I needed to get this chapter out of my head. If I actually write the rest of this, it will be about halfway through the book. I wasn't sure about whether I should write it as a crossover, but it's my book, and my world, and I know it isn't going to get a contract anyway so I am going to do what I want with it.
I also really couldn't shake this ridiculous idea when it came to me. So here's a weird chapter with a hook-up that I don't think anybody who reads everything I write has ever pictured, and the caveat that there is a reason Caius and Talia aren't speaking which is part of the plot.
Caius
I expected Saga to ignore me after our encounter, but she treated me no differently and it started to drive me insane that she was acting as if we hadn't done something impulsive and reckless at the first possible opportunity.
I tried not to think about it too much, and I took it as a sign that she would rather not acknowledge what had happened because she regretted it, because that was somehow more pleasant than the thought that she really had just used me for her own entertainment.
I was enjoying breakfast with Aurelia and Robin rather than letting my mind wander again. They both found it funny to present me with various dishes to try, because I was invariably confused or unimpressed.
I rather enjoyed their game, because seeing Aurelia having fun like that made me happy. She was not as young as she looked, but she still needed a companion to spend time with, and I was frustrated that Talia had apparently denied our daughter the chance to make friends of her own.
Whatever they had just presented me with was a dish of brightly colored hoops floating in milk, which was ostensibly a 'treat'. I couldn't handle the stuff - it was obnoxiously sweet and it had no flavor beyond that. The fact it was served in the bowl of milk was bizarre to me, and I pushed the dish away.
"Froot Loops?" Saga asked her brother with one of her eyebrows raised. She had come back carrying a couple of bags; they were filled with an array of things I either didn't recognize or couldn't comprehend and she set them down on the side and started putting the contents away. "Do you really think Grandpa over there is going to appreciate garbage like that when he still thinks the fucking toaster is a work of unparalleled genius?"
An entirely unnecessary jab at me that was the first hint that she was not entirely unaffected by what had happened between us.
She finished putting most of the things away, but turned to me with a smirk and tossed a bright red bottle at me. I caught it, and held it out for Aurelia to read the label because it was beyond my capabilities.
I noticed Robin glance at his sister with a confused expression as Aurelia turned as scarlet as the bottle.
"I don't think it matters what it says," she mumbled, and I passed the bottle to Robin, hoping that he would actually answer me.
"This is an actual work of unparalleled genius," he smiled, and passed it back to me. I noticed Aurelia sink down into her chair, but chose not to comment.
"I don't understand what is so funny about this. Are you expecting me to eat this stuff?" I tried to figure out how to open the bottle, because I thought I might be able to figure out what it actually was if I did that, but Aurelia snatched it from me.
"I can't believe I have to say this, but you don't put this stuff in your mouth…" she glared at Saga, who was pretending not to notice.
When she heard Talia coming downstairs she shoved it under the table, and combined with their behavior it was enough for me to figure out that whatever was in the bottle was somehow sexual in nature.
Talia didn't even glance at us before she left the house, and for a moment I was hurt, because it felt like a rejection, but Saga leaned close to me and I was drawn to her and lost all thoughts of Talia.
Her pure white hair brushed softly against my neck as she whispered to me.
"It's more effective than saliva."
I furrowed my brow, and then everything made sense.
This was a way to get my attention. She was being performative, because I hadn't chased after her.
"I appreciate the gesture, but I don't think Talia will find it a romantic prospect if I approach her with this. Perhaps you should keep it? I'm sure you'll find more use for it than I will."
"I don't think so," she smiled sweetly as if she hadn't done this to embarrass me.
"I'll take it," Robin shrugged, and Aurelia blushed again. She was staring at him, and he was fighting to retain a neutral expression because he thought I wouldn’t notice what was going on.
"If you are planning on defiling my only daughter, I will make sure you regret it."
"I am two thousand years old," Aurelia snapped at me. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not a virgin, and I am capable of making my own decisions."
I sighed, and looked down at the table because Saga's stupid idea of a joke had ended up hurting Aurelia and not me.
