Tanys Gladiatrix (The Chronicles of Tanys Book 2) (10 page)

"No, you tell me, why did you come here?"

"Because I didn't want to be someone's second choice!" Tanys shouted. She looked away and was silent.

Baran wrapped his arm around her shoulders. The warmth of his embrace drew her pain like poison from an old wound. "Believe me, Tanys, here you would be first."

Tanys cleared her throat and managed a smile.

"Look," Baran said, his voice dropping to a whisper, "If you want to run away, I'll help you... but only after I'm certain it's what you really need."

"Oh, Baran," she said, "Just let me go. I don't want any more death and misery. This place is evil."

"Where would you go that there is no death or misery?" he laughed, "Please tell me the location of this magical land, and I'll come with you!"

Tanys said nothing. After a long moment, she asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Let me train you," he said, "Pretend to bow to the Malchesse as you did to Haru'Luk. Except, instead of gold, you will be fighting for honor."

"Honor!" Tanys scoffed.

"Do not mock what you do not understand!" Baran's eyes flashed dangerously. "I offer you immortality itself."

"You know a trick to keep from dying?"

"No," he said, "You will die. We all die. But we are like burning flames. Most flicker like pale stars, lost against the dawn. I will make you to shine, brighter than the sun, and everyone who sees you burn will remember your glory long after you are gone."

"That's comforting."

Baran's face hardened. He stood quickly and called to the guard to open the door of the cell.

"Wait!" Tanys said, "I'm sorry!"

Baran turned and studied her face for signs of duplicity. Satisfied, he said, "Come then. Let's teach you how to fight."

****

"What weapon am I supposed to use?" Tanys asked.

Baran smiled and tapped his finger to his forehead. He stood across from her in a small, sandy-floored fighting pit, surrounded by high stone walls on three sides and opened to the sky above. The sun felt good on Tanys' naked body and the fine dry sand rubbed pleasantly between her toes and beneath her heels. Under the covered porch to her right, Naietta was preparing two wooden bowls. The girl poured a measure of thick, honey-colored liquid into each.

Baran stretched, loosening his powerful muscles and shaking out the idle stiffness of his week of playing nurse. Tanys watched, admiring the tone of his body and felt a flutter of anticipation as his strong hands moved to the drawstring of his loincloth. With a tug, he pulled it free and tossed the scrap of cloth to Naietta. Tanys did not notice whether she caught it or not. Such things no longer merited her attention.

Tanys had seen well-endowed men before, but Baran put them all to shame. His cock swung, free of its bonds, and Tanys caught a glimpse of the golden slave ring, hung through the pierced flesh just beneath the head. Tanys shivered at the thought of what he would feel like inside her, and her skin flushed. Her eyes rose to find Baran smiling.

"Focus on the lesson, Tanys," he said.

"What... what lesson is that?" she asked, regaining her composure.

"Unarmed fighting," he said.

"Oh, I've learned a lot about that from Jorva. You might wish you'd kept your pants on," she clicked her teeth together for emphasis.

"Just because you possess an animal spirit," he said, "doesn't mean you have to fight like an animal. No teeth!"

Tanys grinned. "What am I supposed to do, kick you in the balls until you cry like a girl?"

"If you can," he said.

"Well, let's get on with it then."

"We're not quite ready to begin," he said, "Naietta, bring the oil."

Tanys groaned, realizing what Baran intended. "Don't you people ever just have normal fights? Do there always have to be props involved?"

Naietta smiled as she approached Tanys with the first of the two wooden bowls. Tanys sighed and lifted her arms. The girl lifted the bowl over each of Tanys' shoulders in turn, tipping it to let the warm oil dribble out over her bare skin. Tanys squirmed as the oil oozed over her naked breasts. Little rivulets tickled her as they ran down her sides.

Naietta's hands moved over Tanys' body, rubbing the warm oil into her skin. Tanys stretched, letting the girl reach every part of her. Naietta's fingers worked deftly, yet tenderly, caressing the oil onto every surface. Naietta's eyes never left her work, and her face showed no discomfort as she knelt to slip her hand between Tanys' legs, smoothing the oil over the hairless mound of Tanys' womanhood then around to cover her taut buttocks. Naietta continued down her legs, until Tanys glistened from shoulder to shins. Naietta stood then, an adoring look in her pretty eyes, and returned to the table.

