In Veritas Memento
Rating: NC 17
Disclaimer: I own nothing. All aspects of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena are owned by Steven De Knight and Starz. This is for pure entertainment value alone.
This story takes place after the episode Missio, yet it veers completely into an A/U after the events of that episode. I am a huge fan of the series Spartacus; however, my favorite character is Gannicus. This is his story.
Warnings: M for a reason. This story is much like the show. It contains bad words and smut! If that is not your cup of tea, turn back now. Although, if cussing and nude scenes offend, are you sure you're a fan of Spartacus?! ;) Hehehe. Kidding. Anyhow, you've been warned.
Pairings: There are multiple pairings, and Gannicus has more than one partner in this story, however, Gannicus/Melitta is endgame. If reading Gannicus with multiple pairings offends you, again, turn back now.
Chapter 23: delectatios morose: Peevish delights.
The table was the only thing separating them, and Gannicus allowed his gaze to slowly glide along her body, almost as a visual caress. "But I would not place hope on escape," he told her, his eyes dark with passion. "I will have my way in this."
Octavia sucked in a sharp, lust-filled breath, hands clenching on the back of the wooden chair. "What will you do to me if you catch me? I am a very valuable asset."
"You are a rare treasure indeed," he said, moving slightly to the left, smirking when she went right, keeping the table as her shield. "When I catch you," he said accentuating the word 'when'. "I plan on taking you to my bed and keeping you there until you are consumed with my cock and too weak to move, much less run."
"Never!" she cried and broke left as if she were running for his door.
Gannicus easily read her body language and grabbed her around the waist before she had taken three steps. She gave a short scream, which ended in a burst of laughter when he spun her around in a circle. "I have you now," he said, gathering her close. He inhaled her delicate scent. "Now what should I do with you first?" he mused, his lips near her ear, warm breath sending shivers up and down her spine.
The hard proof of his arousal was pressed into her lower back. "I am spoils of war then?" she asked, breathing heavy.
"You are mine to do with what I desire," he said, hauling her over to the bed and dumping her upon it. Gannicus was breathing harshly as well, and so hard, it was becoming painful. "Are you clear to purpose, slave?"
She nodded. "What will you do to me, Dominus," she whispered, leaning back on her elbows upon the bed. Her robes shifted as she moved and one of her breasts was exposed. She glanced down but did not cover herself, instead she let her thighs part provocatively. "I will do anything to escape punishment."
Gannicus let out a loud groan at her pose, her near nudity and her calling him Dominus; all three aroused him tremendously. When she was like this—he was beguiled and would spend hours within her arms and between her moistened thighs.
"Fuck the Gods!" he growled and crawled up on the bed with her.
She giggled and tried to move further up the bed, but Gannicus was not having that.
"Oh no. I need to be inside you. I refuse to wait another fucking second," he muttered, his voice rough with lust as he reached for her, grabbing her by the ankles and tugging her to him.
Octavia gasped when he shoved his barbarian pants down around his thighs and his rigid cock practically burst free, bobbing before her eyes, proud and impressive.
Her eyes widened. "That looks painful, Dominus. Should I assist you?"
Gannicus squeezed his eyes shut. His cock was pulsing, and her words were making it harder—literally. "You are playing the tease," he said. "You shall pay for that."
She got to her knees before him and took hold of his shaft. "Then let us stop teasing," she murmured and wrapped her mouth around him.
Gannicus' fingers went to her head and buried themselves in her hair, holding on as she licked around the head of his cock and then began to take him down her throat. "Yes!" he hissed, allowing his head to fall back as pleasure washed over him. Her head moved up and down his shaft, pausing when she had nearly his entire length swallowed to work her throat muscles around his girth. It was fucking heavenly, and Gannicus thoroughly enjoyed that his noblewoman could give fellatio that was as good, if not better, then any whore he had ever lay with!
When he'd had enough, and was close to the edge of release, he wrapped a hand in her hair and pulled her from him. "Stop, or this will be over before it begins."
"Remove robes, Octavia," he demanded, reveling in his power over her when she obeyed him without comment. In this, even without role play, he was always Dominus and she was slave.
