Ancient Ties (14 page)

Finally, a tall, attractive woman sped up to Janney, and breathlessly and apologetically introduced herself as Rhea. Her heart-shaped face was sprinkled with freckles, and her rusty red hair was arranged in the classic Roman woman’s hairstyle, gathered up on the top of her head in a crown of neat curls. Rhea offered Janney a bath. Janney was furious with her situation, but not so much so that she didn’t appreciate that after two days of riding horseback, she wanted a bath. Oh, yes, she surely did need a bath.

Rhea directed Janney along the open colonnade leading to the baths. It was an unbearably beautiful sight. Flowering vines and ivy entwined around support columns, created a luscious canopy of greenery and vivid colors that contrasted with the buttery stone of the gallery walls—the yellowy Cotswold stone.

The villa had been built on a rise of land, and the colonnade overlooked a valley. Not for the first time, Janney wished she had her camera. Her watch had disappeared right off her wrist, and her camera had vanished from her hands when she’d come through what she thought of as the portal.

Swamped by a sudden fear, fear of the future—her future, Janney grasped the columns in a death grip. Lost in the past, and only three people knew who she was. Oh, God, she wished her best friend Judy was here. Brave, confident Judy would just jump into the experience with both feet. But Judy wasn’t here.

No one was here. Janney struggled to calm her fears. She had no choice at this point. The plan was to get through the day, then when Marek arrived home tonight, do whatever she had to do to get him to take her back to Aquae Sulis.

“Are you all right, Mistress?” Rhea gently touched Janney’s arm.

Startled out of her gloominess, Janney looked up warily.

She had to be careful about what she said to his servants. There was no way they could know the truth about where she came from. She’d probably be burned at the stake or sacrificed to the gods for being a witch, if they had witches back then. Or now.

Janney shivered.

“I’m fine.” Janney forced her voice to a smooth calm. “It’s really beautiful here.” She indicated the view of the distant fields.

To change the subject, she asked Rhea, “Have you been here all your life? Has Marek, ah, owned you a long time?”

“I am not a slave, Mistress. No one here is a slave. We are all employed by the commander.” Rhea obviously tried to maintain her dignity, but was clearly insulted.

“Oh, Rhea, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I just assumed…”

Janney was aghast that she had made such a mistake, but she’d always read about Romans and their slaves, especially in the countries they conquered. Distressed that she had said the wrong thing, she shut her mouth. There was so much she didn’t know about this time. How would she ever last here? Someone was sure to find out her secret. Miserably homesick, she clutched the railing on the colonnade, stared into the distance, and cursed Marek for leaving her alone like this.

Rhea continued, “I came here three years ago with my husband. Alair is the manager of the pottery works. Before we came here, the commander freed all the slaves that were on the property. Almost everyone stayed. Marek is well respected.

He’s a good, honorable, generous man,” she gushed.

“Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to insult you. Any of you.

I’m sure Marek is a wonderful man.” Janney flushed, jittery and embarrassed, but some of her anxiety was relieved. It was important that his employees liked and respected him.

The two women turned and continued strolling down the corridor. Curious about her host, Janney said, “Marek must bring a lot of guests here. It’s so beautiful.”

“Oh, no, my Lady. In the three years I have worked here, the only guests he has ever had were Gaius and his wife, Augusta. You are the only other woman to come to the villa.”

He doesn’t need to bring women here. They’re already on-site for
his orgying pleasure.

Rhea’s voice interrupted that thought. “Are you from Rome, Mistress? You have an unusual accent.”

Janney had to think quickly. What was the cover story Augusta had given her? “No, I’m from the west of England, um…I mean Britannia. I’ve only been in this area a few days.

Please call me Janney,” she smiled encouragingly at Rhea’s nod.

“Is your husband a potter himself or does he just manage the works?”

