Free Hereward 04 - Wolves of New Rome by James Wilde Page A

flickering light. Wulfrun saw he had worn his finest clothes, the best to show off his power over the plainly dressed Nepotes. But Simonis still took pride in her appearance, he noted. Though she wore no headcloth, her hair had been combed and tied back with a blue bow. And she had on a dress the colour of a summer sky, sleeveless, with a belt designed to emphasize her heavy breasts. She held her face up with a defiance that Kalamdios could no longer muster. Wulfrun could still see the beauty that had drawn him to her daughter.
    For a long moment, Victor peered into Kalamdios’ eyes and then he smiled and nodded. ‘I always take such joy from our talks,’ he mocked, ‘but time is short. Let us get down to it.’
    Without looking back, he reached behind him and crooked a finger towards Simonis. After a moment’s hesitation she strode forward and stood in front of the man who now ruled them all. Victor grinned. With a slow, deliberate movement, he cupped the woman’s face in his hands and admired it, turning it this way and that so it caught the flickering light. Now Simonis’ face was as fixed as her husband’s. But she did not resist.
    Wulfrun stifled a gasp at Victor’s audacity. To touch another man’s wife, and to do so in front of her husband! What power he felt he had over them. And that was not the end of it.
    He tugged on the woman’s belt and it fell away. Hooking his thumbs under the silk at her shoulders, he eased it down her arms. The dress slid over her curves and crumpled around her feet. Underneath, she was naked. Wulfrun wrenched away from the sight, appalled by what he was seeing. Instead, his gaze fell upon Victor’s smile, and his twinkling eyes. Here was a man who believed he could do anything, anything, without redress. It was the smile of a man who thought himself a god.
    In his prison-chair, Kalamdios’ hands twitched and jerked. The captain could not bear to look at him either. He imagined the hatred building inside, the frustration, until the pressure seemed so great Kalamdios thought he would die. Pity welled up in Wulfrun. He wanted to step out there and cut Victor down with his axe, but he knew he could not. He had sworn an oath to his emperor and that prevented him from raising his weapon to a man who, for now, was in Michael’s favour. He had to let this remain between the Nepotes and the Verini.
    With his fingers at her bare shoulders, Victor spun Simonis round and then pressed her down until she was on all fours. Her breasts swung low, scraping the cold marble. She braced herself on her forearms as he hooked his fingers under her hips and raised them. Pulling aside his tunic, Victor exposed his erect cock. The Stallion. Ricbert had been correct. The tormentor spat upon his thumb and rubbed it between Simonis’ legs, then eased his member inside her and began to thrust. He did not look at the woman before him. Instead, with a cruel smile, he stared deep into Kalamdios’ eyes. And Kalamdios held that stare, for what else could he do?
    Simonis made no sound. If she felt anything, Wulfrun could not tell. And yet somehow that was even worse. This was not a woman being taken by force, it was submission. It was about giving up the very last part of oneself. After this, there was nothing. Nothing.
    Sickened, Wulfrun stepped away from the door and hurried across the room, no longer caring if his footsteps echoed. In any case, the noise would be lost beneath the sound of Victor’s grunts. His thoughts rattled through his head as he imagined the private hell that existed in the house of Nepos, and finally only one notion burned bright: he would not … could not … let Juliana suffer so. If Victor laid one finger upon her, Wulfrun would slaughter him, even though it would cost him everything.
    When he heard voices at the outer door, his heart thundered and he ran to intercept Juliana and her brother. Leo was a strange child, quiet and introspective, with dark eyes that seemed to look right