Barbarian Prize

by Deanna Ashford

  ‘The villa had been empty for some time. The builders had only just finished the renovations when I sent a message to my mother telling her when to expect me. She arranged for a few basic furnishings but nothing more.’ He hurried towards her as she almost stumbled over some loose stones. ‘Careful, Sirona,’ he said, as he slipped a supporting arm around her waist.

  ‘Silly of me,’ she said awkwardly, trying to ignore the sudden surge of sexual desire she experienced when he touched her again. Even though they’d been forced apart, she still loved Taranis, and she had no wish to be attracted to this man when she was feeling so alone and vulnerable.

  ‘I have many plans for this garden,’ he said, as he guided her under the covered portico. ‘But the house –’ he smiled and looked down at her ‘– I think that needs a woman’s touch.’

  Ever since she had first purchased Taranis, Poppaea had been planning this small gathering to show him off to her most important and well-respected friends, the majority of whom hadn’t attended the auction. Dressed and ready to greet her guests, she glanced admiringly at her slave as he accompanied her into the garden.

  She knew that he wasn’t happy with the costume she had made him wear, which was modelled on a picture she had once seen of the half-man, half-god Hercules. Taranis was wearing just a brief linen skirt in the Greek style with a narrow gilded belt at his waist. The goldsmith had charged her an exorbitant sum for the two thick gold bracelets, which girded his upper arms and helped emphasise the size and strength of his glorious muscles. She’d given him an expensive perfumed oil to rub into his skin so that it gleamed attractively in the bright sunlight, and his long hair had been trimmed so that it just brushed his shoulders. Taranis had wanted it cropped in the Roman style but she preferred it longer.

  She had decided to hold the gathering in her garden because she had just imported six life-size statues from Greece and had them placed decoratively around her pool. They were male nudes, but it was rather a pity that the sculptor had given them all such miserably small sexual organs. Poppaea glanced over at Taranis. Why be concerned about that when she had a deliciously large cock ready and eager to pleasure her whenever she wanted.

  She sat down on one of the chairs that had been placed beneath the shade of a small row of Cyprus trees. As she had instructed, Taranis stood protectively by her side. She wanted her guests to catch sight of him as soon as they arrived.

  ‘They should be here soon,’ she said, as she irritatedly brushed aside a small flying insect that was buzzing around her head.

  ‘Yes, my lady,’ he obediently acknowledged.

  She had warned Taranis that he must be on his best behaviour today. Sometimes she wondered if she was being too indulgent with him. Often she treated him more like a lover than a slave. However, she knew that she would never have enjoyed having sex with the pathetically servile bed slaves some women owned; they were too submissive for her specialised tastes. Sex with Taranis was stimulating and unpredictable. Sometimes he was loving and tender, other times rough and brutal. It was always different, always exhilarating.

  Many years earlier, Poppaea had discovered that she could be aroused by a measure of violence and even mild pain. Taranis somehow sensed, then fulfilled her fantasies, although she had yet to push their involvement to the furthest extremes of her sexual desires, but she would, given time. Taranis was everything she had hoped for and more, although it wasn’t easy having a warrior to serve her, as, on occasions, he totally overstepped the boundaries between mistress and slave.

  Poppaea glanced back at Taranis, thinking how truly amazing he looked dressed like this. Yes, he had a great body, was very good looking and had one of the biggest cocks she had come across in a long time. However, he had something else that attracted her just as much – pure animal magnetism. The first time she’d laid eyes on Taranis he had been naked and chained, and her pussy had grown sopping wet just by looking at him. But she’d also sensed a dangerous air about him that would never be entirely contained. Of course he overstepped the boundaries at times, because she knew that he was a warrior in every sense of the word and would never truly be tamed. If she were honest with herself, she would not have wanted him any other way.

  As she continued to stare at him, she fought the urge to slip her hand briefly under his skirt and stroke his sex. Just touching the magnificent cock excited her. It was strange, she mused, she’d never felt so highly attracted to a man before; sometimes she found Taranis just too tempting to resist.

