Blood Never Lies (Mark of Mars) Page 6

  “It depends on how I feel.”

  She looked at him curiously.

  “If I’m upset, I’ll take eight for speed. Otherwise it is usually four.”

  “Your transition to Roman God altered your character, didn’t it? War is your very last resort.”

  “I took my responsibility of Rome seriously. I am its protector.”

  “Can you not help stop the riots and restore peace to the streets?”

  “That is not my job. The citizens do not rebel against me, but more the Senate.”

  “You approve of the Emperor?”

  Mars smiled. “Trajan is one of the best leaders for my city. And the Marshall will restore order as per my wishes.”

  “You deal much with Marcus?”

  “He and I share much in common.”

  “Such as?”

  “Our interest in an inquisitive young time traveller.”

  He seemed to produce two goblets of wine virtually from thin air and passed one to her, before flopping down on the cushions in the pergola. “Come. Tell me more about your world.”

  “Like what?”

  “Anything.”

  “My world is very busy. We have fast methods of travel, although none can beat yours yet. We still have the theatre for entertainment, but have so many other ways to spend our time. Most of us like to travel, and I can boast as having been to all the continents in this world.”

  “You travelled with your parents, did you not?”

  “When I was young, yes. My mother studied ancient history, so would want to go to the historic sites.”

  “Ancient history?”

  “Yes,” she giggled. “Athens, Rome, Crete, Egypt, earlier and later than this time, all classify as ancient.”

  “And what would I classify as?”

  “Definitely an old relic,” she laughed. Moments later she found herself pinned underneath his perfect body as he meted out his revenge.

  “Mars, behave,” she giggled as his mouth tantalised hers.

  “No. This is your punishment for teasing a God.”

  His hand slipped under the small straps of her shift and came into contact with her birthmark. Sparks flew through her entire body, hot and fiery. She felt like she had been supercharged with sexual energy. She kissed him with an urgency, pushing him onto his back and laying partly on him, so she could run her mouth over that delicious chest. She had just one thing on her mind, and her body wanted him so badly. He slid the straps down on her dress, running his mouth over her soft shoulders. Then his hands were pushing up her rather short shift. Her whole body pulsated with expectancy.

  Her first lover was going to be a God. But suddenly images of Marcus filled her head. It should be him not some lothario deity. Although she was in a dream, she still felt like she was being disloyal. Especially if there was a chance of them getting back together. She was confused. She hated being confused.

  “Mars, stop,” she pulled away from him.

  “What is it?” His voice was silky smooth.

  “I can’t, this is wrong.”

  “I would say this is very, very right,” he brushed his mouth across hers. “We go perfectly together.”

  “These words from a serial seducer.” Jenna sat up. “I will hand it to you though, you are very good with the whole seduction routine. It almost worked.”

  “But only almost,” he sighed dramatically. “I obviously need to work harder.”

  “What you need to do is to take me back to Laumus.”

  “Perhaps I should abduct you instead, so I have you for my pleasure.”

  “Only if you want to spend the rest of your immortality as a eunuch,” Jenna retorted.

  “I don’t think I have ever been threatened or taunted so much in one evening before,” he grunted.

  “In my world, we don’t fawn over vain Gods.”

  “In my world we vaporise those that offend us.”

  Jenna reached up and touched his cheek. “But I do not offend you, do I? I irritate.”

  He laughed. “You would try the patience of even the most stoic of men.” He stood up and offered her his hand. “Come, I will return you.”

  His arms were still around her as she stood in her bedroom. “Thank you for tonight, Mars. You can tell your sister her temple is still one of the greatest even built.”

  “My sister annoys me enough, why would I tell her that?”

  “Because you adore your sister, I can see it in those wonderful golden eyes.”

  Those eyes never flickered as his lowered to kiss her. It was sheer bliss. And that was all she remembered.

  CHAPTER 9

  Amelia was amazed Cassandra had given her permission for her to go to the Festival of Ceres with Augustus unchaperoned. It took place during the day and as long as Amelia was not in temple dress, Cassandra was fine. It also helped that Augustus was in uniform so he could not behave too badly.

  He was waiting for her on the temple steps.

  “You look beautiful out of your temple dress.”

  “Thank you. One of these days I might see you out of your uniform.”

  “You can see me without my uniform any time. You just have to ask,” his eyes twinkled

  mischievously.

  “Naughty,” she wagged a finger at him. “Now where are we headed?”

