The first time Cas saw Dean enter the ludus, he was pouring a bath for his domina. Cas was just adding in the scented oils he knew his master preferred when Dominus Crowley ushered in the gladiators he had just purchased from the auction that morning. Dean was one in a group of five men being led through the courtyard. Cas had seen many gladiators come and go through this house of all types; strong, lean, thick, muscular. But none had taken Cas' breath away quite like Dean did right at first sight.
Dean wasn't overly bulky, though Cas could tell right away he had a quiet strength about him. His hands were tied with rope at the wrists, as were all the gladiators when they first entered, and Cas could see how his chorded forearms seemed to strain against his bindings. He was testing the restraints but was not about to break them. Cas knew what a poor choice that would have been after seeing how fast the guards in the ludus would take down a slave who had tried to escape. He figured Dean was probably smart enough to understand he was at quite the disadvantage where he stood. He also figured that Dean wasn't entirely here against his will. Some of the gladiators that were bought and brought here were doing so to pay off debts; whether they lived to see those debts paid off was another story entirely.
But still, Cas felt his eyes continually drawn to Dean through the gauzy curtains surrounding the large bath area across the courtyard as they billowed gently in a warm summer breeze. Dean was keeping his head down but Cas could see a flash of indignant pride lend a fire to his eyes as he lined up shoulder to shoulder with the other fighters so the dominus could properly asses them. Cas continued with his work of drawing a bath, but kept the newest acquisition in his line of sight. Dean, like the others, wore only a thin undergarment and nothing else. Unlike the others though, he held an intensity Cas felt deep inside. A gleam of sweat stood out starkly all across Dean's sunkissed, freckled skin from where sunlight beamed down through the open yard and Cas' heart knocked heavy in his ribcage in response.
He was so preoccupied with admiring the newest gladiator, he nearly slipped on some water splashed on the tiled floor and almost dropped the bottle of perfume in his hands. Breaking such an expensive and rare bottle would result in a severe and swift punishment Cas never wanted to experience again and so he quickly finished the bath preparations and left the courtyard without another glance in Dean's direction.
The second time Cas saw Dean was a week later down in the training yard. Dean was wearing the traditional subligaculum and thick leg guards and held a shield and wooden sword. Cas was observing from above as he served his domina a cup of wine. Dean and Cas' eyes locked for one electric moment and Cas was positively done for. He knew his heart inexplicably belonged to Dean now. Dean seemed to feel it too. He stumbled for a second, earning himself a quick slap to the back of his knees with his opponent's wooden blade.
Cas quickly looked away, immediately filled with regret that he'd been the cause of Dean's pain, as little as it might have been. But when he glanced back down to Dean, Dean was only smiling up at him. It was a sexy, intrigued grin that Cas positively melted for. Cas gave him a surreptitiously coy smile right back and returned to pouring wine.
The third time Cas saw Dean was later that night when Cas went down to fetch another jug of wine. The barred doors that secured the gladiators was in the basement right next to the shelf holding the wine jugs. Dean was standing behind the door, seemingly waiting for Cas.
Cas walked down the steps and stopped, cocking an eyebrow at Dean where he stood so presumptuously. Dean flashed him that disarming grin and Cas felt heat pool low in his belly. Something about that smile filled his mind with such dirty thoughts.
Sashaying toward the door, Cas looked up at Dean through his dark lashes. Firelight from the oil sconces on the walls danced across Dean's bronzed skin as he came to stand right up against the metal door with his fingers grasped loosely around the bars.
"Greetings," Cas said softly.
"Same to you," Dean replied with a deep voice that reverberated right through Castiel's chest. He eyed Cas with an obvious, hungry desire and leaned against the barred door.
Cas smirked and shifted a little to try and hide the sudden swelling of his cock. The thin fabric of his draped clothes did not leave much to the imagination though and he saw Dean's gaze flick down to the tented cloth. His eyes did not linger, but when he centered back on Cas, Cas could see how they darkened. It sent a thrill right through him.
