The Raven and the Rose (37 page)
He ran his forefinger over her open mouth. “Somewhere you’re not Lady Sejana and I’m not your slave.”
“Beyond the reach of Roman law? That’s pretty far, the conquered territories are vast.”
“Marcus was talking about Britannia.”
“It’s a wild place. Lots of warring tribes.”
“It sounds like Gaul. And there’s an island to the west of it, Hibernia, where even Caesar’s legions never reached.”
“What’s there?” she asked.
“Celts,” he replied, and grinned.
“You’d be right at home,” Larthia said.
He kissed her.
“I don’t care where we go,” Larthia whispered, climbing on top of him. “I’m tired of being Lady Sejana, it was never very rewarding work. I just want to be with you.”
He rolled her under him and began to make love to her once more.
In the next room, Marcus and Julia lay curled together like puppies in a basket, drowsily watching the moon rise through the slit of a window in the wall.
“Are you surprised to find yourself in these luxurious accommodations this evening?” Marcus murmured teasingly, stroking her arm.
“I’m surprised to find myself still alive.”
“Did you think I would just let them kill you?” he asked incredulously.
“I knew you were in jail, Marcus, I didn’t think you would have much choice.”
“Septimus got us out, but even if he hadn’t, I would have found a way. Verrix and I were working on it when Septimus showed up, I wasn’t planning to sit in that cave while Livia and her minions buried you alive.”
“She must be having apoplexy, in her mind making an example of me was the only way to restore her reputation.” Julia suddenly started to giggle. “Did you see Verrix punch her?”
“She’s lucky it was Verrix. I would have done a lot worse to her.”
“She’ll be walking around with the bruise until the next nundina. I’d like to hear her explanation of it.”
“She was coming at Verrix with nails and teeth bared, she looked like a she-cat in heat.”
“I guess I’ve spoiled her glorious retirement,” Julia sighed. “Livia had an unblemished career for over a quarter century before my defection.”
Marcus made a dismissive gesture. “There will be a new scandal next week. By the time she leaves in two years she’ll be revered again.”
“I suppose so.”
“I can’t imagine why you’re worrying about her, she didn’t give a fig about you.”
Julia sat up and studied his face in the light of the single candle on the washstand.
“Do you really think we can get away from Rome without being caught?” she asked.
“If Antony wanted us, we’d be in custody right now,” Marcus replied flatly. “He’s letting us go. He is a relentless enemy, but he can also be a good friend.”
Julia settled back into the curve of his arm. “I want to have lots of children with you,” she said happily.
“You’ve made a good start on it already,” he answered, laughing. “But we can always practice for the next one.”
“Let’s practice,” Julia said, and they did.
– THE END –
Doreen Owens Malek is the author of over forty books and lifelong fan of romantic fiction. She lives in Southeastern Pennsylvania with with her husband and college student daughter, a mini dachshund and a sun conyer parrot. Her home is situated just a few miles from the spot where General Washington crossed the Delaware River during the Revolution, Doreen would like to tell you a little about herself in her own words in the hope that it will enhance your pleasure in reading her work.
“I came to writing by a circuitous route, starting out as an avid reader of
Jane Eyre
and
Wuthering Heights
and
Gone With the Wind
and
Rebecca
and any other similarly themed books I could find. I first worked as a teacher and then attended law school when I desired a more lucrative and independent career. Just after I got my JD my mother died, and the impact of her mortality, and by inference my own, drove me to take a chance. I had always been discouraged from pursuing a writing career by the volatile nature of the business and the relatively poor chance for success. But the realization that I did not have an unlimited supply of time encouraged me to do what I had always wanted to do the most—get published. I sold my fledgling novel to the first editor who read it, and I have been writing ever since. I have written short stories and books, nonfiction and fiction for juveniles and adults, contemporaries and historicals and paranormals, but my favorite literary pursuit is and always has been romance. I’ve won many awards and have millions of books in print. But nothing is as rewarding as hearing from my readers, so please use this website to communicate your thoughts and criticisms, as I am always eager to learn from you.
I started writing romances because I so loved reading them, hoping that I could duplicate for others the enjoyment and satisfaction I felt as a fan of such stories. A romance novel rarely disappoints me: in an uncertain world filled with tragedy and sadness, reading about an appealing woman finding a strong man to love her and share her life is the perfect escape. I never tire of imagining adventurous scenarios for my characters and detailing their path to fulfillment. I like to read and write stories in which the main characters overcome obstacles to get together, and then stay together because their mutual devotion cannot be denied no matter what else is happening around them. They always HELP each other and reinforce the quaint but enduring notion that love conquers all – at least in the fictional universe of my imagination. So pull up a chair and take down a book – or pick up a Kindle – and join me in a world where the heroes are tough and headstrong but never boorish and the heroines are feminine and sympathetic but never helpless.”
See all of
Doreen Owens Malek’s
Kindle eBooks on
Amazon.com
HISTORICAL ROMANCES
Released 2012
by Doreen Owens Malek
THE PANTHER AND THE PEARL
An Amazon Best Selling Historical Romance
in the United States and the United Kingdom
“In the Ottoman Empire of 1885,
the Pasha of Bursa could have anything
he wanted…except her”
The American Beauty:
When an innocent excursion to Constantinople took an unexpected twist, Sarah Woolcott found herself a prisoner in the harem of young and virile Kalid Shah. Headstrong and courageous, Sarah was determined to resist the handsome foreigner whose arrogance outraged her—even as his tantalizing touch promised exotic nights of fiery sensuality.
The Turkish Prince:
Never had he encountered a woman who inflamed his desire like the blonde Westerner with the independent spirit. Although she spurned his passionate overtures, Kalid vowed to tempt her with his masterful skills until she became a willing companion on their journey of exquisite ecstasy!
PANTHER’S PREY
THE SEQUEL TO
The Panther and the Pearl
In 1895, Turkish Rebel Malik Bey must
choose between his country’s freedom and
his passion for a forbidden woman
He rode from out of the Turkish wilderness atop a magnificent charger. Dark and mysterious, Malik Bey swept Boston-bred Amelia Ryder into an exotic world of sultans and revolutionaries, magnificent palaces and desert camps. Amy wanted to hate her virile abductor, to escape his heated glances forever. But with his suave manners and seductive charm, the hard-bodied rebel was not mere thief out to steal the proper young beauty’s virtue. Amy grew ever closer to surrendering to unending bliss in Malik’s fiery embrace.
OTHER
HISTORICAL ROMANCES
by Doreen Owens Malek
THE LION AND THE LARK
A Roman officer and his Celtic captive
transcend the barriers of war
to find an undying passion
The Year is 44 B. C. Julius Caesar is dead. And as rebellion divides Italy and Britain, a Roman centurion and a Celtic princess forge a bond no woman or man can rend asunder…
To ensure peace between her tribe and their savage conquerors, the exquisite Bronwen has been promised in wedlock to a high-born Roman tribune. But the British beauty is also a secret spy ready to risk her life to free her people.
Dispatched to Britain by Mark Antony, Claudius is irresistibly drawn to the flaxen-haired, cobalt-eyed Bronwen. Yet he knows he dare not trust the woman who is bound to him by law––not love.
THE HIGHWAYMAN
A tempestuous story of
love and betrayal in
Elizabethan Ireland
