Page 124 of Enslaved
“Well, I have liberal ideas, being French, but this is too shocking.”
Diana smiled her secret smile. “It may shock a Frenchman, but not a Roman. Were you able to find me that incense burner?”
“I put it in the dining room.”
“In Aquae Sulis it was called the triclinium.”
“Is that where they held their orgies?” Nora whispered, knowing Diana was an avid student of Roman history.
“Among other places,” she confirmed.
Diana had decided that this was the night Mark would ask her to remarry him, once their present marriage was annulled. She was determined to overcome his obsession with freedom.
Hoping to shock and surprise Diana, Mark came to dinner wearing only a towel. When he came through the adjoining door from their bedchamber, Diana was putting a lighted taper to the incense. His eyes licked over her curves displayed so erotically in the crimson loin dress. “Two minds with but a single thought,” he said huskily.
“This is a Roman custom. Frankincense is an aromatic to recall records of the soul.”
His nostrils flared. She was lovelier than any goddess. What had he done to deserve this gift from the gods?
When Nora came in with dessert, they didn’t even see her. They were curled together on one dining couch, feeding each other with their fingers. She left the sweets and fruit and departed.
As Diana licked his fingers, he murmured softly, “What fruit would you like—passion fruit?”
“I’m particularly partial to plums,” she murmured, slipping her hand beneath his towel and rolling his testes together shamelessly.
“What else are you partial to? Let me fulfill all your desires.” He picked her up and carried her into their bedchamber, leaving the towel and the loin dress draped over the dining couch.
“Tantra.”
“Tantra?” He had no idea what it was, but it sounded almost forbidden, the sultry way she suggested it. “Show me.”
“Not on the bed, on the floor. I sit in your lap, face to face, so every part of our bodies receives pleasure. Your slow, sensual thrusting must stop on the brink of climax, so you can begin again … and again.”
Mark was lost. He sank to the rug and pulled her into his lap.
Two hours later when she was soft with surfeit, he kissed her hair and whispered, “What would you like for your birthday?”
She held her breath, hoping he would offer her a permanent marriage. The silence was like black velvet. Finally, she whispered, “Guess.”
He searched his mind, but he was too full of her; too love-drunk to think coherently. “Rubies, diamonds?”
She stiffened in his arms, then deliberately climbed off his semihard erection. “You are a damned devil! You know what I want more than anything in the world, but your bloody freedom is too precious to you!”
His black brows drew together to warn her of an impending storm. “I’ll give you anything; what the hell is it you want?”
“You’re so bloody clever, figure it out for yourself!” She departed their bedchamber unmindful of her nudity.
Mark stared angrily at the door she slammed. How could she be so loving one moment, and like a spitting vixen the next?Bloody women!This was the thanks he got for lavishing his attention upon her. She was a spoiled little bitch, and if she wanted to sleep alone, he would let her!
They didn’t speak for two days, but each of them paid a price in loneliness and misery. On the third day he went into town without her, then closeted himself in the library upon his return. Diana was ready to beg his forgiveness. She knew his towering pride would never allow a man such as Mark to beg for anything, and of course that was exactly the way she wanted him.
At dinner she asked for a tray and carried it to her own room, wishing she had an excuse to go to him. There on her pillow sat a velvet box. She opened it, excited as a child at Christmas. It was a silver torque, encrusted with brilliant blue lapis. She ran lightly down the curved staircase, then opened the library door without knocking. He was addressing a stack of envelopes, but covered what he was doing when he saw her.
She held up the velvet box. “Your apology is very beautiful.”
“It isn’t an apology, it’s a peace offering,” he growled. Diana saw the glint of amusement in his dark eyes.
She said lightly, “You see, you knew what I wanted after all.”
