Gaidres stared at him, almost as if he were stunned for a moment. Then he growled and strode forward, his expression fierce.
He would be taking a lion to his bed indeed. Rough and wild. Caelius backed up a bit, stumbling and ending up with his back against the wall, panting as Gaidres crowded close against him, caging him.
“Gaidres…” He attempted to soothe, though his voice was shaky. The idea of being fucked with all that intensity made him want to drop to his knees and offer himself up like the proverbial sacrifice. Gaidres was like no other man he’d been attracted to before.
Gaidres didn’t pay his whisper any mind. One arm snaked around Caelius’s waist and hauled him close, mouth claiming his again with a snarl as Gaidres’s free hand slid down and gripped Caelius’s bare thigh. He lifted it against his hip as his tongue gave Caelius a taste of the fucking he’d asked for.
He clung to Gaidres, trapped between his hard body and the wall, and that was all that kept him upright. Gaidres’s kiss woke a hunger inside him that he’d never known before. This was the craving that kept him searching for new lovers, a need that had never been answered.
With trembling fingers he undid the laces of Gaidres’s tunic and the man stopped ravaging his mouth just long enough to allow him to pull it off before taking his lips again. Caelius moaned, melting into the demand as he explored Gaidres’s back and shoulders with his hands. The gladiator’s skin felt hot, like expensive silk left in the sun.
This was a dangerous idea, but he wouldn’t stop now for all the coin in the Republic. Gaidres was trapped but not broken, and all the more dangerous for it. Fingers dug into his thigh hard enough to mark and Caelius shivered. He made short work of the cloth wound around Gaidres’s hips, then gasped as he felt the man’s rigid cock against his own. He circled his hips against it and gave a needy little whimper.
Gaidres growled and caught Caelius’s hands, jerking them above his head to pin them to the wall. Gaidres’s hips rocked against him as the kiss broke and their eyes locked.
“Is this what you wanted?” Gaidres shoved one thigh between Caelius’s to grind against his cock.
Caelius nodded, his lips stinging. “Yes.”
Gaidres smirked, releasing his wrists and catching his thighs this time, lifting him off his feet and pinning him to the wall, both hands under his ass to hold him up. “Then you shall have it…Dominus.” Two fingers slid inward and rubbed his entrance.
He had been about to request that Gaidres use his given name again, but the touch of fingers against his entrance drove everything else from his mind. “Gaidres.” He moaned as they pushed inside him, aching without the aid of the oil he’d set beside the bed.
At this point he wasn’t sure they’d even make it to the bed. He’d never been taken against a wall before. No one had ever dared. But he sensed that Gaidres would dare much, much more if it suited him. Those fingers twisted inside him, as mocking as the expression on Gaidres’s face.
“And you wanted this?” Gaidres rasped, thrusting his fingers hard into him and Caelius jolted, crying out.
“Yes, yes…please.” Caelius had never said “please” before and he’d never whimpered, but then this was the first time he’d had a man such as this. It was almost enough to make him find his release on the spot.
Gaidres twisted his fingers again, bending his head to slide his open mouth against Caelius’s chest to his nipple, sucking it between his teeth as he fucked him with his fingers. Caelius cried out, squirming against the wall, his long legs clutched tight around Gaidres’s waist.
“Oil…by the bed.” Caelius gestured, gasping as Gaidres’s teeth scraped his nipple.
Gaidres lifted his head, turning to glance over his shoulder and his eyes gleamed as he saw the small crystal vial by the bed. He lowered Caelius back to his feet, then turned him to face the wall, one hand hard on his nape as the other rubbed between the cleft of his ass.
“Stay,” he commanded in a harsh growl and Caelius heard him stride for the bed to snatch the vial up.
Caelius didn’t move except for the trembles racing through his body, one after another. He could almost still feel Gaidres’s hand on his neck, demanding obedience. He’d never had the desire to obey until Gaidres came into his life with his fierce eyes and rough hands. To be truthful, Gaidres hadn’t asked and he was powerless to disobey even if he’d been inclined to.
Then Gaidres was back, his hand once again settling on Caelius’s neck, his breath harsh. Caelius whimpered as a foot hooked his ankle, shoving his legs wider apart. He pressed his forehead against the cool wall, hands coming up to brace himself.
