Title: Unshackled
Author: Emmy
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Here I go. First I smuttily desecrated Lucas' turf, now I'm going after Spielberg's. So...(ahem)...Maximus and all other Gladiator characters belong to Dreamworks.

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"Wake up."

Maximus grunted as he felt the insistent jab at his ribs. He opened his eyes, finding one of the guards standing over him. "What's going on?" he mumbled, shifting his eyes around to verify that it was still dark.

"Get up. Proximo calls," the guard said, walking out the small cell and waiting in the hallway.

Maximus rose from the uncomfortable bed and walked into the hall. The guard quickly fastened shackles around his wrists and ankles and ordered him to move forward. Despite the fact that he was a champion in the coliseum and a monetary and social windfall for Proximo, this was Rome. He was a slave and would be treated as one, no matter how benevolent Proximo had become toward him.

The guards led him out of the dank, dungeon-like slave quarters and outside into the courtyard. Something was extremely amiss, although Maximus had no sense of the cause. Never before had he been dragged out in the middle of the night, and his instincts told him he was being led into something he was not quite prepared for.

"Where is Proximo?" he asked in his best non-threatening tone.

"Quiet," the guard said as they walked off the grounds of the compound and out onto the street.

Maximus kept his senses alert, glancing from side to side as they turned each corner, moving his feet as quickly as he could to keep up with the guards' pace as they walked freely while his ankles remained shackled.

They finally stopped in front of a large home, boisterous noises spilling out from the open windows. The guards knocked on the door and waited for several moments.

Maximus gazed curiously through one of the windows, feeling rather unsettled as to the purpose of his being brought to this place.

"There you are!"

Maximus turned his head to see a very drunk Proximo hanging out of the lower window.

"Come in! Come in!" Proximo called enthusiastically, waving his arm at them.

The guards opened the door and pushed Maximus forward. As he stumbled through the doorway, the revelers inside suddenly fell silent, their eyes growing wide at the site of the victorious gladiator - their former general, no less - up close and wearing his scant slave tunica more impressively than men of the highest station in the city.

"We've been waiting for you, my friend," Proximo slurred as he staggered over to Maximus.

"What is this about?" Maximus asked quietly as his eyes darted around the room.

"You," Proximo said with a grin. "It is all about you." He turned to the crowd that remained transfixed on his champion. "Here he is, my friends. As you requsted," he said, trying to bow humbly but stumbling slightly due to the evening's over-indulgence.

"Most impressive, Proximo," an older man said as he stepped forward to get a better look.

Maximus eyed him, something in the man's demeanor suddenly making it very clear why he had been brought there. The realization sickened him. Having to fight for sport was one thing. But this was something he was not prepared for.

"I will give you fifty denarii for him."

Proximo chuckled nervously. "My dear Claudius, I am flattered by your offer to be sure. But...he is not for sale."

Claudius laughed. "Proximo, I don't wish to buy him outright. Just for the evening. Besides, even I wouldn't make such an insulting offer for a slave such as this."

"Oh, of course you would, Claudius."

Maximus shifted slightly on his feet as his eyes settled on the woman who had spoken. She wore a simple gown, but its rich jeweled crimson tone told him she was a woman who possessed the wealth to back up her challenging tone to the older man.

Claudius turned to face her, feigned amusement in his expression. "Olivia, I am disheartened by your lack of faith in me."

She chuckled softly. "Claudius, you are as cheap as my husband. It is a simple fact and no matter of faith at all."

Maximus tried not to smile at her boldness. Despite what the evening may entail, at the moment it was certainly more entertaining than keeping company with the rats in his cell.

Claudius smiled with far too much exaggeration. "My dear, I believe it was your husband's frugal disposition that allows you to live so well and speak so freely today."

"You are correct, Claudius," she said with a slight nod. Then she turned toward Maximus, eyeing him for a moment. "Proximo, I will give you seventy-five for him."

"Well...I...." Proximo stammered.

"Just for the evening, of course," Olivia said.

"Are you trying to upstage me, my dear?" Claudius asked through gritted teeth.

"No, Claudius," she said. "Upstaging you would imply that there was some sort of competition between us. As far as I know, we are not enemies."

Claudius gave her another polite, phony smile. "Of course we are not." Then he turned to Proximo. "Eighty."

"One hundred," Olivia said.

Proximo looked at Maximus whose face was expressionless except for the corners of his mouth drawn tightly downward. He looked at Olivia and then to Claudius.

