Arena Shifters (A Paranormal Romance Novel) (15 page)

They
came at her at a run, unleashing a pair of spears wildly before drawing their
gladius’. It was a clumsy attack, but it was enough to distract her from the
fight with Primo. She felt it before she saw it. Suddenly a white hot rod pierced
her side. If she thought it was painful then, it was nothing to the pain she
experienced when he gave it a violent twist while pulling it back out. She
gasped and nearly doubled over. Had the idiot twins chosen that moment to shuck
their spears she’d have been skewered like a hog. For a brief moment her vision
failed her as the pain steamrolled her brain. Out of instinct she kept her
blades whirling around her like some kind of moving, steel fortress, and it
kept her alive. Both gladius and spear bounced off her blades as she spun and
attacked the brother nearest her. He was so shocked that when her gladius
slipped between his ribs before coming to rest inside his heart, he just kept
on moving. She left it there as she finished her revolution with an equally
precise strike in the eye hole of the other brother’s helmet.

She
ducked under Primo’s thrust, then spun back around. She was like a cyclone,
spinning and snatching her gladius from brother one’s chest before leaving it
in brother two’s chest as she completed a full circle. Both brothers collapsed
behind her as she faced Primo once again. She was empty handed.

* * *

Primo

* * *

He
took an involuntary step backwards. Even though she was empty handed, he knew
he was witnessing a woman in her prime and doing the one thing she was any good
at. He would have to submit to her if he wanted to save his own life. He
dropped to his knees, letting his spear fall to the ground. He held up the
customary two fingers to signify he was asking for mercy. Now it would be up to
the Praetor to decide his fate. If he lived, and surely he would, the woman was
going to pay tonight and every night for his humiliation today. She would be
begging him for death and death would turn a blind eye to her plight.

He
looked up as he held his hand in the air. The Praetor was standing with both
his arms extended, thumbs held in a vertical position. He waited for what
seemed an eternity before the thumbs slowly rotated upwards; he was saved! He
was scarcely aware of the soldiers coming out and taking the girl away. He was
already planning his revenge; and a sweet one it would be.

* * * * *

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:

Consequences

* * * * *

The
first thing Petronia became aware of was pain; and entire body of soul ripping
pain, and she wondered for a moment if she had lost the fight in the arena. Had
that evil man succeeded in beating her? Without opening her eyes she began to
run her hands systematically down her body checking for obvious wounds. She
started and stopped at the top of her head. There was a long gash there. That
would explain her waking just now in confusion. Just how long had she been out.
She started to open her eyes but the light shot bolts of pain straight into her
brain. She could dispense with seeing for now. She felt her face. It was
intact, but puffy. So someone had worked her over with his fists…or a club or
something. She was about to start on her body when strong hands grabbed her
wrists, firmly, but with a gentle touch at the same time.

“Wha-”

“Hush.”
Whispered a kind voice.

She
tried to open her eyes again to see who the voice belonged to, but when she
did, between the pain and her not being able to focus, she just couldn’t tell
who was with her. She felt a hand let go of her wrist, then felt a cool wet
cloth pressed to her lips. Water ran down her chin and a precious little down
her throat.

“Drink.”
Said the kind voice.

She
swallowed and discovered that she was extremely thirsty.

“More,”
she croaked.

The
cloth touched her lips again and this time more water ran down her parched
throat. She drank gratefully.

“Not
too fast.”

“Thirsty.”

“I
know, but if you drink too fast you’ll start vomiting again. You need to keep
the medicine in your stomach. I’ll give you more water later.”

“Who?”
She croaked again, barely able to form words. She had no idea who was taking
care of her. She knew it wasn’t the house physician. This voice belonged to a
woman or a much younger man; it was hard to tell.

“Don’t
you know Petronia?” Said the kind voice.

Then
it clicked. It was a boy….well a young man. It had to be Lucius; but where were
they?

“Lucius,”
she whispered.

“Yes,
it’s me.”

“But
where-”

“Don’t
talk. You need to rest. We’re in an old hunter’s cabin, east of the Villa in
the Kern Woods. I rescued you from Primo two days ago and we have been on the
run since then.”

“…Find
us…”

“No,
nobody knows about it except my older brother and he’s…well, no one knows.
We’re safe here.”

“But
your father will look-”

Not
for a week, he won’t. He thinks I am with my best mate from school. We can stay
here five more days before he will even think about my being missing.”

“How
lo-”

“How
long? We’ve been here two three days now. This is the first time you have been
awake. I have been really worried about you Petronia.”

She
could hardly believe it. She was camped out in the woods hiding from Dominus.
This would not end well. “If find us…kill me…”

“You
would have been dead had I not gone looking for you.”

“I
don’t remember…”

“Then
that is good. Close your eyes, you must rest and give your body a chance to heal.”

Petronia
murmured thanks, closed her eyes and was asleep almost instantaneously, but
sleep brought neither peace nor rest. The moment her eyes closed, dreams took
her in places she’d never gone before, but what she didn’t realize was that
those dreams were not always a dream.

Petronia
felt an explosion on the right side of her face and heard her screams echoing
throughout Primo’s bed chambers. The pain was intense and debilitating. As
blows rained down on her she was vaguely aware of someone straddling her chest
and something pressing against her shut mouth.

