Courted (3 page)

She felt him kiss her temple tenderly, and
nuzzle into her neck. “I want you so badly, carissima.” His lips
grazed along her cheekbone. “I’ve wanted you from the moment I saw
you walk into my office.”

She languidly wrapped her arms around his
neck and sighed. “If I had known you could make me feel this way, I
would have hired another lawyer and immediately started an affair
with you.”

Lucillus laughed and pushed off from the
wall, bringing her with him. With a susurration of pillow talk in
her ear and his kisses along her jaw, he walked her the few steps
backwards toward her bed. The edge of the mattress hit her behind
knees and she tumbled onto the pillows. Her lover leaned down over
her and began kissing a path down her chest toward her breasts, but
Anthea grabbed his face in her hands to stop him.

“No,” she demanded, “I want you inside me
right now. I can’t wait for you any longer, Lucillus. I need
you.”

Lucillus closed his eyes briefly. “Don’t say
that or I am going to come the instant I breach the gate and I
really,
really
don’t want to disappoint you.”

“I swear to you,” she told him earnestly,
“you haven’t.”

She pulled his head down for another kiss.
His kisses were the kind Jupiter must have used to lure maidens out
of their father’s gardens. Lucillus could turn into a bull and she,
like Europa, would allow him to abscond with her.

Ending the kiss, Lucillus stood up and pulled
his tunic over his head and threw it on the floor. Anthea finally
saw the pectoral muscles she had felt beneath her hands, a vision
that gladdened her heart and heated her vagina further. Her ogling
continued down the ridges of his belly to his sex, and she gasped
involuntarily.

I wasn’t far off with the bull metaphor.

Lucillus mistook her gasp for fear and
hastened to assure her, “Don’t worry, mellita. I won’t hurt you.
Tell me when it’s too much and I’ll stop.”

Anthea swallowed and nodded. “I am going to
give it a heroic effort, I can tell you that much.”

“Good to know,” Lucillus chuckled as he got
into the bed.

Instead of lying down beside her, he sat back
on his heels at her feet. “I do have a request of my own.”

She felt a sizzle of curiosity. “Tell
me.”

“I’d like to be able to see you properly,” he
confessed. “I’ve imagined it for so long I want to enjoy the real
view.”

Her brow cleared. “Oh, with me on top? That’s
not anything so different you need to ask if I am willing.”

“Not quite,” he said, and she felt a tingle
in her spine. “It’s is easier to show you than explain.”

He ran his hands up her legs to her calves
and then pulled her down the bed toward him. He leaned down and put
his forearms under her knees adjusted her hips onto his thighs,
spreading her open and angled her upward. Anthea couldn’t tell if
she felt more vulnerable or more inquisitive, but the look in his
eyes certainly made her feel libidinous.

Bending forward he pushed the head of his
penis between her labia and only slightly penetrated her. When he
drew back, he used his grasp on her hips to lift her further and
then he thrust purposefully into her core.

The invasion of his thick cock, the glorious
stretch of her fragile tissues and sensation of fullness within
her, made her moan. Her nipples were stiff and she could feel her
breasts flushing.

Unhurriedly, Lucillus continued to plunge in
and out of her body. The tendons in his neck and chest were rigid,
displaying how hard he was striving to bring her to orgasm once
again before he gave into his own. She watched him watching her,
and felt more desirable than she ever had in her life.

“Touch yourself.” Lucillus voice was slurred
with passion. “Touch yourself for me.”

She shivered with pleasure at the intensity
of his gaze as she smoothed her hand down her belly to her most
private place. Not quite sure what would thrill him the most, she
tentatively touched her vulva. Anthea could feel his cock sinking
into her vagina between her fingers and was jolted by the eroticism
of it.

Lucillus groaned and sweat sheened his pale
skin. “Now, touch your landica, my beautiful lady. Make yourself
come again for me while I watch you.”