"No higher bids?" Olivia said, glancing sideways as she heard Claudius huff. Then she smiled. "As you can see, Proximo, I am a woman of superior means...and taste," she added, looking over her shoulder as Claudius walked away.

"I...." Proximo said. "He is very valuable."

"Of course. I will have him returned first thing in the morning," she said loud enough for Claudius to hear. "Besides," she said, walking forward and stopping right in front of Maximus, "what harm could I possibly cause him? In fact," she crossed her arms and looked up at his face, the top of her head barely level to his chin, "I should be more concerned about him harming me, shouldn't I? Especially after what we witnessed in the games today."

"I do not have the disposition to harm a woman," Maximus finally said, "unlike others in this empire."

Olivia ignored the random gasps of offense from the others standing behind her. "He speaks," she said. "How inappropriate and intriguing." She turned her head. "So what say you, Proximo? Do you want my money or not?"

"It would be an honor," Proximo said, shifting a slightly guilty glance to Maximus.

"Very well," she said, walking around Maximus and toward the door. "Have your guards escort us to my home. I will send the money with them, and they can return in the morning to retrieve him."

"Of course," Proximo said as Olivia walked out of the house. He gave Maximus a weak smile. "You have won the city, my friend."

Maximus glared at him, the idea of being bought as merchandise on a wealthy woman's whim displeasing him to no end.

"Wipe that scowl from you face and please her well," Proximo said. "You could do far worse than her, believe me. I regretfully remember my share of wealthy matrons." Proximo patted him on the shoulder as the guards walked Maximus out of the house.

~*~

"Here is the money," Olivia said, handing her payment to one of the guards. "Now go."

"One of us will stay," the guard said.

"Why?"

"He is dangerous."

Olivia smiled. "Aren't you all?"

The guard shifted on his feet. "I will stay."

"Outside then," she said. "And give me the key to his chains."

"But--"

"Give it to me," she said, holding out her hand insistently. "Now, outside," she said as the guard handed her the key.

Maximus regarded her carefully as she hurried the guard outside. Proximo had been right in one regard, she certainly had physical appeal and presented a much more desirable opportunity than the whores who baited the gladiators as they waited in their holding cells at the coliseum. But neither did he feel inclined to be treated like whore himself by a woman with an obvious abundance of money and an equal lack of obligation to anything or anyone in her life, including her husband apparently.

She led him through the house to her expansive bedroom. "Sit," she said, tossing the key on a table. "I imagine you are hungry." She summoned a servant to bring some food and then turned to sit down at the table herself.

Maximus remained standing, watching her eyes that were as dark as her hair. He held her gaze, making sure she had no doubt that he was not going to be ordered around.

She smirked at him and leaned against the back of her chair. "I'm sorry, of course the great General Maximus would not be inclined to take orders from a common woman." She watched the servant as the food was placed on the table. "I am merely extending a courteous invitation. If you do not wish to sit and eat what I am sure is much better fare than you receive from Proximo, far be it from me to force the issue." She then smiled slightly as he pulled the chair out carefully, his hands still chained together.

"Thank you," he said quietly as he sat down, the spread of fruit, hot grains, and bread making his stomach growl.

Olivia directed the servant to place some food in front of him, as his hands could not reach far enough before being halted by the shackles. "Would you care for some wine?" she asked.

"Please," he said.

She nodded to the servant who poured the wine before being dismissed from the room. She watched Maximus for a few moments as he ate, attempting to keep the chains from clanging into the table and her good dishes.

Maximus looked up from his food as Olivia stood, uncertain of her next move. And then he watched her as she took the key from the table and unlocked the cuffs around his wrists.

"Get rid of those chains entirely," she said as she sat back down. "They offend me." She then smiled at his expression. "You look surprised."

Maximus released the last shackle from his ankle and pushed the chains aside. "You are not afraid?"

"Should I be?"

"No," he said, taking a large drink of wine.

"Besides," she said, "I don't watch those games. Hearing about them is more than enough."

"Oh?"

"They are revolting."

"Then you must find me revolting," he said, slowly eating the sweet grapes that had been placed in front of him.

"Perhaps," she said.

Maximus thought better of it, but said it anyway, "And what does your husband think of you bringing a revolting man home?"

Olivia pursed her lips and glared at him for a moment. "My husband is dead."

Maximus stopped chewing, caught off guard by her response. "I am sorry."

"And I may bring home whoever I choose."

"Of course."

