Tangled Web Read online

  He finished removing all traces of the strawberry from her lips. “You taste better.”

  Her cheeks burned like she’d spent too much time in the sun. “Are you enjoying this game, Titus?”

  He guided her hand to his rock hard cock. “Does that answer your question?”

  She wrapped her hands around it, and even though he sighed in pleasure from her touch, fear tempered her desire. Other men had forced her to touch them, to fondle their erections and stroke them until they purred in pleasure. Memories of the pain and humiliation she’d endured as a slave blurred her vision. She released him and searched the plate for something new, hoping this time she would find something that would distract from the emotions that warred inside her. “Are you ready for the next round?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She dipped a ripe fig into the pot of honey next to it and placed it in his open mouth. Some of the honey drizzled down his chin, and she leaned forward to catch it with her tongue.

  He froze, and a strangled groan escaped his lips. “Please do that again.”

  “You haven’t guessed yet.”

  “By the gods, you know how to torture a man.”

  Yes, she knew many ways to torture a man, to make him scream while she slowly snatched the life away from him. But she had never thought this would constitute torture. She glanced down at the swollen ridge under his tunic and wondered if he was experiencing the same sensations she was.

  “No cheating,” she managed to say in a playful tone.

  “Figs in honey,” he replied and pulled her body to his.

  His mouth devoured hers in a hungry kiss that made her limbs melt. His thighs braced against her waist and steadied her. She closed her eyes and relished the sensation of his tongue sliding along hers, pleading with her to reciprocate, to enjoy it as much as he did. It was so different from the men who’d wanted to dominate her.

  He nipped at her bottom lip in a playful manner as he finished. “Was I right?”

  Her breath came in shaky bursts. His actions should have made her remember what she had suffered as a slave, not make her wish he’d continue. “Do you think I would have let you kiss me like that if you were wrong?”

  “Are you challenging me?”

  “I told you, you won’t be forcing me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

  He released her, and she sank back on her knees, grateful to have some distance between them once again. “Continue with your game, then, Azurha.”

  “I’m changing the rules a bit.” He reached for the blindfold, but she took his hands in her own. “I didn’t say anything about removing the blindfold.”

  “Then what are you proposing?” Suspicion edged into his voice once again, and she felt her chance to kill him slipping from her grasp.

  Her throat tightened. If she didn’t act soon, he’d order her from his chambers, and her opportunity would be wasted. She spied the honey and dipped her finger into the pot. She just needed to distract him long enough to lure him into a false sense of security. Necks were so much easier to snap when the victim didn’t fight.

  …

  With his vision blinded, Titus relied on his other senses to let him know what she was doing. Her laughter roused his curiosity, and the scent of her perfume grew stronger. She was moving closer to him. He hoped he would taste the sweetness of her lips once again.

  Instead, something cool and sticky brushed along the muscles of his neck, followed by the velvety flat of her tongue licking it away. His sac tightened, and he almost came right there. “Azurha, what are you doing to me?”

  She repeated the act on the opposite side of his neck. “Guess.”

  Every muscle in his body tensed as he struggled to remain in control of himself. “I’m scared if I guess wrong, you’ll stop.”

  “What if I don’t want to stop?”

  Her breath grazed his lips, but when he leaned forward, she darted away from his grasp.

  “Stop trying so hard. You need to learn to relax and enjoy what you’re feeling.”

  Feather-light kisses trailed along his collarbone, and her hands massaged his thighs. “Trust me, I’m enjoying every second of this.”

  Her hands stopped, and she applied the cool sticky substance to the hollow of his throat. She scooped it out using her lips and tongue. “Yummy,” she murmured.

  The overwhelming desire to watch her lick his body threatened to consume him. He dug his fingers into the cushions to keep from ripping the silk away from his eyes. By the gods, he’d never had a woman tease him this way. Lucia had treated their marital coupling as a chore, but at least his desires were quickly quenched.

  “Your skin is flushed. Perhaps I should remove your clothes.”

  A lump formed in his throat. Before he could respond, she unwrapped his toga. The soft linen pooled around his feet, and her fingers fumbled with the buckle on his belt. She would have him naked and at her mercy within a matter of seconds. Then where would her tongue go?

  His tunic rose above his head, and the cool night air bathed his fevered skin. Her silk gown grazed his engorged cock like rough homespun. He gritted his teeth together, unsure if he wanted to continue this game with a complete stranger or to end it before he lost control of the situation.

  She smeared the sticky substance on his nipple. Her tongue cleaned it off in circular laps, making him suppress the moan that built in his throat. She alternated from side to side until he finally asked, “When are you going to remove your dress?”

  Her laughter vibrated through his chest as her lips pressed against the groove under his ribs. “When I’m ready.”

  This was a game of power, and as emperor, he wasn’t about to relinquish it to her so easily. He caressed the curves of her body, from the flare of her hip to the curve of her ass, gathering her skirt in his hands as he reached under the hem. Then he slipped his finger into the hot wetness of her sex.

  Her kisses stopped, and he regained control of the situation. She whimpered and clung to him while he explored it. When his thumb pressed against her clit, her body shuddered against his.