He heard the clink of the vial being opened and moaned. Gaidres was going to fuck him right here against the wall. His breath stuttered and Caelius arched his back, offering up his ass as much as he could on trembling legs. “Gaidres…Gods, yes.”
His cock was so hard that it brushed against his stomach, but he didn’t dare let one hand down to touch himself. He might just fall over.
Gaidres pressed against him, lips nudging his cheek until Caelius turned his, offering his mouth. Gaidres took it, tongue sinking inside as he surged two fingers deep into Caelius’s ass, slicking him with the oil and preparing him for his cock.
He shouted into Gaidres’s mouth, his body bucking under the hard penetration. Then Gaidres’s hand slid from Caelius’s nape, down to grip his waist, holding him still, holding him prisoner, as Gaidres thrust his fingers hard, over and over.
Each thrust sent Caelius into near-delirium, until finally he tore his mouth free and met Gaidres’s piercing eyes. “Fuck me…please, Gaidres, fuck me.”
Gaidres snarled, the animal sound making Caelius’s cock ache as the man’s fingers slipped free. The head of his cock slid between Caelius’s cheeks. “As you wish, Dominus.” His lips twisted in a sardonic smile as he drove his hips forward and sank his cock into Caelius’s willing body.
Caelius cried out, grateful that those who could overhear would stay silent about it, because he didn’t want to hold anything back. He wasn’t even sure if he could.
“Gaidres.” He moaned as the man’s cock eased from his body, only to cry out again as it surged once more inside him.
Gaidres’s hands were hard on Caelius’s hips, keeping him where he wanted him. Teeth scraped against Caelius’s neck and Gaidres’s stubble scored his skin, only to be soothed by his tongue in turn. Caelius couldn’t draw a full breath as urgent need turned him inside out.
“Oh gods…oh gods.” He gasped, clenching around Gaidres’s cock. He shifted his weight to one hand, desperate to touch him even though the other man was pressed against his back. He wanted more. He reached around him, fingers curling against the nape of Gaidres’s neck, sinking his fingers into the other man’s hair. “Yes, yes, yes.”
Caelius turned his head and moaned as Gaidres took his mouth again. He could kiss Gaidres all night, be fucked by him…touch him. It was a madness inside him.
Gaidres plunged his tongue into Caelius’s mouth in the same way his cock plunged into Caelius’s ass. His pace was fast, fingers hard where they gripped Caelius. Gaidres snapped his hips harder and then turned with him, bearing them both to the floor where he bent Caelius forward on his knees and fucked him as Caelius had craved.
“Does my…cock please you…Dominus?”
Please him? Somehow that seemed inadequate to the pleasure whipping him out of control. It was finer than any wine, more intoxicating than any herb created to make the senses sing. But the words to convey such things were lost to him now with his cheek pressed to the floor and his ass lifted for Gaidres to take.
“Yes…yes, Gaidres.” He panted, writhing with each thrust. He slipped a hand between his thighs and curled his fingers around his own cock, crying out as the ache intensified. He spread his thighs wider, stroking with each brutal thrust.
“You should…see yourself…Dominus.” There was something in Gaidres’s tone, in the sound of his snarls, that told Caelius the man got
a savage pleasure out of seeing a Roman splayed out so, behaving so wantonly.
Caelius turned his head, just enough to meet Gaidres’s intent stare. He looked as if he belonged right there, in a position of absolute power. Caelius shivered. “Do I…please you…Gaidres?”
Gaidres gripped Caelius’s hips tightly, thrusting hard and jolting them both with every motion. “You please me, Dominus.” He slid his hands up Caelius’s sides. “Your body pleases me.”
“Good.” Caelius rocked his hips and clenched around his cock. “Harder, please Gaidres…don’t hold back…”
Gaidres obeyed, hand tightening in Caelius’s hair and slamming so hard into him now that they slid along the marble floor, bodies slick with sweat in the faintly stirring air. “Oh gods…yes.” Caelius moaned, his hands braced on the floor and pushing up to all fours as Gaidres took him.
