The Raven and the Rose (24 page)

“Do you see what you do to me?” he said huskily.

Larthia tried to answer, but couldn’t. He laced his fingers with hers and stretched her arms out, pinning her to the bed and moving down over her, kissing her prone body everywhere. Larthia was still unable to make a sound, gliding her nails across his scalp as he encircled her waist with his big hands. When he bent to caress her again she didn’t stop him.

Verrix knew what he was doing. He had lost his virginity when he was twelve. But he had never been with a woman like Larthia and he didn’t know how she would respond, especially after her sorry history with Sejanus, an experience that might have killed desire in a lesser woman. But he needn’t have worried. Larthia gasped, then slowly relaxed under his touch, tossing her head on the bed restlessly. When she could take no more she tugged on him urgently, her hands sliding over his broad shoulders, now slick with sweat.

“Please,” she begged. “Now. Take me now.”

He obeyed. He stood and stripped off his pants, then moved next to her and turned her to face him, taking her hand and placing it on him. She sighed and closed her eyes, pressing her face to his shoulder, her fingers busy, exploring, driving him to the edge.

“Stop,” he gasped, rolling away from her.

“Did I hurt you?” she said, worried.

He threw one arm over his eyes, holding up his free hand. She waited until he said, “You didn’t hurt me,” then took her arms and wound them around his neck. He eased her under him, and she twined her limbs with his, suspended in time, waiting for penetration. That much she knew. But when it came she turned her head and made a sound of gratification deep in her throat, unable to believe the exquisite bliss of the sensation. Verrix was so full, and into her so deep; her husband had barely managed to complete the act before rolling off her, leaving her feeling dry, incomplete and inadequate. That experience had not prepared her for this. She clung to Verrix like a limpet, afraid to change position and disturb her pleasure, yet waiting breathlessly for more.

When he began to move she caught his rhythm and joined in with it, learning the lesson only he could teach her.

* * *

“I love you,” Larthia said, curling against him in the bed, as a stiff spring breeze from the portico dried the perspiration on their skin.

Verrix drew the blanket from the bottom of the bed and spread it over them.

“Are you sure?” he said, his arm tight around her. “I satisfied you in bed, that’s not the same thing as love.”

“I loved you long before you bedded me, Verrix. You know that. You never would have pushed things to this point if you weren’t sure about it.”

“I wasn’t sure you would admit it.”

 
He got up abruptly and crossed the room to jam her straight chair under the latch on her door.

“If Nestor tries to get in here tonight I’ll kill him,” he said grimly.

Larthia bit her lip. “You said everyone was sleeping.”

“I don’t think he sleeps, he’s like a shade who haunts the place at all hours,” Verrix replied, getting back in with her. She turned to him immediately, embracing him again. She couldn’t seem to get enough of him: the feel of his hard body, the scent and texture of his skin, his hair. Just the size of him intoxicated her; she was drunk on the way his body engulfed hers, making her feel small and female and protected. He was like a banquet after a fast, and she would soon be hungry again.
 

“Would you really have left me tonight?” she asked, trailing her hand across his chest.

“I knew I had to. You cannot imagine what it was like to see you every day, be so close to you, and know that you were forbidden to me.”

“I can imagine it very well,” she said with real feeling, and he smiled.

“You are the last person I ever thought...” he began, and stopped.

“Yes, I know,” she said, sighing deeply. “I hated you at first too. I thought you were the most arrogant man I ever met.” She leaned over him and kissed the hollow in his throat, just above his torque. “But even then it was not entirely lost on me that you were very handsome.”

He snorted. “Not by Roman standards. They think the Gauls are barely human.”

“That’s not what they think. That’s what they SAY. They’re afraid of you.”
 

“They conquered us, Larthia. Haven’t you heard?”

“Not without the toughest fight they ever had. If you had had half the manpower and weaponry that we did you would have won, and everybody knows that.”

He stared at her. “Who told you so?”

“My grandfather.”

Verrix snorted. “Casca is Caesar’s enemy. He would say anything to minimize your dictator’s victory in Gaul.”

“That’s not all Casca said. He told me to take my money out of the banks and convert it into gold plate and coins in case it had to be transported.”

“Transported?” Verrix said, looking at her.

“He’s expecting trouble.”

“What kind?”

“Political trouble.”

“He already has that.”

Larthia shrugged, her rippling light brown hair cascading over one pale shoulder. “I don’t know, he seemed... nervous. Scared, almost. Something must be coming.” She put her head on his chest and his arm came around her tightly.

“May I ask you something?” she said.

“Anything,” he replied agreeably, and kissed the top of her head.

“When you first came to this house you said you had been betrayed to the authorities after your second escape by a woman. Who was she?”

“Another Gaul I met here.”

“Your lover?”

He glanced down at her, drawing in his chin. “No, just a fellow colonial I thought might hide me for a night. I was wrong. She turned me over to the Romans for the price of a meal.”

“How awful.”

He shrugged. “She was poor, and afraid. I can understand why she did it.”

“I thought...well, it sounded like a lover’s quarrel and I was curious.”

He smiled roguishly. “Maybe I made it sound that way deliberately.”

“Why?”

“It certainly makes a better story for the ears of a pretty young woman,” he answered, and she sat up, gazing at him through narrowed eyes.

“You were already trying to make me jealous that first day?” she asked incredulously.

“I don’t know. Maybe. It worked, didn’t it?”

