Gladiator Heart

by Alyssa Morgan

  “Take me away from this place.” She buried her face in his neck and inhaled the scent of his skin. “My home is with you.”

  He cupped the back of her head in his hand and placed a hard, hungry kiss on her mouth, a kiss she felt all the way to her soul. Valeria returned his kiss with a passion of her own, savoring the feel of his hard body against her, the warmth radiating from his skin.

  He lifted her into his lap so she straddled him and gathered her skirts up around her waist. “I want to feel your passion. Give me everything.”

  His determined fingers found the nub of her pleasure and he caressed her with lovely, skilled strokes. He had only to touch her and that needy ache between her legs grew, intensifying. Every nerve in her body came wildly alive. His mouth closed over hers in a deep, drugging kiss, and she parted her lips to the entrance of his tongue.

  His hands moved to her hips and lifted her so he could bring her down on him. Flexing his hips, he thrust into her center. Valeria cried out and arched back in ecstasy, clutching his shoulders as he guided her up and down along his searing length. She increased the pace of her movements and soon his rhythm turned furious, and he took her roughly. Valeria met his wild thrusts with a growing fervor, eager to reach that rapturous peak.

  She spiraled out of control, moaning and saying his name as she went higher and higher. He took her head between his hands and kissed her wildly, fiercely, as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Valeria returned his kiss, devouring him as she moaned into his mouth. His hands shot back to her hips and he held her firm. He bucked into her with sharp, desperate thrusts, his big body shuddering from the strain and the pleasure.

  “Give yourself to me,” he growled against her lips. “I can wait no longer.”

  He brought her down on him hard, shafting himself deep, deeper, again and again. Crying out, she came on a blinding flash of heat, her body trembling as intensifying waves of pleasure crashed through her and pushed her into a realm of pure, dizzying sensation. Tristan’s hoarse cry overlapped hers and his body stiffened as he found his release inside her.

  Under a Roman sunset, they came together as one on that hillside. Both of them vowed nothing would ever keep them apart.

  It was difficult to return to Rome that night, but Valeria wanted to say her goodbyes to Lucia and Rufus, and Tristan couldn’t leave without Angus.

  They entered the city through the same deserted gate, the air rank with the fetid odor of waste from the sewer. Soon he and Valeria would be back in the wild forests of the north where the air was fresh and the people were free.

  “How long do you think it will take?” he asked, glancing around the market at the vendors who were packing up their carts of flowers, colorful fruits and vegetables.

  “I don’t know,” she said, as she walked ahead of him through the market. “Lucia and Rufus are my family. I owe them a proper farewell.”

  Tristan knew she needed some time. Leaving Rome would be easy, but leaving those she loved, would not.

  “Are you sure it’s safe to go back?” he asked.

  She stopped walking and looked at him with an odd expression. “Of course it’s safe. Why wouldn’t it be?”

  He opened his mouth to give her a thousand reasons, when he was interrupted by Lena, the street vendor.

  “Hello, dearies.” The grizzled old woman was packing up the fruit on her cart. “What’s got you out on this fine evening?”

  “Just taking a walk,” Valeria said.

  The old woman turned her face up to the night sky littered with twinkling stars. “The star of Venus shines bright. It is a good omen for love.”

  “That’s perfect.” Valeria smiled, practically glowing. “A good omen for love is just what we need.”

  “Do you now?” The woman slanted a questioning glance at Tristan as she took a red apple from her cart. “You’d best be on your way home.” She tossed the apple to Valeria.

  Valeria caught it and resumed walking. “Thank you, Lena.”

  Tristan kept pace with her as they approached Lucia’s villa. “Can we trust that woman?”

  “Who?” Valeria took a bite from her apple and then offered it to Tristan. “Old Lena? She’s my friend.”

  Tristan accepted the apple and held it in his hand as they walked along the street. “We can’t take any chances, not when we’re so close.”