  “The festival takes place in the Forum Vasium, not far from Ceres’ temple. But first, we need to stop and get ourselves a couple of headdresses.”

  “Headdresses?”

  “Yes. They’re made from grasses and are extremely fetching.”

  She followed him along the street and stopped at a small vendor. The headdresses considered of grasses platted and bent into a circle. He also bought a posy of flowers.

  “You now looked fit for the festival,” Augustus smiled and popped the headdresses on Amelia.

  “How far is the Forum Vasium? I’ve not been before?”

  “Not far. Just follow the noise.” And they did.

  The whole area was packed with people drinking and having a party, Roman style. It was quite similar to the Bacchus festival, but the atmosphere appeared much calmer, with a lot less wine being consumed.

  Augustus steered her over to the large effigy of Ceres and he let Amelia deliver her offering. They sat back from the crowd, watching the young children and women dance and deliver more offerings to the goddess. It was their way of celebrating the harvest. Amelia noticed Augustus had moved a little closer to her, his whole demeanour had suddenly changed.

  “Is everything alright?” she asked.

  “I think we should leave.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I appear to be attracting attention. From the looks of it, there is no other centurion presence.”

  “Whatever you wish,” she stood up.

  Augustus led her out the square and quickly away from the brewing trouble. “It was stupid of me to think I could attend the festival in uniform,” he grunted.

  “It was a good idea,” Amelia slipped her arm through his. “As we’ve still got some time spare, why don’t we have a drink at your house?”

  His eyes lit up.

  “Just a drink, centurion.”

  “But I want to finish what we started in the baths.”

  “The answer is no. Not yet.”

  He gave her a smouldering look that almost melted her clothes. A short while later, she decided that going to his house probably wasn’t the best of moves. His mother was delighted to see her, as was Julius, but they apparently had to leave on an urgent errand.

  Augustus clearly did not have drink and polite conversation on his mind. As soon as they were alone, his mouth was on hers, and she found herself being carried through to his bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” she squealed.

  “I would have thought that was obvious.”

  “I said no.”

  He dropped her down on his small bed and kissed her until she had almost no fight left in her. “I won’t do anything
you don’t want to, but let us just enjoy each other for now.”

  It was glorious, having Augustus kiss and caress her, knowing that when she said stop, he would. And she was keen to get a glimpse of some of what lay under his tunic. He had an amazing athletic build, his torso bearing several scars.

  “Can you remember how you got each of these?” she ran a finger over one.

  “Most. I have a much more impressive scar a bit further down.”

  She slapped his chest. “That warrants an inspection another day. For now I will just appreciate your chest.”

  “And I yours,” he pulled her back to him.

  Amelia was quite pleased when she heard noise coming from the living quarters, it meant Syla and Julius were back.

  “I should return to the temple shortly.”

  “I would rather you stayed the night.”

  Amelia let out a soft laugh. “You know that is not possible.” She stood up and straightened her clothes.

  “As my lady wishes,” Augustus sighed dramatically. “But we will consummate this relationship soon.”

  “Perhaps,” she smiled. She was not going to give in too easily.

  CHAPTER 10

  Luke and Jenna were thrilled to be on their way to Herculaneum and Pompeii. Sextus had given them a few days off so they were visiting the ancient sites. Jenna would have preferred to have gone before Vesuvius erupted, but it had happened twenty years previously. Still, it was worth seeing the damage first hand that Vesuvius had done.

  They would be staying with another McVale tutor who had a vineyard a few hours ride away.

  “An outing with me and you still have a smile on your face, Luke,” Jenna glanced over at him as their horses made light work of the distance.

  “Probably because there is no chance of running into a figure in black,” Luke retorted. “Although I am half prepared for some other disaster to befall us.”

  “I’ll make you eat those words,” Jenna grunted.

  The further south they travelled, the dustier and hotter the land became. It was quite stunning. The estate was situated inland, so the terrain changed once again and was quite rocky. It amazed them just how wild and unspoilt by pollution the area had once been. They also felt much safer, there was no need for an armed escort as they were so far from Rome.

  Pausing at the metal gates, Luke and Jenna marvelled at how modern the estate looked. Rows and rows of vines filled the hilly landscape, and at the top was a pink coloured, sprawling villa. She had seen virtually the same a few years previously in the Puglia region.

  “Race you,” Luke challenged and set off down the driveway.

  “Guess I should give you a head start,” Jenna shouted, counted to five, then went after him. She beat him by a good few feet.

