Page 40 of Ensnaring the Dove
Colombia cast him a sidelong glance. “Admit it … as much as you resent us … you respect us too.”
He snorted in response yet didn’t contradict her.
They were approaching the southern entrance to the inner compound now. A great oaken and iron door loomed before them, blocking their way. There were a few yards distant when Aedan reached out and put a hand on Colombia’s arm.
Slowing her stride, she glanced at him. “What is it?”
“This is as far as I go,” he said softly.
Colombia halted and turned to him. “But you need to come inside with me.” Her pulse quickened. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him yet.
His mouth kicked up into a half-smile. “It’s best I don’t enter the compound. The commander won’t welcome me. He’ll jump to conclusions.” His expression sobered then. “And they’d be the correct ones.”
Colombia’s cheeks warmed. Of course, she hadn’t thought of that. Her father would see the pair of them together and assume Aedan had taken liberties. It seemed obvious now, and she felt a little foolish.
“What about your payment?” she asked, struggling to keep focused. “Paterwill reward you for helping me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to be paid for helping you, Colombia,” he murmured. “It was a pleasure.”
She swallowed. “But coin will make things easier for you, surely?”
His lips lifted at the corners. “Don’t worry about me.”
She cleared her throat, wishing she were more composed. In truth, she wasn’t prepared for this farewell. An ache rose under her breastbone as it hit her that she wouldn’t see Aedan again. “What will you do now?”
“I don’t know … to be honest, I haven’t given it much thought.”
“Will you return to your people?”
He shook his head.
“But the outlaws will be hunting you.”
He flashed her an arrogant smile. “Yes, they’ll always be on the lookout for me, but they won’t catch me.”
Colombia moved toward him so that little more than a foot now separated them. They stood in the midst of the busy market crowd. This close, she could feel the heat of his body. She dragged his spicy, intensely-male scent deep into her lungs and quashed the urge to reach up and touch his shaggy hair, to push it off his face.
“I will never forget you,” she whispered, her voice catching. Suddenly, she wanted this moment in time to freeze. If only they were still out in the wilderness together. For a short while, the rest of the world had ceased to matter—who she was, who he was, hadn’t been important. But now, reality shattered the bond that had formed between them. “May the Gods watch over you, Aedan.”
He stared down at her, and in his eyes, she glimpsed a hunger. It wasn’t just carnal, but something deeper, something she’d always longed to see upon a man’s face when he looked at her. And when he spoke, his voice was husky. “And you, Colombia.”
XVII. FORTUNA BE BLESSED
TWO LEGIONARIES ESCORTED Colombia up the street inside the compound, past a bathhouse, stables, and barracks on the left, and granaries and the headquarters on the right. The commander’s residence sat next to the courtyard principia building.
She noted an odd atmosphere within these walls. Unlike the vicus, which had been bustling and cheerful, voices were subdued here. And a few of the soldiers she passed—those that didn’t gawk rudely at her—wore disgruntled expressions.
Ignoring the stares she was attracting, Colombia tried to do the same with the ache in her chest and the sting behind her eyes. One night with Aedan wasn’t enough, and yet that was all the Gods would give her. She had to look forward now, to her future with Linus.
Linus.She’d avoided thinking about him this morning, for fear that guilt would barrel into her. He was here, and soon she’d be reunited with him.
Her pulse accelerated, anxiety fluttering up.
I’m not ready.
Reaching her father’s residence, she climbed the stone steps of the praetorium and made for the colonnaded entrance. A servant met her in the atrium. Tall and thin, his fine green tunic contrasting with burnished walnut-colored skin and peat-dark eyes, the man regarded her with thinly veiled distaste.“I’m Marcus Amulius, the commander’s house steward,” he introduced himself. “Who are you and what business do you have setting foot in here?” He cast a sharp, accusing look at the two soldiers who’d accompanied the newcomer into the praetorium—as if he couldn’t believe they’d let a scruffily dressed Briton woman inside the compound.
“I’m Colombia Juventus,” Colombia replied once the steward’s gaze had returned to her. “And I’m here to see my father.”