Heat
Chapter 1
Zoro felt the sea breeze lift the edges of his open shirt and
appreciated the cool air on his sun-drenched skin. The smell of jasmine
wafted in the heat and the lush grass was so comfortable it was hard
not to drift off completely. He was sitting in the Sultan’s garden,
back against the wall and dozing in the sunshine. This had to be the
ultimate job. No-one to annoy him and demand his time, he could just
rest up while the money came rolling in. Soon he would have enough to
leave and hit the seas again. It was only sheer chance that had bought
him here. The island he was heading to originally was somewhere to the
left-ish… Lucky he hadn’t made it there or he’d probably be preserving
some bounty head in salt instead of lounging in the desert sun.
The only things he had to worry about for the time being were the
ladies – he could hear them splashing in the Oasis and giggling, so
they were fine – and Luffy. The girls were very easy to handle, they
were all here voluntarily so there was no real need to fear escape.
Occasionally there was one girl that proved more difficult than others,
like Nami who was always getting Zoro in trouble… but the rubber kid
was another thing entirely. His father the Sultan owned the Oasis, the
palace, the harem… practically the entire town and he wanted his son to
grow up to be a respectable hard-headed diplomat. Not really the kind
of things that Luffy seemed to take interest in. From what the
swordsman could see he was only interested in sea shanties and
adventure. The Sultan kept sending the boy into the harem to ‘make a
man out of him’ but somehow he ended up bugging Zoro for bounty hunter
stories instead. One day it was going to get the swordsman in trouble,
but the kid was so enthusiastic it was hard to say no to him.
The sound of Nami’s voice whispering caught his attention. She
always shouted so the fact that she was making such an effort not to be
heard almost made the swordsman curious. Almost. Instead of
investigating, he shifted in the grass so that his tan would stay even.
He could deal with anything that those crazy women could come up with
when it happened. The Sultan didn’t mind Zoro sleeping, which was
great. Nami dobbed him in early in his employment, but when the Sultan
sent in thieves to try to catch him off guard, his performance had
pretty much guaranteed that he’d be employed for as long as he would
stick around.
It was only when the few scattered whispers became squeals of delight
and horror that Zoro finally accepted that his nap was over and opened
his eyes. There was a caravan coming in the main gates and the Sultan
was waving, escorting some scantily dressed someone down from a camel.
Great. Another wife. Hopefully it was just a concubine, there were so
many egos to deal with already that it took most of Zoro’s short
attention span just to ignore it. Hopefully, they would forget that he
was here and just lead her in for the guided tour and leave him to his…
“ZORO!”
Damn it.
He got up and ambled over to the gaudy caravan. It had to be a wife. No
concubine would have an entourage like this just to bring them from the
market. It was a weird concept, the idea of being a voluntary slave for
a fixed period, but the girls seemed happy and he was well paid so he
really didn’t care. Zoro sighed and went to the Sultan’s side. The
Sultan was tall and dark, a serious man with a head for figures and a
forgiving temperament. He also had a sense of humour, probably the only
thing keeping him from banishing his son after the antics that the lad
was (in)famous for.
“Ah, Zoro. Nice to know that you are never far,” the man beamed down at
him then quickly switched to his business face. “I have a new concubine
for you to take care of, this one is a little different. As you know, I
tend to be generous with my ladies when foreign dignitaries come to
visit, but apparently I had not accounted for all of their tastes. This
should fix that.” He nodded as if confirming his own thoughts and
grabbed the girl by the hand to present her to Zoro.
The swordsman took a look at the girl for the first time. Different,
how? He wondered, as his eyes travelled up long slender legs and
arrived abruptly at gorgeous, pale and perfectly defined abs and
pectoral muscles. Oh shit.
No way.
He thought he was safe here, no temptations. Just gorgeous half-naked
women and sunshine. He thought he wouldn’t have to worry about men.
They were just too difficult. He always ended up either wanting to kill
them or fuck them…
He took a deep breath and lifted his head to see what exactly this new
addition had to show off to the royalty that swanned through the palace
from time to time. Soft blonde hair, bright blue eyes and sweet pink
lips. But more… muscles that looked like they were chiselled out of
stone and legs so long that he swore they went on forever. No. No. No!
This was his perfect hideaway from temptation! And this guy… Zoro could
feel his body starting to ache already…. He was way too tempting.
“Zoro!” The Sultan barked, now displaying his ‘busy man about his
business’ face, “This is Sanji, from now on he will be under your care.
He will be housed in separate quarters for obvious reasons but he is
free to spend the day with the ladies or as he pleases. Please show him
the grounds, I have allocated guards for the rest of the afternoon so
the girls will be fine without you.” The Sultan took one last look
around as if to check that everything was as he had ordered, then he
swept off inside, his blue silk robes billowing in the breeze.
Zoro stood, trying not to drool openly. The blonde was staring at the
garden, giving the swordsman time to admire him a little longer. He
certainly dressed like a concubine, most of his body was completely
revealed. Zoro tried to look at this face but his eyes wouldn’t
co-operate. They kept wandering down, further and further. Sanji’s
pants were so low slung he could just see a tuft of gold peeking out
from the waist band… Fuck. Zoro tried to start a conversation but his
mouth wouldn’t work. Stupid blonde strumpet! No-one had this effect on
him. Why the hell did the hottest man on the planet have to end up in
his personal slice of paradise?!
“You, bag-boy,” Sanji turned and stared right through Zoro and towards
the Oasis over the swordsman’s shoulder. “Take my shit, muscle-head. I
have some ladies to attend to.” Then he turned his perfect body and
wiggled his firm ass away to where the ladies were squealing and trying
to figure out if they wanted to reveal themselves more or hide in light
of their new companion.
Zoro was going to grab the man and force him to come on the stupid tour
of the palace but by the time he had realised he was trying to say
something, Sanji was already rubbing sun tan lotion into Nami’s back.
Well, fuck him then! He could find his own way around! And when he got
lost – as of course he would – then he would only have himself to
blame. The swordsman grabbed the bags and dragged them up to the suite
that had been prepared. What the hell was in these things anyway? Lead
weights!?
Zoro muttered and grumbled to himself as he hefted the bags up to the
mezzanine floor. Arrogant, rude, conceited… At least the anger helped
with the uh… ‘symptoms’ he had been experiencing before Sanji opened
that hot wet looking mouth. If he had behaved as well as he looked then
Zoro would have been in trouble. As it was, he could manage the asshole.
He hoped.
