For a Roman's Heart (13 page)

His mouth rocked over hers, and as his tongue plunged inside once more, she fell into the energy of their connection. She returned the passion, learned to caress his tongue with hers. She’d never imagined these sensations multiplying, growing hotter and heavier. A whimper escaped her throat. His cock pressed against her hip, hard and long. Curiosity danced in her mind along with feral need. Wherever this desire led, she’d never regret sensations so wonderful and enticing. With hot attention his lips lingered and dined, as if he might never taste anything so delicious again. Warmth swept over her in a furious wave. She clutched at Terentius, searching muscles rock hard and immovable. Such strength aroused, but such power also created undeniable fear.

The front door opened, and Adrenia sprang off Terentius’s lap. Victor stood at the entry, a wry smile on his lips. “Am I interrupting something
again
?”

Terentius stood, and she saw the erection tenting his tunic. He didn’t seem the least embarrassed by the display, but her face flamed in reaction.

Terentius urged the optio toward the door and said to her, “We’ll be outside.”

She stood for several moments, her heart still banging against her chest.

Adrenia groaned as she awakened. Her mind felt foggy, her thoughts scattered. Slowly she registered the hardwood table under her arm, her cheek pressed against her forearm. Unsure what awakened her, she opened her eyes. The hearth crackled nearby, and the scent of the stew teased her nostrils again. She smiled. Terentius had encouraged her, strenuously, to consume yet another bowl of stew. After returning from his short sojourn outside, he’d eaten jerky but not much else. Victor had eaten a bowl of stew that Pontius insisted he eat for riding hard and fast to find the
medicus
. Victor had left afterward to report back to the fort. Adrenia had put her head down only for a minute while Terentius stepped outside. A minute had turned into who knew how long. Daylight broke on the horizon and heralded a new day. Foggy-headed, she blinked and sat up.

“Adrenia!” Pontius’s urgent cry brought her straight from her chair.

Fear punctured her like a blade as she ran into the room where Pontius watched over Pella.

Pella’s eyes were open.

Adrenia sagged against the wall in relief. “Thanks be to the gods.”

Adrenia rushed to her friend’s side. Pontius stared down at his wife, his eyes bright, swimming with tears. His hand clutched Pella’s tightly.

“Pontius?” Pella’s voice held confusion as she looked first from Pontius to Pella and back. “My head hurts. What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Terentius’s voice came from the doorway and made Adrenia jump.

Adrenia reached for Pella’s other hand. “How are you feeling?”

Pella winced, but she smiled. “I’m all right except for the headache. But it isn’t severe.”

“The
medicus
says you will be fine,” Pontius gathered his wife’s small hand in both of his and rubbed her fingers. “Thank the gods.”

“Thank Adrenia.” Terentius stepped into the room, his arms crossed.

“What are you doing here, sir?’ Pella stared at Terentius as if he’d sprung from the earth like a monster.

“It’s a long story,” Terentius said.

Pontius beamed at Terentius, then turned back to his wife. “He is too modest. Without his help…well, as he said, it’s a long story.”

Terentius came to stand near Adrenia. “What happened to you in the woods? We found Crassus dead along a water-filled ditch on the road between here and Durovigutum.”

Adrenia turned a disapproving look on Terentius. “Perhaps she should rest.”

He nodded toward Pontius. “As you wish it, sir.”

Pontius squeezed Pella’s hand. “Darling, can you tell us who did this to you?”

“We must know who did this,” Terentius said. “I have legal authority to bring them to justice.”

Pella winced. “I know him.” Her gaze centered on Adrenia. “As do you.”

Adrenia’s mouth fell open in total surprise. “What?”

Pella allowed her gaze to sweep everyone in the room, then slid back to Adrenia. “It was the man who bought the slave girl for your father that day. I’d never seen him before that day, but you said your father ran into him in the market some time back and has had dealings with the stranger.”

Adrenia cupped a hand over her forehead. “No. Not…”

“Sulla. Your father calls him Sulla,” Pella said.

