Taken: The Life of Uktesh Book 3 by Aaron Hicks Read Free Book Online

it’s cold out. What do I wear outside?”
    Talia said, “You’ll get used to it.”
    I doubt it, he sat on the bed and said, “How often were you sent to Emexida?”
    She said, “I wasn’t.  He had a different slave.  Each new gladiator champion gets a fresh virgin wife.”
    Uktesh glared, “You’re not my wife!”
    Her face paled and she said, “Please don’t send me away!  If I’m with you and you wanted to I might not mind it.  The beasts that pay for our virtue are horrible, and most of the time violent.  I’ll be good to you, I swear it.  You don’t have a wife here I’ll be your wife.  Better than the one you were forced to leave behind”
    Uktesh couldn’t stop his sigh this time and said, “I’m not angry.  I’m happy with the wife I currently have.”  She smiled, “My real wife that is.  Where are your clothes?”
    Her shoulders slumped and she said, “I thought you weren’t angry?”
    Uktesh pinched the bridge of his nose trying to relieve his sudden headache and replied, “I’m not, but I’m also certain that without clothes sleeping on the stone floor is going to be torturous.”
    Her eyes got wide and she said, “I can’t!  I’ll freeze to death!”
    Uktesh blurted, “Yeah. Why is it so cold?”
    She said, “Doctore requires it cold to survive.”
    Uktesh asked, “Who is doctore?”
    Talia said, “Ceftin is.”
    Uktesh said, “What?”
    Talia said, “Doctore is his title as the trainer of this ludis. Ceftin is his name.”
    Uktesh said, “Oh ok, but who is he?  And why does he need it to be so cold?”
    Talia said, “He’s the naga.”  His blank look made her add, “the giant snake man.  We think that failed god form attacks cause a person to be reverted back to the creature their ancestors used to be.  So because his family has lived by the sea for as long back as he can remember, he must have ocean naga blood in his bloodline somewhere.”
    Uktesh’s jaw dropped, “You mean at some point someone in his blood line mated with a giant snake man or woman?”
    Talia said, “Sure. All the ancient species possess magic that could turn them human for a short time.  We believe they were curious about our kind.  If they were still around today you probably wouldn’t know you were talking with one until they clued you in.”
    Oh, Uktesh next asked, “You’re not a giant snake woman are you?”
    Talia laughed and said, “No.”
    Uktesh had a lot more questions, but as he was starting to freeze he asked, “Where are your clothes?”
    She nodded to the bed, “At the foot of the bed.”
    Uktesh said, “Then you better get dressed because, I’m going to need those covers soon.”
    She walked over to the foot of the bed and got dressed under the covers. Finally she understands what my words mean!   Once she was dressed she handed him the covers, which he wrapped around himself grateful; for her lingering warmth.  She sat on the ground and shuddered.  Her clothes could barely be called that, as they left more skin exposed than covered.  Uktesh lay down and closed his eyes, but soon she asked, “Can I please just sleep under the covers with you?”
    Uktesh said, “No, that’s just begging for me to break my vows.”
    She said, “I promise I won’t try anything.”
    I can’t be sure I won’t, though .  He knew he wouldn’t tonight, nor the next night nor the one after that, but how many nights of sleeping with a woman willing to do so much more would he be able to resist?  As much as he loved Laurilli he had to assume that the answer wasn’t forever.  He already had to keep Laurilli firmly in his mind to ignore the girl’s lingering smell on the covers.  Soon he could hear her teeth chattering, but she didn’t ask to join him again.  He sighed, opened his eyes, saw that her lips were turning blue, and said, “Fine, come in here.”
    Uktesh would’ve swore she Stepped under the covers she moved so fast.  She was freezing and it took a long