by Harley James
She laid her cheek against his to rasp into his ear. “Your skin, Alexios…’tis so hot and perfect. Like fire and iron under my hands.”
Her words, one more spark to the flames. Another dive into madness.
Soon he would be following her into Hades as Orpheus had his beloved Eurydice.
Όποιος γίνεται πρόβατο τον τρώει ο λύκος. He who becomes a sheep is eaten by the wolf.
Even so, his arms banded tighter around her back, his hands sliding under her ass, shifting her peplos to the side to press her downy softness more intimately against him. Little rocking motions to maximize her pleasure. Lifting, grinding her against him until her lips broke from his to moan.
And oh, that sound.
Exquisite.
Such little tones could fell him.
He could not forget any part of her any more than he could leave behind his vendetta. Nor could he leave her unprotected. He would have to find a way to reconcile the light and darkness.
Because he would have her.
She took over the rhythm. Faster and faster, she moved, only slowing when his calloused palms scraped across the smooth fabric of her peplos to strip it over her head. His breath sawed in and out of his chest as the firelight bathed her curves, as naked as Aphrodite and far more magnificent.
Mine. A boom of thunder echoed his possession.
An arousing flush on her cheeks and down her neck to the rosy tips of her breasts that made her eyes all the bluer. Eyes so filled with promise, he longed to hide his shadows for fear of staining her. What have I wrought?
Death, surely.
But, before that…
Life.
He resettled her legs around his waist, pulling her body flush with his, finally nothing between them but skin. Lust fisted hard, pounding in his temples, driving his cock to weep for want of her. She set a new rhythm, rolling, undulating against his length, slick, warm, delicious.
He leaned her back against his forearms to watch their bodies slide together, her nipples peeking out provocatively between strands of her long hair. And the hair between her legs making him ache and shudder with more desire than he’d ever known. “There is no going back from this, Sophia. Life with me will not be easy. You must be sure.”
She opened her eyes, her hands a sudden brand against his cheeks. “I don’t ever want to go back.”
The bars slipped from his heart. He lifted her to her knees, poised just above him. “Have you ever…?”
“No,” she smiled coyly, “but I have been friendly with myself. Now hurry. I have dreamed of this for so long.”
His heart pulsed. I can no longer deny her anything. I am lost.
Chapter 12
How many times had she dreamt of being in her warrior’s arms? Right where she belonged.
It was beyond her wildest imaginings.
She ran her hands up her belly to cup her breasts, silently thanking the Goddess of Love for the gift of such keen feelings.
Alexios groaned as she pressed down against the broad head of his phallus, his fingers digging into the skin of her lower back. “I may not have shaved my head, but do not think this is not a binding marriage, Alexios.”
“Brides shaving their heads is a foolish tradition,” he ground out.
His comment pleased her. Everything about him pleased her. She could feel their points of contact with each nerve ending. His thumbs burning into the soft flesh of her hips. His teeth bared in a growl, pulling at her nipples, then soothing them with a broad sweep of his tongue.
She knew the way of things between a man and woman, but this—driving the chariot at full speed—the stallion below her, barely controlled, was exhilarating.
She rolled her hips again, her slit swollen, yearning for a taste of this man she’d watched for so long. She threaded her fingers through his dark curls and slowly took him into her body.
She gritted her teeth, the stretching nearly painful, until Alexios slipped his hand between them, using the broad pad of his thumb to make her forget the pain. Soon she was moving over him, her sweat mixing with his own as her breath grew tighter, and she was reaching…climbing…And he was…
Grimacing.
She stilled her hips, her hands gripping his shoulders so tight she could feel his racing pulse. “Am I so…artless I am…wounding you?” she gasped.
He squeezed her buttocks, and she could feel him pulse inside her. Incredible.
“Gods, Sophie, no. I am trying to hold back.”
Thank the goddess. “Oh, I am s-so glad! I would hate to disap—”
“Sophie, shhhh.”
Her eyes closed, her lips descending to the side of his neck. Her nipples scraped against the fine hairs of his chest as she brought her knees under her the better to control her movements. With each downward sway of her hips, her resolve strengthened.
This between them was more than Sparta.
More even than the innocent babies, as much as that may damn her to Tartarus.
She glanced to the boy still slumbering as only a baby could, then caught and held Alexios’s depthless gaze. She trailed her hands around his shoulders to caress the raised scars that crisscrossed his back, a living chronicle of his strength and courage.
Beauty could be resurrected from the ashes of life if you would but grasp it with both hands and hold on.
Everyone said excess was dangerous, but excess was all she understood.
She would walk into a den of monsters for a chance to walk beside this man.
A glorious pressure rose up through her body, opening her mouth, arching her neck. “I give myself unto thee, Alexios, son of Davos, of the Royal House Eurypontid.”
Tears formed at the corners of her eyes. She could feel the wetness slide toward her ears.
Alexios stilled, his arms wrapping around her to draw her toward him. “Sophie, no. Please don’t cry.”
Her tears intermingled with the sweat at his temples as she pressed her face to his and released the final fetter. She cried out his name, heat and relief and sweet agony seizing her, on and on she soared. “Say it! Say it back to me, please, Alexios.”