  ‘It appears that your guests are arriving.’ His voice interrupted her train of thought.

  She looked towards the tablinum to see a pale-faced Livia and Corelia, the rather straight-laced wife of Cnaius Nigidus, strolling along the side of the pool.

  She greeted them cheerfully, finding it highly amusing when they both cast brief, covetous glances in Taranis’s direction. Did the sight of him arouse them as much as it did her? she wondered. More guests arrived, all of them members of the most important families in Pompeii. The last to appear was the pleasant-natured Julia Felix, the woman she considered her most trustworthy and closest friend.

  Julia went a little pink when she first laid eyes on Taranis standing beside Poppaea. Julia had bid for him at the slave auction, but obviously couldn’t afford his inflated price. Poppaea wondered what on earth Julia would have done with a slave like Taranis, as she’d never struck her as a highly sexed woman. It would have been a total waste.

  Poppaea’s slaves served chilled wine and fruit juices flavoured with honey, accompanied by dishes of eggs seasoned with chopped anchovies, small beef pastries, juicy olives and oysters from Brundisium. As the women drank and nibbled on the snacks, they discussed the local gossip. Pompeii was a hot-bed of intrigue and there was also much interesting news from Rome. Of course, now and then all of the women looked furtively at her new slave, most probably wondering what he was like in bed. Poppaea delighted in each covetous glance, finding pleasure in their envy of her new possession. She was certain that every red-blooded woman in Pompeii would want Taranis in her bed, thrusting his cock between her trembling thighs.

  ‘My, it’s warm today.’ She looked pointedly at Taranis and he immediately picked up a peacock feather fan and waved it obligingly above her head. His expression betrayed nothing, but she knew he was hating all this – the women’s stares, the way she had dressed him up to show him off and the fawning way she was expecting him to behave towards her. He had not looked very happy when she told him that, if she had dared, she would have been tempted to display him nude. However, in a situation such as this, with a number of very respectable women as her guests, that would have been considered too outrageous even for her.

  ‘Very warm,’ agreed Livia. She was looking decidedly pink, probably not from the heat, judging by the way she kept glancing hungrily at Taranis. The slave standing behind Livia began to wave his fan more vigorously.

  Poppaea had never understood why Aulus had married Livia; it wasn’t as if she was even remotely attractive. However, she had been a very rich widow, who was closely connected to the late Emperor Vespasian and his family. Of course, that was the only reason why Lucius had been made a legate at such an early age.

  ‘The pool does look very tempting,’ Corelia said. ‘Perhaps we could have a swim?’

  Poppaea knew that Corelia was having building work done, and her pool was out of commission at present. If Corelia hadn’t suggested a swim, she had intended to do so herself. ‘Yes, why not?’ Poppaea agreed. ‘Ladies, if you are not wearing suitable undergarments, go inside and my maids will provide you with something to swim in.’

  Poppaea smiled as some of the women rose to their feet and hurried inside. Most likely they needed help even to undress. Many of them would have slaves who did absolutely everything for them, even apply the sponge on a stick to cleanse them after they had relieved themselves.

  ‘I’ll not bother,’ Julia said, moving to Livia’s side. ‘You know that my mother doesn’t like to
swim, as she’s scared of water. I’ll take her inside for a while instead.’

  ‘Of course.’ Livia was such a pathetic woman, Poppaea thought, as she rose to her feet. ‘Taranis, help me with my gown.’

  He stepped forwards to unfasten the gold and sapphire fibulas that held her gown together at the shoulders. Just the feel of his warm fingers on her flesh made her shudder with pleasure. The gown slid to the ground and, as she stepped out of it, he bent to retrieve it and laid it neatly on her chair. ‘Is there anything else, my lady?’ he asked in his cultured Latin. It was far from the bastardised Latin most barbarian slaves used.

  The fabric of her only undergarment was almost transparent, and it was so short it only just brushed her thighs. She felt his eyes upon her semi-naked body as she said, ‘Yes, you can accompany me to the pool and help me down the steps. Yesterday, I noticed that they were quite slippery.’

