Virginia Henley (18 page)

Since the night was chill, they decided to bathe inside. The long wooden bathhouse, covered by wisteria vines, was anything but rustic on the inside. It contained a caldarium that was hot, a tepidarium that was warm, and a frigidarium. They disrobed, entered the hot room, and lay upon marble slabs to sweat. As the temperature and the steam began to rise, Julius began to talk.

“At last Londinium is being rebuilt. The Forum, with its council chamber and administration offices, is complete,
and the Temple of Jupiter is also finished. It has massive altars and fine mosaic floors, much like yours, and it is surrounded by ornamental gardens. This time, the entire city will have a ten-foot defensive wall with crenellated parapets and four towers with gates.”

“It was madness to destroy such a fine city, Julius. It was our greatest trading port and will be again. Once it’s rebuilt I’m sure it will be bigger and better than ever.”

“Marcus, I received a communique from Emperor Nero. He’s reassessing Britannia’s importance to the empire. He is considering withdrawing all Romans and handing it back to the Celtae, whom he fears will never be conquered.”

“That would be a colossal mistake, Julius,” Marcus said, his heart plummeting into his feet.

“So say I!” the procurator said decisively. “For monetary reasons alone, it would be foolish to abandon this corner of the empire. The profits from silver and slaves alone will pay for building dozens of new cities.”

“You are an honest man, Julius. The last procurator held the rank of speculator, which meant that when he executed prisoners, he kept their possessions. Perhaps the profits from silver and slaves found their way into his own coffers as well.”

“I’m afraid they did, Marcus. Now I must convince Nero that this country has everything: lead mines, iron, bronze, timber, even gold to make our own coinage. The fields are so fertile, we grow enough grain to feed the population, the legions, and still have some left over for export. Agriculture is organized on a massive scale and it’s backed by a substantial fishing industry.”

“This country is thriving,” Marcus agreed. “Have you told Nero in your reports?”

“Ad nauseam,”
Julius lamented.

“He must be getting negative reports from some other source,” Marcus decided.

“You’ve put your finger on it, I believe.”

Bath slaves began to oil and scrape their skins with strigils, but the Procurator was not distracted from the subject at hand. “I feel I can be blunt with you, Marcus, because we think alike on some matters. I think it’s Paullinus. We have the wrong man at the head of the army. Oh, I know he is determined to stamp out all insurrection of the Celtae tribes, but he has exterminated the Silures entirely and the Iceni are being massacred instead of transported to Rome as slaves. Now he is systematically wiping out the Druids.”

“I have known for a long time that when we desecrate sacred Druid places and massacre their priesthood, it incites the native tribes to more and more insurrection,” Marcus said flatly.

“When Claudius was head of the army, we had peace. Britons were eager to become Roman citizens. They adopted our toga, learned to speak Latin, built arcades of shops, and as a result, prosperity for all. Rose steadily because of the demand for consumer and luxury goods.”

“Aquae Sulis has been unaffected, but I know the rest of the country has suffered under Paullinus.”

They moved from the hot room to the warm bath. “You’ve fought under him. What is he like, Marcus?”

“He is infected with the Roman disease of bloodlust. He slaughters women and children and even the pack animals when the madness is upon him. He practices
decimatio
to punish his legionaries, killing one in ten regularly for disobedience. These are counted as
acceptable losses”

“No wonder none dare speak out against him,” Julius concluded.

They took the cold plunge, were wrapped in huge towels, and moved on to the dressing room.

“Well, one step at a time. First, I must persuade Emperor Nero to keep Britannia in the empire. My last report was accompanied by a large shipment of money and silver ingots, which will go a long way in convincing him, but I’d like you to submit a report on Aquae Sulis, not only regarding
the fort and the training of the legionaries, but about the thriving town itself and how the natives have become Romanized over two generations and are now productive builders; weavers, potters, goldsmiths, engineers, physicians, etc.”

“I’ll do it tomorrow, Julius,” Marcus promised.

“Good man. I knew I could count on you. Now, let us dine. My belly thinks my throat has been cut!”

Diana decided to wear the elegant white silk stola with the golden girdle. Nola had brought her an emerald and gold torque from the general’s collection, and Sylla had fashioned her pale hair in a heavy bun at the nape of her neck. Kell escorted her to arrive at the triclinium entrance the same time as Marcus and his guest.