  Quintus met them out front. “It’s not often we get fresh blood from Rome this far south.”

  “Olive picking was taking its toll,” Jenna pulled a face and dismounted.

  “Yeah, her hands weren’t built for manual labour,” Luke chuckled.

  “They were built for giving you a slap,” she muttered.

  “I understand this is more of a field trip.”

  “Yes. We thought we’d check out Pompeii and Herculaneum, and anything else you can recommend,” Jenna replied.

  “Were you here when Vesuvius erupted?” Luke was enthralled.

  “No, my predecessor was. Apparently it was a very close call. The pyroclastic cloud could be seen quite clearly from here. The ash in the air played havoc on the crops for a few years, but we bounced back.”

  “Imagine having ring side seats for one of the earth’s most famous natural disaster,” Luke was impressed.

  “It’s going to be weird seeing Pompeii so soon after the event. I bet it looks nothing like it does now,” Jenna was curious.

  “You’re right. The site has not been excavated, so you will see it virtually as it was after the eruption. Now come inside and we’ll get you something to drink. As you might have gathered, wine is not in short supply.”

  Luke produced a couple of amphorae of olives from his bag. “Sextus asked us to pass these on to you.”

  “Let me guess, in exchange for some wine?”

  “Something like that,” Luke grinned. “He’ll always be moaning about the lack of even a small vineyard at Laumus.”

  It was late afternoon and the fierceness had gone out the sun. It was the perfect time for a ride around the estate. Luke was heavily into talking business with Quintus, so Jenna decided to take off on her own.

  Riding around the perimeter of the grounds, she realised just how extensive it was. She began to wonder if McVale’s actually ever made a loss on any of their estates. As she skirted the property, she got the most amazing view down the hill and across to the sea. She dismounted and tied the horse to a tree before heading over the boundary wall and standing on a rocky outcrop, gazing at the sight below. It was breath taking.

  “Whatever the problem, I’m sure it’s not worth jumping for,” a soft voice spoke behind her.

  Jenna turned quickly. The rider was a little older than herself, with light brown curly hair, and was dressed as a noble. “I was admiring the view, not about to jump,” she retorted.

  “Likewise,” he smiled, dismounting. “Although the outcrop you are standing on does not look particularly safe from this angle.”

  Jenna automatically took a few steps back, still keeping her gaze on the land below. “It is certainly an impressive landscape.”

  “I take it you are not from around here?”

  “No. Just visiting an acquaintance.”

  “Do they live near here?”

  “Two paces from where you are standing,” she smiled. “Their estate is behind you.”

  “That would explain why such a beautiful noble lady is unescorted. But you are still too far from help should you need it.”

  “And why would I need help?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “This area is a lot safer than Rome, but there are still unscrupulous characters around.”

  “Are you included in that?”

  “Perhaps,” he gave a wolfish grin.

  She turned back to the view, completely mesmerised by it. “You are lucky to be able to appreciate this sight every day.”

  “I never said I lived here.”

  “Oh, you are from Rome?”

  “Partly. I tend to travel all over the Empire.”

  “I am curious now,” she pushed a few stray curls behind her ears. “You are an Envoi?”

  He stood next to her, staring down the hillside. He was about six inches taller, had an excellent build, and a pair of soft brown eyes. “Of sorts. I work for my father and that has me travelling to many places.”

  “Then I should not keep you from your business.”

  “Business can wait a short while,” he smiled. “You are a welcomed diversion.”

  Jenna laughed. “I’ve been called many things in my life, but never a diversion.”

  “I apologise, I did not mean to offend.”

  “You didn’t. My favourite names are outspoken harpy, harbinger of doom or a plague of locusts.”

  The young man’s laughter echoed down the hill. “Now I see why you are alone.”

  “Precisely. Now perhaps I should return to the estate before my friends think another disaster has befallen me.”

  As she turned to leave, her foot slipped on the loose rocks underfoot. She let out a squeal as her ankle turned over. The young man moved at lightning speed and caught her before she landed on her butt.

  He swept her up and deposited her on the estate wall. “Your ankle is hurt?”

  “I think so,” she winced, trying to put some weight on it. “Clumsiness is another of my virtues.”

  He knelt down in front of her. “Will you permit me to take a look?”

  She nodded. “As long as it’s just the ankle.”

  A wide grin spread across his face. “Just the ankle.” His hands were very gentle. “There app
ears to be no break or long term damage. You should rest it for a day or so.”