"Aurelia, you will always be my child. It doesn't matter how many years you have lived without me - I remember the day you were born, and the first time you came to the Arena with me. I taught you to ride horses, and to fight as a wolf. You used to destroy your mother's dresses by tearing them up before you had learned to control your ability to shift, and you once stole the expensive wine your mother's friend had imported from the other side of the Empire and tried to deny it when you were feeling the effects of it the next morning. I know you aren't a child anymore, but I'm not going to pretend I don't see you as my baby girl."
Aurelia pushed the chair back from the table and left without saying anything; Saga had already gone at some point while I was talking, and it meant I was left sitting across the table from the kid who had just made it clear he was sleeping with my daughter.
He looked terrified of me now we were alone, and he swallowed nervously when I stood up.
"Aren't you going to threaten me or something?"
I shrugged calmly. "I think I can let it go considering I fucked your little sister. I believe the term is we're even?" I walked away, carefully timing my steps to the door before I turned back and locked eyes with him. "She was trying to embarrass me because I made her a little uncomfortable, by the way. I'm sure her idea of a joke is enough for you to figure out what I did to her."
He looked horrified, but it was satisfying, and it meant I didn't want to castrate him anymore.
I decided I was going to get away from their stupid games for a while in my room, but when I got back there Saga was waiting for me, and I almost walked away; curiosity got the better of me, and I pushed open the door, unsure of what to expect from her because she was so delightfully impossible to predict.
“Was that really the only thing you could think of doing to get my attention?” I asked as I leaned casually against the wall and ignored the fact that she was sprawled on my bed in a delicate, pale pink dress; it was a significantly less modest outfit than the one she had been wearing while she was trying to embarrass me a few minutes ago.
“What are you thinking about?” she ignored my question and asked her own as she fiddled with the hem of the short dress, revealing more flesh than necessary because she was playing that game again.
“That dress doesn’t suit you.” I shrugged, and smiled at the fact she was both irritated and a little hurt that I wasn’t drooling over her. “If you want my opinion, I think the pink looks terrible with those fiery eyes of yours.” Her expression told me that she had not wanted my opinion unless it was what she wanted to hear. “And the only person you humiliated down there was Aurelia. What were you trying to achieve by throwing a bottle of lubricant at me in front of my daughter and your own brother? Did you want them to know what I did to you? How could you possibly think that was appropriate in any way, shape, or form?”
Daddy issues.
She mouthed the words, and I decided I was done with her childish attempt to frustrate me. I turned away from her, and reached for the door handle.
“Oh, come on,” she laughed, and I paused for a moment. “You don’t think it was a little funny?” I turned back to look at her, and fixed a particularly stern gaze on her. “Besides, it’s not like anyone else is going to introduce you to things like that, and you have a right to know. There is an entire world of things you don’t know about yet that would make you blush, and there are significantly more inappropriate things I could have thrown at you; a bottle of lubricant I picked up from a grocery store is really not anything to write home about, believe me.”
“You have been behaving as if nothing happened for days. Why have you suddenly decided you want my attention again?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed, and sat properly on the bed with her hands in her lap. For the briefest moment she let the facade drop, and I almost felt sorry for her. “I really wasn’t thinking about you. I know you are far too arrogant to believe me, but I wasn’t overwhelmed by a need for you to notice me. I saw that stuff while I was in the store, and it reminded me of the other day, and that caught me off guard because I’m never normally interested in having sex with someone again after I have experienced what they have to offer. It’s obvious to me that you are still in love with Talia, and I don’t feel anything for you emotionally, either. But it wasn’t about that…you weren’t intimidated by me, and you didn’t see me as a novelty, or a prize, or something to worship; you have no idea how it felt to be with someone like that. To have a physical connection with someone without them trying to make it into anything more than that… for it to just be sex. You didn’t tell me how special it was - you were arrogant enough to assume there would be a next time, and that I would be willing to let you force your cock down my throat for your own gratification.”