  “You feel ready to me.”

  “Almost.”

  He flicked his thumb against the swollen nub, and she whimpered again. Something about the sound pulled at his gut. She was trained to bring men pleasure, but had she ever experienced it herself? “I want to watch you come, Azurha.”

  “But I’m not finished with you,” she panted and shoved his hand away.

  The warmth of her body disappeared from his skin, but the scent of her desire clouded his mind like the most potent aphrodisiac, as sweet and rich as the jasmine perfume that bathed her skin.

  She spread the sticky substance over the head of his cock. His pulse thundered like the ground when a legion of soldiers swarmed a battlefield. Was she really planning to remove it as she had the other parts of his body? To lick it away in those slow strokes that had him wavering between moaning in pleasure and burying his cock inside so he could finally find a release for the desire welling up in him? By the gods, he wouldn’t last long if her tongue continued to dance around his shaft like that.

  He threaded his hands through her hair, ignoring the sound of her hairpins rattling on the floor. The only thing he wanted to focus on was the pure ecstasy he experienced from the rhythmic flicks of her tongue. “Azurha, please, no more. You have more than proven your skill.”

  With one final lick along the underside of his cock, she complied with his request. A rustle of fabric near his ear signaled that she stood over him. Her fingers tousled his hair, and a thump of a cushion falling to the ground was the only clue she gave for what she had planned next for him. Her bare skin brushed against his thighs, and his cock throbbed. She pulled his head forward. A pebble hard nipple teased his lips, and he tasted honey on it.

  He cupped the full breast she offered him in his hand and devoured the sweet spread she had placed on it like a starving man. She didn’t need honey to tempt him. Her flesh was more than sweet enoug
h. His fingers pinched the other nipple, and her moan nearly sent him over the edge.

  He grabbed her arms and shoved her against cushions, eager to return the pleasure she’d given him.

  …

  Azurha enjoyed the game until the moment he pressed her against the cushion and mounted her. The weight of his body revived memories of her treatment as a slave, blocking all the pleasurable sensations she had experienced up until that point. She remembered the pain, the taunts, the fear she endured before she gained her freedom. Her body tensed, and her breath froze. By the gods, where I am taking this?

  Titus mimicked her reaction. “What is it?”

  Her voice refused to cooperate.

  He tugged the length of silk off his head. The worry in his blue eyes made her throat burn. No man had ever looked at her with so much concern. His fingers stroked her cheeks. “Azurha, what’s wrong?”

  She’d been so intent in distracting him that his reaction caught her off guard. She’d let him touch her most intimate area, and her body betrayed her. When he said he wanted to watch her come, the prospect of experiencing pleasure from something other than the kill clouded her mind and made her want to postpone his death.

  “Do you wish to end this and return to the harem?”

  The timbre of his voice warmed her heart, and the ache inside her deepened. Her body knew what it wanted, but her mind still hesitated. The only solace she found in the situation was the knowledge she was no longer weak, no longer helpless. If he tried to harm her, she could end his life in mere seconds. And when she was done with him, she would have to do just that, but until then, she needed to stay here, to be close to him so she could finish what she had been sent here to do once she satisfied her curiosity. There was nothing wrong with playing with her prey before she killed it.

  She shook her head, and his grin widened.

  “Good, because I want to make you come.”

  She opened her mouth to make some jest about how he was so sure he could make her come, but he pressed his finger over her lips. His hands rubbed against her inner thighs, gently increasing the pressure until she opened them to him. This is wrong. I shouldn’t let him touch me like this, I shouldn’t forget why I’m here.

  Her limbs trembled like fragile branches caught in a storm, barely managing enough strength to push away from him. She was here to kill him, not to surrender to his touch. What had started as a game of seduction to distract him while she snapped his neck with her palla had turned against her. Now, she was the one who was being seduced. She was the one left vulnerable.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked for the second time that evening. Deep lines furrowed his brow.

  Fear gripped her like a vise. Had she let something slip? Her muscles prepared to strike before he’d have a chance to call for help. “Why would you humble yourself by pleasuring me?” she asked, hoping to distract him.

  He frowned, and her stomach clenched. “Did you not want me to?”

  Were Deizian men of his rank different from most other men? Or was it just him? Unease rolled through her gut. She was spending far too much time thinking about him as a person rather than a target. “I suppose I’m not used to men wanting to pleasure me. It almost seems unnatural after what I’ve been trained to do.” She reached for her stola and covered her breasts. “Should I return to the harem?”

  The lines smoothed from his face. “No.”

  “Then what do you want from me?”

  “Would you care to join me in my bed?” He stood and held out his hand. “Just to sleep. I promise I won’t force you to do anything you don’t wish to do.”

  She hesitated. This went against all of her training. Becoming intimate with her target would only make him harder to kill in the end. She took his hand and followed him to his bed chambers, telling herself she would wait until he fell asleep to smother him with one of the pillows.

  The lights in the room dimmed as he touched one of the sconces. He waited until she donned her dress, then pulled her into his arms, forcing her to lie next to him. Her mind screamed to end this now, but fatigue settled on her body like a lead blanket. For a second, she wondered if it was possible for a Deizian to channel his magic through her rather than the bronze colored ore she always thought was the required conduit.