“He’s manager, but once in a while he likes to create something. The commander makes a nice income from the pottery. Everyone in the area purchases it, and we ship all over the Empire.” Rhea opened a door. “Here is the tepidarium, Mistress Janney. You’ll find everything you need in the undressing room.” Rhea melted off giving Janney privacy for her bathing. After the heat of the bath, a meal of bread and cheese and a goblet of wine, the fact that she hadn’t slept well the night before or for several nights before that, if truth were known, caught up with her, and Janney was out like a light. She napped most of the afternoon away in her bedchamber. When she finally awoke, she found herself still antsy and irritated at Marek, crossly pacing the peristyle waiting for him. She intended to insist he take her back and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

The sun was halfway down to the horizon, slanting across the peristyle, shining like a beacon on the most beautiful, intriguing woman he had ever met. Marek had been waiting all day for this moment.

He’d been surprised at how much Janney had been on his mind. All during the meetings with his managers and staff, his thoughts periodically wandered to the feel of her nestled in his arms, the sound of her voice, the scent of her soft, curly hair as she rested her drowsy head on his chest while they rode. All he wanted to do when he got home tonight was take her in his arms and kiss her until she couldn’t stand anymore.

Eligius appeared out of nowhere. “Greetings, Master.” The servant bowed closer to Marek, a warning in his voice, “The lady seems quite upset.”

Marek shook his head absently. “I’ll take care of it.”

By the Gods, she looks magnificent.
A breeze sculpted the light material of her stola to her body. The gemstones in the pins gathering the material at her shoulders and a silver link belt draped around her hips glinted in the sunlight.

Completely misreading the intensity of Janney’s expression, he strode directly to her, slid his fingers through her hair, and pulled her into his arms. He relished her startled, aroused expression. “Janney,” he whispered, before he meshed his lips with hers.

It was a long, hot, breath-stealing kiss. Marek’s tongue slowly, seductively stole into her mouth, taking possession. The

feel of her squirming against him made him crazy; it was better than yesterday in the saddle. She pressed the whole of her body against him and wriggled in all the right places. He inhaled her clean, fresh scent from the baths, the delicately perfumed oils infusing and warming her skin. The intensity of his desire to nibble, piece by piece, down her body unnerved him.

“You bastard!” Her outraged cry and shove caught him off balance. The sting of her slap and the surprise on his face met the shock on hers. Marek quickly circled both her wrists in an iron-hard grip before she could draw back and hit him again. His passion changed to fury. His focus on her narrowed as he temporarily forgot the other people in the garden.

She hit me! By the Gods, she hit me! No one hits Marek Benin
Verus and gets away with it.

“I hate you. You…you jerk! Let me go. I want to go back. I want to go home,” she sobbed, reverting to a child’s plea.

He swept her up against his chest and locked her arms together behind her back with one hand. She twisted this way and that trying to escape.

What’s she doing?
He’d been so happy to see her, had actually missed being with her. Then to be greeted like this? In his own home? In front of his servants? Marek reflexively tightened his grip.
How dare she!

“You’re hurting me,” she cried in anguish.

Janney stopped twisting, and as his vision cleared, he saw that she was flushed, her eyes wild, she was wincing in pain.

“Let me go!”

She wasn’t afraid of him. She gave him orders.

Orders! The woman is giving me orders! What in Hades is going
on?

He released her wrists instantly. He’d never harmed a woman and didn’t intend to now. Even through his anger, he heard her voice, now quieter.

“Marek, you have to take me back. Now.”

No! She is not leaving.

He blinked, his eyes shifting around the courtyard. Who had witnessed this?

“I want to go home,” she whispered frantically. “I can’t stay here any longer. This isn’t my time. I don’t belong here.”

“Come with me,” he demanded. His household staff could not suspect that Janney was from the future. He realized that he accepted the truth, and finally and completely understood the magnitude of the problem they had.

“Don’t say anymore.” He growled as he tugged her along, storming out of the villa through the forecourt. They circled around the temple to his family’s ancestral spirits and up the hills deep into apple orchards outside the front gate.

“Where are you taking me?” She dug her heels in to slow them down.

“I don’t want anyone to hear this. You don’t either,” he bent to mutter into her ear. “Hades, woman, you don’t want anyone to know where you’re really from.” A whole host of servants had been in the peristyle, and he had to get Janney out of their hearing.

