Healed (Book Three of the Castle Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel

by Hazel Hunter

  The feast wore on for hours, with one toast to her return after another. There were many older nobles who remembered her mother fondly. She could feel the bonds of family tug at her in a way that she had never felt before. The moon was on its way to setting before the nobles drifted off to their bed. Gaius, who had been seated next to the chieftain, appeared by their side.

  “If you are ready for bed, I can bring you to the baths. You can cleanse yourselves, and then I can show you to your chamber.”

  “You make an unlikely house steward,” Lucius said. His words were mild, but there was an undercurrent there that made Liona look up in concern.

  Whatever the bait might have been, Gaius only smiled.

  “Whatever else I am, I am one who serves. Come with me. I think you will enjoy our baths.”

  The city of Rome was known for its luxurious baths. In the past, she and Augusta always spent a bit of copper at their favorite one every few days. She had no idea what to expect from the baths of barbarians.

  Gaius led them outdoors again, into the biting cold. Instead of taking them to one of the buildings, however, he took them to a cave entrance within the walls of the earthwork. There were rough stairs cut into the rock. In the flickering light of the torch, she could see deep grooves where thousands of feet had worn away the stone. This was an ancient place.

  As they descended, the air grew warmer and moister. When they came to level ground, Gaius walked ahead, lighting the sconces that lined the walls.

  “Oh, Lucius…”

  The cavern stretched out farther than the light could reach. To the right, there was a deep and still lake, terrifying in its darkness. To the left were a series of round pools that steamed in the flickering light.

  “This is one of the great treasures of the Altanii,” Gaius said proudly. “The breath of the Great Mother comes up to warm us, and this place has been her gift to us.”

  Lucius looked as impressed as Liona felt.

  “This is an amazing place. When I was last in Gaul, I believe I would have given my weight in salt to be this warm.”

  Gaius laughed.

  “Don’t let me stop you. There are cloths to dry yourselves here. The pools should be enjoyed.”

  Liona was so eager for the water that she stripped on the spot. Then she remembered that she was around a stranger, dropping her hands to cover the curly triangle of hair between her legs.

  To her surprise, Gaius was stripping as well and walking towards the largest pool.

  She glanced at Lucius, who shrugged. Soon they were both stripped to the skin, and hand in hand, they approached the pool that Gaius had chosen.

  There was a stone ledge carved into the walls of the pool. Gaius’s eyes, a warm and living gray, watched her as she climbed in. The dark water hid her. She scooted a little closer to Lucius, leaning against his bulk.

  For quite a long time, all three of them were still. There was a kind of peace in the springs that Liona had almost forgotten. It reminded her that there were such things as safety and comfort. There might have been an entire world hunting them outside, but here in the earth, there was nothing but her own heartbeat and that of the two men with her.

  A deep languor overtook her body. She wasn’t sleepy, exactly, but she was completely relaxed and open. The hot water warmed her in a way that she wasn’t sure she had experienced since she left home. She turned to Gaius with a smile, soft and easy.

  “Thank you,” she said softly. “Thank you for everything.”

  “You have come home.” He shrugged. “Perhaps soon you and your legatus will tell me why you have done so.”

  For a moment, Liona didn’t understand why Lucius stiffened by her side. Then she realized that Gaius had called Lucius a legatus. Rome and the northern tribes were technically at peace, but such things often counted for nothing when old spilled blood was remembered so well.

  “Did you think it was so well hidden?” Gaius asked idly. “I was old enough to fight when skirmishes with Rome rose up about ten years ago. I remember how a Roman looks and how a legatus carries himself.”

  “It wasn’t just my bearing,” Lucius said warily.

  “No. I don’t see so well as the daughter of Anawyn, perhaps, but I do see some things. I see the banner of the legion above your head. I can see your armor as clearly as if you were wearing it.”

  Liona stopped herself from reaching out to Gaius.

  “What will you do with this knowledge?”