"And whatever my opinion of you, I have spared you from the far more revolting experience of being Claudius' pleasure slave," Olivia snapped. "It might behoove you to show me some respect, if for nothing else but getting you out of the clutches of that chubby, half-witted, arrogant buffoon. I do not believe I have treated you poorly or demanded anything of you but to sit down in my home and eat my food and drink my wine."

Maximus bowed his head slightly. "I apologize for my offense."

"Nor shall I demand anything of you," Olivia continued. "The fact that Claudius is cursing my name at the moment is pleasure enough for me. I have no expectation of you, General, aside from cordial conversation. That is if you are capable of it."

Maximus suddenly found himself at a loss for words. Not simply because of her admonishment, but because she had called him "General," something no one but his fellow slaves had called him for quite a long while.

"My husband always spoke well of you," she said as though able to read his thought.

"Were we acquainted?"

"No," she said.

"He was a senator, then?"

"A businessman," Olivia said. "A very successful trader and financier with a keen interest in the expansion of the empire. Your name and reputation were well known to him."

Maximus nodded. "A man of his influence must have been acquainted with the emperor."

"Yes," she said. "Politicians, by necessity, must forge alliances with those who hold the largest purses. Even now that my husband is gone, the son, Commodus, has a great interest in the workings of my husband's company."

Maximus scowled slightly at the mention of that name. "I am sure he does."

"A most unpleasant young man," she said.

"You should be wary, Lady. Words like that could endanger your fortune and your life," he said quietly.

Olivia smiled. "You are the only one I have told, General. And who could you possibly tell?" she asked, taking a sip of wine.

Maximus simply regarded her without answering.

Maximus finished his meal in silence, occasionally glancing up at Olivia as she sat quietly and observed him, one eyebrow constantly raised in an anticipatory expression. In the calm of the room, seemingly a great distance away from his cell, Maximus found himself fighting the temptation to simply relax, to perhaps even find some small enjoyment in the comfortable surroundings and the present company.

"So tell me," Olivia finally said, still poised in her chair, "how did the great, dead General Maximus find himself in the unfortunate situation of being Proximo's slave?"

Maximus swallowed hard, fighting instinct again. The urge to name the emperor's atrocities to any and all who would listen constantly taunted his willpower, more so now that he was in the company of someone far more influential than fellow slaves, even if she was a woman. But his conscience knew what his ego often overlooked. This battle with Commodus was his alone. And to involve this woman would only endanger her and anyone else who participated in derisive talk against the emperor.

"Well?" Olivia prompted.

"Proximo is a good man," Maximus answered. "I am more fortunate than most slaves."

Olivia's lips curved up in a smile. She knew his response would be polite and nondescript. She would have been disappointed had it been anything but a token statement. That this man was a barbarian in front of the screaming masses and yet held fast to his reserve intrigued her. What she saw now in his astute conversation and depth of silent observation showed more strength than any combatant or Caesar could hope to possess.

"So what shall you do when you win your freedom, General?" she tried again.

Maximus shifted in his chair. He knew what she meant. It was a matter he tried not to ponder. His thoughts constantly turned to avenging his family and Marcus Aurelius. Even if he succeeded in bringing down Commodus, in carrying forth the decree of a dying man, what then? What would happen to a slave who summoned the army of Rome against her own emperor? And even in the brightest of outcomes, where would he go after treading this literally bloody path?

So he remained focused on the goal and actively avoided the ever after.

"No plans?" Olivia said. "No dreams beyond killing for sport?" She knew the instant she flippantly uttered the words that it was a mistake, as his expression tightened considerably.

"Do you have plans for your life, Lady?" Maximus asked, his voice barely above a growl. "Beyond spending your dead husband's money on shallow distractions?"

Olivia's brow furrowed in anger. "How dare you," she seethed.

Maximus sat forward in his chair. "I do what I do in order to survive."

"As do I," she said curtly, leaning forward herself to meet his angry glare. "Although your survival may be far more perilous than mine, we both have to play other people's games." She stood up quickly. "Neither of us lives a life of our own choosing. Make no mistake about that, General." Olivia kicked out the chair from behind her and stepped to the side.

Maximus reached forward and grabbed her wrists as she stared at him with a shocked expression. "But your hands are clean, Lady," he said, holding her arms up as he remained seated. "Or is it your body that's soiled?"

Olivia gasped and yanked her arms away from him, his offense causing her cheeks to flush with anger. "You will return to your guard this instant," she said, her voice shaking with rage. "The only whore in this room is you, Slave," she said derisively.