  His blue eyes narrowed as he accompanied her towards the water. Did he suspect her motives? Or was he just squinting because of the strength of the sun? When the thin linen of his scanty garment got wet, it would cling revealingly to the bulge of his sex. Poppaea was determined to let all her friends see just how magnificent he truly was.

  They reached the pool and Taranis walked down the first two steps, then took her hand and helped her descend. ‘Lower,’ she instructed. ‘I don’t want to fall.’

  Solicitously, he helped her, even though the steps were not slippery at all.

  When the water lapped at the hem of his garment, he looked questioningly at her. ‘Perhaps I should stay here and help the other ladies as well?’ he suggested, as Corelia and the others appeared, now appropriately dressed for swimming.

  ‘No,’ Poppaea said curtly. ‘Help me down further.’

  His mouth tightened but he said nothing, as he helped her further down the steps until she reached the floor of the pool and he was standing waist deep in the water.

  ‘You can go back to the top of the steps and help the others now,’ she said.

  She turned and waded away from Taranis, then she began to swim slowly towards the deep end. Taranis, however, did not move, but just stood there watching Poppaea. Meanwhile, her friends were managing to navigate the steps quite easily without any help. They waded past Taranis, glancing admiringly at the bare-chested handsome slave. Then they began to splash around in the water, laughing and giggling together, and making no attempt to join Poppaea in the deeper water.

  Poppaea swam to the end of the pool and turned around. She was surprised to see Taranis still standing there looking at her. Why was he being so obstreperous? she wondered irritably. ‘Move,’ she shouted, feeling a little awkward as she waved agitatedly at him. ‘Leave the water now, Taranis.’

  Move he did, but not up the steps as she had ordered; he dived under the water and swam towards her, while her friends stared at him in total amazement.

  ‘How dare you!’ she hissed, as he reached her.

  ‘I dare.’ He gave a bitter laugh, then ducked under the water. He didn’t surface again immediately because he’d dived between her legs. Poppaea tensed, her eyes growing wide with surprise, as she felt his fingers on her pussy. Lust and desire lanced through her body as his mouth fastened like a leech on to her sex, while his tongue flicked teasingly against her clit.

  Poppaea tried to muffle her gasp of pleasure, all too conscious of her friends still staring at her, obviously wondering what was happening. Then, to her relief, he surfaced beside her again and took a deep breath as he pushed damp strands of hair away from his face.

  ‘Damn you to Hades,’ she cursed. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

  ‘This,’ he said softly, as his bunched fingers slid smoothly into her cunt.

  Poppaea gave a loud squeak of surprise. The sensation was so delicious that she wanted to tell him to push them even deeper inside her. He began to move them slowly and sensuously. She had never realised before how wonderful sex could be when surrounded by water. If she’d known she would have fucked Taranis in the pool before this, but not in front of all her friends.

  ‘You must stop.’ She was begging now, not ordering. Yet she really wanted him to continue, the sensations of his cold fingers thrusting inside her and the water swirling round her pussy was exquisite.

  ‘I want to fuck you,’ he growled softly. She was so very tempted to say yes, even though the idea was totally insane. He pressed his hard body against hers, his fingers still working their magic inside her, while his thumb rubbed her clit. Her insides were melting and she barely felt the rough concrete against her back; all she was conscious of was the delicious feel of his thrusting fingers and his engorged cock rubbing sensually against her stomach. ‘Do you want me to push it inside you right now?’ he whispered.

  ‘Yes,’ she gasped, forgetting everything but her desperate desire for this man.

  ‘In front of your guests?’ Taranis asked caustically, removing his fingers and backing away from her.

  ‘No, of course not.’ She felt empty without him inside her, but she was also furious with herself for succumbing so easily. ‘Get out of the pool, now,’ she ordered, her face turning scarlet with embarrassment. ‘Go to my bedroom, wait for me there.’

