Gladiator (14 page)

“Had it not been for you, my son would have died believing I was the reason Hope died. I don’t know if I could have lived with that.”

“I know.”

“What did you say to him?”

“That things weren’t always what they seemed. That you weren’t the bad guy. That Veronica, no matter what she was presenting herself to be, was just a cruel dictator. And that you had suffered as much as anyone, including him. And that you were grieving, thinking you had also lost him and Elizabeth, as much as you were grieving Hope.”

“You saved him. How did you know he was in trouble?”

“Your heart was breaking. I feel everything you do.”

“But they were torturing you in the Inquisition Room.”

“Yes.”

“It could have killed you.”

“I think that was the general idea…”

“Veronica almost succeeded.”

“I came back, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” Tristan said, smiling, “you certainly did.”

“I love you, Tristan. No matter what happens I will always be by your side.”

They grew quiet again. She was still warm against him. And despite the dangers, she was still willing to sacrifice herself for his happiness. He needed her to know he would do the same.

“Alex, when this over I’m going to find a minister priest. And I’m going to find two rings, and I’m going to find a way to marry you legally.”

“I am yours.”

He kissed her and rolled her to her back. “I want you to know what a bride feels like on her wedding day.”

“I don’t need that. I thought I did, but I know what it means to feel like a bride on her wedding night and to stand by her husband in good times and in bad.”

“Alex…”

She pressed her finger to his lips and her eyes glittered. “One day you’ll give me the world and I will want for nothing. Until then I will want for nothing but you.”

He kissed her tenderly and reached his hand between her legs and urged her to spread them. She reached between his and wrapped her hand around his cock as he began to stroke her clit.

In a slow gentle rhythm they worked one another into a heightened sense of erotic frenzy. When he covered her mouth with his, sucking her tongue, he tasted her bravery and courage as they climaxed together.

When he broke the kiss, he knew they might not have forever on this earth, but that they would have forever in eternity.

Chapter Fourteen

“You don’t share much about your past when we talk. Just about the loss of your mother and your brother,” Tristan said when they were fully clothed again.

“There isn’t much to talk about,” she said, her small voice reverberating against his chest.

“You act as if your life doesn’t matter.”

“It only has ever mattered when someone wanted something I could offer them. Present company excluded.”

He gathered her long locks at her neck and ran his hand down along them repeatedly. “Your life has always mattered.”

She chuckled. “Try telling my family that.”

“Your mother and brother understood that.”

“I failed them.”

“You know how you keep telling me I didn’t fail my family and that things were going on that were outside my control?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of a double standard?”

They both laughed. Their voices echoed down the cavernous corridors where they were being held. She suddenly squeezed him tight.

“What was that for?”

“I just was thinking what life could be like for us if things turn out okay for us in the end.”

“I think if we live to see another time period born for us, there’s still a long way to go.”

“I know. Government as people know it now is a far cry from what it ought to be.”

“We had it so good—and people were so stupid. Handing the power over to an oligarchy that only cared about themselves, and not what the population at large needed.”

“My mother used to tell me that my father had once been a good man, but his heart had been twisted by the gods.”

“What did you think about all that?”

She was silent for a moment before answering, “I just wanted him to love me.”

Tristan pressed his lips to her forehead. “That’s all most kids ever want.”

“I wanted a normal family, but after Mom passed on I knew that was never going to be.”

“That’s a hard pill for a five year old to swallow.”

“I’m twenty-one, and I still have trouble accepting it.”

Tristan gathered her up in his arms and tortured himself with thoughts of her death. It would undoubtedly destroy him if she did die. It was something he’d unsuccessfully tried to put out of his head.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m a hundred years old. Then at others, like now, here in your arms I feel like I’ve barely tasted life.”

“You have an old soul in a young body, Alex. I wonder when the moment comes for us to play our parts in this destiny you see, whether I’ll be able to do my part without breaking.”

“You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for, Tristan.”

“Do you know if you can look into the face of death and not blink?”

“I’ve always been ready to die to save the people, but with you and our children…I’m not so sure anymore.”

“If it meant saving them…would you hesitate?”

“No. But sacrificing everything, our future, could make me falter, albeit for a bit. That’s much more difficult.”

“Do we even have a future if you don’t do this?”

She looked up at him with great mourning and touched his cheek and said, “I don’t think so, no.”

“Then we’ll find a way.”

She gripped him. “I still wonder why you helped me. Or why I even reached out to you. But I find I worry less and less about it each moment.” She locked her eyes on him and placed his hand on her abdomen and said, “If I survive, our family will be large.”

“And if you don’t?”

“It will be up to you to bring Veronica and my father down. Although, the more I see of her, the less I see my father living through any of this.”

“And this concerns you why?”

“Because my sister will see you as the one who got away and it won’t just be business as usual, it will become even more of a vendetta.”

“After what I’ve been through, she couldn’t possibly punish me any worse than she already has.”

“My sister’s depravity knows no bounds. If she can find yet another way to hurt you while making others suffer, she will find a way to do it.”

He cradled her close, but when they heard footsteps marching down the corridor they rose quickly to their feet. He kept her in his embrace but feared what was about to come next.

Veronica appeared with her entourage and dismissed all but one man—Damien. She grinned devilishly at Tristan. “I see you’ve had time to work whatever magic chemistry it is you have with my sister.” She sighed. “I remember when you had that chemistry with me.”

“We never had chemistry Veronica. We had anger.”

“Oh pish-posh. You think you love her,” Veronica said, rolling her eyes. “Well, if you love her so much then you’d be willing to do anything in return for her safety, wouldn’t you?”