She quickly stripped, dropping her colorful and expensive robes in a puddle of fabric on the floor of his cell. His eyes went to the only clothing she had left, a tiny triangle of cloth that covered her pubic area. He loved this item of clothing and enjoyed having her keep it on when he fucked her, as well as tearing it off her when he was through. When her hands went to the strings at her hip to untie it, he shook his head. "Leave it. I enjoy having your treasures tantalizingly hidden from me until I seek them out."
Kneeling upon the end of bed, he slid his palms up her legs and then down to her ankles as his eyes took in her face and form. "You are truly a woman of great beauty," he said, taking note of her cat-like green eyes, blonde hair, hanging loose from her many pins, and her luscious pouty lips, swollen from being wrapped around his cock. He took hold of each ankle. "Come to me. I would be inside you." With that he tugged her down the bed, causing her to gasp at the suddenness of his movement. Once he had her at his end of the bed, he spread her legs wide, his eyes focused on how that little string disappeared between her nether lips. He licked his own lips, mouthwatering. He and Octavia did one thing to perfection and it was this. He wanted to be inside her. With that in mind, he pressed her knees back toward her chest, presenting her for his pleasure as he moved himself into position. He gripped cock in hand, guided it to her opening and, moving the tiny string aside, he pressed into her, letting out a growl of satisfaction as he slid deep with one thrust of his hips.
*8*
Diona and Naevia were in the kitchen. They had been assigned the task of bringing in the empty food dishes from the celebration in the barracks. Diona was moving much slower than normal due to her consumption of wine and Naevia was chiding her on overindulging.
"If this is what happens when you spend a day with him, perhaps he is not such a good influence on you after all," Naevia said, as she and Diona delivered several empty trays to the kitchen for washing.
"Just because he likes to tip drink does not make him dishonorable, Naevia!" Diona replied defensively. "He is sweet, and kind and he seeks to protect me—"
A loud snort was heard from across the room and both girls turned to the large woman who ran the kitchen for the villa. Her name as Seraphina and she had been with the ludus for many years. "You speak of Gannicus?" she asked, her broad, flabby face twisted into a mask of contempt.
"And if I do?" Diona replied, her hackles rising at the woman's tone as well as her expression.
"Then I would call you a fool if you think that gladiator is sweet and kind. Beware of that one, Diona. His words flow pretty, much like his face, but that is all they are, pretty words. They stand as empty as his heart."
"His heart is good," Diona insisted. "You do not know him as I do."
"Ha! I know him well enough," Seraphina replied. "I remember the day he came to this ludus. The girls swooned over his manly charms, and he could not wait to share them with every young thing who caught wandering eye!"
Determined to defend Gannicus, Diona crossed her arms over her chest and said, "So, he likes women. This is not news to me, Seraphina."
"He does not merely like women, little fool, he uses them. If you are expecting more from him than his cock, you are in for bitter disappointment, girl. Trust words. The last innocent who fell in love with your sweet and kind, Gannicus, threw herself off yonder cliff in the training yard after he broke both heart and mind with his callous ways. Think of that before you spread thighs for one such as he."
And with that bombshell dropped, she exited the kitchen, leaving both Diona and Naevia to stare after her in open mouthed shock at the horrible tale she had spilled and then left them with without further explanation.
"Diona," Naevia said, wringing her hands nervously, "perhaps you should take words to heart and rethink becoming involved with him."
Diona shook her head. "I do not believe her. That cannot be true. Gannicus would never treat a woman in such a manner."
"Seraphina speaks truth, Diona."
Diona and Naevia turned as one to see Melitta standing in the doorway, a concerned frown marring her brow.
"I know because I was there when it happened."
*8*
After their furious first coupling, he had taken her again with more tender care. He took his time with her as he explored every inch of her body with hands, lips and tongue, and she gloried in his devoted and skillful ardor. Once again, he placed her under his spell, bringing her to release repeatedly, firmly ensuring he was forgiven.
Later, they reclined on his bed, sweaty and spent.
"Mmm," she said stretching languorously. "My throat, it is parched." She folded her arms across his chest and rested her chin there to gaze at him expectantly.
It was a blatant hint, but Gannicus was half asleep after such a vigorous bout of raw sex and had no intention of moving. He opened one eye. "Then get some wine. It is upon shelf, in the corner."
Her lower lip jutted out. "You will not get it for me?"
