As her body arched, she encountered the hard unyieldingness of his chest. A tremor ran from the pit of her stomach to the ends of her fingers as her body remembered the passion they had shared yesterday. As if he could read her mind, he bent his head and softly touched her mouth with his—a butterfly kiss. She opened her mouth and allowed him to explore, his tongue entering to tease and torment.

She felt her nipples harden as they strained against their bindings. Hot and swollen. His lips started to trail down her neck. She tried to drag her mind away from the vortex of sensation that promised to engulf her. She brought her hands up to his chest to hold him off. She had to be sensible. She had to think of more than the immediate warmth in her belly. 'My father will be expecting me.'

Valens's lips curved upwards. 'Gone out. He and Sabina have a dinner engagement. We decided it might be a bit much for you. He will speak to you in the morning. The servants will be in the kitchen should you call for your tray.'

Julia nodded, hated the thought of another deciding how her life should be ordered, but she refused to quarrel with the result. 'You decided?'

In answer, his hands cupped her breasts while his thumbs made small circles over her nipples until they tightened to small points of exquisite sensation. Her spine arched and he eased her backwards until her head encountered the soft yielding of the bed.

'I rather thought this would be easier for you.' His eyes were dark with passion. 'Julia, I want to be with you. I want to chisel away all traces of that man in your mind.'

He undid the discs holding her gown and pushed the material down to her waist. His fingers moved aside the strips of cloths to release her breasts. As each nipple was freed, his lips captured its peak, suckling. His tongue drew small circles, teasing the nipple to a tighter and tighter point, sending wave after wave of sensation through her body, making her writhe and wriggle as each new wave hit. 'Valens…'

Valens raised himself on his elbows. His darkened eyes met hers. Her body shivered in response to the depths of promise she saw there. He smoothed a tendril of hair away from her forehead. 'I'm seducing you, showing you what it should be like between a man and a woman, so you know and understand what pleasure truly is.'

This time the word pleasure evoked anticipation rather than fear. Her body trembled as she remembered the sensations of the evening before. 'I believe that could be arranged. There is a soft bed here, and, as you say…no one will disturb us.'

'We are of one mind,' Valens said as relief swept through him. Until he heard the invitation in her voice, he had been unaware how much it meant to him that her passion equal his. He wanted to lock away her memories of Lucius as surely as he had locked his own memories away. He wanted her to realise it was the present that mattered, not the chains of the past.

He ran a hand down her bare arm, drawing lines on her flesh, lines that his tongue followed. Her hands captured his face and brought his lips back to hers.

A surge of excitement ran through him as her tongue boldly entered his mouth. She wanted his touch.

Valens kept his own passion in check. Despite his body's urging, he wanted to go slowly and bring her to the heights of ecstasy before he indulged in his fulfillment.

He gave a wholly male laugh before his mouth slid down her body, following the path of his fingers. Her hands gripped his shoulders and plucked at the hem of his tunic.

'Please let me see you,' she whispered. 'I must see you.'

His mouth paused in its search. He lifted his head from her belly.

'As my lady requests…' With one movement, he divested himself of clothes, his body and his desire displayed for her. 'You see what you do to me.'

She ran a trembling hand down his chest and stomach until she reached his soft hardness. He groaned in the back of his throat as the need to possess her threatened to overwhelm him. He'd sworn that he'd hold back, that their coupling would mean as much to her as to him. But she only had to touch him and his seed was threatening to spill.

'Julia, you will unman me,' he rasped as her fingers curled round and the heat of him infused her fingers. 'Shall I show you what you are doing to me?'

'The same as you are doing to me.'

She wanted him. Her body was made new for him. He felt more powerful than he had ever felt in the ring and more vulnerable as well. This woman was doing things to his insides that he had never dreamed possible. Valens stroked both his hands down the length of her body and then up again until they reached the apex of her thighs. His fingers hovered, tantalisingly close, but not touching her curls. Her body bucked upwards. She gasped as they touched, tangled and tormented, sliding between her thighs and out again, softly stroking her until he could see her start to reach the crest of her desire.

