Page 43

B y the time they reached Ostia harbor, night had fallen. Lanterns swinging on the boat lit their way to the dock. The craft bumped gently against the wooden pier and the pilot tied a line to secure them. Lucretia rose to exit, eager to be on land, but Felix paused to speak to the pilot.

“Would you make one more trip out?” he asked. “I arranged for the other captives to be freed as well, and I expect about half of them are in the second boat behind us. But the rest will require transport.”

The pilot frowned. “I’ve only been paid for the one trip. But…” He looked Felix over. “I suppose I wouldn’t mind being owed a favor by Lucius Avitus Felix.”

Felix grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. “You have my gratitude.”

Lucretia blinked at him. “What do you mean, you arranged for the other captives to be freed?”

Felix climbed off the boat and held out a hand to her. “Exactly that. I negotiated for everyone to be freed. Of course, that was before I realized the issue with the ransom money.”

Lucretia clasped his hand, grateful for the support as she stepped over the gap between the boat and the dock.

Her mind whirled. Felix, one of the most self-serving people she had ever known, had not only sacrificed himself to save her son, but had also negotiated for the release of an entire shipload of captives?

His rescue of Marcus could be explained by his affection for her son, but those other people were strangers to him.

“ Why ?” she demanded in shock.

He gave her a long look as the boat behind them pulled away from the dock. “Because I couldn’t live with the thought of never seeing you again, and I realized every person on that ship must have someone they felt the same about.”

She let out her breath in a shuddering rush. Before she could say anything further, a figure hurried down the dock toward them.

“Marcus!” Lucretia exclaimed. She wanted to chide him for being out alone at night, but bit back the impulse. Of course he’d want to witness Felix’s safe return.

“You’re back!” Marcus said.

“Clearly there was no cause to worry, thanks to your mother,” Felix said. “Was your journey from Cyrene smooth?”

Marcus nodded. He hesitated for a moment, then launched himself into Felix’s arms, wrapping him in a hug that made Lucretia’s heart clench in mingled joy and pain. It reminded her of the unrestrained, exuberant hugs Marcus used to give his father when he was younger.

Felix returned the hug for a moment before Marcus pulled back, wrinkling his nose. “Is that what pirates smell like?”

Felix chuckled. “I suppose so.”

“What were they like? Were they ferocious? Did they slaughter anyone? Are they cannibals?” Marcus’s eyes lit with interest.

“Marcus!” Lucretia scolded. “Felix does not wish to discuss such things.”

“It’s all right,” Felix said with a laugh. “Though in truth, it was rather boring, all things considered.”

Marcus made a noise of disappointment.

“Come, let’s be on our way,” Lucretia said. “Marcus, you’ll return home, and then I’ll see Felix to his house and make sure he’s taken care of.”

“Can’t I come with you?” Marcus asked.

“Felix needs to rest,” Lucretia said sternly. “You’ll keep him up half the night with questions about the pirates. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t.”

Marcus gave her a look of begrudging concession. “Fine.”

“Meet me at the gymnasium tomorrow after you’re done with school,” Felix said.

Lucretia raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You mean to exercise? Don’t you wish to take a few days to rest?”

Felix flexed one arm experimentally. “I’ve spent the last nine days sitting on a ship doing nothing. Marcus may actually have a chance of beating me in my current state.”

Marcus let out a gleeful laugh, and Lucretia sighed. “Very well.”

They saw Marcus home, and then made their way to Felix’s house. As she expected, his staff had a hot bath waiting for him, and he disappeared to wash and change his clothes while the kitchen prepared dinner.

He looked much restored after the bath, and he ravenously tucked into the expansive spread laid out in the dining room. Once she saw the food, Lucretia realized she hadn’t eaten all day, and she joined him in demolishing an embarrassing amount of the excellent fare.

“I will repay Lentulus first thing tomorrow morning,” Felix said as he polished off a second duck leg.

Lucretia loaded up her plate with wine-poached pears. “Will losing all that money hurt you?”

“I won’t be begging on the street, if that’s what you mean. But I will need to scale back my operations temporarily, until my capital is rebuilt. I’ll have to delay my planned expansion to other ports.”