  “Don’t worry.” She looped her arm through his. “Nothing will stop us from leaving. We’ll be far away by the time anyone notices.”

  Tristan wasn’t feeling so confident. He was nagged by doubt and a creeping sense of urgency. One thing Rome had taught him: anything that could go wrong, will go wrong.

  Valeria kissed a brooding Tristan and left him standing in the street outside Lucia’s villa, promising to meet him at the tavern within the hour. She quietly slipped through the front door and leaned back against it as she pushed it closed behind her. She thought maybe she should pack her things before she told Lucia and Rufus she was leaving with Tristan. There was no way of telling how they’d take the news or how fast she’d have to leave. But, if they loved her, they would let her go.

  She had to cut through the atrium to get to her room, and had not anticipated she’d see Lucia and Rufus sitting at the dining table, with none other than Gaius Cato.

  Valeria gasped in alarm when she saw him, his blond hair perfectly groomed, his toga expertly draped around him, his green eyes seething with suppressed rage.

  “It’s about time you returned.” Lucia meant her tone to be scolding, but she sounded more afraid than upset. The fear behind her eyes gave her away.

  Valeria’s world came crashing down around her. She had the instinct to run, afraid if she didn’t, she would never see Tristan again. Why wouldn’t Gaius give up this relentless pursuit?

  “Gaius has been waiting here since this afternoon,” Rufus informed her, giving her a look that made her cringe with shame.

  But she had nothing to be ashamed of.

  She straightened her spine, ready to face the confrontation head on and be done with it all. Gaius could wait as long as he wanted. She’d never marry him.

  “Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Rufus asked. “Running off the way you did had us worried to death.”

  Valeria crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m a grown woman, and I’ll do as I please.”

  Did she tell them she was leaving forever?

  Turn around and get out before it’s too late.

  Gaius got up from the table and slowly stalked towards her. His eyes were cold, his nostrils flaring. “I was hoping you’d come to my home after I lost you in the streets the other day. Instead, I had to come to the city in search of my missing bride.”

  “I don’t know why you bothered,” she retorted, taking a few retreating steps back. “The wedding is never going to happen.”

  “And why not?” His twisted smile was frightening. “The Emperor has dispatched half the legions to Rome and will take the city back from these miscreants who dare to call themselves citizens. They should arrive any day. This rebellion changes nothing between us. The marriage decree was already signed by Caesar. It’s legal and binding, my dear. I own you.”

  Her stomach knotted with fear and she hugged her arms around her chest. She wanted to turn and run, knew she had to get out, but her legs were too weak to move. This couldn’t be happening. She didn’t want to marry Gaius. She wouldn’t. No one could make her do it.

  “I will not marry you.”

  “You have no choice.” He reached out, grabbed her roughly by the arm, and hauled her up against him. “I will have you.”

  “You won’t!” She tried to wrench out of his punishing grasp. “I’m in love with Tristan. I’m leaving with him, and you’ll never see me again.”

  She wasn’t sure it was the best time to reveal her plans, but the words just came out of her before she could stop them. She was going to spend her life with Tristan, and she wanted the whole world to know. Lucia and Rufus looked
completely dumbfounded, but Gaius grew even more enraged.

  “You’ll do no such thing.” He tightened his grip on her arm and dragged her through the atrium, towards her room.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Lucia demanded, hurrying along behind them. “Release her at once!”

  Gaius spun to face Lucia, a look of pure hostility on his handsome face. “Never question me, lady,” he warned in a clipped tone.

  Rufus was at her side, prepared to dispel the threat Gaius presented. “You’ll not speak to the lady of the house with disrespect. You have no power here.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Gaius slanted his menacing stare to Valeria. “I have all the power here. I’m a patrician, and I claim my rights over this house. I shall remain here with Valeria until the wedding arrangements can be made. Once we are wed, we’ll return to my home in the country.”

