These are some oneshots/sandboxed interactions I have been working on to get past my issues with hating everything I do. It's Talia and Caius this time, told from his point of view. I'm not really sure what direction to take this book in, because it was supposed to be this pair, but then the chemistry he has with Saga was awesome. His own feelings are complex - he loves both Talia and Saga, and he respects them and doesn't want to mess them around. So from a writing standpoint this has been a really enjoyable way to try and get back to a point where I am happy with what I am doing, but it is making it hard to know which love interest to focus on.
I put a poll at the bottom of the post so you can leave a vote if you favour one of the love interests based on the stuff I have shared of Caius/Saga (there is some more I have written with them but I haven't shared it because I feel guilty for spending time sandboxing silly things, and I don't want to keep sharing random smut with no context, but there are other scenes that I can't share because they have too many spoilers for the end of Centuries in them. Their relationship is very heated but they have a lot of genuine chemistry outside of that) and the relationship Caius/Talia had in Courtesan and in the couple of little scenes below.
Talia poured some amber-coloured liquid out from a bottle under the running water, and it made the bath smell like sweet citrus as it foamed up with bubbles. It was strange, but it was significantly more pleasant than the smell of the chemicals in the pool had been. As she slipped into the water it rippled quietly, and my senses were flooded by a thousand memories of her submerging herself in warm, scented water in the Rome I had ruled.
"Come on," she beckoned, and I stepped over to the large pale marble bathtub and joined her in the steamy, sweet-scented water.
Our bodies pressed against each other as she settled between my legs the same way she always used to when we were young; I wrapped one of my arms around her and caressed her back, brushing away the foam so I could kiss the soft skin of her neck as she leaned back and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of my lips on her skin. For a few long moments we sat in silence, but she moaned softly when she felt me growing hard against her back.
"I'm sorry; I’ve always loved bathing with you," I murmured an unnecessary apology in her ear, my hot breath making her shiver as I massaged her full breasts under the water. She sighed with pleasure, and I pinched her nipples, making them tighten and swell, exactly as I knew they would because we had done this hundreds of times before. It was comforting, and familiar, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable and Talia moaned in a way that drew more memories back to me and made my heart race.
"I have missed this more than words can say," she sighed and relaxed back against me as my hands explored her body idly and I sucked at the sensitive skin at the base of her neck in the way that she had always enjoyed. "I didn't think you would want to do this again.”
"My love...” I whispered in her mother tongue - a gesture that I hoped she would understand.
She sniffed again and pulled herself closer to me, squeezing me tightly, and burying her face in my chest.
"I love you," she murmured against my shirt, slipping naturally back to the language her parents had taught her when she was a little human girl.
I kissed the top of her head, breathing deeply as she hugged me.
"My mate..." I murmured, sliding my fingers into her hair. "I am sorry that I have been distant."
“Saga is just…” I sighed, and Talia stared at me with an unreadable expression that made me feel as if I was committed to giving her this explanation now. “She can sense that I’m powerful, and she respects that and treats me as an equal. But you have never cared about whether other wolves think of me as powerful or not, and you resented me for the power I had when we first met... and that isn’t a bad thing; it’s what I needed when I met you - I needed somebody to remind me that I’m not perfect, and that I can make mistakes. The thing is, my flaws are inescapable now. Ever since I came back, I have been reminded constantly of the fact I have no status here, and that I don’t belong in this world. Saga makes me feel like I am still valid, and that I am not as pathetic as I feel when I can’t figure out the things that should be easy for me.”
“So you are fixated on her because she calls you a big strong Alpha and strokes your ego all the time? Really?”
Talia was clearly angry, and I didn’t know what I could possibly say in response to that without making everything worse, but I took a chance and rested my hand on her knee to try to make her feel better.
Who should Caius end up with in Nemesis?
Saga
Talia
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