Anthea had not realized before what an
aphrodisiac a man’s desire for her could be. She began to rub her
clitoris, the circular motion hastening the building pressure of
her orgasm. Lucillus began to move faster, going deeper inside her
with each thrust. He spread her legs father apart as he leaned
forward, seemingly enthralled by the activity of her
fingertips.

“Tell me if this is good for you or not,”
Lucillus commanded her between gritted teeth, his face reflecting
the sweet agony of trying not to come. Then he tilted her hips up
further and leaned in, allowing his cock to nudge against her
cervix with his in-stroke.

“Oh, gods that feels good,” Anthea gasped.
She bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming too loudly as she
felt the wave of her orgasm crest over her. Between one heartbeat
and the next the swell of pleasure crashed down on her, pounding
her into euphoria.

With a final thrust Lucillus came as well,
his head thrown back and his cock buried almost to the hilt inside
her.

****

Anthea lay curled under the covers, twisting
her pearls around her fingers and waiting for Lucillus to come out
of the en suite bathroom. A bowl of rose water had been keeping
warm over a small brazier, so he could clean himself as well. Like
the gentlemen he was, he had let her go first, and now she had time
to think while he finished cleansing himself.

What next?
She had never had a lover,
having gone from the husband she had married when she was fourteen
to another husband within six months of her first divorce.
Will
he come back to bed? What do I say if he doesn’t? Oh Hades, I don’t
want to act needy; that will scare him off for sure.

Trying her best to look like a sophisticated
middle-aged woman who knew how to conduct an affair, as opposed to
a middle-aged woman who was dealing with the biggest crush Cupid
had ever inflicted, she watched Lucillus reenter the bedroom.

Her former lawyer and current lover remained
as naked as Greek athlete, and was just as nice to look at.
Lucillus had certainly put in his time in the gymnasium with the
weights, and likely running on the track as well considering the
firm beauty of his buttocks. The only thing that could improve a
masculine ass so lovely was a set of crescent nail marks.

Anthea also worked out in the women’s side of
the local bath’s exercise area, but the attendants had been
diligent in helping her to prevent the development any unsightly
muscle. She may have been middle-aged with the beginnings of crow’s
feet, but her body was still as soft and rounded as any Roman
beauty’s. She sat up against her pillows, letting the coverlet fall
to her waist. She wouldn’t beg, but if she could entice him back to
bed instead of leaving, she would.

She was relieved when he came back to the bed
without hesitating. Lucillus scooted under the covers next to her
and kiss her with more affection than lust.

“Are you well, sweetheart?” Lucillus asked.
He lay back on his pillow and pulled her down gently to lay against
him with her head on his chest.

“I am a little … tender,” Anthea confessed.
“But in the best way possible.” She laid her hand on his chest,
content to feel his heartbeat under her palm.

Lucillus trailed his had along her arm and
kissed her forehead. “I’ll be more careful next time,” he
promised.

Her heart sang to know he wanted there to be
a next time. “Oh, please don’t,” she giggled, “a bit of soreness is
a very small price to pay for what you did to me.”

He smiled and held her just a tad tighter.
“Believe me when I tell you it was my pleasure.” He hesitated. “So
I am welcome to return then?”

“Of course,” Anthea was surprised he had
possibly thought otherwise. “I have no objection to wallowing in
abject carnality as often as possible,” she teased. “You’re not a
bad conversationalist either.”

“I shall certainly endeavor to prove to you
that I am a cunning linguist,” he deadpanned.

She gave a completely unladylike snort of
laughter. “Aren’t all lawyers quick with their tongues?”

He rolled her over suddenly, making her
squeak. “Our wit is sharp but our tongues are soft, darling. No
need to worry.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Well at least
something
about you is soft.”

Then he kissed her, and she discovered she
was all out of pithy banter.

****

“Anthea, amica mea,” she heard Lucillus say,
bringing her out of the satiated slumber she had fallen into. “I
need you to wake up, darling.”

She opened her eyes. The lamp on the tripod
by her bed had been lit, as well as a small hand lamp, and together
they cast a glow around Lucillus. The lighting was too dim for her
to see the color of his eyes, but the soft expression in them and
the affection is his smile caused warmth to spread through her
chest.