She flung her arms around his neck. “You’re a devil. Nestor says that all the Gauls are possessed by spirits from Hades, that’s why they’re so fierce.”

“Do we have to talk about Nestor? My aching back reminds me of him every day.”

“Please don’t talk about that. I didn’t trust myself to deal with Nestor when I first heard what he had done to you, I had to wait until my rage had subsided.” She fingered his hair lovingly. “Did it hurt very much?”

He grunted.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

“It was only ten strokes.”

“But it must have been painful.”

“I think Menander took it easy on me. He huffed and puffed so it would sound like he was putting his back into it but he stiffened his wrist so the whip wouldn’t crack.”

“You must have been furious with me for putting you into that position.”

He was silent, stroking her slender arm.

“Were you?” Larthia asked.

“I knew you were just trying to help your sister. The rest of it was an accident,” he said shortly. He looked down at her soberly. “Larthia, we have to talk about what we’re going to do.”

Her face fell. “Do we have to, at this moment? I’m so happy,” she said.

“We have to.”

“All right.”
 

“We can’t stay here, you know that. I won’t live as your kept man, and we’d be discovered sooner or later anyway. Does old Sejanus have any children you could leave this place to if you went off with me?”

Larthia shook her head. “His son from his first wife died years ago. A large part of the reason he married me was to give him an heir, but I failed.”

“Maybe if he had paid a little more attention to you that could have gone better.”

Larthia shuddered. “I doubt it. I really hated for him to touch me.”

“So are there any relatives?” Verrix asked.

“Some cousins. The will provides that if anything happens to me they get the estate.”

“Good. Then we can just walk out.”
 

“And take nothing?”

“And take nothing,” Verrix confirmed.

“The magistrates will have to declare me
nulla in absentia
, legally dead as a result of desertion, for the cousins to inherit the lot. They’re an avaricious bunch, once it’s obvious that I’m gone they’ll be in the courts to settle the estate immediately.”

“How is that done?”

“They’ll hire someone to plead their case, probably Cicero, and he’ll bring in witnesses to swear before the public in the forum that I’m gone. It should be pretty obvious that I’ve taken off with you; if nothing else the doctor, Paris, and old Nestor will be certain to testify about my feelings for you.”
 

“Why the doctor?”

“It was clear to him from my concern about you that I was in love with you,” Larthia said.

“Was it?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Yes, and although he promised to be discreet about it once it’s clear that we’ve absconded I’m sure he will not be averse to taking a bribe to appear in the courts.”

“I think we should go in the middle of the night when we’re least likely to be spotted.”

“That seems to be when we do our best work,” she replied dryly, and he laughed.

“When?” he said.

“I’d go with you right now, but I’m worried about Julia. If I leave she has no place to meet Marcus, and that will certainly devastate her. I must talk to her first.”

“They’ll just have to make other arrangements, Larthia. And if they’re smart they’ll get out of Rome too.”

“Marcus is a centurion in the army!” Larthia said to him, shocked.

“So? That hasn’t stopped him from having an affair with a Vestal, not to mention that she’s hardly taking her vows very seriously either.”

“Julia never wanted to take those vows and she certainly doesn’t feel bound by them,” Larthia said quietly. “She was a political pawn. She regards her Vestal service in the same way you do your slavery, Verrix. It was forced upon her and it is preventing her from having a free life.”

 
Verrix shrugged. “Maybe so. But if your sister and her lover can break such cardinal rules there are few others that should intimidate them.” He took her hand. “We have to move fast, Larthia. Rumors fly. The doctor already knows about us, and you’re right, I’m sure Nestor suspects. Get to your sister Julia as soon as you can and tell her to make other plans.”

Larthia nodded unhappily. She felt like she was deserting Julia, but she knew that Verrix was right.

They could not afford to waste time.
 

“Should I try to free you?” she suggested. “Technically I own you now, I could emancipate you. Of course my grandfather might object, but...”

She stopped. Verrix was shaking his head.

“You can’t free me,” he said. “You didn’t read the document Casca filed with the Vestals. I did. Your grandfather transferred ownership to you but retained
donatus libertas
for himself. I can only be freed by him personally or through his will.”

Larthia called Casca a name under her breath. “You don’t think he foresaw...” she said slowly.

“No. I think he just wanted to maintain control of the situation.”

“So you knew this all along?” Larthia said.

“Yes.”

She sighed with a relief Verrix did not miss.

“Did you think I pursued you because you could free me?” he demanded, looking down at her.

“The thought had occurred to me,” she admitted.

“No wonder it was so hard for you to give in,” he said softly.

“I always knew that wasn’t possible, Larthia. I don’t want the mansion or the money or the title, or the Lady Sejana, whoever that is. I want you.”

Larthia snuggled into his shoulder. “The sky is getting light,” she said regretfully. “The servants will be up soon. You have to go and get back to your room.”

He sat up and retrieved his clothing from the foot of the bed, pulling on his trousers and yanking his tunic over his head. Then he stood upright and offered her his hand.

She took it, allowing him to pull her, naked, into his arms. She pressed herself to him when he kissed her, and soon he was dragging her back to the bed.

“No,” Larthia said, forcing herself to say it even as she responded hungrily. “You can’t stay, you’ll be discovered. Tonight. Come back to me tonight.”
 

He let her go reluctantly, with a final, lingering kiss.

“Tonight,” he said, and went out to the portico.

Larthia fell back on the bed and stretched like a cat, then ran her hands down her body, still singing from his touch.