through me; I just wanted him. All my questions faded away, irrelevant. I bent down and kissed his cheek, a little up from that mouth. I laid my hand on his shoulder, knelt on his thigh and kissed his lips. Oh, the pleasure of it. His mouth was warm, soft, tender. I was intoxicated as his tongue sought mine. His arms pulled me to him and I fell in.
Later that evening in our bed, he was equally passionate, taking care to ensure my pleasure reached the maximum. As we climaxed, I was overwhelmed. My every nerve was singing. The rhythm of waves eventually slowed and I landed in a pool of exhaustion, warmth and deep content.
The early morning light was peeking through the drapes as we lay face to face, smiling, touching, hands teasing and tickling, but in a languid, contented going-nowhere way. I stroked the side of his face, paused at the tiny dip at his temple, then continued down over the curved edge of his cheekbone. His eyes closed at my touch and he almost purred. I leaned over and kissed the tiny line at the side of his mouth, his hand came up behind my waist and he pulled me on top. His eyes were wide open and glinting now.
Then his commset beeped.
‘Mitelus. What?’
His mouth was an irritated straight line. As I watched, his frown became tighter. Whoever was on the other end had better have her asbestos suit on. He listened intently, his eyes wandering at first, then coming back to concentrate on the back of his hand. He grunted, then listened some more.
‘Very well. I’ll be there at seven. Out.’
He rolled his eyes, his mouth still peevish, but he started to move. He nudged me off gently , then sat on the edge of the bed, stretched over and ran the back of his hand down my cheek.
‘Sorry, love. I wanted to have breakfast with you, but I have to go in.’
I was far too relaxed to do anything but smile back at him.
‘Catch you later. Lunchtime?’
‘Yes, I’ll have sorted this out by then.’
I was on late shift so I went back to sleep.
It was only in the shower that I realised we hadn’t discussed the Nicola thing at all. How could I have forgotten? Hades, I was slowing up. No, I’d gotten completely sidetracked. Mmm, but what a way to go. A mean thought wormed its way into my head. Surely, he hadn’t used last night to divert me? He was perfectly capable of it, but he hadn’t, had he? I didn’t know whether to be furious at him or guilty at myself for thinking such a thing. I gave myself a mental shake. Juno, I’d start suspecting my toenails next. But still…
I’d hardly knocked on his office door at 12.30, when he came out, beckoned me in and told Rusonia he was taking personal time: no calls, no interruptions until 14.00. Her eyebrows shot up at least a millimetre.
‘Look, sorry I had to go so quickly this morning. An emergency concerning the palace guard.’
The regular Praetorian Guard which he was also now responsible for acted as day-to-day security for the imperatrix and her palace, or wherever she was. One summer, while he was still junior legate heading the PGSF only, Silvia and all three children had come to stay with us for a few days at our farm near Castra Lucilla. Despite its remoteness, the guards turned it into Fort Knox. The children weren’t even allowed to go for a swim in the lake without an armed escort. Until Conrad put his foot down. He banned the guards from the villa and garden and told them to stick to the perimeter. The commander looked as black as Hades at him, but couldn’t argue. Conrad outranked him by several steps and was after all the children’s registered father. No official report of the clash ended up on anybody’s desk, but relations cooled considerably between the two branches. Conrad’s appointment to commanding both branches as senior legate had meant dealing with some uncooperative egos.
I rolled my eyes in sympathy. ‘So, obviously, a major incident?’
‘Not really, just some tactless handling by a tired detail. A couple of grunts
Later that evening in our bed, he was equally passionate, taking care to ensure my pleasure reached the maximum. As we climaxed, I was overwhelmed. My every nerve was singing. The rhythm of waves eventually slowed and I landed in a pool of exhaustion, warmth and deep content.
The early morning light was peeking through the drapes as we lay face to face, smiling, touching, hands teasing and tickling, but in a languid, contented going-nowhere way. I stroked the side of his face, paused at the tiny dip at his temple, then continued down over the curved edge of his cheekbone. His eyes closed at my touch and he almost purred. I leaned over and kissed the tiny line at the side of his mouth, his hand came up behind my waist and he pulled me on top. His eyes were wide open and glinting now.
Then his commset beeped.
‘Mitelus. What?’
His mouth was an irritated straight line. As I watched, his frown became tighter. Whoever was on the other end had better have her asbestos suit on. He listened intently, his eyes wandering at first, then coming back to concentrate on the back of his hand. He grunted, then listened some more.
‘Very well. I’ll be there at seven. Out.’
He rolled his eyes, his mouth still peevish, but he started to move. He nudged me off gently , then sat on the edge of the bed, stretched over and ran the back of his hand down my cheek.
‘Sorry, love. I wanted to have breakfast with you, but I have to go in.’
I was far too relaxed to do anything but smile back at him.
‘Catch you later. Lunchtime?’
‘Yes, I’ll have sorted this out by then.’
I was on late shift so I went back to sleep.
It was only in the shower that I realised we hadn’t discussed the Nicola thing at all. How could I have forgotten? Hades, I was slowing up. No, I’d gotten completely sidetracked. Mmm, but what a way to go. A mean thought wormed its way into my head. Surely, he hadn’t used last night to divert me? He was perfectly capable of it, but he hadn’t, had he? I didn’t know whether to be furious at him or guilty at myself for thinking such a thing. I gave myself a mental shake. Juno, I’d start suspecting my toenails next. But still…
I’d hardly knocked on his office door at 12.30, when he came out, beckoned me in and told Rusonia he was taking personal time: no calls, no interruptions until 14.00. Her eyebrows shot up at least a millimetre.
‘Look, sorry I had to go so quickly this morning. An emergency concerning the palace guard.’
The regular Praetorian Guard which he was also now responsible for acted as day-to-day security for the imperatrix and her palace, or wherever she was. One summer, while he was still junior legate heading the PGSF only, Silvia and all three children had come to stay with us for a few days at our farm near Castra Lucilla. Despite its remoteness, the guards turned it into Fort Knox. The children weren’t even allowed to go for a swim in the lake without an armed escort. Until Conrad put his foot down. He banned the guards from the villa and garden and told them to stick to the perimeter. The commander looked as black as Hades at him, but couldn’t argue. Conrad outranked him by several steps and was after all the children’s registered father. No official report of the clash ended up on anybody’s desk, but relations cooled considerably between the two branches. Conrad’s appointment to commanding both branches as senior legate had meant dealing with some uncooperative egos.
I rolled my eyes in sympathy. ‘So, obviously, a major incident?’
‘Not really, just some tactless handling by a tired detail. A couple of grunts
Similar Books