In the next moment, Maximus launched out of his chair, grabbing Olivia's arms before she even had a chance to react. He shoved her against a wall and held her fast. "You would do well to hold your tongue," he growled.

"Let me go!" she snapped, trying to wriggle free of his grasp as she now became frightened of his strength.

Maximus only tightened his hold on her, pressing her harder into the wall. "Your amusement I will tolerate, but your insults I will not."

"And I should tolerate yours?" Olivia asked angrily, struggling against him.

"Why did you bring me here?" Maximus growled, his instinctive rage clouding all rational sense. "For you entertainment? So that you can mock the horrors of my life while you hide in this sheltered comfort?"

"I don't know anything about your life," Olivia shot back.

"That is right!"

"Nor do I care," she said, defiantly meeting his enraged gaze with her own.

"While you attend your parties and drink your wine, I fight for my life," Maximus said, releasing one of her arms and then grabbing her chin with his hand, his fingers and thumb stretching up her cheeks to hold her head against the wall. "And I kill other men to stay alive while you cheer."

"I told you, I don't watch those games," she responded, the adrenaline of fear pounding through her veins as she fought to hold her ground.

"Do you know how many men I killed today alone?" he asked, his expression unwavering in its intensity. "Without a thought, I killed them."

"Because you had to in order to live."

"And what makes you think I would not kill you in order to live?" he seethed. "In order to run from here and be free?"

She saw not a threat, but the frantic plague of confusion in his eyes. "You told me you didn't have the disposition to harm a woman." She swallowed hard and then said pointedly, "Unless you are now like others in this empire."

Maximus' face shuddered. As though holding hot embers, he immediately released Olivia, stepping quickly away from her and slightly staggering around the room as he fought to reclaim himself from the rage that possessed him a little more each day.

Olivia rubbed her arms with trembling hands, watching him carefully as he paced the room while inhaling deep breaths. "I shall call the guard for you now," she said softly. She froze for a moment as he turned to face her, his visage much calmer but something unnerving in his eyes that she could not determine.

He stepped forward toward her. "No," reaching out to take hold of her arm as she turned away.

"Please let me go," she said.

Maximus took another deep breath, afraid to even hear himself ask the question. "Did I harm you?"

"Please let me go," she said a little more insistently. He released her arm, and she turned her back to him. But she found herself unable to walk away.

It was an answer Maximus never imagined he would need to know so badly. "Did I harm you, Lady?"

She heard in his voice the importance of this need weighing on him. "No, General, you did not harm me."

His eyes shifted down to her arms, red marks from his tight grip forming above her elbows. "I apologize. I never intended to--"

"I know," she said. She cleared her throat and turned around, saying, "But I think it is best that you leave."

Maximus swallowed hard, the uneasiness in Olivia's eyes settling uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. "If you wish it," he said. His eyes shifted down again to her arms. He reached forward with one hand and brushed the slightly reddened skin just below her short sleeve with his fingertips.

"I...." Olivia gasped and shivered as his fingers inadvertently tickled across the inside of her elbow.

Maximus' eyes darted up to her face, but he only caught a brief glimpse of her shaken expression as she quickly stepped past him and walked toward the table.

Olivia took a deep breath to loosen this fear that would not abate. Although what she was afraid of, she couldn't quite admit to herself. Her fingers dug into the tabletop as she sensed his approach behind her.

"Please do not fear me," he said.

"What does it matter to you what I feel in this regard?" she asked as she kept her back to him.

"It is important to me that you do not fear me."

"Why?"

Maximus sighed. "I don't know," he said quietly.

"You don't even know me," she said.

"No, I don't."

"And after tonight, we will most likely never see each other again."

"This is true."

Olivia finally turned around to face him, avoiding his eyes. "So what difference does it make?"

"You are the only one to have shown any regard for who I was," he said.

She looked down for a moment. "Who you still are." She looked up at him briefly and crossed her arms in front of her. "I do not fear you, General," she said as she shook her head and turned away from him again.

Emboldened by the softened tone of her voice, Maximus placed his hand on her shoulder. "But you can no longer look upon me with the same confidence in your eyes." His outburst had only lasted mere moments, but Maximus felt as though he had lost a vital part of himself now that he could so easily lash out at someone who posed no imminent danger to him. And the fact that the non-threatening someone was a woman made his offense all more troubling to him.

