45
But that night never happened, because Mistress Yrrek had wanted him back under her sheets again. And again, and again. Seven days later, Amlach and I had achieved our match in the second round of the Games, and other Masters had begun to request his company.
Therefore, Amlach and I had inexorably grown apart.
At this point, I could hardly respond to him, as the lump in my throat was too large when he summoned the courage to speak to me. And the only moments I could bear to look at him were during our fights in the arena or when training with Roxior’s guards.
But today I felt different. I felt no pain as I forcefully threw open the thermal bath doors, causing them to slam against the wall and ruin the fresco.
All I felt was anger.
Relentless and hungry and boiling hot and corrosive and as red as the shower of blood that had drenched me when Amlach had slit the throat of the gladiator who had knocked me down and was about to finish me off.
Anger, because each time our adversaries grew more numerous and larger and better armed.
Anger, because I kept being forced to take lives to save my own and Amlach’s.
Anger, because there were still eight rounds left until the end of the Games, and I wasn’t at all sure that we would make it to the final.
Already without the collar and handcuff that Lotte had taken off as soon as we’d entered the house, I moved toward the showers, struggling to untie my armor myself. However, it was impossible, and with each failure, my frustration grew louder in my grunts.
I sensed Amlach approaching from behind, and the sharp scent of his sweat mixed with the metallic smell of the blood on me.
“Let me do it,” he said, pushing my hands away to get to the leather laces.
“Don’t touch me,” I snarled, fighting him off.
I began creating distance between us, trying to reach the damn knots by bending my arms behind my back, but Amlach suddenly seized my thick blonde braid with such violence that I screamed.
“Let. Me. Do. It,” he pronounced in a feral tone, with his teeth grazing my ear as a sinister warning.
I clenched my jaw until my molars ached and, resisting the instinct to turn around and kick him between his legs, let my arms hang by my sides. I could almost feel his half-smile as he untied the cords along my spine with one hand.
His skill with his fingers only fueled my wrath because it meant he had untied so many corsets in his life that he had become an expert.
Once he finished, he let go of my hair and calmly said, “Now untie mine.”
I was so frustrated that it took me significantly longer than it did for him, my heavy breathing nearly overshadowing the sound of water falling into the tub from the statues with ampoules.
When I finally reached the last knot, my hands trembled so badly I gave up and, gnashing my teeth like a beast, forcefully broke the lace with a tug.
I quickly moved away from him and began removing my armor, armguards, greaves, and booties, tossing each piece against the wall or the marble bench, where the towels for drying us had already been placed.
Finally, I stripped off my dirty tunic and, unconcerned about Amlach’s gaze on my naked body, stepped under the shower faucet and turned the knob.
I welcomed the cold stream of water hitting my face, covered in blood, sand, and paint, then loosened my braid and threw the leather ribbon away.
I pressed my fists against the wall, with my knees slightly touching the stone bench leaning against it. After a moment, through the water that blurred my vision, I noticed Amlach approaching me.
“Nauriel, you must calm down,” he ordered me hoarsely.
Too furious to care about his nudity, I turned and yelled at him, “Because otherwise you jump on me like the animal you are?”
“Yes,” he hissed, eagerly invading my personal space. “So, collect yourself right now, if you don’t want your first time to be standing against this fucking wall.” And he struck a slap against it with such violence that the wet sound echoed through the room like a small explosion.
I looked at him from under my lashes, my face tense with anger, the water stinging my eyes.
My hard nipples brushed against his chest with each inhale, causing my breathing to quicken.
Similarly, his erection touched my belly, coaxing pulsing sensations in my vagina, so strong that suddenly the only thing I could think about was wrapping a leg around Amlach’s side and welcoming him inside me.
Standing up, as he had just said.
Against the wall.
All of him, all the way in.
Until I felt filled . . . complete.
He can never make you feel that way, you know it.
That thought hit me sharply, as incisive as a punch.
Immediately after, I left Amlach alone in the shower and dove into the high tub.
I held onto the edge, my head lolling against my chest, and allowed the warm water to restore me, even though the fresh wounds on my arms and legs burned tremendously.
When the water level rose a few inches, barely covering my breasts, I lifted my head with a sigh. “She wants me dead, Amlach,” I said gravely.
He immediately understood who I was talking about.
“Yes,” he confirmed in a stern tone, coming near me from behind.
“I realized that too when not a single arrow from those damn archers on the moving towers grazed me.” He moved my hair to one side and began washing my back with his large, strong, and confident hands.
“They were all for you,” he added grimly.