He refused to say anything and held fast to Alex. “Ah. The silent, noble savage. Well, you should know, Damien here is going to be your opponent for your next fight. And my sister will be the prize. And you do remember what happened the last time Damien touched your precious bride, don’t you?”

“You’re crazy…” Tristan began, lunging as Alex held him back.

The queen laughed maniacally. “Look! My little sister holding her man back to protect him. You should know, you fool, that I know where your children are, and it’s just a matter of time before I have them in my possession. And Tristan…your precious Alex will be chained to the arena with only you to defend her. And the moment you fall, Tristan Shane, so does your entire family.”

“You won’t win,” Alex said stiffly.

“Dear little sister, no matter what lie your whore of a mother put in your head, it is just that. A lie. Your fate is indeed near. But just like our brother, you will never know your full potential.”

“If she dies, so will you, Veronica,” Tristan said.

Veronica burst into laughter again. “Damien, come with me. Enjoy your last night together, you two. I hope it is as memorable as the first.”

As she retreated down the corridor of the dungeon her laughter resonated in his ears and echoed down the halls.

“Are you afraid?” he asked as the maniacal laughter died down.

“My only fear is being separated from you.” She paused and then added, “Damien isn’t the man Lucilla married, but his soul isn’t lost either. You should take comfort in that.”

“I don’t. I saw how he treated Lucilla. I remember all too clearly what he did to you. He purposely tried to wound you beyond repair, spiritually.”

“There’s darkness in everyone Tristan. Even me. There has to be. In order for me to do what I’ve been called upon to do I will have to harm people. Most of all, my own family.”

“You would never wound me or our children. You sacrificed a great deal in order to save Kevin.”

“I meant my father and sister.”

“They are inherently evil. They deserve to die. They deserve whatever suffering you inflict upon them.”

“Maybe. But I wonder if once they were good, too, as my mother said about my father. And when I kill them they will no longer have that choice, to turn to their good nature.”

“They gave up that choice a long time ago—when your father murdered your mother and your sister murdered your brother.”

“You always have a choice. You had a choice. You could have continued to do my sister’s bidding instead of protecting me. But you didn’t. You chose to protect me.”

“That was no choice. I am no animal. You were suffering and needed my help. I did what any decent human being would. You, too, have gone beyond any calling a lover should.”

She smiled at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m no lover. I’m going to be your wife. And everything I do is in view of that position. Even when I heal, it is because I know you need me to. And when I need you, I feel you encompass me. No other touch can do to me what yours does. No other taste makes me as hungry or thirsty for more. You bring me back when all hope should have been lost. There is no rhyme or reason for who I am or what I can do, yet you complete me in every way.”

“That’s because I was meant to love you as your husband. And I will serve you until the day I die.”

He crushed her close and kissed her, deeply and roughly. Their feet left the ground as he ran his hands over her body, and her touch overwhelmed his senses. She was more than his wife, and soul mate and mother to his children; she was his obsession, and he would never be able to get enough of her.

He deepened the kiss and she ran her hands beneath his shirt and when he cupped her breast, gently stroking it. She moaned into his mouth and twirled her tongue around his. He lifted her leg over his hip and their feet touched the ground again. He pinned her against the wall and gyrated his hips, rubbing his fast stiffening cock against her hot clit.

Hiking the skirt of her dress above her navel, he stripped his pants off, and pressed his skin to hers. He continued to rub his cock against her clit and his cock swelled at the touch of the slick wet juices flowing from her pussy.

“You’re torturing me.” She gasped as she bit down on his lower lip. “This may be our last night together, make me never forget our time together. Fuck me, make love to me, make me shake and come for you.”

Her words turned him on in such away his sense of self- control totally abandoned him, and he pushed his massive cock inside of her. She moaned and dug her fingernails into his back.

“More.” She groaned, driving him wild with want. “Harder.”

He squeezed one of her breasts hard and crammed the other one into his mouth and she screamed with pleasure. Her legs came around his waist and he held onto her thighs. He released her breast from his mouth and felt his release coming on.

He gazed into her eyes and branded her with a look of possession. She grabbed his face and gave him a punishing kiss as he drove into her as if it were indeed the last time he would ever know her touch.

She arched her body against his and began to grunt and he buried his face into her neck and together they rode a wave of orgiastic pleasure neither had ever allowed the other to know. He came hard, his cum entering into her and mixing with her soft, wet juices promising them, if she did survive, that their family would indeed grow again.

Chapter Fifteen

When he woke, Alexandra was gone. The atmosphere was electric. Where he’d once been unsure, fearful or wounded, now he was intense, focused, and prepared for battle. Everything was on the line and the nature of their lovemaking the night before fueled the core of who he was now, and made him the man he knew he needed to be, in order to fulfill his destiny and protect his wife no matter what.

He stood up and started strapping on his armor. He sheathed his sword and picked up the shield—and realized that his dagger was missing. Tristan felt the presence of Alex like a breath surrounding him. Her words flowed in his mind to give him the strength and courage it would take to face this battle and come out successful.

“I am here with you. I will always be here with you. Come what may, my destiny is with you.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a shadow at the door. It was Veronica, in a gown that left little to the imagination. She came to a stop in front of him.

“You still have a choice.”

“And what choice might that be?”

“To kill your wife, of course. And end the threat to the Crown. You would earn your freedom, and that of your children. And then you would be free to live your life as you see fit.”

“As your guard?”

“If you so chose to do.”

“I can’t believe I ever fucked you.”

She grinned maliciously. “As I recall, you used to enjoy our times together. It helped you to forget your failures.”

He stood upright and clenched his jaw.

“Hmmm, I see you actually love my sister. Tell me Tristan, what is so beguiling about her pussy that I can’t beat it in the bedroom? You used to say mine was lined with gold.”