“Julius, may I present Diana, who is often a guest at my table.”

Diana extended her hand to the procurator and he raised it to his lips graciously. “Forgive an old man for staring at you, my dear, but you have a rare classical beauty.”

Marcus saw he was openly curious about her and explained, “Diana’s father was a scribe for the government who married a Briton.” He implied that she was half Roman and Diana simply smiled at the procurator. He was dressed in a long white toga with a wide purple border and actually wore a laurel wreath upon his graying head. Diana lowered her lashes to prevent herself from staring. She couldn’t believe she was actually dining with such a high-ranking official of Rome.

They moved into the triclinium, where three dining couches were arranged about the table. “Here is a perfect example of a blending of Britannia and Rome. If Diana graced the emperor’s table, she would stand out as an exquisite blend of beauty and culture. She is living proof that Britons are highly civilized.”

“Thank you, My Lord Procurator.”

“Oh please, call me Julius.”

Diana gifted him with a brilliant smile as she reclined on her couch and tucked a gold elbow cushion beneath her arm.

As the leisurely meal progressed, both Marcus and Diana felt the sexual tension build between them explosively. Though three dined, two of them were being driven mad with desire. Whenever Marcus’ black eyes caressed her, they smoldered with the dark fires of anticipation. Neither of them could wait for their guest to leave. When Julius finally stood up to depart, Diana was weak with longing.

Marcus walked with the procurator to the atrium and saw him into his litter. Julius always slept at the praetorium, a spacious residence within the fort, but he had informed Marcus that he would be leaving at dawn for Glevum, where most of the retired legionaries now lived.

“You dog, Marcus. Where have you been hiding her and however did you find her?”

“I think of her as a gift from the gods,” Marcus said wryly.

“She said she came to Aquae Sulis to take the waters, but I think she stays for more personal reasons. You’d be a fool to let her escape, Marcus.”

“I’ll hold her captive, never fear,” Marcus said, laughing, as the litter moved off.

When he went back inside, Diana was leaning against one of the pillars. His arms encircled her waist and he held her imprisoned against the marble. “You were a charming hostess,
amor”

Diana knew that
amor
meant love. She lifted her lips to his. “And Julius was a charming guest, but you didn’t discuss your business.”

“We did that when we bathed. Steam not only opens the pores, it often loosens the tongue. Clothing is a barrier, and once it is removed, all reticence disappears.”

“So I’ve discovered,” Diana murmured wickedly, moving against him sensuously to unfasten his toga.

His mouth claimed hers in a passionate kiss that sent chills and then fire running along their veins. With his lips still against hers, he said huskily, “Do you think we can keep our clothes on long enough to get upstairs tonight?”

“It will be very hard,” she murmured wickedly, stroking his shaft with her fingertips.

He lifted her against his hard length and proceeded to kiss her on each and every step of the staircase. When they finally reached the sleeping chamber, Marcus said low, “I want to carry you to bed every night for the rest of my life.”

He was so earnest, Diana melted against him. Never one to lie to herself, she believed they were falling in love. She pushed the problems love would entail to the back of her mind. Nothing must spoil this special night for either of them.

Kell had lit a fire for them in the huge hearth and they stood before it now as Marcus disrobed them both. Then he took infinite pleasure in taking down her hair, allowing his fingers to become entangled in the silky mass, as he lifted it to his face to explore its texture, its smell, its very taste.

Marcus tossed the purple cushions from the bed before the fire, then pulled her down to him so she was cradled in his lap. He held her back to the fire and massaged her bottom cheeks. “I’ve been waiting to warm your bum all day.”

Diana clung to him as he kissed her deeply, then she took the chain from about her neck and put it over his head so the gold Caesar coin lay amidst the dark curls. “From my heart to yours,” she whispered.

Marcus watched the firelight turn her hair and skin to flame. His fingers traced over her flesh reverently, then his lips followed. “Diana, it occurred to me today, when I saw you astride the mare, that I have given you the means to escape from me.”

Her eyes widened, “I wouldn’t run away from you, Marcus. I have no desire to leave you.”

His arms tightened about her as a wave of protectiveness swept over him. “You might after tonight. I’m afraid I will hurt you.”

