He turned his attention back to Sextus, deciding his assistant deserved something close to the truth. “But I do care for her, and she did spend the night here. Why do you ask?” He handed over the needle and thread, gesturing for Sextus to attempt a few stitches.
Sextus leaned down to position the needle for the first stitch. “No reason, sir, and I didn’t mean to pry into your personal affairs. It just made me wonder, well, if you were to get married, if that would change things. If you’d wish to leave.”
Married. Kallias let out a short, bitter laugh. “You have nothing to fear, Sextus. I’m not going to marry her.” Lea was still enslaved. She’d have to secure her freedom before she could marry anyone—if she even wished such a thing. And Kallias had his own freedom to contend with, a more complex thing than the exchange of money.
But Sextus’s question made him wonder what Lea would want once she was free. What sort of future was out there for a retired female gladiator?
She would need someone to protect her, to give her the life she deserved—a life of peace, far from the danger and bloodshed of the arena.
And by the gods, he wished that person could be him.
23
Leadraggedacombthrough her hair, eyeing the darkening shadows at her window. She’d excused herself from the after-dinner dice game Ferox, Velia, and Jason were engaged in, claiming she had a headache. But really, she just wanted to wait in her room for Kallias.
The sun had already set. It was later than she’d hoped he’d arrive. What if he didn’t come? What if he’d been waylaid on his way here? It wasn’t far, but all manner of dangers appeared as night fell.
Nerves twisted in her stomach. She should have done a better job of keeping her distance from him—in her mind, if not her body. Then she wouldn’t be consumed with worry when he was a quarter of an hour later than she anticipated.
A knock came at her door, and she jumped to her feet. “Who is it?”
“Me.” Kallias’s voice.
A jolt of relief went through her. “One moment.” Her surge of happiness at his arrival emboldened her, and she decided not to waste any time. She stripped off her dress and tossed it into the corner.
“Please hurry,” Kallias called through the door. “This cat is looking at me as if he wants to eat me.”
Lea laughed. Nyx did have a habit of skulking outside her room if she didn’t let him in. The cat delighted in knocking any item he could reach onto the floor, so she tried to keep him out when she could.
She opened the door.
“Lea,” Kallias said in a strangled voice. His eyes feasted on her bare body.
Nyx tried to dart through, but she fended him off with a gentle foot, and he fell back, growling in displeasure.
She stepped back from the doorway. “Come in before he does,” she said, gesturing at the affronted feline.
He hastened inside, and she shut the door behind him, earning an offended hiss from Nyx.
Kallias stalked toward her, his stride a slow, deliberate prowl. She shifted her weight to one leg, allowing her hip to cant in a posture she hoped was alluring.
“You might be pleased to know,” she said, “you’re the only handsome physician who has found his way to my room this evening.”
His arms slid around her. The feel of his linen tunic against her bare skin made desire bloom in her core.
“Good,” he growled. “Because tonight, you’re all mine.” His mouth came down on hers in a hard, demanding kiss. She stretched her arms over his shoulders, allowing her body to mold to his.
The undercurrent of possessiveness in his voice, even though it was only a jest, sent a thrill down her spine. She loved when his air of easy poise fell away, revealing something darker, hungrier. Knowingshewas the one to lay him bare like this.
He broke the kiss, breathing hard, and walked her backward toward an empty span of wall next to her chest of drawers. “Turn around.”
She swiveled to face the wall. Somehow, it was soeasyto do as he asked, even though she had no idea where this was going. But with him, there was such relief in letting go.
He took her hands and placed them flat against the wall next to her head. “Leave your hands just here for me, sweetheart.”
He ran his hands down her spine, which made her shiver, back arching toward him. Then he swept his hands around to her front, raising them to palm her breasts. “This is all mine?” he said in a low, rough voice.
She nodded, her mouth dry, unable to form words.
