Page 55 of Eryx

“Your cock better not ever find itself near my sister,” Axios said with both humor and disgust lacing his voice. “It is likely she will chop it off and hang it around her neck as a trophy.”

He wasn’t wrong. Leanna was fierce, independent, and easily irritated by foolishness—which Haden had in spades.

Laughing, Theon spit out his food. Quill snorted like a hog as he giggled.

“Some may mistake it for a worm,” I teased.

Haden snarled and tossed a pebble at me. I ducked before it hit and then snatched it off the grass and threw it back at him. The easy laughter was nice after such a heavy day. No matter how tough our lives became, we’d always have each other.

Axios shifted closer to me, and I pressed my leg to his. I sensed his longing to be even closer.

Theon spoke of how they’d fared in the hunt earlier. Some of the youths had been so eager to catch the slave themselves that they’d started turning on each other.

“It was brutal,” Theon said, wiping his hands on his tunic after finishing his berries. “Quill and I came upon two of the older boys slicing at each other in the woods. Others stood around them cheering them on. Shortly after, a boy ran forward and said the helot had been caught.”

“They were so concerned with having the glory for themselves that they forgot their place,” I said, suppressing a sigh. I studied each of their faces. “Remember this. Sparta comes before all. It certainly comes before your pride. A true warrior doesn’t fight to gain glory; he fights to protect what is most dear to him. His home. His family.”

Haden nodded and tossed a stick into the fire. The flames lit one side of his face, emphasizing the strong set of his brow.

“Never forget,” I said.

“Never,” Theon agreed. The seriousness fled his expression as he held up a cube of cheese. “For Sparta.”

Axios chuckled and laid his head on my shoulder. The action tugged at my heart. He became more affectionate when he was tired. “After thediamastigosis, cheese has lost its appeal. But I will honor Sparta with this berry.”

The seven of us—Ian and Melias included—held up various pieces of food and ate to the toast. Once we’d finished the snacks and returned to the barracks, Quill and Theon whispered and giggled as they found their mats. Their conversations ranged from battles of wits to amusing quips, and sometimes they fell silent and just stared at each other.

Haden, who’d almost fallen asleep in front of the fire, started snoring seconds after lying down.

“Ax?” I whispered, sliding my hand up his bicep. Now that we were in the dark, my shame surfaced again. “About today…”

“Stop, Ery.” He touched his fingers to my lips. “I feel no remorse for the helot, for he was going to kill you. Don’t you see? It’s as you said. We must only kill when it’s necessary, and today it was necessary.”

“I tricked you.”

“I know.” His eyes looked black in the dark. “And I forgive you for it. You push me to make me better.”

I kissed him then. The words didn’t exist to describe the feeling in my chest, so I showed him instead. Axios surrendered to my touch, softly gasping when my hand traveled down his body and took hold of a place that was mine and mine alone.

Growling in the back of my throat, I angled my body over his and tugged at the clothing separating us. The earthy smell of his skin mixed with the traces of smoke in his hair from the fire drove me wild with need.

Each time my mouth pressed to his, more of my soul reached out and clung to him, connecting us in this life and the next. When we finally came together, I found I couldn’t rush the moment. He felt too incredible.

I took him slower than usual, yet harder, moving inside his tight heat as if it was our first time all over again. Or our last. I kissed down his throat as he panted beneath me and clawed my shoulders. When his gasping breaths turned to loud moans, I covered his mouth with my hand and buried my face in his neck.

Axios shuddered and dug his nails into my skin as his body trembled with his release. I soon followed, biting his shoulder to keep from shouting my pleasure.

Afterward, I pulled him to my chest and kissed his nape. He relaxed in my arms and drifted to sleep. I watched him for a while, memorizing the shape of his face and how he smiled a little when he slept.

“My soul knows yours,” I whispered, smoothing my thumb across his bottom lip.

From the very first time I saw him, I knew the fates had a plan for us. I just hadn’t known the plan was for me to fall in love with him.

Chapter Eleven

388 BC – Two Years Later

At the turn of our eighteenth year, war continued to wage outside Sparta. After the defeat at the battle of Lechaeum at the hands of the Athenians where Sparta lost two hundred and fifty men, King Agesilaus had abandoned the campaign for peace. Our other king, King Agesipolis, was in the midst of leading an army against Argos.