Page 40 of Enslaved
Her reminder that she was flesh and blood did wanton things to him. “Are you ready to accept that you are my slave?” he demanded huskily.
She reached up to run her fingertips along his jaw where he had just shaved and said intimately, “I came to amuse you. If it amuses you to play master and slave girl, you must teach me the game.”
His eyes glittered. “It is no game.”
Diana looked at his mouth, then ran the tip of her tongue over her top lip. “Marcus, between a man and a woman, it is always a game.”
His erection lifted the linen of his tunic.
He had not given her permission to use his first name, yet it sounded wondrous on her lips. No one ever called him Marcus, and he realized he was hungry for such intimacy.
“This afternoon you said you would yield to me tonight.”
Diana slanted him a teasing glance from beneath her lashes. “I said no such thing, as you very well remember.”
“Youintimatedthat you would yield to me!”
She laughed up at him. “Do you delude yourself every night, or is tonight special?”
He showed his teeth like a wolf and growled, “You are doing it again.”
“Doing what?” she asked innocently.
“Alluding, hinting, intimating that tonight will be special and it cannot be any such thing unless you capitulate and yield to me!”
“That’s part of the game. Alluding, hinting, intimating is how men and women play, I believe. What I said was:When we have dined, I have a proposition to lay before you.”
“And what I said was:You will lay before me.”
Diana placed her hand in the center of his chest and splayed her fingers. She could feel the gold coin beneath his tunic. It was warm from the heat of his body. She moved slightly closer to him. “And what was my reply?” she asked huskily.
“Perhaps,was your reply,” he said, devouring her mouth with his black eyes.
“A tantalizing word filled with promise, is it not? If I told youno,it would anger you and make you bend me to your will. If I told youyes,it would take away all the anticipation, all the speculation. So I tell youperhaps,and that preserves the mystery, draws out the suspense, and heightens the desire.”
He was riven with the need to taste her. Her lips, so temptingly close, whispering such arousing words, made him want to fill her mouth with tantalizing desire. He claimed her lips, slanting his mouth against hers, slowly exploring the softness, the lushness, tasting her sweetness, drawing the tip of her pink tongue into his mouth.
Something hard touched her belly, making her gasp. He shuddered as the head of his shaft touched her silken body. She lifted her lips so they were a pulsebeat away. “Are you hungry, Marcus?” she whispered.
“Ravenous!”
The thunder crashed above their heads.
Kell entered the room carrying a heavy serving tray. Diana took immediate advantage of the interruption and put space between her and the Roman. Now she would test her power. She would see how long it took her to make him close the space between them.
“Kell has had your favorite dishes prepared. You are so fortunate to have him. He is a marvel of efficiency.”
“Thank you, Kell,” Marcus said low.
“Mmm, the aroma of the food is tantalizing.”
All Marcus could smell was violets until Kell removed the heavy silver covers. “Would you like me to carve?”
“I’ll do it, Kell.”
As Kell left the triclinium, she said, “Dining in such a fashion is new to me.”
Marcus was beside her immediately, his hands lifting her to the couch opposite his. “Let me show you. Recline on your side so that you face my couch. Now tuck this small pillow beneath your elbow.”
