Tangled Web (3 page)

She stretched her legs out and smiled in return. “I believe you are an idealist, Titus. More than just a common man.”

His gaze strayed to the outlines of her breasts under the sheer silk, and his body’s reaction to them reminded him of his baser desires. “No, I am just a man.”

“And what do you want?”

His balls tightened in response to the warm, seductive tone of her voice. “I think that’s obvious.”

She dragged her veil across his lap. The subtle friction of the silk over his groin felt like the light caress of a hundred fingertips. “But you would probably want something out of the ordinary. Am I right?”

Blood pounded through every vessel in his body. The need welling up inside him threatened to overcome his better judgment, to question the sudden change in her behavior. “What are you suggesting?”

A mischievous grin played upon her full lips. “No peeking.”

She folded the silk veil several times and tied it over his eyes, plunging him into darkness.

5

Azurha secured the knot behind his head and studied her victim. So far, he seemed to be falling for her seduction as easily as any man. Jobs were always easier to carry out when the target wasn’t expecting death. Strangely, though, she couldn’t bring herself to stare into his bright blue eyes when she finally killed him. The blindfold did little to strengthen her resolve. Why couldn’t she dispose of him as easily as she had her other jobs?

It wasn’t the kiss that left her hungering for more, although she had to admit that was one reason to keep him alive. The passion in his voice when he spoke of his plans for the empire intrigued her.

“You’ve blindfolded me, Azurha. Now what do you have in mind?”

“No peeking,” she repeated. Her voice rose from the panic constricting her throat. She should be snapping his neck right now, not imagining what it would be like to taste his lips again. She’d never hesitated like this before.

She needed to distract him until she managed to gather her wits and complete her job. The partially eaten meal caught her attention. “I, um, want to play a game with you.”

His head inclined in her direction, and a grin played on those lips, making her nipples tighten every time she looked at them. “A game?”

She grabbed an olive and removed the pit. “You have to promise not to cheat.”

“I promise,” he said with a laugh.

“Good.” She knelt at his feet and rested her free hand on his thigh. It warmed her palm like sun-drenched granite, and heat flowed through her blood. It produced a yearning in her that she’d never experienced before, one that made her wonder if there was more to sex than she’d known as a slave. The thought of lying naked next to him should make her skin crawl, not have her wanting to tear her stola from her body so she could savor his warmth everywhere. These strange emotions intrigued her to the point where she wanted to explore them, if only for a few moments before she ended his life. “You have to guess what I’m feeding you.”

“And what do I get if I’m right?”

She leaned closer so her lips brushed against his ear. “I’ll figure out a proper reward.”

He turned his head, his lips undoubtedly searching for her, and she slipped the olive in his mouth. He chewed it. “An olive.”

“That was too easy.”

“I still guessed correctly. And my reward?”

She nibbled on his earlobe. He inhaled sharply, much to her satisfaction, and cupped his fingers around her elbows. “Are you ready for the next round?”

He nodded and licked his lips, causing the knot in her stomach to tighten all the more. She was trying to work up enough courage to kill him, and instead found this little game increasing her desire for him threefold.

She searched for something sweet this time and plucked a ripe strawberry off the plate. “Open your mouth.” She inserted the fruit just past his teeth, and he bit down gently.

“One of the most delicious strawberries I’ve ever tasted.”

“Is that so?” Would it be delicious elsewhere? Enough to tempt him to kiss her again? She smeared the juices over her lips and pressed them against his. His tongue licked the sweetness from them, creating gooseflesh on her arms. One of them would cave if they continued this game much longer.

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 enough. 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?”