“I’m going to show you my orchards. You want to see them, don’t you? Nod your head,” he commanded sarcastically, keeping his voice mild, hoping the others wouldn’t be anymore suspicious then they already were. They’d already seen her strike him. “I purchased this villa because of the orchards,” he said conversationally. “I love the smell of apple blossoms.” He knew she was looking at him like he was out of his mind. He probably was, but it was her fault. The country had always soothed him, rejuvenated him. It looked like this trip was going to be different.

“Don’t move. Just don’t move.” Marek glared at her, daring her to speak, pressing her shoulders back against the trunk of a tree. “Now, what is wrong with you?” The woman was digging through his numbness. He didn’t want to feel anything, yet his heart thudded in his throat. This was too much like the battle.

Maybe she was right. This was a mistake. Maybe he should take her back.

“I saw you last night.” She glared angrily. Janney vainly pushed at his biceps to hold him off.

His glare deepened. “What do you mean? You were asleep when we rode in? I put you in a bed. Alone,” he added pointedly. She shook under his hands. He could see the sweat beading on her upper lip. Even as angry as she was, he wanted her even more. Dressed today in the thin Roman clothing and giving off the combined scent of perfumed oils and her own womanly musk, she more than tempted him.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and went out in the courtyard.” Her voice was strained, her face ablaze with fury and hurt. “I heard you yell out. I went to the door of your room and saw you with those women.”

His gaze shifted sightlessly to the distant fields, he felt his guts churn at her pain. What was he going to tell her? Not the truth about the battle. If she knew the truth about him, he would lose her. He couldn’t risk that. Cursing his weakness, Marek knew he was acting out of character with this woman. She was turning him inside out, and he didn’t know how she did it. He never let his emotions show. Never. Not since Mellona.

Emotion was not productive. It was useless, debilitating.

Dangerous. Ignoring what had happened wasn’t working, but he certainly did not intend to discuss it with Janney.

She broke his grip on her shoulders, her arms flying outward, and gave him a push.

“Two women! Why? One wasn’t enough?” Her voice, cracked and shrill, interrupted his thoughts. “That’s fine. I’ve heard men in your time are like that. I just don’t want any part of it.” Janney wrapped her arms tightly around her middle. “I can’t compete with that,” she muttered. “I won’t. I won’t share.”

“Two women?” He stared at her, astounded by her conclusion.

She won’t share? Well, well, well.
By the Gods, she thinks she saw
me in bed with other women? She’s jealous.
He rubbed his palm over his lips to hide a grin.

Mt. Olympus

“Is not that just like a woman? Her narrow mind will not accept that my warrior could have two women at once,” Mars crowed.

“You idiot,” Venus berated Mars. “He was not bedding two women. Besides, everyone knows that the most logical combination is one woman with two men.” She threw a heavenly, gold-threaded pillow at him, scowled when he handily caught it and placed it nonchalantly behind his head.

“Do not call me an idiot,” Mars laughed smugly. “You, my beautiful one, are the idiot if you think that I would share you with anyone else. God or mortal, male or female. It is not too late for me to make Marek Benin call other women to his bed.

This woman, Janney Forrester, is leading him on a fool’s dance.

He has been celibate far too long now.”

“You will not interfere with my plans, my dear Mars. She is fighting her feelings, but they will be all the stronger when she finally admits them.” Venus scowled at her celestial lover.

“Marek should take her, then the pressure will be off, and he will return to my power.”

“No, my dear God of War, Marek Benin will not need to take the woman. She will come to him willingly. Once he tastes true love, he will never come back to you. I will have him forever.”

Marek couldn’t stop a grin. He squinted at the horizon until the bright sliver of sun forced his gaze back to Janney. Her cheeks, burnished to glowing warmth, set off her sapphire eyes bristling hotly with confrontation. “Janney,” his voice dangerously even. “It wasn’t what you think.”

“Well, what was it, then? And don’t you dare laugh.”