Page 33 of Axios

“You would do well to put any notions of wooing her aside,” I told him. “She is not like most girls. You have a better chance at wooing Gaius than her.”

He radiated with the challenge. “One day you will eat those words.”

After giving us a mischievous grin, he spotted Leanna sitting on the ground a ways away, and he took off toward her.

“How long do you suppose he will last before she strikes him?” Eryx asked, looking after our friend with a smirk.

I shrugged. “Perhaps until he says the wordfur.”

He laughed and reached to take my hand.

I met his stare. His face was cast in shadow and partly lit with flames from the roaring fire, but I still saw the gleam in his eyes—one that said more than words ever could. It was a thing I felt deep within my chest and that stirred in my very being.

We turned and walked away from everyone, hand in hand.

Exuberant voices and the soft strumming of the lyre drifted away the farther we traveled. With the setting of the sun, a chill found its way through the air and coated my skin, creating an involuntary shiver. The warmth of his hand helped chase away the cold, and I leaned against his side to take in more of his heat.

Where he was leading me, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t question him.

I would follow Eryx anywhere.

Soon, we arrived at the stables, and the reason for his choice of location became clear—away from watching eyes. The horses didn’t react as Eryx opened the heavy door and went inside, pulling me along with him.

We didn’t speak, for any word spoken would give way to emotions Spartans were not meant to have. Vulnerability.

His lips found mine, and he backed me up into an empty stall as our mouths moved in sync. His hands moved up and down my sides, yanking at the material separating our eager flesh. The taste of him consumed me. The feel of him overtook every inch of me until there was nothing left but us and the way we fit together.

When my heel hit the bed of hay, I tugged Eryx down with me to lie within it. The straw poked into my back a little, but I was too wrapped up in the feel of him to care.

Each time we touched, more of me slipped away and became part of him.

I was his. I had been since the very first day I laid eyes on him. The golden-haired boy who had watched me with concerned, green eyes and beckoned me to stand and fight had come to mean more to me than my own life.

He moved atop me, pressing his manhood against mine as he kissed my jaw and then down my neck. I gasped as he reached the base of my throat and sucked. It made me shudder and cling tighter to his shoulders.

“Ery…” I moaned, not quite certain what I intended to say.

Countless sensations took me over, and I tingled from head to toe. My ragged breathing paired with the racing of my pulse. The ache in my groin had me raising my hips and meeting each of Eryx’s movements.

“Do you trust me?” he asked, lifting his gaze to meet mine.

There’s no one I trust more.

When I nodded, he unfastened the clip that held my tunic in place and shifted it to expose my bare torso. He lowered his head and kissed the center of my chest before trailing his lips farther down.

Bumps formed along my skin as his mouth left a wet path down my stomach and moved toward a part of me he’d only touched in my dreams.

Being in the nude around each other was nothing new. In fact, I had seen him more without clothing than with. This instance was different. For the first time, my skin heated at the thought of him seeing the private parts of me.

Spartans were raised to see nothing disgraceful or immoral about nudity; however, my uneasiness came not from pride but from worry he wouldn’t approve. It was no secret that my body had not progressed as his had done. It had changed over the years, and I was bigger than most in our herd, but my muscles were not as defined, and my frame—although larger and possessing strength—still was no match for his.

But as his touches became more adventurous, I found myself letting go of the embarrassment and reveling in the feel of him. His face hovered inches from my manhood, and the warmth of his breath sent shivers down my spine.

I sucked in a sharp breath, anticipating his next movement.

And then I gasped.

Heat consumed my length as he took me to the back of his throat. Never had I experienced anything more blissful, more earth-shattering. I grabbed a handful of his golden hair and egged him on further, lifting my hips to meet him and gasping as my entire being quaked.