The girl carried the second bowl to where Baran stood. He smiled gently at her as she began to rub the golden liquid over his broad shoulders and across his smooth pectoral muscles. He leaned back slightly as she spread the shimmering oil over his chiseled abdomen. She knelt then before him as she had done with Tanys, but this time she lifted her head, smiling up at him as she lovingly coated his heavy member, her silent lips only a breath away from its tip. Her delicate fingers circled the thick shaft, pulling the skin tight as she stroked its length. Naietta's long hair spilled over her shoulder as she tilted her head, admiring the view of Baran's hairless testicles, rolling them in the palm of her hand.

Baran cleared his throat, startling Naietta out of her reverie. She smiled sheepishly and hastily concluded her ministrations, blushing a little as her oily fingers squeezed his backside. She stood, empty bowl in hand, and cast a guilty grin toward Tanys as she scurried away.

Baran bounced on his heels and shook the tension from his arms. The morning sun shone on his oil-slick limbs as he advanced toward Tanys. "Now how exactly did you plan on beating me?" he asked.

"You're not going to enjoy this," Tanys laughed. She sprung forward and planted her left heel solidly in the sand. In one fluid motion, she swung her right leg up, her foot aimed squarely at Baran's dangling genitals.

Baran turned quickly, dodging the kick. He hooked the inside of his elbow beneath her extended knee and lifted, sending her onto her back in the sand. In a flash he was astride her. "This looks familiar," he said, staring down at Tanys' heaving breasts.

Tanys roared in anger and shot a fist out at his grinning face. Baran ducked beneath the blow, but the distraction proved sufficient to allow Tanys to roll over and scramble out from beneath him. Baran slapped her hard across the bottom as she retreated. Naietta giggled as she watched from the shaded porch.

"You going to pay for that!" Tanys said, wiping sand from her stinging backside. They closed again, and Tanys kicked down toward the arch of Baran's foot, causing him to widen his stance to avoid the crippling strike. She smiled viciously as her hand came up between his legs, grabbing a handful of his male fruit. His eyes went wide as she squeezed. The oily coating spared him real injury as his slippery balls popped free of her grasp, but he still reeled away, groaning and cupping himself.

"Oh, you bitch!" he said with a sickly smile. They circled each other warily and closed again. Baran reached out suddenly, grasping at Tanys' hair, but she caught him, wrapping her elbow over his in an attempt to immobilize his arm. Baran twisted around her, his slick arm pulling free of her hold. Behind her now, he threaded his arms under hers and laced his fingers behind her head, locking them there.

"Only the surest holds will work," he hissed in her ear.

Tanys thrashed from side to side, unable to free her arms from the hold. She stamped down hard with her heel, but Baran danced clear of every attack. She threw herself forward, driving her hips back against his, feeling his weight against her back. Her body writhed against his, unable to break free of his control. Tanys' heart hammered in her breast, filled with impotent rage... and something else as well.

Baran was feeling it too. The evidence grew hard and thick, pressing its gold-crowned head up between her oiled buttocks. His breath quickened, hot on her cheek as her flesh ground against his. No longer certain that she wanted to escape, Tanys leaned farther forward, spreading her legs apart. The head of his mighty cock slipped between her thighs and probed the soft cleft of her sex. He moaned. She gasped.

A rush of warm power swept through Tanys' body. She shrugged free of Baran's hold, and his strong hands slipped down, digging his fingers into the yielding flesh of her breasts. She did not pull away as they kneaded her ample mounds. Baran slipped an oiled finger through the loop of her slave ring and stroked the acutely sensitive tip of her pinioned nipple, causing her to whimper helplessly and double over, completely in his power.

