“I snuck down to ask the concierge at the hotel,” Finch says, and of course he did. It would never occur to me to do that, but to Finch, so used to hotel living in his younger years, it would have been the obvious thing to do.
“Baby bird…” My throat hitches, and I have to clear it. “Thank you.”
“You think I’m going to let you come to Rome and not see everything you want to see?” he asks, proud of himself, excitement giving him a bounce in his step. “No way. Only the best formyhusband. And thisisthe best way to see it—fewer grubby tourist-types, and we can have our privacy if we want it.” The look he gives me is flirty and sexy.
“I amnotfucking you in the Colosseum,” I tell him in a low voice, but he just laughs.
And maybe I would. Maybe I’d chance a night in a Roman jail to be able to experience that. So we join the group of six, where Finch gives our false names, and then we follow the guide into the Colosseum.
* * *
“You’ve been so well-behaved,”I murmur to Finch an hour later, once we’ve been released by the tour guide to have a look around the Colosseum for ourselves. The others in the group have been told strictly to stay in the lighted areas and within the signposted areas, but I saw Finch slip the guide a substantial amount of cash and give him a wink.
“Come on, baby,” he said to me. “You and me, we go where we please.”
So that’s how we managed to find a place well away from all the other tourists, more dimly lit, a place where we can sit where ancient spectators once sat, and take in the wonders of the Colosseum.
“Well-behaved?” Finch says, walking his fingers over my thigh and dipping his hand between my legs. “Does that mean I canmisbehave for a little while now?”
I take his hand in both of mine, kiss the back of it, and hold it in my lap. “Even for us, this is probably too public,” I tell him. “Besides, we still have the club to get to, right?”
“You’re right; the bathroom of a Roman nightclub is a much more romantic place to get our freak on,” he says with mocking sincerity.
I shake my head with a smile. “You really outdid yourself tonight, baby bird. You know that?”
“Hellyeah, I know it,” he says confidently, looking back over the Colosseum and squeezing my fingers. “I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far.”
“I have. So much.” I lean into him. “Thank you.”
The moonlight has leached his eyes of their color, but they still shine with love when he smiles at me. “I’m glad.”
We share a sweet, lingering kiss, and then Finch pulls back. “I’m gonna give you some time alone for a minute,” he declares, hopping up off the stone bench.
“I don’t want time alone. I want to experience all of this with you.”
“Sure, but I need to give the tour guide the second half of the huge tip I promised for letting us go off alone. And by tip, I mean bribe. I’ll just be a minute. And then maybe I’ll stand in that broken-up bottom part for a minute and pretend I’ve been thrown into a cell with four really sexy gladiators, while my Emperor watches them take me, all at the same time. Gladiator gangbang. Actually, I think I’ve seen that movie.”
“Your Emperor would never let anyone else have you.”
“Yeah, yeah. But it’s hot to fantasize about, right?”
“Any man who touched you would lose his hand,” I tell him firmly, but Finch’s laughter carries behind him on the warm, gentle breeze that blows through the Colosseum.
I do appreciate the moment alone, and appreciate again the way Finch knows me better than I know myself sometimes. I sit in silence, letting the sound of the traffic outside die away, the giggles and chatter from our fellow tourists below, until all I hear is the whisper of the past in my ears. I let go of my cares, just for a moment, and feel the power of this ancient place. Remember the blood spilled.
I think about how lucky I am to have found Finch, so perfect for me, who opened up new worlds for me. I can hear him somewhere in the Colosseum, his voice though not his words, and then I catch a glimpse of him waving at me from the other side.
“I took a wrong turn coming back,” he shouts.
I chuckle, raise my hands to my mouth to shout back, but with a noisyka-chunk-a-chunk, all the lights go out.
I spring to my feet, tensed for action, my eyes burning into the sudden dark. The clouds have shrouded the moon, and I have to strain to see anything in the black bowels of the Colosseum. “Finch!” I shout.
“I’m okay,” his response comes.
There aren’t that many people here, but I can hear them all chattering, the faux-scared screams of some of the girls, the laughter, the reassurances of the tour guide.
“Move down towards the base!” I shout towards where I saw Finch last. My eyes are adjusting, and the occasional moonlight flashes through the clouds and ambient light from the city are bright enough that I can pick my way down from the higher stands. I keep my hand on any available guide rails as much as possible. My heart rate is elevated, and part of me wants to move faster, but I try to stay calm, think fast, move carefully. The last thing I need right now is to stumble or fall.