As he spasmed, her name, guttural on his tongue, swept her along, their journey as one as he pledged himself back to her. “I give myself unto thee, Sophia, daughter of Tychos, of the Royal House Agiad.”
She shuddered once more, breathed deep, her body soft and sated, and found her lips claimed again. Slowly, tenderly.
A promise.
She felt the weight of it. And promised back, knowing she would be walking into that den of monsters come the dawn.
Chapter 13
A dripping. The hollow sound of water, echoing, yet not like the palace fountain outside her bedroom door. Sophia’s eyes snapped open, her muscles flexed for flight. Mere moments were all it took to orient herself. The storm. The cave. The baby.
Alexios.
My husband.
His breath stirred her hair, which he’d tangled something dreadful during the long hours they’d learned each other’s skin as the storm had raged on. She was still lying in his arms, the baby nestled against her belly.
It was an incredible feeling, not to mention a miracle that the infant was asleep. Once the milk had run out, they’d managed to give him water from Alexios’s canteen, but the wee thing had to be starving. Hopefully the trails wouldn’t be too washed out back to the city because they needed to hurry.
The instant she shifted in Alexios’s arms, she realized he’d already been awake. He sat up, reached for his sword, and spun to face the mouth of the cave, placing himself in front of her and the child. Sophia sat up, and the baby began to fuss. “How long have you—”
He put a finger to his lips to silence her, then pointed at the baby before sidling up next to her. “Remain here and try to keep him quiet,” he breathed against her hair. “Someone’s outside.”
“Wait!” she whispered roughly.
He turned back, his eyes dropping to her lip
s momentarily. “I said, stay here, Sophie.”
She waited until he’d moved around the bend of the cave, then followed his footsteps to the mouth where the first brilliant streaks of orange and pink shot through the boughs of the fir trees. She held the baby, letting him suck the tip of her finger for comfort.
Soon Alexios returned, an unreadable expression on his face. She sensed it was bad. She hurried to his side. “What’s wrong?”
“They’ve found us.”
“Who?”
He didn’t need to answer when his stepmother, Queen Theodora, and Sophia’s brother, King Niketas, broke through the clearing a short way down the path with three members of the king’s private guard. An unlikely search party.
Why would Theodora and Niketas be here together?
Forcing optimism into the situation had worked for her about half the time, and right now seemed like another good time to try it. She tilted her head and faked a smile at Alexios. “They have horses, so we can get the baby to town sooner.”
Alexios shook his head and reached for her hand. By the time her brother rode up to them, his face was so grim she would have started down the path around him had the Queen not nudged her horse in front of her, too, blocking the path.
“Alexios, son of King Davos, you are under arrest for the kidnap of my sister, the Agiad princess.” King Niketas’s voice rang through the still air as his guards moved toward Alexios.
“Wait! Alexios is my husband. We were wed last night.”
Sophia heard the queen’s gasp as the king swore and dismounted, rushing toward her, his right hand raised in the air to strike her. Alexios stepped between them, shoving Niketas forcefully to the ground.
“Alexios, no!”
He drew his sword, body poised in a fighting stance as the king’s guard advanced on him.
This was bad. Really bad.
“Sophie, what have you done?” Niketas growled, then cursed at one of the guards who attempted to help him up.
When he got to his feet, his eyes pinned Sophia with a burning look which she felt down to her toes. It asked her allegiance. But now, she had her husband to think of as well.
If only she didn’t have to choose between them. “Niketas, just listen—”
“Get on the fucking horse, Sophie.” Her brother brushed the dust off his chiton.
“She’s not going anywhere without me. And know this, King, if you ever lay one finger upon my wife in anger, I will cut you down.”
Theodora’s eyes widened at her stepson, a slight smile playing at her lips. “You dare threaten a king? Your father will be quite disappointed.”
“And nothing would make you happier, would it?” Sophie yelled, not liking the Queen’s disgusting half-smile, so imperiously smug. “Seek and destroy may be one of your favorite pastimes, Theodora, but we care not for threats. Or interference.”
The Queen lifted one eyebrow as she swung her gaze toward Sophia like she was a beetle beneath her sandal. “You silly girl. What strange stories you concoct in that pretty little head. I come on behalf of my husband, the King. He needs to know about any brewing intrigues.” The hot look she spared Alexios made Sophia’s hackles rise. “And anything related to my stepson is my business.”
“You’re disgusting! And your soul is so cold it’s no wonder your husband doesn’t care to warm your bed,” Sophia flung back, rubbing the baby’s back, praying to Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth, that she would soothe not only this crying infant, but her own tongue as well.
“By Hercules!” Niketas’s face was dark, his furious eyes moving from the baby to Alexios to his sister. “You never learn, do you, Sophie?”
Oh, that I would have had more time to do this right! But circumstances had forced her hand. “I’m sorry you had to learn of our marriage this way, Niketas. I would have told you upon my return. But you knew my feelings all along.”
“This dream you have is impossible.” Niketas shoved a hand through his hair as he began to pace. “You don’t understand the ramifications of everything you’ve now set in motion.”