"How long have you been here? In this ludus?" Dean asked, his fingers flexing over the iron bars.
Cas laid a light touch over the metal band set loosely around his neck that spoke of lifelong servitude. "I was born here," he said.
Dean was quiet a moment until Cas cleared his throat. "And why have you come to be here?" he asked, staying rooted just a few steps from the door.
"I owe many debts on my little brother's behalf and have decided to fight my way to paying them off. I never would be able to work hard enough outside of the arena to pay off the amount due for Sam's schooling. Besides," Dean flashed Cas a cocky grin that faltered and seemed a little forced, "it's easy money, right?"
Cas had seen many fights end very badly in the colosseum and knew this knowledge played out plainly across his face. He barely knew Dean at all, but he felt a sharp stab in his chest at not wanting this man to be hurt in any way. He stepped closer to the barred door so that he was only a few inches before it. "Is there no other way to earn your funds?" Cas asked, unknowingly feathering his fingers back and forth over the band around his neck - a subconscious gesture he did when he was anxious.
Dean reached out and gently stilled the movement of Cas' fingers with a light brush of his knuckles. "You are worried I may be injured in the ring?" It was said without humor or chagrin.
Cas' lips parted on a shaky exhale and he bought his eyes up to meet Dean's. "Terrified," he answered truthfully.
Dean reached his hand higher, stretching his arm through the door. He cupped Cas' cheek with his large palm and Cas couldn't help but nuzzle into the touch. "I have fought before and lived to tell about it."
Cas wrapped his fingers lightly about Dean's wrist. Standing so close to him, he could indeed see the faint scars marring Dean's skin. It gave him a strange feeling of hope to know Dean had been in a gladiator's ring before, but that hope was still overshadowed by the fact that any time a man stepped into the ring it could be their last.
"Please be cautious, Dean. The arenas our dominus frequents are likely far more vicious than those you've visited in the past." Cas sighed, casting his gaze down. "I know we have only known each other a short time, and I cannot hope to explain these feelings, but I would be utterly bereft if anything happened to you."
Dean brushed the pad of his thumb over the rise of Cas' cheekbone with a tenderness Cas had never known and his heart skipped a beat. "I willcome back to you," Dean said, "because what you are feeling, I feel it too."
Just then a crash resounded from the upstairs level followed by his dominia's shrill voice calling his name. Cas jerked back from Dean's touch and gave him apologetic look before running up the stairs.
Later that night, Cas could not even sleep. He lay on his cot, staring up at the ceiling in his small room. He knew Dean and the other gladiators would be heading off for the colosseum at first light and it pained him so that the last moment he might have shared with Dean was abruptly cut short. Cas brought his hand up to his face, still feeling the lingering ghost of Dean's touch on his skin. He laid awake the rest of the night like that, with his hand covering his cheek and his thoughts filled with his gladiator.
The next day Cas went about his daily chores with his mind scattered in a million different directions. His heart stopped every time he thought he heard a cart on the road. He was so distraught and distracted his domina threatened to give him a lashing if he didn't start paying attention.
It wasn't until much later that evening that dominus Crowley finally returned with his fighters and attendants. A wave of nervous apprehension shuddered through Cas when he heard the commotion of their approaching carts and carriages. He wanted to run straight to Dean. He wanted touch every inch of him to see if he was all right and to tend to any wound he may have. But as a house servant, Cas was not to be causing outbursts or running through the halls, no matter how desperately he wanted to.
Cas did his best to remain patient while the gladiators were unloaded from the carts down into the courtyard and lower into the holding cells underground. He slipped away once his duties were done for the night and spoke to one of the guards with a voice that was as nonchalant as he could manage.
"How fared the ludus today?" he asked, bringing his hand up to toy with the band around his neck. "What word have you heard of the newest fighters?"
The guard, maddeningly enough, only shrugged. "They all lived, so they fared well, I suppose."
