She drew in a steadying breath. “I have a few conditions.”
“As do I.”
She doubted his conditions would be the same as hers. “You go first.”
“As we have discussed, you will have complete freedom to go where you wish, see whom you wish, do what you wish. I will make no demands on your time except for accompanying me to the occasional dinner party.”
“No more than once a week,” Crispina stipulated.
The corners of his mouth lifted. He liked this bargaining, she realized. “Thrice a week during the height of my campaign.”
“Which shall be defined as the three week period between when the magistrate officially announces the election and the day the voting takes place.”
Aelius nodded. “Agreed. And there is a customary banquet thrown by election winners the day after the election.”
Crispina dipped her head. “Yes.”
“So, as I was saying, complete freedom, with the exception that I require fidelity. I cannot be made a cuckold.”
A reasonable request. She acceded with another nod. “And it will go both ways, I trust?”
His eyes skimmed over her in a way that made her wish she’d worn a few more layers of clothing. She could feel the thin linen of her dress clinging to her curves, and heat bloomed in the wake of his gaze.
“I could be satisfied with that.” His voice dropped lower.
The heat moved to her face. She realized she had miscalculated with her question. She had only intended to show him that she wouldn’t be held to a double standard of fidelity, but now she’d given him reason to believe they would fully enjoy the marital bed. Which Crispina had no intention of doing.
She hurried to clarify. “My condition is that there will be no need for any sort of…carnal activities.” She glanced toward the bed meaningfully.
He followed her gaze, brow furrowing. “No need? But you just said we were to be faithful to each other.”
She shrugged. “You know I cannot bear children, so what’s the point?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I can think of several.” His voice took on a huskiness that made her stomach flutter, but she stood firm.
“That is my condition.” She was no innocent maiden. She knew the marriage bed held only obligation, discomfort, and disappointment. This marriage would be on her own terms as much as possible.
“You realize you’re condemning us both to celibacy?” he said. “If we are to be faithful to each other, and yet also never lie with each other?”
“If matters of the flesh are so important to you, we can end this negotiation and never see each other again.” She took a step toward the door, but he was blocking it, so she only succeeded in putting herself within an arm’s length of him.
He crossed his arms, jaw tensing as he considered. “Is this because you think you’re too good to share your body with a freedman? Because if you think so poorly of me, I will find another bride. I know what I lack, but I won’t marry someone who thinks I’m scum.”
“No!” The immediate denial came without thought. “That’s not what I think.” It pained her that he could entertain that idea even for a moment. What slights and insults he must have endured.He deserves better. “It’s because I’ve been married before. I know as much as I ever want to about the marriage bed.”
He met her gaze for a long moment. The defensiveness that had flared in his eyes receded, replaced with something softer. “Very well. I accept your condition on the premise that we leave room to renegotiate.”
“Under what circumstances?” Perhaps he should have been a lawyer instead of a politician.
He bent down to her and put his mouth next to her ear. “When I eventually seduce you.”
A hot flush spread from the place on her neck where she could feel his breath all the way down to her toes—mostly anger at his arrogance, but with an undeniable undercurrent of something deeper.
She grasped onto the anger, willed the other thing to wash away, and lifted her gaze to meet his, his face as close to hers as it had been that one long moment at the games. “You’re very lucky there’s no pool of water beside you this time.”
A grin lit his face, and he pulled away, putting a respectable distance between them once more. “Now that that’s settled, let’s discuss the term of our arrangement. We must stay married at least until the election is over. Even if we make each other miserable, I can’t have the scandal of a divorce when I’m trying to campaign.”
Reasonable enough. The election was less than a year away. How miserable could they make each other in that amount of time? “I agree.”