I laughed, and she looked hurt again, because despite her desire to feel normal, she was not used to being treated that way.
“Saga, I was the Emperor of Rome. Meaningless encounters with women who were intimidated by me and saw me as a prize was all I ever had before Talia. She was the only woman who didn’t care who I was, and she made that clear; I know exactly how you feel.”
She smiled sadly and stood up.
“I apologize for my behavior. It was wrong of me to do that to you in front of your daughter.”
I was more surprised by her ability to acknowledge she was wrong than I had been to find her in my room, and I didn’t respond to her until she had reached the door.
I grabbed her wrist and she looked at me with wide eyes.
“The dress doesn’t suit you,” I repeated, and pulled her sharply closer to me. “Take it off, get on your knees, and apologize properly.”
She did as I had asked, but when she was on her knees, and I was naked in front of her, she looked up at me with a look that I could only describe as innocence. It wasn’t an act this time, and I stroked her hair and smiled affectionately.
“You were planning to show me an entire world of things that would make me blush, and yet you are seemingly afraid of giving me a blow job.”
“I am not afraid,” she insisted. It was not as convincing as she had hoped.
I reached down and pressed her jaw with my fingertips so she was looking into my eyes rather than staring at my body and panicking about satisfying me.
I kept my fingers beneath her chin so she didn’t look away, and brushed my thumb across her soft lips before pushing it gently into her mouth. Her eyes widened again, and I smiled, but when her eyes began to wander down my body I tangled my other hand through her hair and pulled it, tipping her head back enough that she couldn’t look at my body and panic again.
“Suck it…” I whispered, “and keep your eyes on mine. It’s better that way.”
When she seemed comfortable with that I took my thumb from her mouth and replaced it with two of my fingers. She continued to look up at me, and sucked them gently - she wasn’t intimidated, so I loosened my grip on her hair, and stroked her head softly as I pressed my fingers a little further into her mouth.
Her unexpected natural skill meant I closed my eyes and let out a slow, heavy breath.
It gave her the confidence to suck a little harder and tease me mercilessly with her tongue, and she succeeded in drawing a moan from me that should have been embarrassing when all she had done was suck on my fingers.
I withdrew them, and grasped her jaw lightly again.
“You have nothing to worry about; I have a feeling it will be worth the wait if we make sure you’re ready first. You should practice on my fingers again next time; I’ll know when you’re ready to try anything more.” Next time… worth the wait…when you’re ready…I was making assumptions again. This time she didn’t correct me, and I helped her to her feet and kissed her forehead affectionately. “You don’t have to stay here. I don’t expect any more from you.”
She shook her head, rested one of her hands on my chest, and dragged it slowly down my body until she grasped me. She began to move her hand and I closed my eyes and held her waist loosely.
Pussy, ass, and hands. It didn’t fucking matter if she never progressed beyond sucking my fingers; she was skilled enough with literally everything else.
She let go of me, and rested both of her hands on my chest, pressing me gently so I stepped back before she shoved me. It resulted in me sitting on the edge of the bed, and the fact I had my hands on her waist meant she ended up with her knees either side of me.
Her hands settled on my chest again immediately, and she sank down onto me. She ground her hips against me, and tipped her head back as I pushed my hips up to meet hers and slid my hands down from her waist to her hips so I could pull her further down.
She drew a sharp breath, but clenched around me and looked at me with a flash of desire in her eyes that encouraged me to pull her down onto me again. She was using me again; riding me hard because that’s what she enjoyed, not because she was trying to impress me, or because she thought it would be what I wanted from her.
I let go of her, because I wanted to wind my fingers through her hair and kiss her, but she grabbed my hands and planted them firmly back on her hips; she definitely knew exactly what she wanted. I moved one of my hands again, and she tried to move it back, but I swatted her hand away because I knew what she needed.
"Not quite…" I whispered to myself as I rubbed her clit, because it made her pant, but she wasn't immediately driven over the edge as I had expected. I didn't know her body so intimately yet, and it had been arrogant of me to assume I did. Her muscles bunched, and she decided she did want to kiss me after all; she dug her nails into my shoulders, and kissed me roughly as the tension was released. "There you go…" I whispered against her lips, "apology accepted."