  “No!” Valeria twisted in his iron grip, desperately trying to break herself free. “Let me go. You have no right to force me to marry you.”

  “Don’t I?” He looked to Rufus and Lucia, waiting for them to confirm what he’d said was true.

  Lucia released a heavy sigh and frowned. “I’m afraid he’s right, my child. Caesar has decreed your wedding should take place. It’s legally binding.”

  “Rufus?” She looked to him in her desperation. He had to help her. He had to protect her like he always did. She had to get away and find Tristan.

  “I’m sorry, Domina.” He scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. His eyes filled with sadness. “There’s nothing we can do. This is for the best. You’ll see.”

  A choked sob escaped her throat as darkness descended on her soul. Had she really thought she could change her fate? That she deserved to find happiness with the man she loved?

  “You can’t stop me from going away with Tristan.”

  Gaius wanted to teach her a good lesson when she stubbornly tilted her chin and stared at him in challenge. He was going to do everything in his power to ensure she never ended up with her Pict lover. It disgusted him to think of Valeria spreading her legs for the man, but he would wed her as soon as possible, and then he’d teach her how to please a Roman man.

  “You won’t leave this house until I take you before a priest.” Gaius tightened his hold on her arm and resumed leading her back to the bedrooms.

  She struggled, but her attempts were in vain. Gaius was determined to have his way in this matter. She would not escape him this time. He yanked her along, and Lucia and Rufus trailed close behind, but once they came to one of the rooms, Gaius flung Valeria inside and slammed the door closed. He wheeled about to face her. It was time to show his new bride just how devious her husband could be when it came to getting what he wanted.

  “You will write a message to your northern scum,” he said harshly. “Tell him you don’t love him, that it’s me you want.”

  “He’d never believe it,” she argued. “He knows I despise you.”

  Gaius ignored the insult. She’d be his to punish in a few short days. “All men know women are fickle when it comes to love. I think he’ll believe it easier than you think.”

  Tears burned Valeria’s eyes as her anger and hatred for Gaius swelled up inside her. She’d never do what he asked. It would kill Tristan.

  He pulled out a chair from under the small square table in the corner of the room and motioned with a sweep of his hand for her to sit down. “Shall we get started on the message?”

  “What good would it do?” she asked, keeping her feet planted where she stood. “You don’t know where he is to deliver it, and I’ll never tell you where to find him.”

  Gaius smiled triumphantly. “I know exactly where he is. I saw you outside the tavern this afternoon.”

  Valeria sucked in a shocked breath. He’d been following her? How dare he!

  “He won’t believe I don’t love him,” she insisted, hoping to dissuade Gaius. “He’d know I was lying.”

  “Then you’d better do all you can to make him believe your words are true.”

  She focused all her hatred and hostility at Gaius. “Nothing you can do will make me write that message.”

  “I’ll give you a choice, my dear. Write the message, or I’ll have him apprehended and turned over to the Emperor’s legions when they return. You do know what Rome does to traitors, don’t you?”

  Gods, no.

  She couldn’t let Tristan be captured. Not when she had the power to save him from what would surely be a painful death.

  “How do I know you won’t do that anyway? I have no reason to trust you.”

  “I could have done it by now.” He smiled, baring his perfect white teeth. “But this seems a better revenge. He’ll live the rest of his life knowing you chose me over him.”

  “It would be a lie.” Tristan would never believe she’d choose Gaius. He knew the secrets of her heart.

  “He won’t know it’s a lie if you’re convincing.”

  “I can’t do that to him.”

  “Do you want him to die?”

  She shook her head vehemently. “No, never.”

  “Then you will write the message.”

  Valeria was left with two dismal options. Refuse to write the message and see Tristan killed, or write the message, and kill him herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Tristan couldn’t imagine what was taking Valeria so long. She’d been gone over an hour and it was getting late. He’d thought they’d be well out of the city by this time. He’d taken some of the money from Vorenus and he and Angus had purchased three horses and some warm clothes and food. Everything was ready for their departure. They only waited for Valeria.

