to someone I detested. Thelonius
blackmailed my father, threatened my life if he did not hand me over. My father
did not want to lose me and so we were married.”

“I am sorry. It is a horrible fate to be tied to such a
man.”

“It is.” Helena sighed as she recalled her wedding night,
fearing the worst. “My only saving grace was he did not touch me. He had no
desire for me, only wanting my money. He did force me to watch him take a man
though, one of his many slaves. I was horrified. I was still innocent, I had no
idea.”

“Did you tell your father?”

Helena nodded. “I did, and my father threatened to go to the
emperor, saying Thelonius could not keep up his end of the bargain by
deflowering me. Not that my father wanted Thelonius to have me.” She let out another
sigh, the tears stinging her eyes. “Thelonius was friends with a man who was
head of the Praetorian guards. They came in the night and butchered my father’s
household. After that, Thelonius moved me here, away from Rome, as punishment,
I guess. He thought I wouldn’t be able to last being so far from the land I
knew and love.”

“But you survived.” There was pride in Eratos’ voice.

“Yes.” She leaned on her elbow to look down at him. “It was
not long after that when you came, and when I looked into your eyes I saw
something, I felt something I had not felt in a long time.”

“What was that?”

“Hope.”

Chapter Five

Hope.

It touched Eratos that Helena thought of him as a savior,
but was he really doing her a favor by murdering Thelonius? He was not familiar
with all the Roman customs and he wondered if she would lose everything with
Thelonius’ death.

“What is wrong?” Concern laced her words as she looked down
at him. “Does something vex thee?”

“Am I doing you a wrong by killing Thelonius?”

Helena sat up. “You are not wronging me by ridding me of
that jackal.”

“Then why should I wait?”

Helena bit her lip and looked away. “I cannot say.”

“Is it because you will lose your status, your money?”

“No.”

“Then what?” He tweaked her chin, so she was looking at him
once more. “What has he threatened you with?”

“Your death.”

Eratos was stunned. “My death?”

“You do not know the kind of power he wields, Eratos.” She
sat up. “He said if I helped you escape, aided you in any kind of way, then he
would kill you. Throw you to the lions.” A sob caught in her throat. “He killed
my father… I did not want to see you die. I could not let another innocent
die.”

“He killed your father because you went to your father for
help.”

Helena shook her head. “Thelonius made it clear I was never to
leave him, to be whole, intact and subservient to him. I made you wait, because
I did not want you to die should he catch you…should you fail.”

“
Anam cara
, I do not care for my life. I worry for
you.”

Helena smiled at him weakly. “You do not have to worry about
me should he die.”

“What will happen to you?”

“I will stay here.”

“Everything will remain in your name?”

Helena smiled. “Yes, the money is in my name from my father.
Once Thelonius is gone, everything belongs to me.” She touched his face gently.
“Have no fear for my welfare. I would have you do away with him even if it
meant I was destitute. Justice needs to be brought against Thelonius, for me,
for you and others he has hurt.”

“You are a remarkable woman,
anam cara
. You are very
brave.”

“I’m not. If I were brave I would have done away with him a
long time ago, but I do not have the strength to do it. I was afraid then…now I
do not care. I only want vengeance for my father and for you.”

Helena lay back down and let out a sigh, of resignation or
contentment Eratos didn’t know. Her eyes remained focused on the stars, and
right now he could stay forever with her just like this.

“Tell me of your home,” she whispered. “I told you of my
past, tell me of yours. Were you married?”

“I was intended, aye. Just as good as married.”

“What was her name?”

“Wenna. She had hair as black as night, coal-black eyes and
fought like a demon.” Eratos smiled. “She had a wild, untamed temper.”

“What happened to her?”

“She was killed on the battlefield.”

“She was a warrior as well?” Helena asked in amazement, her
brown eyes round with wonder.

“Aye. All the women were, unless they were suckling a wee
one.”

Helena shook her head. “So different, Roman women are not
allowed to fight. We are to remain at home, by the hearth.”

“Well, in times of peace our women remained behind. During
wartime though they could be just as fierce as any man.” Eratos chuckled. “I
think they even scared some of the legionnaires.”

When he closed his eyes he was taken back to that battle,
when they had charged down the hill, felling Caratacus the Aviragus in his
attempt to defeat Scapula. The sounds of battle filling his ears.

The smoke of smoldering ruins and flaming arrows clouded
the heath. Making his way through the carnage, he saw Wenna with the next charge,
getting ready to ride out into battle. Her mare pawed at the ground nervously.
Riding over to her, he grabbed her reins and pulled her to the side.

“What is the matter, Eratos?” she asked, fixing her gaze
on him.

“Let us leave, all is lost. We can flee over the sea,
somewhere safe where we can be together.” He tried to pull Wenna out of the
battle, but she pulled away from him.