  “Precisely nothing.” The Gallic sorcerer shrugged. “Rome is at peace, and you are family, of a kind. I have no need to offer you hurt so long as you offer me and mine none.”

  Lucius still looked dubious. Gaius shook his head a little ruefully.

  “Perhaps you won’t be happy until the Empire’s banner flies over all the lands of the world, legatus, but I care very little.”

  He rose from the spring, shedding sheets of water off of his body. Liona realized that he was well-muscled, though perhaps a little softer than Lucius. It made sense, she figured. Lucius was a soldier by trade. Gaius was a warrior because war had been thrust upon him. She watched curiously as he picked up a bundle of what looked like dry twigs lying nearby. To her surprise, he started hitting himself along the back and shoulders with them. She watched as the skin of his back got redder. She listened as the dry rattle of the branches struck his muscular back. She realized that she wasn’t just turning red because of the water.

  “What are you doing there?” Lucius asked after Gaius was done.

  “It’s an Altanii tradition,” the sorcerer explained. “The dry birch branches wake up the skin. The ancients tell us that it makes the blood run faster.”

  It was true, there was a bright gleam in Gaius’s eyes. Liona found that she could not take her eyes away from his mouth, curved into a mischievous grin.

  “In Rome, some of the baths offer skilled workers who will beat your back with their fists,” Lucius said thoughtfully.

  “That sounds good, too. Do you want to try?”

  Gaius picked up another bunch of birch twigs, tilting his head in curiosity. Something about it made Liona hold her breath. After a long moment, Lucius nodded, stepping out of the warm bath. Liona felt like a fly on the wall, a sort of female spy sent to watch what was inherently a male ritual. She stayed as quiet as she could, afraid that they would notice and send her out, or worse, stop.

  Instead of giving the birch twigs to Lucius, Gaius motioned for the Roman man to stand where he had stood.

  “It’s better if someone else does it for you,” he explained.

  The first blows were stroking, far lighter than the ones that Gaius had been using on himself. Lucius’s skin was darker than Gaius’s. It took longer for his skin to redden. By then Gaius was striking him firmly, rocking Lucius slightly on his feet.

  “How is it?” the sorcerer asked, pausing.

  “I’m wondering if you can hit me any harder,” Lucius said, throwing a grin over his shoulder. “Otherwise, perhaps I’ll ask Liona to take a turn.”

  “Oh, well, I wouldn’t want my poor kinswoman to tire herself out.”

  The next blow was loud enough to startle Liona. It made Lucius reach out a hand to steady himself against the rock wall. He groaned, but to Liona, it was as much a sound of pleasure as it was of pain.

  “That’s close to what I think a man can do,” Lucius jibed, and there was a smokiness to Gaius’s laugh that made Liona blush even harder.

  The rain of blows that he laid on Lucius’s back was intense, turning the other man’s skin brick red. He never broke the skin. Instead, he worked the switches up and down, striking hard enough that bits of twigs flew in every direction.

  Finally, he paused, inspecting the bundle.

  “That’s all for this bundle, I’m afraid.”

  The only sound in the stone chamber was Lucius’s heavy breathing. It seemed to take him a moment to recover himself, but when he did, he was smiling. He was more at ease than Liona had seen him since they
left Rome. Now he looked like the cocky legatus who had rescued her from her attacker. Her heart thrilled for it, singing like a bird in spring.

  “I think I’m done anyway. Thank you. That’s a tradition someone needs to bring back to the Empire.”

  “Well, all of your good ideas were initially ours anyway,” said Gaius with a smile. “But aren’t we forgetting someone?”

  Both men turned bright eyes to Liona. She thought that if she were truly a clever woman, seeing two men look at her like that would have made her duck underneath the water. Instead, she felt her heart skip a beat. Without thinking about it, she rose from the pool. There was a new tension in the room. She could feel her heart beat in her chest. She saw their eyes roam her body. When she glanced down, she could see that they were both half-aroused. It made her smile. She stepped closer, looking at them both.

  “Lucius, do you think you can do for me what Gaius did for you?”