Olivia's eyes remained downcast as Maximus moved slightly to stand at her side, his hand still on her shoulder. She took another deep breath to banish the nervousness that his proximity was now causing her. "The people at that party all believe that I bought you for the night for the sake of my own pleasure."

"Yes."

"And they will think me nothing more than a pathetic woman who purchases pleasure from slaves with her dead husband's hard-earned money without a second thought. That I married him for his money and am enjoying the fruits of his labor now that he is gone."

Maximus regarded her for a moment. "I don't understand what you are trying to tell--"

"My husband was several years older than me. It was a political marriage, as all marriages are for women such as myself. My mother educated me as her mother had done for her. But all the while, we both knew what my life would be. And so I became a business deal, just like any other venture that my father or husband would undertake." Olivia stopped herself and finally looked up at Maximus. "I am a smart woman. An educated woman. But they will never think that of me, especially after what I did this evening. And despite knowing what they would think, I brought you here anyway."

Maximus nodded slowly.

Olivia smiled softly, aware that her point was still lost on him. "I brought you here because I know the man you are, or at least I know of him. My husband would have been honored to have you in our home and that sentiment remains the same now. And despite what has happened here tonight, I do not regret bringing you here and having them think me a foolish, pitiable woman. My opinion of you has not changed, General. Although I suppose what matters most is your opinion of yourself."

Maximus removed his hand from Olivia's shoulder, unable to see himself through her eyes. "I hesitate to admit that I, too, thought you foolish and pitiable. But I thank you for proving that wrong. And I apologize for insinuating the worst." His eyes shifted slightly as she nodded. "And for my outburst."

"It is forgiven," she said, her eyes now unable to look away from the humility etched across his face.

"Now, if you wish me to go, I--"

"I don't," she interjected.

"What?"

Olivia licked her suddenly dry lips as her heart began to race. "I don't wish for you to leave."

Maximus' mouth dropped open slightly.

She nervously turned away from him again. "But you are welcome to leave if you--"
Olivia was now keenly aware of the power of his muscular frame as she found herself trapped against him, his arm encircling her waist to prevent any further escape and her back coming into contact with his solid chest. But she reflexively slipped out of his grasp, stumbling slightly as she turned around to face him.

The moment she did, Maximus saw in her face what he had subconsciously been looking for all evening. He reached forward and touched her face tentatively. Olivia's eyelids fluttered shut as his fingers stroked her cheek. And in that instant of consent, he moved forward and kissed her.

At the first tentative brush of his lips against hers, Olivia's body trembled with a need too long ignored. Her hunger was suddenly unleashed, and she reached up and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him deeper into the kiss as her body pressed against him.

His arm wrapped around her back, holding her to him as she sank into his embrace, her breathy moans muffled by his mouth as he slid his tongue against hers. Heat and desperation rose fiercely between them as the last vestiges of their reserve slipped away, both of them giving themselves over to instinct.

Olivia grasped his shoulders, trying to pull herself higher and closer to his own height, her fingers sliding through his short hair as his lips left hers and latched onto the soft skin of her neck, his whiskers and panting breaths tickling and heating her skin. And as she moaned while he gently suckled her earlobe, Maximus turned them slightly and attempted to walk toward her bed. Instead, they stumbled against the table, Olivia grabbing his tunica and pulling him the rest of the way down as her knees gave out, and she slipped to the floor.

Maximus fell to his knees, his hands coming to rest on either side of her head as she lay on the floor. He kissed her again, a growl rumbling in his chest as she grabbed at his arms and back, needing more contact than he was giving her. Then she moaned into his mouth as his hand ran down her chest and pulled at her dress until his fingers could caress her bare breast.

Olivia gasped and arched her head back as his callused palm rubbed back and forth over her nipple, his fingers teasing her sensitized skin. Maximus exhaled a staggered breath and rose up on his knees, causing Olivia to whimper in protest at the loss of his touch.

But then he grabbed the neckline of her dress, yanking it off her arms and down her body, tossing it and her shoes carelessly aside as his eyes hungrily examined her nude form as she mindlessly writhed slowly beneath him. Maximus wasted no time, grabbing his tunica and pulling it off over his head, casting it off behind him, his clothing quickly followed by his shoes.

Olivia's breath came in shallow gasps as she looked into his needful eyes. His mouth, like hers, was slightly agape, his bare, broad chest heaving with each breath that he took. Her eyes traveled down his body, his skin glistening with a slight sheen of sweat. She inadvertently rolled her hips up slightly as her eyes came to rest on his erection, every muscle in his body appearing taut with the struggle for control.