“We cannot abandon the Aviragus. Caratacus calls, we must
defend our home.”

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “You know
we cannot win. Let us flee to the north, my father and my brother live with
Boudicca. We’ll be safe there.”

Her nose wrinkled up in disgust then. “They let the
Romans rule them. They live in harmony with the devil. Are you a coward,
Eratos? I would rather die on the battlefield than live amongst the wolf in
sheep’s clothing.”

Wenna ran from him then. Her black braid bounced against
her back as she rode away. Eratos took his place in the line and when the horn
called, he unsheathed his sword and fought.

After the battle was done, when he was searching the
battlefield he found her broken body. She had been trampled by a chariot after
she had fallen, pierced by an arrow through her chest. Her black eyes lifeless,
staring up at the smoke-filled sky.

He tried to give her a proper funeral, but that was when
he had been caught by the Roman general, who deemed him a worthy slave.

Eratos had shorn his hair then, in mourning for Wenna,
and for his one moment of cowardice. It hurt him still that their last moment
she thought him a coward instead of a warrior.

“You look sad.”

“I was just thinking about the last time I saw Wenna.”

“You loved her.”

“Yes, but I don’t know if she was my true soul mate. I did
not have a chance to discover it. She would have made a good wife, a good
mother. A lot of things transpired after the battle. I didn’t even get a chance
to bury her properly. I escaped several times before I was shipped to the slave
markets of Egypt.”

“Where were you trying to go?”

“To my father and brother in the north, but then Boudicca
fell to the Romans. My father was killed and my brother was enslaved as well.”

“This is the brother who aided your escape.”

“Aye. Taranis is free.”

Helena snuggled in closer to him. “As you are.”

“I am not free until I dispatch Thelonius to the shades.”

Even then he wasn’t sure if he would be free of the ghosts
that plagued him, but all of that was quickly forgotten about with Helena in
his arms. When he set on his mission of revenge and agreed to her conditions he
never pictured himself falling in love with Helena, and it terrified him.

He couldn’t lose her, because he needed her like air, like
water.

He would die without her.

Eratos shifted and propped himself on his arms, staring down
at her. Her brown hair cascaded around her head like a halo, her skin was like
cream, she was the fairest Roman he had ever encountered and he could see why
she was desired above all.

Thelonius may not have been attracted to her, but he was a
connoisseur of fine things and Helena was exquisite. Her brown eyes were
shining in the moonlight.

“I want you,” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. “Help me
forget about the spirits of the past.”

“I want you as well, Eratos. Love me.”

“Oh,
anam cara
.”

“No words are needed.” A single tear traveled down her cheek
as she caressed his cheek. “I wanted to save you, but I did not have the
strength to pick up a sword. For that I am sorry.” She reached out and slipped
her arms around his neck, kissing him tenderly.

“Helena, you helped me more than anyone could. At nights,
when I was alone, your face came to me out of the darkness—you made me forget
about the revenge and death in my heart. You made me want to live again.” He
returned her tender kiss, but soon the kiss deepened into something more urgent
as the reality of what they had just escaped began to sink in. He had come to
Antioch with one thing on his mind and death riding his tails, for he knew if
he killed Thelonius he would not live much longer. Now, with Helena in his
arms, death was a punishment. He did not want to leave her.

Helena was strong, though she did not think so. She was true
warrior and she truly was his
anam cara
, his soul mate, and he knew he
could never live without her.

There was no life worth living without Helena in it, and now
that he had found her he had to go on. He had to kill Thelonius before
Thelonius sold Helena to the slave traders as he threatened to do.

“Helena, I will do everything in my power to protect you. I
want you to feel safe with me.”

“I do feel safe with you, Eratos. I do, I trust you with
every fiber of my being. You have made me feel alive again.”

“I will not let anything happen to you. If I do then I shall
not be able to live with myself.”

“Hush,” she whispered as she began to kiss his neck. “Be
with me, Eratos. Please.”

Pulling her tight against him, he laid her down against his
makeshift bed and began to kiss her again—pressing her down into the
sweet-smelling hay that enveloped them. He was hard and ready for her, and she
was wet and willing as she parted her legs. He entered her slowly, a shudder of
pleasure rippling through him as her tight, wet sheath surrounded him. He loved
the feeling of being buried deep inside her. She wrapped her legs around his
waist and he began to move in and out of her rhythmically.

There were no words to say at that moment. He had said
everything that he had been keeping inside. Right now, he just needed to love
her. Her hands cupped his buttocks, keeping him tight against her as he moved
faster. She undulated her hips in time with his thrusts. She was moaning in
pleasure and arching her back. He could feel her inner muscles squeezing his
shaft and he knew she was coming. With a few more hard thrusts, he let out a
guttural cry and spilled his seed inside her.