  Lucius, to his credit, glanced at the Gaelic sorcerer.

  “Be careful of the small of her back,” Gaius said. “Stay below the line of her shoulder. That’s all. After that, she’ll tell you herself what she likes.”

  Lucius’s grin woke a fire deep in Liona’s body. With an exaggerated casualness, he picked up a fresh bundle of twigs, swinging them through the air so that they made a swishing noise.

  Silently, she took Lucius’s place, resting her hands lightly on the rock wall.

  “Remember that I’m not some war-toughened Roman legionnaire,” she said sternly. “You’re not meant to beat me bloody.”

  “I won’t,” Lucius promised.

  He ran the bundle of twigs down her back. They were scratchy in a way that made her purr. They were quite limber. From how red Lucius’s back had become, she knew that they could render quite a sting, but right now, this was only pleasure.

  The first few strokes were light and gentle, searching. She could tell that Lucius was gauging her reaction. She murmured in approval, telling him that she could take more. Slowly, the blows built up in intensity, striking her shoulders, her back, her buttocks and her thighs. He was being far gentler with her than Gaius had been with him.

  She gloried in the way her skin seemed to come alive. There was a snapping sting to each strike. Just as the sting began to fade, he struck her again. Soon she was leaning against the rock wall in earnest, squirming and sighing. She couldn’t call it a beating, not when it was so pleasurable. The pleasure had just the finest sliver of pain to it. The combination took her breath away.

  Liona was in some timeless wonderful place, barely aware of it when Lucius stopped. She felt like she was floating, borne up by the smell of the fresh birch twigs and the faint metallic scent of the springs. She was aware that Gaius and Lucius were behind her, speaking quietly. Surely she was supposed to be worried about that?

  She felt a pair of strong hands ease her down onto the ground. Instead of the rock floor, there was a straw mat there. She hissed as her tender back landed on the mat, but after a moment, she settled in. Lucius was standing above her, the bundle of switches still in his hand. She smiled at him, aware of how open and vulnerable she was, but it didn’t matter. She trusted him completely.

  He ran the bundle of twigs over her breasts and belly. Then to her shock, he ran them over her thighs and between them.

  “It will be so gentle,” he promised.

  She nodded.

  She whimpered at the first strike. The skin of her inner thighs was so sensitive that it did not take much at all to make her squirm. He didn’t make the next blow harder. Instead, he struck her gently and steadily. The beat was close to that of her heart. She gave herself up to the rhythm. She whimpered and squirmed and never wanted it to stop.

  She didn’t realize how she was thrusting her hips up to meet his every blow until he stopped.

  In the silence after Lucius halted, Gaius’s laugh was soft and sweet.

  “Welcome home, kinswoman. I think you’ll enjoy our barbaric ways. I believe I will take myself outside. The next part calls for bathing oneself in snow, though I think you delicate southerners might take offense. Come find me when you are done. Don’t worry about keeping me waiting. I rather like the cold.”

  She heard his steps retreating up the stairs. She met Lucius’s eyes, as hot and hungry as hers. Like a beast breaking free of its leash, he was on top of her. She knew how strong he was, but now she was reminded again. He lifted her legs easily, throwing them over his shoulders. It bent her back and lifted her rear from the mat.

  With his hands cupped beneath her buttocks, he brought her up to his erection, stroking its length along her slick slit. Liona was mildly shocked when she realized how wet she was. The birching had woken her in more ways than one.

  “Yes, right now, please, don’t make me wait,” she whispered.

  Lucius obeyed her as if she were his commanding officer. He pushed into her in one sleek, smooth motion. It made them both groan. She wrapped her legs around his waist, hoping to pull him even closer.

  “Touch yourself,” he growled. “I won’t be alone in this.”