  Taranis smiled, then grabbed hold of the side of the pool. Using his powerful arms, he heaved his body from the water. Then he stood by the side of the pool for a moment, looking down at her. The sopping-wet fabric clung to his body, fully revealing the size of his erection to all her friends.

  He picked up one of the towels left for the guests, wrapped it around his waist and strode towards the house.

  Taranis understood Poppaea’s anger. He should never have given into the temptation of paying her back for parading him in this skimpy costume, in front of all her most respectable friends. It had just reminded him, much too harshly, of the fact that he was nothing more than a slave. That was something he had been hiding from himself of late. When they were in her bedroom and he was in full sexual control, he could almost forget the humiliations life had heaped upon him.

  He walked into the tablinum, passing the wall covered with funeral masks of Poppaea’s ancestors. Red ribbons were strung tightly between them, linking father to child, wife to husband, acting as an eternal reminder of how much the present was connected to the past.

  The interior of the villa was quite dark in contrast to the bright sunlight outside. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust and in that moment he almost cannoned into Julia.

  ‘Oh!’ she exclaimed, as she paused in surprise.

  ‘Forgive me, my lady.’ He stepped back a pace.

  ‘It’s nothing,’ she said distractedly, as a pink flush spread quickly across her pale cheeks.

  ‘I do not like to speak out of turn,’ he said politely. ‘And forgive me for doing so, but when I first saw you in the garden your features seemed so familiar. I could not place you at the time. Now I know where I have seen you before.’

  She appeared to find it difficult to look at him at all. Then she lifted her eyes and stared straight ahead, but she was far shorter than Taranis and she found herself facing his bare still damp chest. ‘The baths,’ she said shyly.

  ‘Yes,’ he confirmed, well aware that he should not be talking to her like this. ‘I did not know that there were ladies bathing at the same time.’

  ‘There were no ladies bathing. It’s just that I own the Venus Baths,’ she admitted. Her breathing quickened as she at last looked at his face. ‘I came upon you quite by chance.’ She blushed an even deeper shade of pink. ‘I did not mean to spy –’

  ‘I should not have mentioned it, my lady.’ He felt sorry that he had embarrassed her. She had obviously seen the slave pleasuring him and had most probably disapproved. ‘Please do not blame the girl.’

  ‘I did not.’ She smiled awkwardly. ‘To be honest I had completely forgotten the incident until you mentioned it,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Poppaea, she’s not a bad mistress, is she?’

  A strange question
to ask of a slave. It was almost as if she was concerned for his welfare. ‘No. She is very demanding and she expects my attention at all times.’ He paused. Julia did not seem the type of woman who knew much about the intimate duties he was expected to perform, and he didn’t want to upset her by being too frank. ‘Mostly she is a good mistress. It is not my place to complain. I just felt a little uncomfortable when she dressed me up in this ridiculous outfit and paraded me in front of her friends.’

  ‘It must be difficult,’ she agreed. ‘Poppaea does like to show off her possessions, but you don’t look ridiculous at all, just very handsome.’ She gave an uneasy laugh. ‘I confess even I was relieved when Poppaea managed to purchase you at the auctions. It would have been terrible if Gaius had won. I do not like him, he has strange tastes.’

  Their conversation was getting weirder by the moment. ‘I thank the gods that they spared me.’ Taranis frowned thoughtfully. ‘You were there, I think. Your voice sounds familiar.’

  ‘Yes,’ she shyly confessed. ‘After I’d seen you at the bathhouse I thought – I just decided to try and buy you, that’s all.’

  For once, Taranis didn’t know what to say. Julia didn’t strike him as a woman who would purchase a pleasure slave.

  When he didn’t reply, she added, ‘There was just something about you, Taranis. I felt drawn to you.’ She sighed. ‘And you are a very striking-looking man.’

  ‘It is a pity you lost,’ he said without thinking. He liked Julia, she seemed a kind and thoughtful woman. She would most probably be a far easier mistress to please than Poppaea.

  ‘I did not lose. My stepfather prevented me from bidding more, even though I could easily afford it,’ she confessed, then hurried away from him.