Julia's hands plucked at his shoulders, pulling him upwards, but his fingers continued to stroke and circle until her head thrashed about and pleading noises came from her throat. Then and only then did he permit his shaft to bury itself deep within her. Her body stretched, and welcomed his full length.

Valens raised himself up on his elbows and looked at her passion-darkened eyes. Then she started to move her hips and he allowed his passion full rein.


In the aftermath, Julia lay with one leg over his hip, with Valens still buried deep within her. Each breath she took matched his. His tenderness and consideration filled her with a warm glow. It was hard to believe that the man lying next to her was a hardened gladiator who fought for his life in the arena. He had never pushed her or hurt her. As he had promised, there had been only pleasure.

The coming together had been no less passionate than before. Yesterday had been fast and furious, but today they had taken their time. She felt cherished in his arms.

Her hands touched the sheen of sweat on his brow and his eyes came back into focus. His lips placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

'You should never doubt your ability to give pleasure.' His mouth curved in a smile and there was a teasing lilt to his voice. 'You are a warm, vibrant woman. Let that be a lesson to you.'

'It may take me a few more lessons before I get the essence of it,' she replied with a grin and reached a lazy hand up to stroke the soft stubble of his cheek. She felt like nothing bad could ever happen to her again. Her whole life had been building up to this and this man. There had to be a way of keeping him here in Rome.

'A demanding woman.' His hand cupped her bottom and pulled her closer. 'Give me time.'

'I am willing to wait…' She pressed her breasts against his chest, arching her back. As her nipples brushed his naked chest, she felt him grow inside her, filling her once again.

'It may be less time than I thought,' he said, nipping her chin and beginning to move against her body.


Late the next morning, Julia inclined her head as Senator Gracchus came into the room, dressed in an immaculate white toga with a large bright purple stripe. He had sent word earlier that morning that he would be calling. The excitement and curiosity of the message took some of the disappointment off the fact that Valens had left before she had woken up. Her deep regret was that she forgot to probe more about his boyhood. There was that one tantalising clue that he served with Senator Gracchus's son. But it could wait. Everything could wait.

Julia's fingers curled around the little figurine of Valens she had placed by her work basket, for luck and for courage, but she also intended on showing it to Senator Gracchus and asking him for ideas of where to take her search.

Bodyguards and servants carrying a statue and his chair flanked the elderly Senator. At a wave of his be-ringed hand, the servant placed the chair in the centre of the room, and draped a deep purple cloth over the top. Gracchus sat down, surveying the room in the same manner she supposed a general surveys the battlefield.

'Senator, it is so good of you to call on our humble household…' Sabina breathed, making a show of placing her spindle down.

'Sabina Claudia, it does my old heart good to see that some Roman matrons remember the old ways and keep their hands busy by spinning rather than their tongues wagging with gossip. No doubt you are making your husband a new toga.'

'Spinning means so much to me,' Sabina cooed, patting her elaborate curls. 'I only wish Julia would derive the same pleasure as I do from it, but these young women, Senator.'

'I have things I would like to say to Julia in private. It was easier if I came here. Thank you for your hospitality.'

'Perhaps later you might have a glass of honey wine with us?'

'If there is time.' The senator's tone implied there wouldn't be. 'If you'll excuse us. I am sure your other duties call.'

Sabina left the room in a rush, muttering about senators who took their status for granted.

'Senator, you do me a great honour,' Julia said, breaking the silence that had descended on Sabina's departure and trying to refrain from flinching under his steady gaze. There could be only one reason for his visit. Somehow, Lucius had twisted the story of what happened here yesterday.

His face stern, he motioned for her to sit. Julia sank gratefully down on her stool as her knees had started to tremble.

She crossed her ankles and resisted the urge to pick up the discarded spindle.

'I understand you suffered an unpleasantness yesterday,' he said gravely after exchanging pleasantries about the weather and Rome's recent success in Asia. 'My son came to see you. I understand his behaviour left a good deal to be desired. It was not the actions I would expect of a Roman, let alone someone who is the heir to the Gracchus name. His behaviour is disappointing.'