“By the gods.” Terentius voice turned harsh. “Publius Sergius Sulla?”

Adrenia flinched at his anger, the wrath on his face stronger and fiercer than anything she’d seen upon him since they’d met. She took two steps back. “Father never called him anything but Sulla. He’s blond. Unusually handsome.”

“Like the Greek Adonis,” Pella said.

Terentius stalked the room. “He is a deserter. I was sent from Deva to hunt him down.”

Adrenia sat on the edge of Pella’s bed, her knees weak. “What did he do?”

Terentius said, “He has a reputation of brutalizing women. But deserting the army is bad enough. That is punishable by death.”

Pontius looked doubtful. “Are you certain, Pella, that it was this Sulla you’ve talked about so often?”

Adrenia peered at her friends. “You’ve talked about him frequently?”

Pella squeezed her hand. “Of course. I wanted Pontius to know what I felt about the man. He’s…there’s something odd about him I can’t quite explain. Cruelty that goes beyond all reason.”

Pontius turned his attention once more to his wife. “You’re saying Sulla killed the soldier and took you?”

“He rode up to us, and I was immediately suspicious. Before the soldier could react, Sulla drew his sword and lunged at the soldier.”

Terentius paced. “Sulla is very skilled. Then what happened?”

“I tried to run but Sulla rode alongside me and pulled me onto his horse. He hit me and that’s all I remembered until I awoke in the Haunted Woods. He looked…” She shivered. “He looked murderous. Hateful. I’ve never seen anyone with such cold eyes. He told me it was unfortunate I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I tried to run again and this time…”

“Yes?” Pontius’s eyes held fear and anger.

“He caught me.” Pella shivered. “He called me by name. So he recognized me.”

“What did he do then?” Terentius ejected the question as he prowled the room like a restless animal.

“He taunted me. Told me I was going to…die.”

“I’m grieved you had to experience this.” Terentius’s hushed voice was filled with regret. His eyes held fury mixed with compassion, and something within Adrenia melted.

Pella’s lips trembled. “He hit me, and I fell face first against a tree. I thought my head was cracked it hurt so much. He told me that he’d leave me for the wolves.”

“Bastard.” Pontius’s gaze blazed with the need for retribution.

“I don’t remember anything after that.”

Pella’s hand tightened on Adrenia’s, and Pella turned her attention to the Roman soldier. “Sulla is obviously a very dangerous man. I’ve heard rumors in the village. Many of them.”

“Rumors?” Adrenia didn’t take much stock in gossip, for most of the time it came to nothing. She had other things to worry about.

Pella turned her gaze to her friend. “Forgive me, my dear. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Adrenia shook her heard. “I don’t understand.”

Pella loosened her hands from the grip of her husband and friend. She covered her eyes a moment, then lowered her hands. “I’ve heard rumors that people believe something strange is happening at your house and whatever it is includes Sulla.”

Puzzled, Adrenia stood. “You didn’t tell me this.”

“I know. It was wrong of me. When I was in the village with Pontius we both heard this from a bread maker who is friends with your sisters’ husbands.” Pella licked her lips. “Your sisters, all three, were at the bread maker’s. I came in behind them at the shop and they didn’t see me. The woman at the counter told them that people are getting restless. There are women disappearing around the area.”

Pontius stood and joined Terentius at the small window. Light broke over the horizon. They’d been up most of the night. “Rumors insinuate that Sulla is a bad influence on everyone around here. Women and men alike. I’ve seen the way he looks at people, at the lack of humanity within him.” He turned back to his wife. “Forgive me for not looking out for you, Pella.”

Pella held her hand out. “It’s not your fault. If you’d have been there, you would have… Sulla would have killed you. I’ve never seen such brutality.”

Terentius turned away from the window. “With your testimony, Sulla will be punished. If he has anything to do with these other women vanishing, he’ll pay the consequences. The fact that he’s a deserter and murdered a fellow soldier is heavy indictment. His actions toward Pella compound his crimes. Victor and I will find him and that will be the end of it. You have my word.”

