Page 75 of Enslaved
Diana lay abed feeling utterly sorry for herself. Why was she cursed? Why did she have to sleep alone? Even Kell and Nola were likely sharing a bed by now. She shivered. She fully expected Marcus to come and beat her. Beat her to a jelly for the insults she had flung at him. Why hadn’t he come? Why was he drawing it out? Why didn’t he come and get it over with? Suddenly, she heard him at the door and closed her eyes in pretended sleep.
Marcus saw that Diana had fallen asleep with the lamp blazing. He dimmed it to a soft glow and looked down at her. His gut twisted as he saw her eyelashes were spiky from tears. What a brute he must seem to a little girl like Diana. Yet she stood up to him with all the tenacity of a terrier. A wave of protectiveness almost engulfed him. Still wearing his tunic, he got into bed beside her and very gently slipped his arms about her. “I cannot sleep without you,” he whispered against her ear.
As if she were rousing from slumber, Diana turned in his arms, lifted her lashes, and looked up at him. A sigh trembled on her lips.
His dark face softened as he looked down at her with adoration. With gentle fingers he lifted the teardrops from her lashes and lightly stroked the fine hair from her temples, then he bent his lips to feather tiny kisses across her brow. His lips touched her eyelids, her cheekbones, the corners of her mouth so tenderly it made her throat ache. He brushed the back of his fingers across her chin and cheeks as if she were made of fragile porcelain that must be handled with a delicate touch.
Her breath caught in her throat. She never dreamed her fierce Roman could be so tender and gentle. She lifted her hand to stroke his cheek, then softly traced his jagged scar with a fingertip. When he quivered at her delicate touch, she realized how sensitive his face was. She never realized such a strong man could be sensitive.
Marcus enfolded her in tender arms to cradle her against him while he whispered and crooned words of love. His gentleness allowed her to see how affectionate, softhearted, and sensitive he was capable of being. “I love you more than life,” he murmured. Diana melted against him, entwining her arms about his neck. “When you cling to me so sweetly, it doubles my strength. It makes me feel invincible,” he whispered. “Will you let me carry you back to our chamber? I never want to spend a night away from you as long as we live.”
His whispers were so intimate and private, she knew he had never uttered those words to anyone else in the world. In these moments there was no one in the entire universe, except the two of them, sweetly clinging. She yielded herself up to him. “Take me back. It’s where I belong.”
Marcus lifted her from the bed and held her tightly against his heart. When he held her like this, in a warm cocoon of love, she realized she had never felt happier or safer. When he carried her into their sleeping chamber, the immense bed looked most inviting with the furs turned back.
Marcus climbed the steps, placed her gently on the bed, then sat down beside her. He made no move to take off her nightrobe nor divest himself of his clothes. Instead he covered her hand with his, then lifted it to his mouth to kiss each finger. “From now on I will believe whatever you tell me. I love you and I trust you, Diana.”
“Marcus, I love you too. I am devastated when we fight.”
He pulled her against his side, then with gentle fingers tilted her chin so that their eyes met. “I know you love me, my heart, but do you trust me?”
“I would trust you with my life, Marcus,” she vowed.
“That is what I am asking you to do, beloved. I am asking you to marry me. I am asking you to come to Rome to meet my father, while I get permission from the military authorities. When I have spoken to the Senate about replacing Paullinus, we will come home to Aquae Sulis where we are happiest.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she looked up at him with joy. Her heart was overflowing with the love she felt for this man. He wanted her for his wife, and surely she wanted him for her husband more than she had ever longed for anything in her life. She was terrified to go to Rome, but she would never hurt him by refusing. He had asked her to trust him with her life. How could she not when she loved him and trusted him with all her heart and soul? She smiled tremulously. “Yes, I will marry you, and yes, I will come to Rome.”