Maximus leaned forward, his eyes darkened with desire as his hands caressed her stomach and then slid up and over her breasts. At the sound of her breathless moan, he moved down, encircling a nipple with his lips and winding his tongue around it.

Olivia cried out and arched her body up as he slowly suckled her breast, his groans vibrating against her skin while his hands explored her hips and thighs. His head then moved to the side, capturing her other breast, the hot, wet suction of his mouth causing Olivia to stretch her torso higher, her body demanding more to satiate her rampant need.

He made a path down her stomach with his lips and tongue, paying extra attention to the spots that made her tremble. Olivia's breath hitched in her lungs as he moved lower still, his fingers hooking under her knee and lifting her thigh over his shoulder.

Olivia's cry caught in her throat as his tongue slid across her center and teased slow circles around her clitoris, her hips rocking up as she clawed at the floor, her pleasure quickly increasing as his lips gently sucked at her, his tongue fluttering back and forth to sharpen her craving.

Maximus groaned against her tender flesh, his engorged penis heavy and throbbing with the intensity of his desire. He let out a thankful sigh as Olivia grabbed his head, pulled him away from her, and then rose to her knees, stroking his length as she said, "I need you inside me."

Without hesitation, he lifted her from the floor, sitting her on the bed as she wrapped her legs around his hips. He spread his knees to give him better balance and then grabbed her hips, pulling her forward slightly and then rolling his hips up as he slid inside her. Both threw their heads back, their moans mingling in the quiet of the night as he filled her, her muscles taking him in and tremoring around his hard length as he began to move, slowly thrusting into her as her hips rocked into him.

Olivia grabbed his strong, muscular arms and then leaned back, her body swaying as his hips circled and rolled up with each thrust, his erection rubbing across every pleasure point inside her as his rhythm increased. The slick, erotic sound of him moving inside her adding to her sensory overload.

Maximus groaned as her tight muscles pulled at him. He plunged deeper inside her, chasing after his pleasure and sliding his hand between their bodies to rub his thumb across her clitoris as he felt his body hurtling to the edge.

Olivia half-sobbed a moan, spreading her legs wider and moving her hands behind her to support her weight as his thumb circled in time to his thrusts. Her fingers clenched at the bedcovers as she felt the vague tremor growing deep within her. She lurched her body forward, grinding into his thumb and squeezing her legs around him. And as he slipped across that electric spot deep inside her, she cried out, her orgasm unleashing itself in breathtaking waves.

Maximus growled as her body spasmed around his cock, squeezing his thighs and buttocks to bury himself deeper inside her, low groans punctuating each thrust of his hips. And as her muscles clenched one last time around him, he erupted inside her, his entire body shuddering as he moaned and spilled his seed into her.

Olivia collapsed against him when he pulled her down off the bed and into his lap, their sweat-covered skin sticking together as they held each other tightly, their bodies still joined as their pulses gradually slowed.

After several moments, Maximus stood on shaky legs, setting her down on the bed and kissing her until soft whimpers rose from her throat. Then his eyes studied her face for several moments, his fingertips tracing the curve of her brow and cheek.

"I must go," he said in a throaty whisper.

Olivia gave him a sad smile. "I know, just--"

"I'll not have anyone see a slave walking out of your home. I must go before daybreak."

"I don't care what people think about me."

"I do," he said.

Olivia sighed. "Just lay here with me for a little while. There is still time."

Maximus kissed her and moved to lie at her side, his arm sliding around her waist to pull her back into him. Olivia burrowed back into his body, entwining her legs with his as his knees hooked under hers.

"If there is anything I can do for you," she said. "I have friends and the money to buy influence."

"Quiet, now," he said softly. "And sleep. Any assistance you would offer to me would only cause you great harm. You must not make any attempts to act or speak on my behalf "

Olivia closed her eyes and sighed. She knew he was right. All she could do was enjoy this embrace as a temporary reprieve from her life. So she did as he encouraged and fell asleep in his arms.

~*~

Maximus moved slowly, being careful not to wake her. He rolled quietly out of the bed and got dressed. He watched her for several moments as she continued to sleep and then made his way to the door. He stopped in the doorway, remember to retrieve the last of his belongings. He walked over to the table and collected his chains and shackles as quietly as he could.

With one last look over his shoulder at Olivia, Maximus walked out of her bedroom and toward the front door where the guard awaited him outside, fastening the shackles around his own wrists as he went.

The End