Pontius put out his hand. “You are a good man, Centurion. Thank you.”

Terentius didn’t hesitate to shake the other man’s hand. “It is the least I can do. He was under my command in Deva. It’s my duty to rectify this situation.”

Adrenia’s stomach cramped. What if Terentius encountered Sulla and Sulla was stronger? More aggressive? Her gaze traced over Terentius. He was at least as tall as Sulla. She ventured to say, from his muscles, that he was stronger than Sulla. It gave her a measure of comfort.

“Tell me more about these rumors.” Terentius planted his palms on the foot of the bed. “When did these woman start to disappear?”

Pontius broke in with, “Some say it’s only started happening in the last month.”

Terentius nodded. “That would be around the time Sulla deserted the fort.”

“In the last week, three women have gone missing.” Pontius rubbed his wife’s hand. “They were poor women with no escort. Married or unmarried, it doesn’t matter.”

Terentius’s gaze flicked from Pella to Pontius, and then to Adrenia. She feared that he’d ask more questions, want her to tell him something she couldn’t. Fear swelled inside her like a pustule ready to burst. What she knew could harm her family. What should she do?

Instead, Terentius said, “You will not venture anywhere without an escort, Adrenia.”

Her mouth popped open at his demanding tone. Anger overwhelmed her fear. She stepped around the bed and walked toward him. When she stood at his side, she stared up at him with determination. “You have no power over where I go or what I do.”

He held up his index finger and leaned down into her face. “I have, as a soldier of Rome, the authority to command you as I like. Besides, it seems you do what you want often enough. Running off to the so-called Haunted Woods. Visiting the fort without a male escort.”

Pella cleared her throat. “I’d like to rest now, Pontius.”

Adrenia returned to her friend’s side. “Of course. I’ll go home now.”

Pella clasped her friend’s hand in both of hers. Her eyes welled with tears. “Please be careful around Sulla. He’s dangerous. Tell your family he’s …” She shook her head and tears fell on her cheeks.

“I don’t think they’d care,” Adrenia said before she could swallow the words. She shivered.

Terentius looked at her sharply. He gently clasped her shoulder and turned her toward him. “Why wouldn’t they care?”

“Can we speak of this outside?”

He nodded. “All right. I need to take you home anyway.”

After pressing a kiss to Pella’s cheek, she left the house with Terentius. Her breath puffed out in the cold morning air, the bite stinging her nostrils. In the breaking dawn, the sun sent brilliant orange streaks through the clouds on the horizon.

She stared at the sunrise with fascination, marveling at its power. “Do the gods care that I see these colors every morning and wonder at their purpose?”

His attention fell on her, his eyes warm. “Who knows what the gods have in mind. I think they’re a fickle lot. A cranky, querulous, degenerate bunch and they do anything they want. Sort of like humans.”

She liked the underlying amusement in his tone and it gave her new hope that today would be a much better day than yesterday. “You don’t believe in the gods?”

“I pray to the gods in the hope that if they are there, they believe in me.”

She laughed, the sensation free and wild. “Isn’t that what most people do?” She sighed and took in the horizon one more time before the rest of the day could steal her attention. “Still, if they do create the heavens, the gods and goddesses know much about beauty. Wouldn’t you agree?”

When he didn’t answer, she found his warm, appreciative gaze on her. Caressing. Touching her with his simple attention. Thrills shot up her spine. “Yes. Beautiful.”

Excited and yet overwhelmed by the delicious feelings his attention gave her, she changed the subject. “That is not what we came outside to discuss, is it?”

He patted his horse’s neck. “No. How well do you know Sulla?”

She shrugged, then shivered as much from revulsion of the subject as from the cold. “Not well. My father introduced my mother and I to him a few weeks back. He’s crude. Large. Has no respect for anyone. He does seem to get on well with my father, though. But then, I guess that’s understandable.”