He chuckled at the brazen pout obviously meant to sway him and get her way. He wondered how many Roman fools had fallen for that look. "Your legs are not broken," he said. "Trust me. They were wrapped around my waist. Strong they are."
She gasped, eyes widening at his words and Gannicus threw back his head in laughter at the offended expression she wore. "Oh, you can play the slave, but you cannot get your own wine."
"You are a rude, improper man!" she snapped, but she crawled out of bed and got her own wine, much to Gannicus's amusement.
"That was your first mistake," he said grinning.
"What was my mistake?"
"Believing I am proper man," he replied. "I stand a gladiator, there is not a proper bone in my body." He chuckled. "Except my cock. Now that is a proper bone!"
"Are you ever of a serious mind?" she asked, rummaging through his belongings. "Where are your cups?"
He pointed to a shelf above her head. "Why does everyone ask me that?" He mused. "I am serious in the arena, where I need to be."
She managed to reach the cups with some stretching.
"Would you get me a glass?" he asked, just managing to keep a straight face when she rounded on him with wide eyed shock that he would dare ask such a thing from her after he made her get her own. She grabbed the amphora of Falernian wine and one cup. "You are presently set to task; would it not be silly to leave the other cup behind?" he added, allowing his grin to show now that she had wine in hand.
Octavia shook her head. "Incorrigible," she muttered to herself as she grabbed an extra glass for him as well.
When she got back into bed, Gannicus took the wine from her hand. "First things first," he said, wrapping a hand around the nape of her neck and pulling her forward to kiss her. "Gratitude," he murmured.
His kisses soothed her temper, and she smiled. "For what?" she asked pouring them each a glass of wine.
He took his cup. "For your generosity," he said, taking a much-needed drink. "You ensured tonight's festivities were beyond anything myself or my brothers could imagine. Your efforts are greatly appreciated." He wriggled his brows. "Would you care for another round of appreciation?"
She giggled at him over the rim of her cup. "I am still regaining sense from the last one," she told him, sipping at her wine. He returned her humor, but his laughter faded when her discussion turned to the gifts she provided. "Why does it anger you so that I give you these things?" she asked waving her hand at his surroundings. "I seek your comfort, nothing more."
"I bear no anger regarding gifts, Octavia," he said with a sigh. "My argument lies in how such gifts have drawn harsh lines between my brothers' living arrangements and my own."
She set her wine aside. "You believe they look upon you as if you are better than they are?"
He shrugged. "I suppose. However, issue is not with you. It is my own. Apologies for appearing ungrateful."
"Why do you not share what you have if it bothers you so?"
He snorted, finished off his drink and placed his cup next to hers on the bedside table. "I have tried. Batiatus would not allow it."
"I will have words with the man." She placed her hand on his cheek. "It would please you to have your brothers' attended to?"
His hands trailed up and down her naked back as she lay across his chest. "It would, yet I do not expect you to support every man in this ludus, Octavia."
"If it would make you happy, I would have every one of them provided for." She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.
It was tender kiss. One that spoke of her feelings towards him, sentiment he did not have towards her. She had said it many times, but it suddenly became very clear, she truly would give him anything he asked for.
Her next words made his thoughts truth.
"I would lay the very world at your feet if it would make you smile at me," she told him, her hands cupping his jaw with an almost desperate grip of trembling hands.
"I love you," she whispered, brushing his jaw with her lips.
Although he had suspected her feelings for some time, she had never spoken the words outright. There was a pause, and Gannicus's heart sped up as she gazed up at him expectantly. He knew how this went. A woman said, 'I love you' and they wanted to hear it returned in kind, especially if the woman was naked and in your bed at the time of confession. It was for this reason he only lay with whores; they did not expect, nor desire such words from him. A lesson learned in most painful manner when he was young and foolish.
The words of false sentiment came to his tongue; it would mean nothing to break them and tell her what she desired to hear, yet he could not. He had only recently confessed his true feelings to Melitta and he simply could not taint that confession with a false one to Octavia. Melitta was the only woman who had ever captured his heart, and Octavia would never have any more of him than what he would give her—his body. He had never lied to a woman regarding his love, or lack thereof, even now, with a woman he despised much of the time, he simply could not break the words when he felt nothing behind them.
