To follow in his father's footsteps, Gold's son will need to defeat Ariston in the arena to become champion…but Ariston might be the love of his life.
Nicolaus has lived in the shadow of his father all his life, a father who was the greatest gladiator of them all. His desire is to prove himself in the arena, even though it is against his father's wishes. He also has other desires, forbidden desires for his father's lover, and a love/hate relationship with the slave he must defeat if he is to reign victorious as a gladiator in the arena.
Ariston falls in love with Nicolaus the moment he sets eyes on him. A slave all his life, he has never known freedom but he is the unbeatable champion. The fact that Nicolaus can't decide whether to bed him or kill him greatly complicates his life when he becomes the newest addition to Gold's ludi.
General Release Date: 10th October 2011
House of Nicolaus
Forbidden Longings
My gaze followed Samson around the room as he playfully flirted with my father. The sun had barely risen in the sky and he was still a little drowsy from sleep.
"Why must you always arise so early, Gold?" Samson murmured, leaning down to kiss my father lightly on the top of the head. "The training will wait."
"The festivities begin Saturday, Samson." My father gave him a slight push away. "Everything must proceed smoothly if we are to gain favour."
"Favour with whom now?" Samson grinned at me as he said it before popping a grape into his mouth. "I don’t care about those stuffy noblemen. Do you care about them, Nicolaus?"
I think I might have blushed. I’d been doing that a lot lately. In fact, all Samson had to do was speak my name and I blushed. "No, no, I don’t care."
"Listen to him." Gold shook his head, motioning to the slave called Pleasure to pour some more water into his goblet. Father always saved a special smile for Pleasure, which I knew grated on Samson. "You want to gain a reputation in the arena, then you must care about the nobles."
Of course I took that to heart. I didn’t dare not to. My father had been one of the greatest gladiators of all time. His prowess and skill never ceased to astound even now. I asked only that I be half as good as he one day. "Why not let me compete, Father?" I looked up from where I sat on the settee. "I’m ready. Julian says so."
"Julian is not your father. I say you’re not ready."
"Gold," Samson said, "do you not remember what it’s like?"
"Don’t you start now, Samson," my father warned as he walked across the vast floor. "I was against this from the beginning. Nicolaus will go into the arena when I say so!"
"But Petorio is already involved in everything." I jumped up, ready for yet another verbal battle with my father. "And he’s mediocre at best. Everyone says I am better than he!"
"Petorio is involved in managing the ludi...training. He doesn’t compete in the arena."
"You’re better than me, are you, cousin?" We all turned to look upon the owner of that snarly voice. I already knew it to belong to my half-brother, Petorio. My father had been bought by his own brother - the father of Petorio and Garner - and freed. When my uncle had wanted to go into the arena as a free man, my father had trained him - promising to look after his family if anything should happen.
My uncle was slain in the arena and my father became head of the family, looking after his wife and children and eventually marrying his brother’s widow. My uncle’s widow gave birth to me and died shortly after I was born. This had created the rather bizarre circumstances where my two cousins were also my two half-brothers.
I braced myself for his onslaught. He’d always picked on me while I was growing up, punching and beating on me when he thought no one was looking, always referring to me as his cousin, rather than his brother. Since I’d grown, he’d stopped doing that, especially when I began to punch back. I harboured a special dislike of him.
My father headed his nephew off before he got to me. "I’ll have none of that in this house. Save your energy for the festivities on Saturday, Petorio!"
Gold had his hand on Petorio’s chest and Petorio relaxed. He’d never take on my father. He knew better.
"It’s not fair, Uncle," Petorio grumbled. "Nicolaus thinks he’s better than I and - "
I write not only for my own pleasure, but for the pleasure of my readers. I can't remember a time in my life when I haven't written and told stories. When I'm not writing, I'm dreaming about writing. Eroticism between consenting adults, in all its many forms is the icing on the cake of life but one does not live by sex alone. The story of how two people find love in spite of the odds is what really turns me on.
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