to the baths or to the homes of their patrons, young boys hawking their family’s wares or, if they were of wealthier parents, making their way to school.
Severina was pleased that Lucan was in the mood to talk. She’d been afraid of awkwardness between them because of the passion they’d fallen into the night before.
But Lucan must have forgot it already. Instead, he talked about the man she was soon to meet. Apollodorus had built Emperor Trajan’s war bridges and siegeworks during the Dacian War, and according to Lucan, the architect was a veritable genius—part-engineer, part-builder, part-sculptor, part-artist. His designs were masterworks of quality. When the war was done, he’d returned with the Emperor to Rome and was currently engaged in a huge design project, the awe-inspiring new forum that Trajan was building as his legacy and gift to the Roman people.
It helped that Lucan was in a talkative mood, because she certainly wasn’t. All she could think about as he led her through the streets was the strength of the muscled arm beneath her fingertips, the earthy scent of man which surrounded her and…sex.
Maybe that was because of the erotic dream she’d had about Lucan during her turbulent night.
The more intimate details were somewhat sketchy now. But Lucan had loved her and she’d taken him eagerly, wanting him as he came into her warmth, hungry for the slide of his flesh into hers. His body was strong and warm, and he’d murmured gentle love words against her skin—
‘Did you hear me, Severina?’ Lucan’s voice intruded. ‘I asked you a question.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she stammered. ‘I was…elsewhere.’
There was amusement in his gaze. ‘I’m boring you.’
‘No, no.’ Quite the opposite. I’m fascinated by the way you move, by the heat of your hand on the small of my back, by the gold fire in your eyes…
Gods above—what was the matter with her? Her body was so alive that even the rub of her stola against her nipples was an almost unbearable stimulation.
‘I was saying that we’re a little early yet. Do you want something to eat?’
As if she could think about food right now, when her lower body tingled with unaccustomed heat.
‘I’m not hungry,’ she said. ‘But if you are, then please…go ahead.’
His lips curved. What beautiful lips he had. She wanted to taste them with an almost fierce longing.
‘Yes, I’m hungry,’ he said. ‘I’m always hungry.’
Was it her imagination that there seemed deeper meaning in that simple statement? Could he be thinking the same erotic thoughts as she?
Of course not.
And she’d better stop this. It was ridiculous to want Lucan. Even when they’d been on better terms, she’d known that kind of intimacy to be off limits for him.
But that was before Lucan had left his faith.
And now? She didn’t know. She could hardly ask him if he’d given up his celibacy, if he was enjoying sensual pleasures again and if he might want to enjoy them with her…She wasn’t seriously thinking of doing that, was she?
She was.
Her entire body sang with desire. Her breasts were full and throbbing, her lower parts twitched every time he smiled. He smiled far too often.
Thankfully, Lucan didn’t notice her unusual preoccupation with lust. His conversation was common and easy, his glances no deeper than usual. And when his hand accidentally grazed too far down her backside in guiding her through the restaurant door, he’d been unaffected by the touch.
She was the one with the problem.
Severina looked around the restaurant, breathed deeply of the food-scented air, and stubbornly willed her body into submission. Time to give herself a good scolding.
It was one thing to acknowledge that she was a normal female and had physical needs. It was another thing entirely to use Lucan to appease those hungers. That would open a door she’d already closed. It would renew old feelings, quicken old hurts. It would be the wrong thing to do.
But then Lucan returned with a round cake of bread and a plump sausage. A long, plump sausage cased in a moist, oily skin. She watched in utter fascination as his deft fingers took up a knife, opened a small slit in the round crust of bread and slowly, so slowly slid the meat into the opening. Her lips parted as he lifted the food to his mouth.
Lucan’s low groan of satisfaction started the sharp throbbing in her body all over again. ‘Oh, yes,’ he said. ‘That’s good bread.’
She sucked in air and tried not to notice the ecstasy of his chewing and swallowing.
‘Sure you’re not hungry?’ Lucan’s voice held a touch of amusement.
She jerked back to reality. ‘Hungry?’ she repeated, the word sounding an odd, husky note. She cleared her throat. ‘No, I’m not…really, I’m not.’
He gestured towards the bread-wrapped sausage he’d lowered from his mouth to his plate. ‘Are you sure? You’re staring at my food.’
‘Oh, please. I am not.’
‘You were. I swear you were.’ His eyes seemed to dance with laughter. ‘You looked at my food like you’re starving, like you’ve never seen a sausage, like you’ve never before watched a man eat.’
Severina’s face suffused with heat. She had been staring in just that way and she knew it. But not for the reasons he thought.
It was only that she’d dreamed that dream.
‘I’ll be happy to buy you something.’ He gestured towards his plate. ‘Do you like sausage, Severina? I’ll buy one for you. Or I’ll share mine.’
She smothered a groan beneath her fist. She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.
‘All right, I know what we’ll do.’ Lucan took up his knife, cut the big roll in half and handed the larger part to her.
‘No. I do not want your sausage,’ she said through tight lips.
Lucan’s smile surprised her. Did he mock her?
‘Ah, I remember now. You prefer sweet.’ He lowered the food to the plate, slid the sausage from the bread and took up a small clay jar with a spoon. ‘This citrus spread should be just the thing.’
Delicately, almost lovingly, Lucan widened the slit in the bread with his knife.
‘The bread’s good,’ Lucan said as he put down his knife and scooped up a spoon full of the citrus spread. ‘But sometimes it’s a little dry without the right touch. Let me see if this helps.’ He filled the crevice with a generous amount of the sticky spread and closed the two halves together.
Severina watched in helpless fascination as he lifted it to his lips. His tongue…oh, gods. His tongue came out to lick the spread at