"Octavia," he said softly. "I have feelings for you, but I would not speak false tongue and call them love as of yet."
'There,' he thought, 'that was the truth'. A very muddled version, as his feelings were generally angry or resentful when it came to her, yet his words rang with honesty and after a brief pause, she seemed to accept them.
"I understand. My feelings developed immediately. Yours have not."
"But," he said, stopping her when she would have quit his arms in embarrassed huff. Gannicus would not see her in a mood all over again. "I do have feelings for you and I would not have you leave." He kissed her lips. "I would give you another proper tour of my bed before we leave this room."
She cupped his face in her hands. "Then my affections…they do not upset you?"
He shook his head. Now, that was a lie. In truth, her emotional attachment terrified him. He had experienced Octavia's intense, obsessive love once before, years ago when he was a newly branded gladiator. It had ended in tragedy when he did not return loving affections. The young woman, Aurelia, had left him devastated when she jumped to her death from the cliff at the end of the training yard, taking with her the babe she claimed was his. He had never lay with a woman who was not being paid for her services since.
Until now…
Octavia, with her power, could destroy him if he bruised her heart. It was a dangerous game he was playing with this woman, and Gannicus knew it. If she ever turned that enormous love to hate—it was a frightening thought!
One that did not bear focusing on presently if he wanted to see his balls maintain size. He pulled her to him. He'd had his fill of words and talk of feelings. He wanted to fuck again, and he would end conversation and set mind to that purpose.
"There is only one pressing matter that concerns," he said.
"And that is?" she said, her smile sultry as she could feel the pressing matter he spoke of under her belly, hard and ready once again.
"Would you prefer being the bottom or on top this round?" he teased, thrusting his hips upwards suggestively.
*8*
Melitta had come upon the conversation towards the end of Seraphina's diatribe and was disappointed the woman was bringing the sordid affair to light once again. It belonged in dust and shadows as all terrible things of the past do. However, she understood the woman's venom towards Gannicus; Aurelia had been Seraphina's daughter. To this day, the woman blamed Gannicus for the loss of her child and refused to see Aurelia's own part in her tragic ending.
"He truly broke woman's heart so terribly she killed herself?" Naevia asked, her voice a stunned whisper.
Diona looked crestfallen and Melitta decided to explain both sides of the ill-fated events of seven years ago lest they believe Seraphina's twisted version.
Melitta sighed. "It is more complicated than that, Naevia; as affairs of the heart generally are."
Melitta began cleaning up the kitchen area, with the girls following suit as she told the tale.
"It was his first year here at the ludus. He was young and impossibly handsome, brash and charming," she smiled, "much as he is today, except innocence was not a deterrent to him then as it is presently."
Melitta paused, determining how much she should tell. Finally, she simply told the truth. "Gannicus was foolish and reckless in the choosing of his partners. He pursued his own desires without care to his partners' tender emotions."
"He said he had used women," Diona said softly, realizing he had broken honest words with her earlier.
Melitta nodded. Gannicus was not blameless in the affair and she would not speak falsely to make it so. "However, he was not cruel, as Seraphina would have you believe. Rather, he was unaware of how easily a young heart can be lost to newly awakened desires." Melitta's eyes took on a faraway look as she recalled those days long past. "Half the girls in the ludus were in love with him, but Aurelia was especially so. She sought him out to take her innocence, and he did," Melitta admitted. "But, then she became obsessed with having Gannicus as hers alone and no words could convince her he would not favor such arrangement. I know because I tried. She refused to heed words and pressed him for marriage."
"What did he do?" Diona breathed, caught up in the story.
"He rejected her, but she would not accept his refusal and sought to change mind. First, she tried making him jealous by flirting with other gladiators, and when that failed to return him to her embrace, she seduced Gannicus' cell mate, Duratius, and arranged for Gannicus to come upon them in compromising position."
"She did not!" Diona gasped, recalling Duratius' comments from earlier, as well as Gannicus' reaction to them. "What did Gannicus do when he discovered them? Was he angered at his brother?"
"Sadly, for Aurelia, he did not care, Diona. She was without position in his heart."
Melitta placed the last empty platter in the tub full of dirty dishes while Diona and Naevia filled buckets with hot water from a huge pot that would be used to clean them.