Marcus lifted her into his lap and hugged her tenderly. “Oh, Diana, thank you. I was so afraid you would refuse me. You have made me the happiest man alive.” His lips traced her ear, then moved softly across her cheek until they found her mouth. He did not devour her; instead, his lips touched hers with heartstopping gentleness.
She reached up to caress his face and let her fingers drift down the column of his neck. His gentleness almost undid her. How could such a physically powerful man show such infinite tenderness? Her throat tightened with unshed tears. She pressed her face against his chest and felt the gold chain beneath her cheek. When she glanced down, she saw that something was wrong with his Caesar coin. “What happened to it?” she whispered huskily.
“I had it cut in half,” he murmured. Marcus reached beneath her pillow and pulled out the ivory box. He placed it in her cupped hands and held his breath.
Diana opened it slowly, and there upon a cushion of silk lay the other half of his Caesar coin with a fine gold chain attached to it. “Oh, Marcus,” was all she could say before the teardrops slipped down her cheeks.
“No tears, beloved, I beg you,” he pleaded hoarsely.
“They are tears of happiness. So long as I wear this against my heart, you will always be with me.”
He let out a long relieved sigh that it meant as much to her as it did to him. He gently lifted the chain over her head and watched it fall to rest in the valley between her beautiful breasts. “Wear it as a symbol of my undying love for you.”
She took his half of the priceless gold coin and fitted it to hers. “We fit together to become one whole.” She lifted a tremulous mouth to his in sweet seductive invitation and Marcus slowly made them whole with the tenderest love-making they would ever experience. They fell asleep entwined together, knowing they had committed totally to one another, for better or for worse.
Chapter 23
The following day, Diana resolutely thrust away all apprehension as she busied herself with preparations for the journey. As she and Nola packed her clothes, jewels, toilet articles, and cosmetics, she realized how many beautiful things Marcus had given her. She smiled ironically. How she had hated the restrictive fashions of Georgian times. Now she had the most seductive and erotic garments ever designed throughout history. Each and every item was made to enhance the female body for the sole pleasure of the male. When she analyzed it, Diana realized the concept was barbaric and yet, in reality, it was delicious to flaunt her femininity and exercise the power nature had bestowed upon the female sex.
Marcus decided he could manage without Kell while he was in Rome; his services were better employed here in charge of the villa and the household in Aquae Sulis. Marcus told Diana she could take Nola with her if she wished, but when she learned that Kell was to remain behind, she thought it would be a splendid opportunity for Nola and Kell to spend time alone together to explore the boundaries of their newfound relationship.
Marcus insisted that Diana have a bodyguard with her at all times, both on the journey and while they were in Rome. There would be many times they would be separated and Marcus knew of her fears, though she valiantly tried to keep them hidden. He appointed Tor, who had acted as her groom, to be her personal slave and instructed him to stay at Diana’s back, as close as her shadow.
Tor could not believe the honor bestowed upon him. The other slaves envied his elevated status of bodyguard to the general’s lady, whom it was rumored was soon to become the general’s wife! Kell immediately began instructing Tor on everything from personal hygiene to how to prevent Diana from being jostled in a crowd. By the time Kell had finished with him, Tor’s head was spinning with the myriad duties he would be expected to perform and with the monumental responsibility of protecting Diana.
Kell presented him with his own leather flagellum and instructed him never to hesitate to use it on anyone who did not make way for his lady. Then Marcus took Tor to the fortress for lessons in the short sword. The general, of course, would take ten of his best soldiers as his personal guard, but lessons in weaponry wouldn’t be amiss for Diana’s personal body slave.
Only two days remained before they sailed. Marcus knew he would be late at the fort, packing supplies for the journey, selecting the centurions he would take with him, and instructing his second-in-command to take charge of the fortress in his absence. He would dine with his men and instructed Diana to eat without him.
When he arrived home, however, and found the triclinium in darkness, he realized how much he had missed her stimulating company over dinner. He strode into the bathing room intending to cleanse himself quickly and was overjoyed to find Diana awaiting him in the water.