“I need to go now, pretty lady.” He picked
her hand up and kissed the underside of her wrist. “It is nearly
mid-night and I shouldn’t like what the neighbors would say about
it if they saw me sneaking out of your side door at dawn.”

“Of course,” Anthea said drowsily. “When can
we see each other again?” Then she remembered sophisticated ladies
didn’t ask that.
Shit
.

It didn’t seem to put Lucillus off any,
though. He lifted the hand he was still holding and kissed the back
of it. “The next two days I have engagements with my patron and
must attend a dinner I’ve already responded to at a friend’s house.
Can I come to you again on the third day?”

She smiled, “I would like that, very much. We
can have dinner again. Shall we say the eighth hour?”

He leaned down to kiss her on the mouth, but
she turned her head just a little to press her cheek against his
and kiss his temple; she was sure her breath could kill Cerberus
and didn’t want to inflict it on her new lover.

“I’ll see you at the eighth hour, then.” He
caressed her arm a final time, and then rose from the bed. Picking
up the hand lamp, he opened the door and slipped out into the main
living room. She wondered if he would let his slave, the man who
had carried his house shoes and cloak in a basket and had been
waiting for him in the atrium, try to re-wrap his toga or just give
up on it altogether.

She frowned, trying to remember if she had
told Chloris to feed the fellow and make him comfortable if
Lucillus stayed longer. She thought she had, but couldn’t be
sure.

They say your eyes are the first thing to
go when you age,
she mused,
but it’s my memory that’s
deserting me.

She snuffed out the remaining lamp and pulled
the covers back over her shoulder, falling asleep again before she
had taken three breaths.

****

Lucillus fed Anthea a bite-sized fig tart,
and then reached for one himself. “These are magnificent. If I had
known these were coming I would have saved room for them instead of
stuffing myself with lamb ragout.”

“I’ll have Chloris pack some for you,” Anthea
comforted him. “They’ll be just as good tomorrow and you’ll know
they are coming then.”

“No worries, there.” Lucillus said ruefully.
“I haven’t bought a cook yet and I eat most of my meals at a
taberna. Although to be fair the one across from my office makes
damn good sausages.”

“You can always come here for dinner,” Anthea
said without thinking about it first, then froze.
Mercury’s
balls, you idiot, can you ever stop just blurting things out? Way
to make him feel pressured.

Lucillus looked at her for a moment before
returning his attention to dipping a piece of sponge cake in honey.
“Wouldn’t I quickly wear out my welcome?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t think you could, but I don’t want
you to feel under any obligation.” Anthea took a deep breath and
decided to go for broke, since her unbridled tongue would slip up
again sooner rather than later. “I’m not sure how often I can
invite you without being cloying, to be honest. I’ve never had a
love affair before, and I have no idea how to be casual about it.
At what point do you run screaming if you see me at the forum?” She
realized she was twining her pearls through her fingers nervously
and stopped herself.

Maintaining the illusion he was focused on
soaking up honey with his cake, he replied, “What if I told you I
could happily see you every day? Wouldn’t you been the one
screaming and running away in the forum?”

Her pulse increased. “No, Lucillus. I
wouldn’t run away. It is far more likely I would run to you, with
an utter lack of decorum.”

He met her eyes again. “Good.”

She smiled. “Why don’t we say that you are
invited to come here for dinner every day? You can send me a note
around midday to let me know whether you’ll be coming here that
afternoon or not. That way you can schedule other things without
worrying that I’ll consider you to have a previous engagement.”

“What about you?” He queried. “What if it is
an inconvenient night for you?”

“Then I will send a return note letting you
know that. It can be totally free of drama.”

Lucillus finally ate the honey-dripping piece
of dessert he had been fiddling with. “That sounds ideal,
sweetheart. Are you sure you haven’t been involved with dozens of
torrid affairs, since you handle them so well?”

Anthea tipped her head and looked puzzled.
“Does hiring three gladiators to plow me like wheat field twice a
week count?”