“Yes, I know you will. You are far too big for me, but your hands and your mouth work magic. They arouse me to such a frenzied peak of desire that I hunger and lust for us to join our bodies. My need becomes so great that fear of pain is nothing beside it. It must be the same for you. We become riven!”

“I’ll go slowly; I’ll stop at any time,” he pledged.

Diana pushed him back upon the cushions. “I won’t!” She straddled him with her silky thighs, then brought her breasts down upon his chest, so that his huge, swollen phallus was trapped between their bodies. The flames from the fire added to the heat in their blood, and as always, once they began to kiss, they could not stop.

It occurred to Diana that once their loveplay reached a certain point, Marcus displayed much more control than she. She knew he had an iron will, but tonight she wanted to make him lose all control. She wanted to test the outer limits of his resistance. She knew she had a certain power over him, but tonight she wanted to test her allure to its depths.

She lifted one of her long golden curls and teased the corners of his mouth with it, then she touched the corners with the tip of her tongue, tickling him until he laughed helplessly. Then she trailed her curl down the column of his throat, then followed with her tongue; leaving a hot, wet path to dry by fireflame. Diana sat up so that her knees gripped his narrow hips and her bum cheeks rested on his muscular thighs, then, using the same golden curl, she stroked his flat bronze nipples until they became erect.

By now, Marcus was anticipating her moves and knew her tongue would soon follow where she played. He relished the attention she was lavishing upon him, wishing
they had met long ago, but he was wise enough to realize that all things came at their appointed time. He was also wise enough not to waste thoughts on what might have been but to focus on seizing the moment and squeezing every last drop of pleasure from it. Until Diana came along, he had no idea there was something missing from his life, but if she left him now, he realized he would be inconsolable.

When she tickled his belly by dipping her pretty hair into his navel and around it, all he could think was that soon she would dip her tongue into the sensitive indentation, to lick and nibble at him. When she did it, her tongue felt rough, causing a delicious shudder to run down the entire length of his backbone.

Diana loved it when she could make Marcus laugh and she noticed that he laughed easily these days. He stopped laughing, however, when she trailed her curl from his navel, down his ridged belly to the engorged head of his phallus. When she looked into his black eyes, she saw how intense he had suddenly become. Was he hoping that her mouth would follow to tongue the spot that her hair tantalized? Did she dare to do such an intimate thing to him?

Marcus drew in a great shuddering breath. And in that moment she knew he hungered for her to taste him. She gazed at him provocatively for long minutes, drawing out his anticipation, then slowly she lowered her lips to touch his velvet head. Her mass of silken hair fell forward, hiding what she did from his view. His hands came forward to part and lift her tresses so that he could see her luscious mouth upon his rigid sex.

The tip of her pink tongue flicked the tip of his manroot. The contrasting colors alone were enough to send deep thrills through him. Pink against vermilion; they complemented each other to perfection. Then her hot wet tongue curled around the heart-shaped head so she could taste him fully. Marcus tasted of salt and almond oil and pure male sex. She lifted her head to watch the pleasure register on his strong, dark face. As she knelt before his
prone figure, his seeking fingers found her woman’s center and discovered that what she did to him had made her creamy.

“Do you think you are ready to take me inside you?” he asked hoarsely.

“I don’t think I will ever be more aroused than I am at this moment,” she whispered.

Of course, Marcus knew that she most assuredly would be. She had never even experienced coitus yet. He did not delay matters by taking her to the bed, but laid her on the floor and opened her legs so that the fire warmed the inside of her soft thighs and heated the pink cleft until it was scalding hot.

“Wrap your legs about me,” he ordered, and as she obeyed him, he miraculously began to slide inside her, slowly, inch by inch. Her creamy liquid felt like molten lava to Marcus. Never had he experienced anything so hot, so tight, and so blatantly sexual in his life.

Even if Diana begged, Marcus knew he would not stop now. He was obsessed with a driving need to possess her totally. He wanted to put his brand upon her so that she would be his forever. When he came to the barrier, he thrust through sharply. If he was brutal, then so be it. She must endure the pain before she could become a woman who could give and receive pleasure endlessly.

Diana cried out in pain, but Marcus thrust into her powerfully until his bloodthirsty weapon was seated to the hilt. Then he went still to allow her to get used to the fullness inside her. Diana moaned that her sheath was stretched so tautly about his engorged cock.