This was far more than he had ever dreamt of. When he’d first approached Gaidres, he’d suspected that the pleasure would surpass that of any other he’d known. But not like this. What he had imagined didn’t even come close. Caelius bit his lip, trying to hold back his rising orgasm, but even not touching his cock anymore didn’t stave off his need.
Gaidres’s hand stung his scalp as they rutted. No one had dared use him like this and gods…it was perfect.
“Please, please, Gaidres.” He rocked back on the cock in his ass, clenching as Gaidres rocked him forward again.
His cries became louder with each untiring thrust. Gods, Gaidres would keep fucking him if Caelius spent himself first and he’d be helpless to do anything but take it. That thought did it and Caelius shuddered, crying out as the orgasm ripped through him.
Gaidres stilled, panting hard, fingers trembling as he struggled to remain still. “D-Dominus?” he asked, voice rough.
Caelius shook his head wildly. “Don’t stop…finish…by the gods, take your pleasure on me…”
He heard Gaidres’s quick intake of breath and worried for a moment that Gaidres would stop out of a courtesy to him instead of finding his release. And then Gaidres withdrew just long enough to flip Caelius onto his back and surged back between his thighs, his cock finding its way to Caelius’s willing entrance without guidance. Caelius cried out as Gaidres slammed into him.
Gaidres’s hands gripped his mussed hair, their eyes locked. He panted with every thrust, the need for release raw in his expression.
“Yes…yes…” Caelius gasped, thighs hugging his hips, lifting to meet him. It was almost too much, but he craved the feel of Gaidres’s orgasm inside him.
He didn’t have long to wait. No more than a few moments passed before Gaidres could not hold back any longer and his eyes fell shut as he came, hard, jerky thrusts into Caelius as he spilled his seed deep inside him and then sagged, panting hard, breath gone and sweat trailing down his body.
Caelius moaned. The smell of Gaidres, of his seed. He could go to sleep with that scent on his skin and revel in it. He slid his hands up, cradling Gaidres’s face in his hands. The gladiator’s forehead rested against Caelius’s shoulder and his breath swept over Caelius’s skin.
For just a moment, no quicker than a flash of lightning, they lay like that and then it was over as Gaidres pulled away. Caelius let his hands and legs fall away as Gaidres rose, leaving him sprawled in a lewd heap on the ground. Caelius stared unconcerned up at him while the gladiator looked away, his eyes fixed on some point on the wall, his jaw working.
The pride was back full force, maybe even stronger than before. Caelius drew himself up onto shaky feet.
“If I’ve pleased, Dominus, may I return to the barracks?” Gaidres turned hard eyes on him.
He touched Gaidres’s arm with his fingertips. The gladiator was still recovering from months of neglect and it would be cruel to keep him up any later. “A moment, Gaidres, and then if you wish you may go.”
Caelius bit back a sigh. So much anger in one man, though justified, he was sure. He’d not had much experience with gladiators or soldiers, not since his brief stint in the military years ago, but he didn’t recall any of them being so tense, everywhere. Perhaps they hadn’t been forced to serve an animal disguised as a nobleman, as Gaidres had.
He searched Gaidres’s face a moment, trying to determine what was so appealing about him other than a perfect body. And then he let his hand fall, gesturing instead toward a basin filled with lukewarm, scented water and a cloth draped over the rim. “I doubt you wish to return unclean.”
Especially smelling of a Roman lover. Caelius had always enjoyed lying with his lovers afterward, tenderly cleaning each other, kissing and touching until they recovered the energy to play again. He could spend hours tasting Gaidres and caressing him, and after that he’d crave more. But something about Gaidres screamed that he wished for distance the moment his orgasm was over.
Gaidres followed his direction to the basin of water. “Gratitude, Dominus.” He bent to retrieve his tunic and subligar, holding them away from the water as he rinsed his cock and stomach off. Caelius moved to the huge bed, covered in furs and silks, and sprawled there on his stomach, watching unabashedly.
“You are very handsome.” Caelius could not hide the wistfulness in that statement. “Would you come to me again, Gaidres?”
Gaidres tensed and glanced back at him, rewrapping the cloth and leather about his hips and thighs, and tugging his tunic on. “I will do as Dominus commands.”