“So you’ll stay in Ostia.” She shot him a coy sidelong glance. “A terrible fate.”

He met her gaze with a crooked half-smile. “Devastating.”

They resumed eating in companionable silence. Finally, Felix pushed back his third empty plate with a sigh of defeat. “That’s about all I can manage.”

“Are you very tired?” She would leave if he wished to rest, but being alone with him in the dining room where they had spent so many intimate moments was causing a different kind of appetite to flare.

Now that he was safe, and now that she had forgiven him, all she wanted was to fall into bed with him, to truly reunite and repair their relationship.

“Not very,” he replied. “I think I should be, but I feel strangely invigorated.”

“Good,” she said. “May I take you to bed, Felix?”

His eyebrows shot up—clearly that was the last thing he expected her to say. Then the surprise faded, and a lascivious gleam took its place in his eyes. “You may.”

She stood and took his hand, pulling him to his feet.

They left the dining room, heading for his bedroom.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Lucretia busied herself in pulling off his tunic.

The fresh clothes smelled strongly of marjoram, and Lucretia took a deep breath, filling her lungs with his scent. She had missed that.

Her hands skimmed down his body, luxuriating in the feel of him beneath her fingers. He was a trifle thinner than she recollected, but no doubt a few good meals would remedy that in short order.

His cock, thankfully, hadn’t been affected by his ordeal, and it was as robust as she remembered. She curled her fingers around it, feeling it twitch and stiffen against her palm.

“I forgot how good that feels,” Felix hissed. “How good you feel.”

He reached for the shoulder of her dress, but she caught his hand and moved it away. “Not yet.” She gently guided him over to the bed, where she sat him on the edge of it.

Then, she sank to her knees between his thighs and took him into her mouth.

He let out a strangled groan as her lips slid down his length. “Wh-what lesson is this meant to—” He broke off in a gasp as her tongue swirled around the head of his cock. “Teach me?”

She pulled her mouth off of him. “No lesson,” she murmured, giving him a languorous stroke with her hand.

Tonight was different, not about lessons, but about celebrating the fact that they were alive, and together, and loved each other.

“Well, perhaps the lesson is how to endure this without spilling in my mouth.”

“You don’t want that?” His voice became hoarse as she resumed the play of her lips and tongue over him. He laid his hand on the back of her head, a caress.

“Not there. Not today.” She took him as deep as she was able, filling her mouth with his girth. The feel of him in her mouth, against her tongue, made her quim pulse in yearning.

His sharp gasp rewarded her effort, along with the spasmodic tightening of his hand in her hair. “I fear—I fear I’m going to fail your lesson.”

She withdrew, arching an eyebrow at him. “So soon?”

He scowled. “You know what you do to me.”

She rose to her feet and shed her dress in one quick movement, then climbed into bed. His eyes darkened with hunger as she pulled him down to lie next to her. The feeling of her bare skin against his was a warm, gentle pleasure like no other.

He put his hand on her hip, starting to draw her on top of him, but she shook her head. “I want you like this,” she said, maneuvering herself beneath him. Tonight, she wanted to feel completely possessed, taken by him.

He settled his weight over her with a sigh, the thickness of his arousal pressing against her core in a way that made her want to squirm. “You said a certain level of control was required for this position,” he said, dropping a kiss on her collarbone. “I warn you, I don’t have it.”

“Don’t worry about that tonight. I know my courses and the chance of conception is minimal.” She skimmed her fingernails down his lean back, and he shuddered.

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, tightening her thighs around his hips. She was ready, aching for him. “Forget control. Just take me. Please,” she added, in case he needed further convincing.

He made a low sound of pleasure. “I like the sound of that.” His hand trailed down her neck, coming to rest possessively at the base of her throat. “Beg for me, Lucretia.”

Her pride flared momentarily in resistance, but he nudged his hips against hers, causing his cock to give a tempting push against her entrance. Simple need burned away the vestiges of her pride. “I want you inside me, Felix. Please, I want to feel you lose yourself, I want you to—”

“Fuck,” he rasped. “Are you ready, Lucretia? Ready now?” Even as he spoke, he was adjusting his position, a hand wrapped around his cock to guide it into her.

