Gladiator of Rome (#1 in Gladiator Series)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Pompeia let out a delightful sigh as she seemed to float down from whatever cloud she had been occupying and found Artorius slipping from between the sheets.

It seemed everything Pompeia had been working for was going according to plan and she managed to have her own personal Gladiator as well.

The other women commented to Pompeia about the new glow she seemed to radiate, eagerly asking for her secret.

Pompeia wasn’t about to tell them that it was a six-foot-three, black haired brute with a body that rivalled Mars himself.

Her limbs were slowly becoming more stable as she slid behind Artorius sitting on the edge of the bed, the silk covers wrapped around his waist.

The torches above her bed were burning low but in the deep hue of the flames, Pompeia could still make out the lashes that scarred his back and the new injury that ran across his left shoulder from the day's fighting.

It was barely a few inches long but the skin looked angry and red as it bulged around the wound.

Pompeia reached out her hand and trailed her finger tips over the wound, mesmerised by the way a sword had actually cut into his flesh, cutting through muscle and drawing blood. It fascinated Pompeia.

She could see in her mind's eye how it had been gushing with blood down his back. She could remember the way he had spun around in the sands, hurtling his sword up through the bottom of his opponent's jaw in retaliation.

The crowd had become zealous as Pompeia had learnt of yet another way to kill a man.

The blade had gone in through his lower jaw and shattered out the top of his skull, the man still alive enough to choke on his own blood before he fell to his knees.

“Don’t.” Artorius snapped in that rough peasant voice.

Not looking up, Artorius reached behind him and caught her hand in a vice-like grip before it could touch his flesh again.

His grip on her started to hurt as his body seemed to shake with anger, and Pompeia realised that he still held feelings for Krista.

Pompeia pulled her hand away as her face straightened in malice.

“Remember Artorius,” Pompeia spoke in hushed tones, not allowing such a basic animal to believe he held any power over her, “If you disobey me you know who shall pay the price for your actions.”

A second later, Artorius stormed to his feet, leaving her side as he always did after their liasions.

Even Pompeia knew the risk of him being found in her private bed chambers.

But in those last few moments she could enjoy the view of watching him get dressed, her eyes travelling past his thick calves and the muscles that quivered around his thighs before soaking in the perfect roundness of his derrière.

His skin was coloured bronze from the sun and the many scars that now covered his back made him appear fearless and immense.

Pompeia found herself staring long after he had had dressed and started to walk from her room, not a single syllable uttered in her direction.

“I shall see you soon, lover,” Pompeia stepped from bed, smirking as she saw him freeze for a moment, her words torturing him before he stepped from the room, returning to his room at Ludus Magnus.

“Now then,” Pompeia sighed as she covered her well-pleasured body with her dress, wondering what she should do next.

“Empress?” A small squeak sounded from across the room and Pompeia turned towards the intrusive slave, trembling with fear.