Caelius sighed and waved one hand. “I know you will. I’d like to know if you would come to me willingly.”
Gaidres gave him a wary look. “I am willing, Dominus.”
He propped his chin up on his hands, trying to discern if Gaidres was telling him the truth or not. What seemed clear outside these walls was more muddled within them. A part of him said that Gaidres wasn’t willing at all, but the man had responded to him as if he’d been more than willing. In the past there had been slaves who’d said they were, but once in private it was clear they had no interest.
It was hard to tell with this man, as guarded as he was. He’d wait a few days. If Gaidres was interested, it would be apparent soon enough. The gladiator glanced toward the curtained door and Caelius gave in to the man’s obvious desire to leave. “You may go. Rest, Gaidres. After the ordeal with my uncle, you need to recover your strength.”
Gaidres hesitated as though torn between taking the dismissal and rushing from the room or lingering instead. “Dominus…if I may ask a question?”
Caelius sat up, unashamed in his nakedness, curious to know what was on Gaidres’s mind. “You may, of course.”
“When can we train? We have been too long out of the arena.”
Caelius frowned, tilting his head. “You and the others need time to regain your strength…”
Gaidres shook his head. “We cannot regain our strength if we do not train! With no doctoré we can only spar, not train. Without proper weapons…”
“I trust you know far more than I regarding such things.” Perhaps it would be dangerous for men in their situation to go soft from lack of training. Some skills might not be recovered. Curse Craxus for being such a degenerate wastrel. “If the medicus agrees with you, I will allow it.”
“We need a doctoré, a real one this time,” Gaidres said forcefully, leaving Caelius to wonder what had happened to the last. Craxus probably sold him for some wine.
“You’ll get one. I have started a search already and ordered new equipment, armor, weapons, sparring gear.” The equipment in the ludus would have been laughable if men hadn’t been expected to actually wield such things.
“Gratitude, Dominus.”
For once Caelius thought he might mean the words. “You must know, Gaidres, that most of the men with you cannot be expected to continue to train as gladiators, nor fight as one. They will never recover.” As much as Caelius wished it weren’t true, ignoring the realities wouldn’t help.
Gaidres’s jaw tightened and his tone turned fierce. “I know. But they are good men, Dominus, who
have given all to this house and received nothing in return.”
“I believe you, Gaidres. Please trust me in this. They will not be disposed of.” That Gaidres had such fears and that he had spoken out about what his men needed showed the mark of an exceptional leader.
At that promise, Gaidres lifted his gaze from the floor, startled. “Do you speak true?”
“I do. I would ask that you give me a report of which men you think can be salvaged and which cannot. I will find places in my household for those who wish to remain.”
Gaidres bowed his head, this time with respect. “My gratitude, Dominus. Truly.”
He trusted that Gaidres would do the job better than most. There was no sense in keeping a man in a fight who would not only get himself killed if he did not have the strength, but would also be unable to defend his fellow gladiators in the arena. There were more than enough tasks suitable for those who could not continue doing heavy or dangerous work.
Caelius rose from his bed and walked over to Gaidres, laying his hand on the gladiator’s chest. He brushed his mouth over Gaidres’s, savoring the brief contact of firm lips against his own. He suppressed a shiver and pulled back. Gaidres needed sleep, not to be cajoled back into bed. Another time. “Sleep well, Gaidres.”
Sleep well. Gaidres mulled that parting comment over as he followed the slave and guards back to the barracks. He didn’t think he’d be sleeping at all.
He would be the only one, it seemed, as he entered the temporary quarters. Gaidres was glad, though, for the men’s sound sleep. They would need it if Caelius was sincere when he spoke of bringing in a new doctoré, of raising the ludus to new heights.
It had been weeks since they’d last trained, and it showed. Muscles had begun to go soft, stamina was halved—it might never return if left too much longer. For many, though, it never would. They did not deserve the fate that usually befell gladiators who were no longer of use, which was either as fodder for the opening games or as a worker in the mines—both death sentences.
He said nothing as he was urged inside, glaring at the hapless guard who locked the slatted door shut.
The Gladiator’s Master Page 4