of frustration and rage he had built up in him for his entire life. He had shared it with her, even as he was venting it on her.
It felt like she had finally met the man himself. The one everyone feared. The lunatic everyone whispered about. She had experienced, once and for all, the other side of Nero.
And she had whispered to him words of love. Even as he ravaged her, even as he ripped her to pieces and pushed her past what she had ever believed were her limits, she loved him.
She only had one lingering question. “Nero?”
“Hm?”
“They sent an assassin to kill you…”
“I noticed. I hope they’ve gotten him off the floor by now.”
She smiled for a moment. “They don’t know that if he had succeeded, he’d be the new Cardinal, do they?”
“Nope. Can you imagine how many fat, ugly bastards I would have in here trying to stab me if they knew? Shit. It’d be never-ending stream of them trying to poison me.” He sighed. “No. It’s a secret, sweet girl. It needs to stay that way.”
“And who would I tell?” She stretched and grunted quietly in pain.
“Oh, Hope…” His voice was quiet and forlorn. “I did a number on you last night, huh?” He rolled them over until she was on her back and he was over her. He kissed her gently, almost reverently, and feathered the same embrace over her cheek and down her throat. He placed a kiss over her heart and held it for a moment before he lowered to pillow himself against her chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“I didn’t tell you to stop. I told you to give me more.” She chuckled and combed her hand through his hair.
“If it’s consolation, I think I pulled all the muscles in my legs. And my lower back. And”—he squirmed—“possibly elsewhere. It’s numb, and I can’t feel it. I think you broke my manhood, Hope. I think it’s dead now.”
She chuckled. “Your libido is hibernating for once in its life.”
“Good. Fuckin’ bastard bothers me too much. It’ll be nice to have a day off.” He turned his head to kiss her chest again. “Hope…what you said last night. I don’t expect you to mean it. I was abusing you.”
“Nero…” She hugged him tightly to her. “You big idiot. I love you.”
He let out a sound that was something between a choke and a sob. He sank against her, his weight settling on her, and he buried his head into her shoulder.
Last night he confessed to her dark truths about what Pompei had done to him. And she hugged him to her. Even in those moments where he had to step into his old master’s shoes to vent the tragedy he had suffered, she trusted him.
“Nero, I trust you…and I love you. And you can’t ever hurt me.”
Nero didn’t answer. She knew he was beyond words.
She held him while he wept.
Nero spent the better part of the day soaking in the hot tub with Hope, only getting out when it was going to be unsafe to spend that much time in the hot water. It wouldn’t hurt him—but it’d hurt her. He had to crank the temperature up nearly to the point of scalding for him to even feel it. She wasn’t designed for that kind of heat. But it did help her sore muscles, she said. She lounged on the wood floor next to the entrance of the hot tub when she had to get out to cool down.
The room smelled like warm cedar. It was comforting. He rested his head back on her stomach, using her like a pillow. He had barely been able to let go of her hand once since they woke up. He had thought he couldn’t stop touching her before—but now he knew he must be smothering her with his constant attention.
The poor girl. She took it all like a soldier—and with a smile—but he had put her through her paces. He had tested the mare out in the field and nearly broke her. He had ravaged her like a monster.
But she purred under his touch. He kissed over her body, trying to will his love into her with each touch of his lips. For the first time in a long time, he felt no need to leap atop her and rut her again. Something in him had finally calmed down. Some hunger that had consumed him for years had finally been fed.
She had a tan from their week at the