“Open
up bitch! Daddy’s got a popsicle for you.”

She
tried to move her head to the side but strong hands gripped her hair on either
side of her face holding her fast. Then she felt another pair of hands at her
throat as they began to slowly cut off her oxygen supply. This was not good.
She wondered, not for the last time, if she would survive Primo’s wrath. It was
at a time like this that she questioned her resolve to being true to herself
and wished she could have forced herself to submit in the Arena. Had she done
that she could have avoided all this.

At
the last moment before darkness took her permanently, the hands fell from her
throat and she was able to take a gasp of air. She opened her mouth for a
second gulp of air only to have a filthy bulbous cock shoved halfway down her
throat. Now, she told herself, this was the end. No glorious death in the Arena
as befitted a Gladiatrix of her stature. No, she would die with a disgusting
gargantuan cock spewing it’s filth on her parched tongue. She struggled, he
pumped. She gasped for air, he gasped with pleasure. His thrusts became even
more violent. And when he finally exploded, his seed filled Petronia’s mouth
and sputtered back out as she coughed and fought for air. Finally the hands
that were holding her head in position relaxed enough for her to turn her head
to one side as she released a torrent of vomit onto the floor beside her head.

* * *

Lucius

* * *

“Petronia!
Petronia wake up!” It’s over he called out to her. “Those men can’t hurt you
anymore. You’re safe.”

He
reached out with a tentative hand and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
He wasn’t sure that his contact at this point wouldn’t elicit a strong
response; especially if she was still caught up in the dream world that had
claimed her and held her fast ever since he had rescued her from the beast,
Primo. Encouraged, he rested a hand gently on her forehead before jerking it
back in surprise. She was burning up!

He
jumped up, grabbed his canteen and hurried down to the little brook not far
from the cabin. There he filled it up with the cool water before plunging a
small cloth in for cleaning. He found her unmoving when he returned. Fearing
the worst, he placed the damp cloth on her forehead. Then he took a second one
and began to wipe down her body as best he could without removing her tunic. He
could do no more for now and had to content himself to wait for her fever to
break.

* * *

Petronia

* * *

Petronia
stirred finally as she felt a gentle hand on her forehead, caressing her
tenderly. There was something in the touch that begged familiarity. She found
herself enjoying it as fingers traced her jawline then flitted down her neck
before coming to rest at the swelling of her youthful breasts. The fingers,
encouraged by the soft involuntary moan that had escaped her lips, continued
their exploration.

She
nearly jumped when the fingers brushed her nipples, sending sparks of energy
straight to her fogged out brain. As her unknown admirer explored her breasts
she came out of her stupor and began to respond in kind.

Petronia
gasped as a pair of dark, blood-red lips pressed against hers forcing them open
with an exquisite pressure. As her lips parted, she felt a tongue flickering
out to meet hers, and together they performed this erotic dance, twirling,
slipping, sliding, and caressing each other sending thrills of pleasure between
her legs. Hands grasped hers and stretched them up and out to the sides holding
them fast as she felt the other’s body flatten against hers, pelvis’ grinding
against hers. Just the pressure of her sex against the others was enough to
send waves of orgasms making her whole body sing with pleasure.

Petronia
opened her eyes to find another’s staring back into hers. They were like these
twin pools of light intense, beautifully green and completely captivating. She
kept hers open even as the other’s mouth found hers again and they renewed
their sexual exploration of their hungry bodies. She could feel herself heating
up with even more desire and with it came a longing to devour the other girl in
the only way she knew how. She took control of the girl’s arms with her own,
rolling her over in the process, never letting their mouths part. She drank the
others saliva like a person dying from lack of water.

This
time it was Petronia’s turn to explore the other, and with each tender kiss and
caress her ears were filled with the other’s cries of pleasure. Each soft
whisper of ecstasy that reached her ears sent thrills through her own body. Her
mouth left trails of wet desire on the others burning skin as she approached
the girl’s shaven mound. There she paused before entering that most intimate of
places. She waited until a pair of hands found her head and pulled her in. Petronia
reveled in the passion of the moment as she parted the other’s lips and slid
her tongue into her passion slickened sex. She drank her fill of the girl’s
fluid relishing in her sweet taste, and delighting in the control she exercised
over the other’s body. It was as close as she would ever get to the afterlife
in this life and she loved it.

* * *

Lucius

* * *

Lucius
awoke with a start. His heart hammered in his chest as he wondered what had
brought him out of a deep sleep. Without making a noise he felt for his
gladius, but it wasn’t at side as was customary. As he listened for more sounds
he reached down and slid his boot dagger from its sheath. He would not go down
without a fight.  He was just about to relax when a distinct sound of twigs
snapping underfoot brought him up from the pallet where he had lain. He was on
his feet in an instant, assuming a fighting stance and scanning the room in the
darkness. He couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep. He had no idea what time it
was but he should never have slept like this without setting up some sort of
perimeter alarm system. She slid across the floor to where his sword was
hanging from his belt draped on the only chair in the room. The door popped
open and Lucius launched himself towards the opening striking it with his left
shoulder. He heard a cry of surprise and the thud of a body hitting the ground.