Chapter 23
CHAPTER 23
Jacaranda
T he tunnel to the fighting pit was more ominous at night. Stripped down to brown loin leathers, I was alone, with only the cheers and shouts of the crowded arena for noise. My first fight was in the day, so light had poured into the high windows. But now, the only light was from the high floodlights in the arena. I wondered if the competitors would take advantage of the darkness and attack each other in the tunnel.
Jason, the coordinator, had hated me the first time he saw me. I had thrown off his numbers. When he saw me this time, he smiled. “Do you know how many fighters came forward, hoping to take you down?”
“Eh, no.” That didn’t sound promising.
“When they heard you were coming today, we were inundated with volunteers,” he said as he looked down his chart. “That’s why we have you in your own tunnel this time. I didn’t want them getting any ideas before they slaughter you for the crowd.”
“How thoughtful of you,” I drawled.
“Keep in mind, the better the crowd likes you, the more likely they are to ask for mercy on your behalf when your competition has you on your back.” He paused before glancing back up at me. “And if you were to somehow win, they will insist you receive a just reward.”
The idea of preening for a crowd was abhorrent to me, and my only just reward was to see Sarah again. “Sounds fair.”
“Yes, well, see to it they get a good show. And keep in mind that just because you’re not supposed to kill anyone doesn’t mean you can’t.”
“And if a competitor dies in the pit?” I asked him. “What’s the penalty for that?”
“What penalty?” He chuckled then walked back to his station at the other end of the tunnel.
Fuck. Here we go again.
I was released into the open pit, with no other competitors in sight. The weapons were different from my first pit fight—not fully edged like last time. Practice weapons could be just as deadly, though. They only needed enough force behind them.
Most of the weaponry was basic, with no lances or long hardware. I selected a clawed glove, a metal buckler-style shield, and a short sword, then positioned myself at the farthest space on the pit floor. I wasn’t sure if the other fighters planned to gang up on me, or take each other out before they focused on me, but either way, being far away at the start of things would give me my best advantage.
Without warning, the large tunnel door opened, and the people in the stands cheered.
Strange—last time, the flags dropped before the fight started. Why did they change it?
When I saw my competition, I knew why they had not dropped the flags. Skenthas didn’t give a fuck about flags or protocol.
Sarah had once called them furry elephants, but that was a gentle description of what charged at me. The beast was the largest skentha I had ever seen. Three times my height, covered in gray fur, with tusks like tree branches. It galloped toward me at full speed. No rider, no one to hold it back. Loose dirt clouded behind it.
Halfway across the pit, the animal stopped and roared while it stared at me. The crowd cheered for their beast. I had heard that roar before—in a jungle during a training exercise at the academy. It was the only time I had seen my C.O. frightened. He told us that meant a skentha was celebrating in anticipation of a kill.
He also told us not to run. That our best defense was to stand our ground.
Heeding that advice now, I stayed exactly where I was, on the far edge of the pit with the high wall at my back, studying its every step as it restarted its charge. Its left leg had the slightest limp. I wouldn’t have noticed it from the stands, but being directly in front of the beast, the impediment was obvious.
My blood pumped in my ears, quieting the crowd for me. I was glad of it. Fewer distractions that way. The beast came close enough that the ground shook at my feet, but I stood firm. When it closed in too fast to stop in time, I leapt to my right, so it couldn’t pivot on that limping left foot. The beast smashed into the wall behind me, crumbling some of the mortar and destabilizing the arena.
The beast fell to the ground, shaking its head.
I used its fur to pull myself up onto its shoulder. From there, I straddled the neck and pierced the back of its skull with my sword in one quick motion. The beast slumped, dead in an instant.
I scrambled to the ground, as the rest of the beast collapsed. When I turned around, the crowd needed a moment to realize the skentha was dead.
Then, someone shouted, “Champion!” and the crowd chanted it together, cheering for me.
I threw off my weapons and shield and waved to them, hoping if I was more of a show-off, they would like me more as Jason had suggested.
Suddenly, I was whisked away by Jason and a group of scantily clad women. “You’re on your way to see Rex Terian. That was one hell of a brief match, Champion.”
“Should I have wasted the crowd’s time? I thought you always scheduled multiple fights. I’m sure they’ll be pleased.”
“It was a compliment,” he said. “Come this way. Now that you’re favored by the people, they want a chance to greet you.”
The path from the fighting pit was littered with people from the crowd. Both men and women reached out to touch me. Some stroked my bare, oiled muscles, while others tried to grab my cock. Jason’s women coyly swatted their hands away but missed most of them.