"And," Melitta said as she took a bucket from Diona and poured it into the tub, "when that plan failed to succeed, Aurelia set out to entrap him."
"Entrap him? How?" Naevia asked, handing Melitta her bucket of hot water.
"Through means most foul," Melitta said, adding Naevia's bucket to the tub. "Aurelia used narcotics that another slave, Imani created to inflame Gannicus' passions. For over a month she drugged him and bedded him, afterward, Aurelia became pregnant."
Diona scowled. "That bitch!" she exclaimed, angry at the girl despite her being a long distant memory. "How could she do such a thing?"
"She was desperate and desired him beyond all reason and logic," Melitta replied.
Diona was appalled at what this Aurelia had done and wondered why her mother blamed Gannicus. "Does Seraphina know her daughter used treachery to seduce him?"
Melitta nodded. "Oh yes, she is aware. The entire ludus became aware because Gannicus was not the only gladiator Aurelia drugged." Diona and Naevia's eyes widened at that and Melitta let out a sigh, the memory of that time disturbing even now, years later. "She worked in the kitchens with her mother," she said continuing the story. "And to avoid suspicion, I suppose, Aurelia placed her narcotic in the food served to all the gladiators, effectively drugging every man in the barracks!"
Diona and Naevia looked utterly horrified.
"It was a terrible thing she did and when Gannicus discovered her trickery, he refused all contact with her."
"What did she do?" Naevia asked.
"She went to the Dominus, the elder Dominus—Titus, and told him Gannicus had filled her belly with child and refused to accept responsibility."
"Why would she do that?" Naevia gasped.
"That I cannot say. To punish him perhaps. Maybe she believed Titus would force Gannicus to take her as his own. I am truly uncertain what her motivation was, but it did not go as she wished, for when Titus confronted Gannicus, he revealed truth regarding Aurelia's other partners."
Naevia's mouth hung open. "What did Dominus do?" She handed Melitta another pot brimming with hot water.
"He questioned the other gladiators and Duratius admitted to being with her. It might have ended there, but due to Aurelia pressing issue, Titus realized the link between his gladiators losing mind and Aurelia's pregnancy. He discovered her plot and was furious," Melitta said, mixing more soap into the tub. "He is a kind man and I had never seen him so enraged. He instructed Aurelia that after she had the babe, she would no longer serve as kitchen slave. She would stand as whore and service the gladiators instead."
Diona looked ill. "Is that what caused her to jump from cliff? Because I can understand sentiment."
She took Diona's hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Diona, unlike you, Aurelia had a hand in her fate. Do not compare your circumstances."
Diona nodded, admitting the truth in that statement. Never would she do what this Aurelia had done.
"It was a harsh sentence," Melitta said, "but Aurelia was one of his favorites. It enraged him to see her fall so far from grace," she told the girls while adding the last bucket of hot water to the tub of dishes. "In fact, Gannicus was nearly sold because of ordeal."
"Why?" Diona gasped. "Blame did not fall to him. Why would Dominus sell him for her tricks?"
"He plucked several flowers that year, Diona. As I said earlier, he was reckless in who he bedded, and Titus was livid when he realized Gannicus had been intimate with many of his untouched slaves."
"Oh," Diona said.
"What saved him that fate was his talent in the arena." She sighed. "And who is to say if Titus would have truly forced Aurelia into such a life. He is an honorable man who truly cared for Aurelia. He may have only intended to frighten the girl into making wiser decisions. We will never know because two days after she had her child, she went out to the yard while the men were training, cried out to Gannicus that she loved him, ensuring she had his attention and then jumped to her death before his very eyes as well as the entire ludus!"
Both girls had tears trailing down their cheeks.
"That is a horrible story!" Naevia said, wiping at her eyes.
"It is a cautionary tale, Naevia," Melitta said. "One Gannicus heeded. He never again lay with young women innocent in the ways of men."
"It has scarred him as well," Diona said, dabbing at her eyes. His reasoning behind warnings became clear after hearing Melitta's tale. "I now understand why he—" She paused abruptly as something Melita said caused mind to seize. "Wait! You said she had the babe? Does that mean Gannicus has a child within this ludus?"
