The Champion by Carla Capshaw Read Free Book Online Page A

held true, Alexius would want nothing else to do with her or, as it must seem to him, her talent for asking inappropriate questions.
    In all likelihood, he regretted his decision to help her. Who wouldn’t? In less than a day, he’d been forced to deceive her family, fight his own men to protect her, spend coin on an animal he considered useless and break a contract to fight in the arena. Once Pelonia and Caros returned to Rome, he’d hand her over, glad to be finished with her and the trouble that constantly plagued her.
    Unexpectedly bereft, she cursed the foolish delight she experienced only in Alexius’s presence. Somehow she had to resist the numerous ways she found him appealing. Her father would never accept a gladiator for a son-in-law, nor would Alexius ever consent to marry her. His respect for Caros had prompted him to assist her, nothing more. There could be no other reason. Alexius was a wealthy, handsome man of the world known to have any woman he wanted, whereas she was a reviled second daughter without even beauty to offer.
    A horse in the closest stall whinnied near her ear, startling her out of her musings. Alexius paid the stable boy then motioned for her to join him halfway up the aisle.
    “Is all well?” she asked.
    He reached out and ran a gentle index finger alongthe cub’s silky back. “We’re to meet Ptah near the entrance. If the need arises we’ll have to share my mount, Calisto. I sought to hire a mare for you, but the games’ crowd is considerable today and there are no extra horses on hand.”
    “Thank you,” she murmured, aware that most of the reason for the large show of spectators was due to Alexius’s place on the roster. And now he wouldn’t be there because of her. “Please don’t think your kindness to me has gone unnoticed. I plan to repay—”
    He held up a bronzed, battle-scarred hand to quiet her. “I seek no repayment, except your goodwill. I told you this morning, I
like
being with you.”
    Tibi’s heart danced in her chest. A strange weakness entered her knees, challenging her ability to walk as she fell into step beside him. “I assumed you were being polite—”
    “Polite?” He laughed.
    “Yes, polite.” She frowned up at him. “I realize you’re helping me because of your friendship with Caros. After what you’ve endured…and lost because of me today, you deserve compensation.”
    “What exactly have I lost?”
    “Your place on the field for one.”
    “Maybe I consider today a gain.” He gave her a wolfish smile that was wholly unfamiliar to her experience. “What would you say then?”
    Her face heated and her mouth ran dry. “I…I have money in my satchel back at the
ludus
.”
    His burst of laughter startled a trio of tethered horses. “Keep your coin, my lady. I have no need of it. Nor do I want it.”
    “But—”
    “Cease or you’ll offend me.”
    She glanced at him covertly. “I thought I already had.”
    “Already had what?”
    “Offended you,” she said over the rising babble of patrons gathered around the arched entranceway.
    “How so? Nothing you do bothers me.”
    She blinked in disbelief. Since the day of her birth she’d been told in word and deed that she was an unwanted irritant. If not for his earnest expression, she might have thought he was teasing with her again. “Before… When I asked why you stay in Rome.”
    His expression soured. “That has nothing to do with you. Let’s not speak of the matter.”
    She let the subject drop, although her curiosity gnawed at her. It was obvious that she’d struck upon at least
one
topic that vexed him.
    “There’s Calisto.”
    Hearing the pride in his voice, she turned her head to see Ptah leading a magnificent gray stallion, its flowing mane and tail the color of glossy obsidian. Like his master, Calisto walked tall, his head held high, clearly used to being admired by all who saw him.
    “He’s spectacular, Alexius. Perfect.”
    “Yes, you barely miss the