“Why are you all making this so much harder than it has to be?”
“We’re not the ones making things harder, you stupid girl. We like it the way things are.” Theodora cut in, glaring at the unhappy babe. “For the love of Demeter, would you please quiet that sorry excuse for a Spartan? I cannot speak, let alone hear with his miserable squalling. Clearly the Elders knew what they were doing when they left that noisy thing for the wolves.”
Sophia froze, fighting for breath. “You are…heartless. How could anyone be so cruel? It’s a wonder all the leaves don’t fall from the trees when you pass by!”
Theodora shook her head, her beautiful features hiding a sea of ugliness inside. “So much drama. Now, where were we? No one has ever merged the Agiad and Eurypontid royal dynasties; therefore, it must be illegal. You should both be taken into custody, at least until we can review the law.”
Heat burned through Sophie’s chest and face. “Just because it’s never been done doesn’t mean it’s illegal! You are a lonely, old motherless bitch of a stray goat, embittered by the fact that the man you married has ever loved another.”
“Sophie, damn your tongue!” Niketas roared.
Theodora’s face grew splotchy. “You foul wretch! How dare you speak to me like this?” She swung her horse around to face the guards, pointing at Sophia. “Seize her. Now!”
Alexios raised his sword once again. Niketas banged the flat of his sword against a boulder to get everyone’s attention. “For twenty sacks of wine, let us not be rash!”
“This from the man who would have struck me!” Sophia shouted.
It would take a long time to forgive him for that.
Niketas glared at her. “I would not have struck you.”
She wished she could be entirely sure she believed him.
He pointed his sword at her like it was an accusing finger. “You have carried your escapades too far this time.” He sheathed his sword, then swung up into his saddle and swiveled to face Theodora, then his guards. “I will bring this case to the Council. For now, Sophie will return to the palace with me.”
“She will not,” Alexios stated, looking down at the baby in her arms. “My wife remains with me.”
“You will report to your commanding officer, soldier, or you will be flogged for insubordination,” Niketas retorted.
Alexios stared at the King for a moment before nodding. “Let me settle her in my household, and then I shall report to the sandpits.”
“No!” A terrible weight plunged into the pit of Sophia’s stomach at the thought of watching Alexios be ripped apart by a flogger. Not again. “There is no reason for this!” she cried.
Theodora pursed her lips and shook her head Niketas’s direction. “You are a fool if you think that’s a punishment to a brute like him. He feeds off the pain others inflict on him. How quickly you’ve forgotten his bloody endurance at the Festival of Artemis Orthia.” A sinister smile tilted her lips once more. “It was quite spectacular.”
“You are unbelievably vile!” Sophia spat.
The queen rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. “Niketas, if you do nothing about this blatant disregard for the monarchy, I will see to it that the entire assembly knows what a weak, inept king you really are.”
Niketas watched the queen leave, his hand fisting on the hilt of his sword as he instructed his guards to accompany her back to the city. Within moments, Sophia, Alexios, and Niketas were alone, the babe only intermittently crying now, his subdued behavior making Sophie feel more urgency than when his lusty bellows filled the skies.
“These childish pursuits have gone too far, Sophie. There will be fallout, but if you return to the palace with me instead of Alexios’s household, it’s not too late to undo this mess.”
She looked at him. Maybe he’d never understand her vision. Maybe most wouldn’t. But nothing would ever change if someone didn’t try.
She stepped closer
to where her brother sat upon his horse. “Niketas, you once helped me save an infant. That boy is now a beloved son of a merchant family with so much to live for. How that is childish?”
The king sighed heavily, but his eyes didn’t soften like they always had when he was on the verge of relenting. “You have gone about it all wrong. Flying in people’s faces doesn’t endear you to them or make them want to listen to anything you have to say.”
“But no one listened to me when I wasn’t in their faces. Now, yes, I may have angered some, but don’t any challenges to the old ways cause unease and even anger at first? Most people fear change.”
“It’s too much change at once. Father hasn’t even been gone three moons.” Niketas looked at Alexios who’d moved beside her. “You have both been careless and rash with your words and actions against the Queen. And Sophie has been caught rescuing this child the Elders have already condemned. I cannot say what the Assembly will do, but most likely your marriage will be dissolved, and the baby taken into custody. Are you prepared to take the lash for your own as well as her transgressions?”
“Niketas, no, please!” Sophie interjected.
Alexios kept his eyes on the king, nodding once. “I will bear the lash, but the marriage stands, no matter what they say.”
Sophia switched the baby to her other shoulder. “Alexios, I cannot have you do this.”
He turned to her. “If nothing else, Spartans understand endurance.”
“Well of course they understand endurance, it’s what they do best. I’m surprised it’s not its own Olympic sport!” She was sounding shrill, but no one would listen to her otherwise.
“Silence! There has to be a price, or else we shall all be in more trouble than we already are,” Niketas barked. His eyes translated anger and something else…
Worry?
Sophia looked down the foothills where Theodora’s caravan was halfway to the edge of the city limits. Alexios had said she was a dangerous woman. She had two daughters by King Davos whom she’d like to see inherit the throne instead of the king’s bastard.