Omen was mixed in with the crowd, and she subtly passed me a vial. I didn’t even give her a nod of acknowledgement—we couldn’t afford to look suspicious. When another man grabbed at my cock, I pushed his hand away and used that as an excuse to tuck the vial into my loin leather as I readjusted it into place.
The stairs to Rex’s tower were quieter—no crowd was allowed on his level. We finally reached the top, where Rex’s private viewing box was. Jason said, “This is now his throne room, so be respectful.”
I refrained, just barely, from rolling my eyes. “He sits on a throne now?”
“Many things have changed since you were here last, Champion. Don’t gawk.”
I nodded and Jason opened the door. There she was. My consort. I smiled and lurched forward, but Jason kicked the back of my knee to force me down.
“I said to be respectful, didn’t I?” he snapped.
Sarah gasped and leapt down from the throne and helped me to my feet. Then, she glared at Jason and scolded him. “You will never do that to my companion again. Do you hear me?”
The other man’s eyes went wide. “He…the rumor is true?”
“Yes,” she snarled as I faced him.
“My apologies,” he said with a bowed head.
“It’s fine,” I said, shrugging him off. “Barely noticed a thing.”
Anger flashed in his eyes at me, before he shifted his gaze back to Sarah. “Is there anything else I can get you, my queen?”
“No. Leave us.”
The door shut and we were as alone as we could be. I kissed Sarah without another word. My heart throbbed at her warm touch. But she gently pushed me back, worry flickering in her eyes.
“Jac, you’re not supposed to be here. You heard what Rex told his guards the last time you and Deacon were in Faithless.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I growled, and reached for her again.
She placed her hands on my chest and shook her head. “Wait, I’m sorry, but wait. I need to tell Rex not to—"
“I don’t care about him,” I said, desperate for her. “I don’t care if this is a permanent thing. I need you. I want you. If that’s a packaged deal now, fine. But Sarah, I need you . Right here, right now.”
She swallowed hard, her eyes raking all over my sweaty skin, but her voice was soft when she spoke. “Not here. People can see into this room. Just a moment.”
She called for her carriage and soon, we were on our way to the manor. Our mouths met again and again, while she sat on my lap and grinded against my stiff cock. I ached to be inside of her, Rex or no Rex.
When we reached the manor, I picked her up and carried her to his bedroom. I was faster than her, and I was done waiting. As soon as the door closed, she reached for my loin leather. Knowing I needed to slow down, I took her hands from me and said, “Go to the bed and take your clothes off while I watch.”
She gave me a sultry smile and sauntered away. Then she turned around to face me before she slowly, very seductively, undressed herself. “Like this?”
I nodded, feasting my eyes on every inch of skin she revealed. Gods, I’d missed her so much.
As her dress skimmed down her hips, she asked, “And you don’t care if he watches us? I can—"
I shook my head. “I don’t want you to exert any more mental power against him. I think that’s what made the remnants in the first place. So, I don’t give a fuck if he watches, if that’s easier for you.”
“It is,” she admitted.
I smirked and bit my bottom lip. “Then I have your full attention, Sarah?”
“Absolutely.”
I slipped off the loin leather, my pulsing cock springing out from the cloth. Then, I stalked over to her naked body and pushed her backwards onto the bed. She laughed and gasped, as I spread her legs apart and licked her all over.
“Oh my fuck,” she moaned, while I worked her into a frenzy. Her fingers dug into my scalp, holding me down as I devoured her pussy.
I had missed her taste so much. My tongue settled on her clit, while I fingered her roughly. She traded her grip on my head for the bedspread beneath her and writhed against my face and my fingers. I pulled my fingers from her pussy and pressed one into her ass, while my tongue slipped down from her clit and into her pussy, just how I knew she liked it best.
She bucked against me, cursing and crying out. The tip of my tongue reached her G-spot and she screeched. Her body throbbed against my tongue, tightening onto me there. I knew she was coming—she couldn’t speak, only scream. Her sweetness poured onto my tongue, and I consumed every drop.
When her pulses started to slow down, I pulled my tongue and finger away, lined up my cock, and thrust into her pussy. She shouted, “Gods, yes!” at the same time I did. I drove her across the bed with my body and my ramming thrusts until her head tipped backward over the opposite edge. There, I pounded into her harder than I ever had before, to give her everything I had in me.
Her pussy locked onto my cock, forcing me closer to the edge of my own orgasm. But I held back. I needed to feel her come on me. I grabbed the edge of the bed and used it for leverage to slam myself deeper into her on every thrust.
She whimpered, “Fuck!” as she came again, this time clawing at my back, making me lose all control, too. The surge hit hard, washing over me with hot sticky pleasure, erupting every thought, every muscle. Nothing else mattered in the world except the woman beneath me.