I wondered if Mistress Yrrek wanted to take me out mainly to assert her dominance over Roxior again and demonstrate her power to every Master of Rubra. Or . . . or if it was because of Amlach. With my body in the ground, she could purchase him from Roxior and keep him for herself.
Just thinking about it made my blood boil like magma. It made me want to persuade Amlach to cut her throat the next time he entered her bed.
That murderous desire, which felt completely foreign to me, was like a painful bucket of ice that put out the flames of my rage.
Suddenly teary-eyed, I turned to Amlach. “I don’t want to kill anymore,” I declared, an edge in my voice.
He tucked my hair behind my ears. “I know,” he replied softly, then started to clean my still-dirty face, gently rubbing the crusted blood.
I watched his focused expression for a long time, staring at the vertical wrinkle that formed between his furrowed brows. Unable to resist the need to touch him in return any longer, I began to wash the blood off his neck and arms, being careful around the fresh cuts.
“Roxior won’t keep his word, will he?” I asked, scowling. “Even if you finally find something against Yrrek tonight.”
“No, he won’t.” Amlach examined the laceration along the inside of my right biceps with a clinical eye. “I think he lied to us from the beginning. He’s a slaver, after all, and—”
“And he will never let us go.” I withdrew my arm, feeling a strange, slightly burning, tingling sensation, and leaned my back against the tub. “He will never let me go.”
Amlach frowned and gripped the marble edge with both hands, trapping me between his arms, his hairy legs touching mine underwater. “What do you mean?”
I swallowed, unable to take my eyes away from him. “I may be vulnerable as a human, but I’m still immortal.”
Amlach angrily took a deep breath, glancing over my head.
Unable to tolerate his look, I fixed my gaze on his chest. Without thinking, I ran my fingertips over the contours of his abs and continued, “Even if we survive these Games and future ones, eventually you’ll grow old, and I will be given a new companion.
And another, then another, and another. My property will change hands from Master to Master, until I will no longer even remember my name.
” Thick tears rolled down my cheekbones.
“I don’t want this to be my life.” I lifted my eyes to meet Amlach’s and placed my palm on his cheek.
“I would rather die in the arena in seven days, looking at a friendly face.”
He removed my hand from his face, as if my gesture had upset him too much. “None of this will happen.”
I shook my head with a disappointed sigh, looking down. “Amlach—”
“ Nauriel.” He took my chin, demanding my attention. “Do you know why I haven’t found anything to tell that old man in these two months?” He descended with his fingers on my throat, staring at me with such intensity that I felt he was touching my very essence. “Because I didn’t look for anything.”
“Then what did you do?” I demanded, panting when his hand disappeared underwater, and his fingertips went down my cleavage.
A devious half-smile crept onto his lips. “I stole from the Masters and Mistresses who were fools enough to want me.” He drew circles around my belly button. “A little at a time, obviously, to avoid arousing suspicion.”
“To what end?” I asked him, my eyes pleading for him to put his fingers inside me and rekindle that indescribable pleasure only he knew how to bring me back to.
But Amlach withdrew his hand from the water and placed it back on the edge of the tub, sneering so that my nostrils flared with irritation and then with excitement, as he pressed his body against mine, squeezing me against the marble.
“To cover the cost of a ride on a freighter that will take us to the sea border with the Lands of the East,” he replied, his tone brimming with barely contained lust. “The captain will give us a lifeboat, and we’ll go from there”—insecurity cast a shadow over his gaze—“anywhere you want.”
I was so shocked that I just stood there with my mouth open. “When—”
“Tonight.” Amlach used his knee to spread my legs and pressed his strong thigh against my throbbing sex, making me moan. “At my signal, we’ll leave the party and run to the port.”
I impulsively rocked on his leg, loving the friction of his hair against my bare, sensitive skin. “But—”
He pressed two fingers on my lips, cutting me off.
“I’ve already found a safe path.” He applied slight pressure to encourage me to open my mouth, then slid his fingers along my tongue.
“Before midnight, we’ll be far from this land.
” I sucked his fingers, and he sharply inhaled with a hiss of pleasure before quickly withdrawing his hand, his eyes taking on something of a hatred glint. “Trust me.”
I observed him, my gaze burning with passion. “When were you going to tell me about this plan of yours?”
Amlach gave me a cunning smile. “I just did.”
With irregular breathing and a sensation of my heart imploding in my chest, I watched him step back with an arrogant expression and lean under one of the ampoules to enjoy the water running over his shoulders.
Gradually, I regained control over my emotions and started to think more clearly about what he had just revealed to me. About the fact that if everything went according to Amlach’s plan, we were close to returning to our kingdoms.
Or to our island.