  One night wouldn’t make much of a difference, she rationalized while she relished the warmth of his skin next to hers. She would worry about how to kill him in the morning.

  6

  Titus awoke and wondered if he was still dreaming. The faint scent of jasmine rose from the warm body nestled beside him. He lifted his head and stared at the sleeping woman. Her glossy black curls tumbled over the edge of her pillow, and her plump lips told the tale of too many kisses the night before. The white sheet added a stark contrast to her bronzed skin. He smiled when he remembered how sweet she tasted.

  Part of him was tempted to gently rouse her with a few kisses along the back of her neck before rolling her over and burying himself in her. His cock twitched to life at the thought. By the gods, he’d never met a woman that affected him this way. Not even Lucia.

  The memory of his dead wife dulled his desire, and he pulled away from Azurha. Although she’d been dead for over two years, he still felt obligated to mourn her. Not because he loved her, but because he felt guilty for the way their arranged marriage had deprived her of true happiness.

  Perhaps I should remember that before giving in to my baser nature.

  It was bad enough that he felt the need to lull Azurha to sleep using his magic last night. He doubted she would have had a restful night’s sleep after everything that happened between them, even if he had let her return to the harem. She had been sent to pleasure him, and he wouldn’t deny that she was quite skilled in that respect. But until he knew the reason behind the conflicted emotions he’d witnessed play out across her face all evening, he preferred not to let things spiral out of control.

  He rolled out of bed and grabbed his robe. The longer he stayed in bed next to Azurha, the more intense the battle between reason and lust became. He retreated from the bedroom and all its conflicting emotions and sought peace in his bathing chambers.

  Varro stood by the large pool with a towel and knowing smile. “Good morning, Emperor Sergius. Sleep well?”

  “Almost too well.” He removed the robe and sank into the warm water of the tepidarium pool. A brief bath in the morning always cleansed the sleep from his brain. He swam across the pool and let the fatigue fade from his muscles.

  “I took the liberty of heating the caldarium and the tepidarium in the harem for the young lady, Emperor Sergius. She will be properly attended during her bath this evening.”

  The thought of Azurha standing naked while slaves smeared perfumed oil over her skin aroused the desire that he fought so desperately to control. He jumped out of the tepidarium pool and plunged into the icy water of the frigidarium pool nearby. Maybe if he physically doused his flaming skin, he’d clear his mind as well. By the time he resurfaced, he’d pushed her out of his mind.

  “Feeling refreshed?” Varro handed him the towel when he climbed out of the pool.

  Goosebumps pebbled his skin, but he finally felt ready to face the day. He nodded to the servant and began drying off. “How much time do I have before the vultures start descending on me?”

  Varro laughed. “If by vultures you mean your advisors, then I say maybe half an hour. The cracks in the barrier have them more anxious than a room of first time fathers.”

  “I’ll address the barrier first thing this morning.” He hoped he could summon enough magic to repair the damage. If he’d known his father’s death would come so soon, he would have spent more time learning to harness his magic efficiently rather than reading. Instead, the daily reinforcement of the barrier left him more exhausted than several hours of combat training in the gymnasium. He only hoped it would become easier as the days went on. The nobility’s reaction to his plans for the empire was the least of his problems if th
e barrier fell.

  “Very good, Emperor Sergius.” Varro held out a fresh tunic and helped him dress. “I’ll go wake the young lady and return her to the harem.”

  “No, wait.” The peaceful expression on her face while she slept seemed so different from the emotions that played upon it last night. Her life as a slave still haunted her. “Let her sleep. When she awakens, then you can take her back to the harem.”

  The servant cocked a brow but said nothing. Apparently, this wasn’t the way Imperial concubines were normally treated. “Will there be anything else?”

  “Not at the moment.” His thoughts had already drifted to what he’d like to do with her tonight, but he refused to dwell on them. He pressed his hand against the gold plate by the door, and a tingle of magic flowed down his arms. The locks clicked open, and the long corridor to the throne room stretched before him. He took a deep breath and proceeded toward it.

  As soon as he crossed the threshold, his advisors descended. Vultures, all of them. Ready to pick over his carcass the minute he made a mistake. Titus shooed them away and focused on the center of the room where the large, bronze globe sat, its three rings hovering in perfect balance around it, slowly rotating along the horizontal axis. A map of the empire covered its surface, encompassing almost the entire planet. A red line glowed along the borders, representing the magic barrier that protected the empire from alien invaders.

  His ancestors had arrived on this underdeveloped planet centuries ago, delighting in finding a planet so similar to the one they’d depleted decades earlier. The rich ore deposits were begging to be dug up and used to channel their magic. With their advanced technology, they easily defeated the Elymanians, a sentient race similar to them. The emperors who followed had added territory, stretching the borders with each generation. Their conquest culminated with the enslavement of the Alpirions, an ancient race that had resisted the Deizians for years until his grandfather defeated them by using the ore beneath their feet to devour their army. From there, he gained control of their vast lands to the south and brought the empire to its current size.