She moved as if she was going to get off me, but her eyes sparkled with amusement at the frustration I was struggling to hide, and she pressed down slowly again at the last second to take me in completely.
She had been so captivating that I had forgotten about my own needs, but this was how she was choosing to satisfy me. Because she was in control of my pleasure, too. Not serving me, or doing whatever it took to please me, controlling me.
Every time she moved up she was careful to leave me pressed against her, but not quite inside her. She made me wait for just long enough that I was straining my hips below her before she slid back down onto me, until I was deeper inside her than many women would have been comfortable with. It was clearly something she enjoyed; I had known that from the moment I wrapped my hand around her throat and felt that she was excited rather than afraid.
When the muscles in my abdomen tightened I breathed slowly to keep control of myself.
I stroked her hair and she looked into my eyes again.
“Are you ready?" I asked, as if taking my load like this would be some sort of transformative experience for her.
“I think I’ll cope,” she responded to me in Latin, because she had clearly pinpointed that as my weakness, before I had; she was teasing me, and as she moved against me I was grateful that she managed not to laugh, and that she allowed me to fill her without making a sarcastic comment about it. I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face into her neck so she would at least wait for me to catch my breath before leaving me again.
She leaned back slightly, and I was disappointed, but I realized she wasn't trying to leave me - she just wanted to say something.
"I'm sorry,” I whispered.
"Why?" she asked, a little confused that I had spoken.
"Because you're right. I thought the toaster was a work of unparalleled genius when Aurelia showed me how to use it."
"Oh…" she looked awkward, "I was just being a brat to get your attention. You'll get used to it…or bored of it."
"It’s not that. It’s…” I sighed. It was nearly impossible to put what I was feeling into words. “We just had sex, without whatever contraptions you plan to introduce me to for your own amusement. That is probably the only thing I can still do without being overwhelmed. I shouldn't be here. I don't know why I was brought back, and I think Talia wishes I hadn't been. I was the most powerful man in the world once, but now… I just don't want to be reminded that I'm different, or that I'm going to have to figure out why I'm even alive soon."
"We have more in common than you think," she muttered, disengaging from me and searching for her clothes.
"Do you want to explain?"
She pulled the pink dress back on and disappeared into the bathroom for a few minutes before she returned smelling significantly less like me.
It was disappointing, but the fact she had allowed me to finish in her didn’t make her mine, and she wasn’t obliged to pander to my ego. She sat down on the chair in the corner of the room and waited for me to get dressed again before answering.
"I know that white wolves have always been rare, but there hadn't been any for several hundred years before me. People have been telling me I have a destiny to fulfil for as long as I can remember, but they can't tell me what it is, and I really don't think I represent anything. I'm a genetic fluke, because my parents are both descended from white wolves. I shouldn't exist, either. I was only curious about you in the first place because I know you weren't aware of that."
"I take it a lot of people are looking for you, then."
It was such an underwhelming response to something so significant, but she seemed to want me to respond that way.
"My family agreed to let me loose for a few months as long as Robin came with me."
I raised one of my eyebrows.
"They think that he…"
"...he is more capable than you are giving him credit for. His father was an Alpha and he was raised as my brother. He was taught to fight by people who would find it easy to take you and Talia down."
"You have never seen me fight."
For some reason I wanted to impress her, but she was unmoved.
"No. But I've seen my parents fight, and you don't know anything about who my ancestors were. I assure you, I am not being arrogant."
"I'm sorry. I just can't picture a situation where he would be the one protecting you."
"Caius, you don't know him. And you don't know anything about his family, either. His father died before he was even born to keep him safe; Aurelia is lucky that he likes her, whether you consider him good enough for her or not. He would die for her, because that is in his nature."
"Then he is even more of an idiot than I assumed."
She stood up, and stormed across to the door before slamming it behind her.
An apology was not going to be enough, but I had only been honest.
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