*8*
Much later, after yet another intense bout of carnal passion. Gannicus lay against a pillow propped behind his back, while Octavia was sprawled half on top of him with her head on his chest, absently petting his pectoral muscle. She had professed her love for him again, and then again. It was in her very touch now and with each kiss, each caress, she told him how deeply she felt for him. He could feel the noose tightening, and without the sex to distract him, he yearned to be free from her clinging arms. With persuasive charm and a false expression of remorse, he had reminded her they had been in his cell for hours and he had better return her to the villa before Batiatus thought he had spirited her away and came searching.
Gannicus redressed with efficient speed, barely keeping his impatience to have her out of his cell behind his smile as Octavia took much longer. To hasten things along, he assumed the role of body slave and helped her with her robes, but when it came time to fix the damage done to her hair, Gannicus was at a complete loss. Half her fancy pins were missing—probably lost somewhere in the tangled mess that was his bed presently—and most of her long blonde curls now hung loose, falling in waves down her back and over her breasts.
Octavia chuckled at his bemused expression, until her cat-like green eyes caught a glimpse of her reflection in his mirror. Her full lips parted with a gasp. "Fuck the Gods! I look like I've been utterly ravished!"
Standing behind her, his eyes met hers in the mirror and he smirked. "Because you have," he told her, more than a hint of arrogance in his words and tone.
"Gannicus," she said worrying her bottom lip, "I cannot leave here appearing as if you just tumbled me in your cell."
His brow shot up. "And why not?" he queried, not really seeing the problem.
She started to hunt for her pins within the rumpled sheets of his bed. "Because it would set tongues to wagging."
Gannicus folded his arms across his chest and watched her search for the elusive hair pins, chuckling softly at the ridiculousness of her worries. Did she honestly believe there was a person in the villa who did not know he was summoned to fuck her each time she paid Gaia a visit? Her own actions had placed her reputation in peril and it was a little late for false modesty.
"And whose tongue do you suspect would reach noble ear?" he asked, unknowingly echoing Gaia's sentiments earlier. "Not mine or any other gladiator here at the ludus, that is a certainty. Not Batiatus, he would never betray your secrets." And risk losing her coin, he added silently, as he wrapped one of her curls around a finger and smiled at her. "I would not fear condemning gaze tonight," he told her to both placate and hasten her exit. "My brothers are otherwise occupied and will not give us passing glance."
Octavia managed to locate a few of her missing pins and fixed her hair the best she could. "I suppose you are right," she said at last, taking a final glance at her disheveled appearance before allowing him to usher her out of his cell.
She need not have worried. Gannicus was right. The training yard was alive with activity and the gladiators were most definitely occupied—with utter chaos and debauchery! The dancers provided were now entertaining the men with far more than dancing, and there were naked bodies everywhere, each of them involved in various acts of fucking.
Gannicus paused in his doorway, grinning with appreciation at the sight. He was pleased his brothers were enjoying themselves so thoroughly. "See," he said sweeping a hand towards the orgy. "You worry for naught. My brothers have enough cunt of their own to occupy mind without worrying over what I did with yours in my cell."
To his surprise, his words made her flush, and he found it extremely amusing. He paused and peered down into her face. "Are you blushing?" he asked, his smile teasing.
"I most certainly am not," she flatly denied.
He chuckled. "Oh, but you are." He took her face in his palms and kissed her soundly, setting her back on wobbly legs when he was done. "It is becoming when you are like this," he said as he took her hand again and led her across the yard, helping her to step over the bodies of some of the men who had passed out already.
"Like what?" she asked, gasping when he suddenly grabbed her around the waist and swung her over the large, inert form of Dagan and the woman on top of him, both of whom were naked and asleep upon the sands of the training yard.
"Gentle, relaxed. Not—" He stopped, realizing he was about to put foot in mouth again.
"A demanding bitch?" she supplied with a small smile.
"Your words not mine," he clarified, but he was holding back a grin as he said it.
She chuckled. "Of course, your words were mad fucking bitch. That is so much more pleasing to the ear."
He glanced over his shoulder at her, saw her smile and relaxed as he realized she was teasing him. "I was in a snit. Apologies again," he told her, flashing her his 'charm' smile.
"None required, Gannicus. Let us put it behind us."
He nodded, happy to do so.
*8*
Okay…who already had an idea the boy was his? :) There is still so much to come…I hope everyone is enjoying it so far.