Cas was simultaneously comforted and shaken all at once. Alive was good of course, but he needed to know the extent of the injuries Dean might have sustained. He bid the guard good evening, then with his heart lodged in his throat, made his way to the secret entrance to the underground cells.
Finding his way through the tunnels wasn't too hard, even seeing as he had never been down there before. It was a frightening experience though. Dark and thick with the scent of blood and sweat, he passed cot after cot of wounded gladiators. They writhed on their beds while healers and servants ran to help the best they could. Some of the men were in much worse condition than the others he passed and he felt more and more queasy the farther he traveled in the hallways. Why hadn't he seen Dean yet?
At the end of the maze of tunnels, Cas finally came to a cell door that was not quite closed and his heart told him it's where Dean was. Pulling in a shaky breath, he slowly pushed open the heavy iron on its squeaky hinges. Whatever he had tried to prepare himself for, it was not this.
Dean was chained to the stone wall, his wrists clasped up above his head. He was covered in blood, as if he was caught in a rain shower of it, and was wearing only his subligaculum. Dean's head was bowed and his eyes were closed.
Cas immediately rushed to him, lifting his head gently. "Dean? Oh Gods, are you hurt?"
Dean's eyes fluttered open and he smiled when his gaze met Castiel's. "Not at all," he replied.
"All this blood…" Cas slipped his hands from Dean's face down to his body, trying to feel for any injuries. His fingers did not encounter wounds of any kind.
"None of it is mine."
Cas' hands stilled at Dean's hips. "No?"
Dean shook his head, his mouth curled in a sideways grin. "I beat every opponent they pushed upon me."
"Then what is the meaning of the chains?" Cas asked. He was so relieved Dean was unhurt, but still so alarmed.
Dean tugged a little on the bindings, causing them to rattle loudly in the small, confined room. "I fought and won, but before we left the arena I silenced a passing guard who I heard dishonoring the character of Crowley's servants. It made me think of you and the residual ire pulsing through me from my fights turned to a rage. This is to be my punishment, but only for the night. I am much too valuable a fighter to Crowley to be confined for too long."
Cas felt a pride wash through him at Dean's words, and that, mixed with the fact that Dean was indeed safe, made Cas feel heady and a bit wild.
He stepped closer to Dean until he was pressed almost chest to chest. His breath came in soft pants. "You defended my honor?"
Dean pushed as far forward as his chains allowed. He canted his head down to drag his nose up the side of Cas' jaw. Warm air puffed across Cas' skin and sent tingles straight to his cock. "I thought only of you all day. In every battle, I envisioned your face, and coming back to your touch. You are the only thing that kept me from falling under an enemy's blade. I would defend your honor with my dying breath, Cas."
Cas trembled and his fingers spasmed over Dean's hips. "I pray it never comes to that," he said with a breathless chuckle.
Turning his head to the side, Cas claimed Dean's lips with his own. It was something he had been waiting so long to do and Dean's mouth was even more exquisite than he had imagined. Plush and soft, dark and sweet; Cas chased the feel and taste of him like he was starving. And maybe he was. Cas had been hungry for Dean from the moment he saw him in the courtyard all those days ago.
Dean took taste after taste just as fervently as Cas did. The stubble on his chin scraped against Cas' skin as he plunged his tongue deep inside Cas' mouth. Cas moaned and pressed up against Dean's body. His skin was tacky with drying blood and the scent of his sweat was cloying in the small cell, but it all worked together to somehow ratchet his arousal ever higher.
The kiss went on and on as Cas writhed against Dean, spurred to breathless abandon by the hard press of the gladiator's cock nudging his thigh. Cas was drowning in the ecstasy of it all and still he craved more. Tearing his mouth from Dean's took more effort than Cas thought it would, but he pulled back, breathless and achingly erect.
"I want to taste you, Dean. All of you," Cas rasped, and fell to his knees on the hard-pack earth floor before Dean uttered another word.