“Mea amata,
are you all right?” he asked, low.

When she tried to speak, her muscles contracted upon him strongly. Marcus moaned deep in his throat from pure pleasure and suddenly Diana experienced a wave of power and pride that she could affect this all-powerful, virile Roman so profoundly. Compared to her, he was like a colossus, and she had worried that she would not be woman
enough for him. Suddenly, she knew that she was more than woman enough. Diana bit his shoulder and raised her legs so they clasped him high across his back, then she arched her mons into him and he slid even deeper until she molded the entire length of him like a velvet glove.

Then Marcus began to move his stunning body in and out of her. Each time he buried himself hard, then withdrew in hot, sliding friction. He was marble hard, throbbing, hot and hungry. She could feel his heavy testes thud against her bottom with each deep thrust, then tiny tremors of pleasure began in the sleek heat he created inside her. She became all liquid fire, all smoky-eyed, sultry sensuality, then love slick as his strokes became almost violent, going deeper and faster in a rough, elemental mating that brought surging waves of pleasure crashing upon deep thrills, until she experienced a profound hedonistic enjoyment.

The sensations built higher and higher; they moved together, reaching the peak, then flung themselves heedlessly over the precipice. Diana screamed, from pure bliss this time, then Marcus’ cries drowned out hers. She kissed his heart, which beat so strongly she could feel it inside her as his erection pulsed, then exploded, spurting his white hot seed high into her vault.

They both relished a hot, shuddering release, then lay motionless, sprawled together in surfeit. When Marcus withdrew, he saw that semen and blood stained her silken thighs and a pain twisted his gut that he had hurt her so brutally.

“I’m sorry,” he said raggedly.

“No, no,” Diana murmured softly, touching his face. “It was cataclysmic; the way it should be between a man and a woman.”

“I love you,” Marcus whispered.

Diana’s heart stopped beating. God help her, she knew she loved him too.

He brought scented water, washing her delicate flesh tenderly. Then he lifted her in
his arms and carried her to his bed. His arms came about her to lift her onto his body. Her limbs were so heavy and languid, she felt too exhausted to lift her eyelids. She wondered how he could stand her weight upon him, then realized he was so muscular and strong, she such a lightweight, that his armor probably weighed more.

Diana curled against Marcus so perfectly, it was as if they had been made for each other. Her hands lay upon his wide shoulders, her cheek rested on his furred chest, feeling his heartbeat. One of her long legs lay between his. His male sex, now only semihard, grazed her thigh. She straddled one of his muscular limbs with her long silky legs. It was so firm and unyielding, it felt wonderful pressed against her sensitive mons.

As she drifted off to sleep, she thought she heard an intense whisper. “I’ll never let you go back.” What a strange thing to say when she knew Marcus did not believe her unlikely tale. Perhaps she was only dreaming.

When Diana lifted her eyelids, she looked directly into a pair of glittering black eyes. “You never moved all night.”

She smiled dreamily. “That’s because I was where I wanted to be.”

Marcus pulled her up on his body so that his lips could touch her temples and her eyelids.

She asked sleepily, “Shouldn’t you have left by now?”

“We are not leaving this chamber today. I don’t want us to be more than three steps from the bed.”

“But what about the men’s training?” she asked, blushing prettily.

“I have more important lessons to give here, now.”

Marcus slid his body from beneath hers so that she lay facedown on the bed. Then he straddled her, lifted her golden hair from the nape of her neck, and nuzzled her there. His playful lips sent shivers down her spine and she
began to squirm with a tingling arousal. She arched her back so that his hands could slip beneath her body to claim her breasts. They felt so full and lush in his big calloused palms. She realized that her squirming bottom was brushing against his manhood, hardening and lengthening it to an alarming degree.

“Mmm, sword practice, I believe. But I have no weapon,” she teased.

“I’ll lend you mine. This morning we will practice sheathing the sword.” His fingers began to stroke her soft buttocks, sliding in the cleft to arouse her.

Diana was amazed at the sensations that began to build deep within her woman’s center. It was as if threads of fire were connected from her bottom, all the way up the front of her body, through her belly and up to her tingling breasts. When she began to pant with feverish desire, Marcus murmured, “Go up on your knees for me.” She was so highly aroused, she would submit to anything he desired, trusting him to give her unknown pleasure.