I kissed her roughly, absorbing her sighs and soft murmurs. They all belonged to me. I had earned them. Her body went limp beneath me, her strength spent.
A sweet smile tugged at her lips as she said, “I love you so much, Jac.”
“I love you, too, Sarah,” I murmured, my heart feeling more complete now that I was with her again. “More than I knew I could.”
She inhaled a deep breath and sighed. I pulled out of her and went to the bathroom for some towels for us to clean up. When I returned, she had curled up on her side beneath the bedspread and fallen asleep.
I smiled, hearing her familiar and endearing little snores. They were the first indication she was in for a good night of rest. I hadn’t heard them in far too long.
She was asleep. But not enough for what I needed to do.
Quietly, I made my way back to where I had taken my loin leathers off at the door. I took Omen’s vial out and checked to make sure it wasn’t damaged. The glass was intact.
Now .
I poured the contents into Sarah’s water glass on the nightstand, swishing the blue liquid around until the water went clear again. I had to wake her to get her to drink it.
I smiled, so my voice wouldn’t frighten her, and whispered, “Sarah?” as I turned back around to her.
But it wasn’t Sarah who looked at me.
Rex’s head had perked up from her crooked neck. “You piece of shit,” he growled.
I almost dropped the glass. “What the fuck?”
“You knew I was watching when you fucked her,” he sneered. “What made you think I would stop watching your sexy ass when she was asleep?”
“I thought—"
“That if she was asleep, I was asleep?” His evil eyes narrowed on me. “I suppose that is your prize mistake, Cozz.”
I set the water down, and more calmly than I felt inside, I said, “Whatever you think you saw—"
“Don’t test me, Jac.” He pulled out a bone knife from the pillows and held it to Sarah’s sleeping throat. “I am in no mood.”
My heart slammed in my chest. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What I should have done from the start. Guards!” he yelled.
He threw the bone knife at my feet as Sarah woke up from his shout. Three living men barged in and two of them grabbed me, restraining my arms against my back. She saw the bone knife by my feet and gasped, coming to all the wrong conclusions.
“Take him to the dungeon. Now!” Rex ordered.
“Sarah, this isn’t what it looks like!” I yelled, dying a little inside at the devastated look in her eyes. “I swear, Sarah, I didn’t—"
The very tall handsome guard whacked the back of my head and said, “Follow me, boys.”
He wasn’t in a guard’s uniform—he wore only a pair of shorts. He was young, with gray hair and hazel eyes. He reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t place him. His sneer did not line up with anyone I knew.
They dragged me down the halls and pushed me down a flight of stairs that ended beneath the manor. I landed in a heap. It was dank down there, like fresh air no longer existed. My head rang from the fall. The darkness was oppressive. Somewhere, water dripped.
The good-looking one in a pair of shorts said, “You were supposed to stay out of Faithless, but according to my family, you suck at taking direction.”
“Who are you?”
“Tantalus. Helios’ cousin.”
Oh, shit.
I was shoved into a barred cell, and the door slammed shut. There wasn’t even hay for a bed or a bucket for bodily waste. I jumped to my feet and looked back at Tantalus. “What happens now?”
He smirked and looked my naked body over. “Oh, any number of things could happen now,” he purred. “You’re very handsome.”
My stomach rolled in disgust. “What about Sarah?”
He laughed. “What about her? Rex will do what he always does. Whatever he wants. And he likes me, so I think I might get a turn with her, too.”
I gripped the bars in my hands, wishing I had the strength to rip them apart. “Don’t you fucking touch her!”
“Ooh, you think you have any say in what happens now?” His sneer was back. “After we’re all done with her, I’m not sure if Rex will keep her around to fuck her or just kill her and move on. But your little bitch is ours now. Be good, or we’ll have our fun with you, too.”
I saw red. I slapped the bars and snarled in animal rage.
He smiled and walked closer to the bars but was smart enough to stay out of reach. “With a mouth like that, I bet you suck cock better than she does. Care to show me?”
“I will fucking bite it off,” I snarled.
“Now, now, there must be something worth a little cock sucking to you,” he said thoughtfully. “What would you like? Some clothes? Water? Food, perhaps?”
“I’d like to punch my fist through your face.” I bared my teeth at him. “Is that worth a little cock sucking to you?”
He stood back to study my naked body again, slowly perusing me from head to toes. “I think you could use some time to think about your bad behavior. When you’re shivering and thirsty and hungry and delirious in a week or two, we’ll see if you can muster up some gratitude. Tata for now.”
Tantalus sauntered from the dungeon and the light shut off, plunging me into absolute darkness.