Her hands were now free to explore. One reached back to tug his narrow hips closer towards herself as the other hand moved between her legs to guide him in. Whatever lesson he had been trying to teach was lost in the wild passion of the moment. His swollen phallus pushed inside her. The cold metal of his slave ring caught against the secret bud of her womanhood, teasing the sensitive flesh as it passed the gates of her sex and entered deep within. Tanys shuddered as it moved inside her.

Baran's free hand moved to grasp a handful of Tanys' dark hair, holding her in place as he pulled and thrust his shaft inside her. His left hand yet made hostage of her pierced breast. He tugged at her golden ring, stretching the captive nipple and scratching the pink tip with his fingernail until Tanys cried out, begging not for mercy but for more sweet torment.

Baran's hips thrust back and forth, sliding himself in and out. Each movement drove Tanys closer to the edge of climax. Each time she felt that ecstasy must surely break over her like a wave, yet each time seemed to push her limit just a little higher until she groaned and writhed atop new pinnacles of pleasure. At last she could stand no more and cried out, "Please!"

Baran thrust himself deeper than she had imagined possible, his balls slapping heavy and cool against her taut sex. Her passion released in a screaming eruption, her cries mingling with his groans. He gasped loudly as he came, flooding her with his wet heat. Baran pulled her back to his chest, wrapping his arms around her as he breathed her name into a fervent kiss upon her throat. Tanys turned her body inside his embrace, their oil-slick skin rubbing together as they kissed. Her nails dragged across the curving muscles of his back, her hands finding their way down to his flexing buttocks.

At last he pulled away, a roguish gleam in his eyes. "I guess maybe I'm not the best one to teach you grappling."

"I enjoyed the lesson," Tanys purred.

Baran grinned. "Even so, I think we may have to come up with an alternate training regime... Naietta, can we get..."

Tanys looked toward the shaded porch, but the Naietta was nowhere in sight.

****

Tanys and Baran had the Malchesse house baths to themselves for the most part. A small group of men and women greeted Baran's arrival as they were toweling off on their way out. Otherwise, the ancient stone bathing pools stood unused. Baran seemed unconcerned about Naietta's disappearance as he happily scrubbed himself clean of sand and oil.

"You're in a good mood," Tanys remarked, easing her bottom into a steaming pool.

"Can you think of a single reason that I shouldn't be?" he asked.

"I'm worried about Naietta," she said.

Baran grunted noncommittally.

"I hope we didn't hurt her," Tanys said.

"Are you having regrets?"

"No, it's just..."

"Good! Then forget about it."

"You're an ass!"

Baran shrugged, pouring a ladle of warm water over his broad shoulders.

They bathed in stony silence then dried themselves. Tanys watched Baran lacing up his breechcloth and finally broke the silence. "Where can I get some clothes? I'm tired of walking around with the breeze on my nethers!"

Baran indicated a wooden box nearby containing a variety of loincloths in varying states of cleanliness. Tanys lifted one from the box then recoiled, dropping the smelly thing in disgust.

"There should be a clean one in your room anyway," Baran said.

"You mean my cell?"

"You've been moved to standard quarters at my request," he said, "You'll be sharing the room with Naietta and two other girls, but you'll be free to roam about the compound. The guards won't let you leave the grounds, and they have orders to kill you if you try to escape."

Tanys' shoulders slumped at the dawning reality of her situation. Up until now, she had seen herself as a prisoner. Little by little, she was beginning to realize her place as a slave. Baran lead her to her new quarters, promising to return for her later. Inside the low-ceilinged room, she found four simple but comfortable cots. The two beds nearest the door looked well used. The one in the far corner was Naietta's, judging by the way the headboard had been decorated with ragged bits of lace trim. A short table stood beside the bed, and on it a broken pot from which little yellow flowers sprouted.

Tanys took the remaining bed, finding it clean with fresh linens. A cloth bundle at the foot of the bed proved to contain a number of corded strips of fabric, which would have served only as the briefest of undergarments back in Tanys' homeland. In this place, they proved modest and comfortable clothing. Tanys selected the largest loincloth and bound it about her waist, grateful at least for the scant coverage it provided after the enforced nudity of the previous week. The sound of someone entering the room made Tanys turn around.