Liberating Lucius

Excerpt:
I have a present for you, Lucius. Centurion Quintus strode alongside his superior officer, Tribune Lucius Calpurnius Aquila through the Roman encampment in the northern wilderness. Mud, churned by soldiers boots and horses hooves, had dried in hummocks and deep pits that made walking difficult. This is something youve needed for a long time and have refused yourself. I had it delivered earlier. You can thank me in advance.

The older mans patronizing tone made the young tribune nervous. What have you done?

Trust me, youll enjoy this. The centurion pulled back the tent flap for him to enter first.

Oil lamps lit the dim, smoky interior, woven mats covered the bare ground, and meager furnishings filled the small space. It was simple but a great deal more comfortable than the soldiers barracks. As a junior officer from a patrician family, Lucius could afford to live well.

What do you think? Quintus folded his arms over his chest and grinned. Just what you needed, eh? Clean, well-bred and beautiful.

Lucius eyes adjusted to the dim light and he stared at the present waiting for him in the center of the tent. A woman, bound at ankles and wrists, sat on the floor. Her head was down and long, black hair shielded her face from view.

No! Quintus, if Id wanted a captive, Id have taken one. Return her to wherever you got her from.

Too late. The slave trader is long gone. Besides, I dont believe youve had a woman since we started this campaign. Six months of heavy combat and brutal conditions with no relief for your tension? Its not healthy for any man.

I dont want As he struggled for words, a hot flame burned inside Lucius at the very idea of having this woman at his command, subject to his every desire. His cock stirred and thickened from the images in his mind. More than anything at that moment, he wanted to see her face.

As if hearing his inner desire, the dark haired woman lifted her head and glared at him.
Lucius took a step back. The rage and hatred flashing in her dark brown eyes could surely incinerate him like the fires of Hades. This woman had the perfectly chiseled features of a goddess twisted into the frightening scowl of a demon.

*****

The coals of anger banked inside her flared to life as Helenas captors entered the tent.

She examined their booted feet, strongly muscled calves, and the hems of their tunics, but her gaze stopped there. She listened to her buyer explain she was to provide sexual release for his friend and bile rose in her throat. The fury shed suppressed during her weeks on the road in the slavers caravan bubbled up inside her. Until now, shed maintained her composure and held her anger buried deep within. It would accomplish nothing to lash out. The trader would beat her or deny her food, and she would be no closer to escaping and returning home.

Even as she was offered up to the Roman soldiers inspection and sold, shed held her tongue and kept her eyes submissively down-turned. The stocky, gray-bearded centurion had left her in the tent of his superior officer, telling a manservant she was meant to be a present. So Helena conserved her hatred once more, and now she offered every bit of it to the man who would dare to call himself her master.

The tribune said he didnt want her but his eyes told a different story. His blue gaze seemed to strip her of the travel-stained robe she wore and see her naked body beneath. That flash of lust was quickly hidden after he met her eyes and acknowledged her anger.

He glanced away, as if embarrassed that shed seen his desire.

Come now, I understand you have some crazy ideals about not using the female captives from the villages we sack, but this woman is different. Shes bought and paid for, and a lady besides. Youd be a fool to refuse such a generous gift.