Chapter 37 #2
A man inside the antechamber monitored the entrance. Lea hesitated, sure he was about to bar their way, but he only gave her a curious glance before motioning Kallias forward.
Kallias turned to shoot her a grin overflowing with insufferable smugness. “With bribery, all things are possible,” he said as they passed into the domed entrance hall.
Lea stopped short. There was not one single person in the huge space. Usually, this area would be filled with people coming and going, echoing with the noise of conversations and laughter.
Now, though, it was empty. Silent.
She stared at Kallias with wide eyes. “What did you do?”
He shrugged and led her toward the changing rooms. “As far as anyone else is aware, the baths had to be drained urgently to repair a leak. No doubt it will be fixed in…well, however long you take to bathe.”
This was more shocking than Drusilla’s exorbitant gift. Kallias had somehow emptied an entire bathing complex of people. Just so she could enjoy a bath all by herself.
Well…not by herself. With him, which was even better.
She was too befuddled to move, so he helped her out of her dress, handed her a linen towel, then stripped off his own tunic, stowing their clothes in a cubby against the wall.
Still dazed, she followed him into the next room, which contained the hot pool. This room, too, was empty of people. Steam rose from a large, round pool which filled most of the space. The room was shadowy, a bit of light filtering down from a few small windows high on the walls.
The only sound was their footsteps on the damp tile floor, the rustling of cloth as they set their towels on a bench. She couldn’t even hear the noise from the street this deep into the bathing complex.
She sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet and calves to test the temperature. “Oh, that’s good,” she sighed when the warmth hit her. Then she lowered the rest of her body, submerging herself up to her neck.
Her eyes fell shut in bliss as heat radiated through her. The water instantly soothed the aching muscles in her upper body, and she couldn’t restrain a moan of pleasure.
There was a small splash, and she opened her eyes to see that Kallias had joined her. He swam toward her, smiling. “Is this what you wanted?”
“Better.” She looped her arms around his neck, enjoying how the water supported her weight. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear. “I never dreamed anyone would do something like this, all for me.”
He guided her backward until they sat together on the underwater ledge that ran around the perimeter of the pool, Lea in his lap. “After what you did for me yesterday? You deserve far more than a private trip to the baths.”
His hands kneaded the muscles of her shoulders. She closed her eyes in pleasure. Could she imagine anything better than sitting in a pool of steaming water while her beloved massaged her shoulders?
“There’s one thing I forgot to ask you yesterday,” she said, leaning her head back against him. “Will you finally tell me where you were hiding?”
He worked at a knot in the middle of her back. “A brothel,” he replied casually.
She sat bolt upright and swiveled to face him. “You’re not serious.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “It made perfect sense. They’re used to discretion, and they were very happy to have a physician on the premises for a few days.
Though they had a midwife there for one of the pregnant ladies, and I swear she knows more about childbirth than I know about everything else combined. I learned a great deal.”
Lea shoved away from the ledge, pushing out into the middle of the pool with a powerful kick that sent a satisfying splash over his head and torso.
“So the whole time I was worried sick about where you were…worried you were stuck somewhere terrible…you were at a brothel. Surrounded by beautiful courtesans.” She ground her teeth. “What a hardship that must have been.”
He cleared his dripping hair out of his eyes. “My stay there only confirmed what I already knew. I’ve entirely lost my taste for anyone but a certain peevish gladiator. Who’s currently glaring at me as if she wants to drown me.”
He swam toward her, coming to float on his back next to her. “Now’s your chance,” he said. “Drown me if you really believe I looked twice at any of those women.”
She didn’t, but she gave him an extra splash for good measure.
He spluttered, briefly sinking beneath the water, then came up, wiping his eyes and laughing.
The sound of his laughter, full-throated and exuberant, reverberated around the empty room, and it filled her with joy.
She wanted to hear that laugh every day for the rest of her life.
He caught her, one arm around her shoulders, another sliding beneath her knees. She felt weightless in his arms. “You’re the only one for me, Lea,” he murmured. “Forever.” He laid his forehead against hers, and she felt the solemnity of his vow, though it wasn’t spoken before a priest or the gods.
“Forever,” she repeated, and the vow was sealed.
Thank you for reading!