Cas reverently undid the clasps and ties of Dean's subligaculum until the gladiator was laid bare. Running his palms up Dean's quivering thighs, Cas took in the beautiful sight before him. Dean's cock, ringed by thick curls, stood proudly at attention. A glimmering bead of precome welled up at the tip and Cas' mouth positively watered; he couldn't wait one more minute to feel and taste Dean on his tongue.
Grasping the base of Dean's thick member, Cas pushed the engorged head past his lips. Dean sucked in a sharp breath above him and his hips bucked forward a little. Cas smiled around Dean's cock and began swallowing him down, inch by inch, until he had taken as much inside as he was able. He could feel the tip bumping against the back of his throat. Sliding his hands farther up Dean's muscular legs, he latched onto his hips with his fingers digging into the thick muscle of his buttocks. Cas then started bobbing his head up and down Dean's cock, his lips and tongue feeling every delicious ridge and vein.
"Oh, Cas," Dean moaned. The chains above his head rattled. "I wish I could touch you."
Cas pulled off with a lurid slurp and brought a hand to Dean's dick to pump up and down the shaft in the absence of his mouth. He locked eyes with Dean in the shadowy room. "Next time," he promised, because he wished for the same thing. "Next time, you can touch to your heart's desire."
Licking his lips, Cas dipped down to take Dean in his mouth once more. Dean's breath was coming in harsh pants now, like a dog laying in the sun, and Cas' own cock throbbed in response. He pulled his hand down from Dean's member and slid it under the silky shift his domina made him wear that barely covered him. He whimpered around the cock stuffed in his mouth when his hand wrapped around his own straining dick.
Dean murmured raspy encouragements above him and snapped his hips forward to shove his cock even deeper into Cas' mouth. Cas gagged only momentarily as he stripped the dick in his hand with rapid flicks of his wrist. He moved the hand still attached to Dean's hip to his backside. Dean's buttocks flexed with each thrust and felt a tremor of pleasure wrack through him. He was so very close to the edge. Cas pushed his fingers in between the cleft of Dean's cheeks, the tip of his middle finger deftly finding Dean's tightly furled entrance.
Dean gasped when Cas' finger just barely pushed inside and his hips pumped ever faster. Cas continued to take Dean's cock in as deep as he could while pushing himself ever closer to the brink. Shifting forward on his knees, Cas was able to get a better angle and shoved his finger in all the way to the second knuckle.
The rattle of chains was a sharp noise at the unexpected intrusion and Dean shuddered against Cas. "Cas! Oh Gods - I- I'm going to…" Cas understood the words to be a warning of sorts, evidenced by the fact Dean tried pulling his hips back. But Cas was not about to let even one drop of Dean's release drip from his mouth; he wanted to taste all of him.
Holding him firmly with his finger embedded deeply in his hole, Cas shoved his mouth all the way down Dean's cock. Dean let out a low keening moan and his whole body tensed. Seconds later Cas' throat was being coated with Dean's warm seed. He came then too, splattering the dirt floor with pulse after pulse of his climax.
Cas pulled off after a moment and Dean winced at the overstimulation. They both stared at each other for a long second as they fought to catch their breath. Deep emotion chased across Dean's face as he looked down at Cas and Cas felt his pulse jump. He stood slowly and framed Deans' face with his hands. He kissed Dean thoroughly then rested his forehead on Dean's, his eyes closed. He wanted more than anything to be away from this place with its bars and chains and violence. He wanted to be on the countryside with Dean cultivating a vineyard. He wanted to be safe with Dean someplace very far away.
"I'm going to win our freedom," Dean whispered hoarsely as if he read Cas' mind. "I swear it to you. I'll fight until I have enough to pay off Sam's debts and then you and I will leave this place. I need you and only you, Cas."
A warmth Cas had never known suffused through him, filling his heart to near bursting. "And I need only you, Dean," he replied softly. He kissed Dean again and lingered another moment before promising to visit Dean again tomorrow then slipped silently from the cell to make his way carefully back upstairs.