  She let one hand fall on her clit, exposed and wanting with her legs so spread. It wasn’t until she started squirming that he started to thrust, pushing inside her with the force of the ocean. Her entire body was sensitized to his touch. The more she received from him, the more she wanted. She felt the familiar tension take over her body. She felt herself start to shake. When she flew to pieces, her cry echoed through the chamber. She dug her nails into Lucius’s wrists, urging him to finish as well. When he spilled inside her, he roared, shaking with the strength of his release.

  They lay still together for a long moment. Eventually, he pulled out of her, and came to lie on the mat next to her. There was an ease to them that had been missing for what felt like a long time. It made sense, after all, Liona thought. They had come together when they were on the run. Their first joining had been a desperate, hidden thing, more a mating than something that had love or joy in it. This felt like the way their first time should have been. It was for pleasure alone. She could feel the love that flowed between them easily. He leaned over and planted a warm kiss on her mouth.

  Liona lay back and enjoyed it for a while, but when his hand roamed from her belly down to her thigh, she laughed, putting her hand over his.

  “While I would like nothing more than to hide from Gaul’s winter here, I believe that we should likely go find Gaius. No matter how cold-blooded he is, he can’t want to be in the snow all that long.”

  They both rinsed themselves off one more time in the pools before drying off and dressing once again. Ascending the staircase, Liona felt warm and whole. Not even the bitter chill of the Gallic night could cool her spirits.

  They found Gaius, dressed and his bear skin draped over his shoulders, standing at the cave’s mouth. He wore a satyr’s smile on his lips. Though it made Liona blush, Lucius nodded at him as if they had been friends for years. Gaius nodded in return.

  “I think we have much to speak about in the morning.” Gaius said. “Come. I’ve promised you the welcome of my hearth, and it lies this way.”

  Gaius’s home was a fairly spacious cottage. There was a low table covered with glass bottles and a chest underneath it. Gaius’s own bed was close to the hearth, but there was also a loft above that was filled with sweet hay. Liona and Lucius climbed up the ladder to the warm bed it offered.

  Lucius fell asleep as soon as they were resting in the hay. Settled in his arms, warmer than she had been in weeks, Liona found that she could not go to sleep right away. Instead, she found herself listening to Gaius moving below. She heard the gentle rattle of glass combined with the sound of liquid being poured. He was the sorcerer of the Altanii clan. He likely often had responsibilities that saw him awake through the night.

  She thought of his fine bare body in the springs. She thought of the smile on his face when she had risen out of the water. She wasn’t sure if it was the same smile as when he had seen Luciu
s’s naked form, but she was willing to bet some silver on it, if not some gold.

  As she finally drifted off to sleep, she imagined another body in the hay with them, another pair of arms wrapped around them both.

  • • • • •

  A birch bundle? The thought of it made Hailey’s upper back twitch. But then she thought of Piers, how he had held her still, and the way he’d spanked her. That had begun slowly too. But then he’d peppered her rear until it was suffused in warmth. To her dismay, Hailey felt that same warmth now.

  “Dear one,” Liona whispered in her ear. “You’re squirming.”

  Hailey lay on her back, Liona’s arm draped across her belly.

  “Sorry,” Hailey said, her voice even higher than normal. Her cheeks were on fire, and she knew they had to be glowing. Trying to hide her distress, she turned her face from Liona.

  “No,” Liona said softly. Her fingers went to Hailey’s chin and gently, but firmly, turned her face to her. “Never be rueful of that.”

  Though her voice was more tender than Hailey had ever heard it, she couldn’t bring herself to meet Liona’s eyes.

  “Now,” Liona said, releasing her chin to settle her am around her waist again. “Where was I?”

  • • • • •

  Gaius greeted them with a breakfast of cracked oats scattered with dried berries. They sat at his hearth, and as they ate, they talked. Gaius lost his smile as soon as he heard them mention a hand rising from a flame. He listened with an intent look on his face when they spoke of the disappearances.

  “And then you were driven from your home and came here instead, looking for help and refuge.”

  “Looking for information,” Lucius corrected. “We have every intention of rescuing Titus and Augusta. If you could help us with that, we would forever be in your debt.”