  He and Angus sat at a table in the tavern. Angus kept sending anxious glances at the door as they listened to talk that the legions had sent word they were returning to the city with General Octavian to restore order. Time was definitely running out.

  “It’s a fine time for you to decide to trust a Roman,” Angus said, looking down into his mug of ale.

  “She’ll be here.” Tristan knew she’d walk in that door any moment.

  “Maybe she changed her mind,” Angus carefully suggested. “Are you certain she loves you enough to leave with you?”

  “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.” Why was Angus planting this doubt in his mind?

  He didn’t know Valeria the way Tristan did. He hadn’t held her in his arms and looked into her eyes as he made love to her. She’d promised to love him, and only him, for the rest of her life. And he believed her heart was true.

  “There’s a message for you.” Vorenus came up to their table, with a young boy behind him.

  The boy held out a scroll of parchment, and Tristan accepted it, not able to read it and afraid to learn what it said.

  But he did open it. He recognized Valeria’s perfect feminine script scrawled across the parchment. Why would she send him a message at the final hour?

  Why wasn’t she here?

  “I can’t read it,” he grunted, losing his patience.

  “Shall I?” Vorenus offered, as he extended his hand for the scroll.

  Resigned to hear what she had to say, Tristan nodded and handed the scroll to Vorenus. The man scanned it briefly and the features of his face dropped. When he looked at Tristan, his eyes held all the answers he needed.

  She wasn’t coming.

  “Tristan,” Vorenus began, the parchment trembling in his shaking hands. “I have decided not to go with you. I want to stay in Rome. I do not love you and cannot marry a man so below my station. It would degrade me to be your wife. Gaius Cato has agreed to still marry me in spite of our relationship, and I realize that he is the man I truly love. He can give me the life I deserve. Please do not try to stop me, for there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. I never want to see you again.”

  Vorenus issued a displeased grunt when he finished reading the message.

  Angus slid his mug away from him. “
Fuck.”

  Tristan hung his head as the shock set in. He felt like his heart had been ripped out of his chest, thrown to the ground, and stomped on until it was dead. Valeria didn’t love him. Some part of him had feared she would end up breaking his heart, but he hadn’t expected her to lay such a brutal blow. Had she planned this whole embarrassment with Gaius? Had they laughed about it, plotting what they would do to break him while they shared a bed behind his back?

  Never trust a Roman.

  Fury exploded in him. If he wasn’t in such a hurry to leave the city, he’d find her and choke the life right out of her. Every last treacherous bit. How could he have thought for one moment she’d love someone like him? A man who had nothing to offer but his heart.

  Better he found out now, before it was too late.

  Vorenus handed the scroll to him. He crumpled it in his hand and threw it to the ground in disgust. When he raised his head, he was met with a worried gaze from Angus.

  “What are you going to do?”

  Tristan ground his jaw as he took a few moments to think. Something about the message didn’t feel right. It wasn’t Valeria. It didn’t even sound like her.

  “Let’s have another round.” Vorenus motioned to the serving girl. “No better cure for heartache than getting pissed.”

  “What say you?” Angus persisted..

  Valeria had to be in love Tristan. He’d seen the emotion in her eyes, and the eyes didn’t lie.

  Tristan scrubbed a hand through his short hair. “I’m thinking.”

  “Is it possible she didn’t write that message?” Angus asked.

  “She wrote it,” Tristan said. “I recognize the handwriting.”

  Angus ran through all the possible scenarios in his mind. “Suppose someone forced her to write the message.”

  Tristan glanced up from his mug. “That’s exactly what I’m thinking. She never would have agreed to leave with me if she didn’t want to go.”

  Vorenus chuckled heartily. “A happy ending then?”

  Tristan flew up from the table. “That message is all Gaius Cato’s doing. She could be in trouble. I’ve got to go after her.”