She nodded with voracious eagerness, unable to form more words. There was a moment of fumbling as they found the right angle, and then she gripped his shoulders hard as he slid into her. “Oh!”

He froze. “Did I go too fast?” His voice was strangled, breathless in her ear.

She shook her head, relaxing her grasp on his shoulders to give his back a reassuring stroke. “Let me take all of you.”

He rooted himself deep inside her with another muttered curse. Then he drew back and thrust, the powerful movement driving her halfway across the bed.

She giggled and held on, arms and legs wrapping tight around him, as he took his pleasure.

This was what she wanted—to make him lose control, abandon all traces of composure, to think only of his satisfaction.

With moans and gasps, she encouraged him to take her harder, faster, to use her exactly as he wished.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Just like that.”

His climax seemed to burst as quick and sudden as a summer rainstorm, passing through him in wracking waves. He moaned her name, one hand clenching on her hip so tightly she wouldn’t be surprised if it bruised.

When it left him, he rolled off her and collapsed onto his back. He seemed incapable of speech, so she laid her head on his shoulder and rubbed her hand over his chest, feeling the rapid thumping of his heart.

Gradually, it slowed. She expected him to fall asleep after all he’d endured, but his hand came up to stroke her hair. “Lucretia,” he murmured. “For the third time, will you finally, please marry me?”

She propped herself on her elbow to survey him. After their confessions of love earlier, she’d anticipated this question. And she knew exactly what her answer would be.

“No.” She couldn’t stop a smile from spreading over her face. “I will not marry you, Felix.”

“What?” He shot into a sitting position, heat flaring in his eyes. “Now is not the time for jokes.”

She schooled her face into a more serious expression. “I’m not joking.” She sat up and reached for his hand, twining his fingers with hers. “I love you, Felix. But I don’t need a husband. And Marcus has made it very clear he doesn’t want a stepfather, despite his affection for you.”

He opened his mouth, but she held up a hand and continued speaking.

“A husband holds no benefit to me, but a business partner might. I think we are better suited as colleagues and lovers, rather than husband and wife. At least for now. You know we’d be stronger if we combine our efforts, instead of working against each other. ”

He narrowed his eyes, disbelief mingling with irritation. “You’re actually refusing my proposal? For the third time?”

She nodded. “But I’m not refusing you . I want you, by day and by night.” An unpleasant thought occurred to her, one that turned her stomach but that she had to voice. “However, if you prefer to have a wife who can give you children that bear your name, I won’t stand in your way.”

He glanced away from her, and she held her breath. What if she had misjudged his desires? What if what he truly wanted was a traditional marriage with a wife who would keep his house and bear his children?

Felix met her gaze once more. The momentary frustration faded from his eyes, replaced with a steady acceptance. “I thought I made it clear. You are the only woman I have ever wanted, or will ever want. If this is how you’ll have me, then I accept.”

Warmth surged inside her, and she raised their twined hands to kiss his fingers.

“As for a child,” he continued, “that is easily solved. If my sister ever has a son, I can settle my estate on him. But until then, I’ll designate Marcus as my heir. We need not be married for that.”

Tears pricked at her eyes. “You would do that?”

“Of course,” he said, as if he thought nothing of it. “Who else?”

“Oh, Felix,” she whispered, and wrapped her arms around him. Together, they tumbled from their sitting positions to lie flat on the bed, holding each other tight.

They were quiet for a moment, until Felix let out a low chuckle in her ear.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

He traced a finger along her cheek, tender and reverent.

“In one day, I’ve lost nearly my entire fortune.

If an oracle had told me this would happen, I would only have imagined the utter devastation I’d feel.

But I find that I’ve gained something far more precious.

” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose.

“I would spend the rest of my life without a single denarius to my name, if that’s what it took to keep you by my side. ”

She closed her eyes and smiled. “Luckily, I do not plan to live a destitute life. We’ll rebuild your fortune. Together.”

“ Our fortune,” he said, and sealed his words with a kiss.