Crispina smiled. “In a strange way. I didn’t want to lie with you at first because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t conceive a child. I was holding onto a tiny, foolish hope that maybe it would be different with a different man. And I didn’t want that hope to go away. Even though I’ve never longed for a baby, I just…wanted to know if I could do it. But now, with Max, I’ve realized we could be a family of sorts. So it doesn’t matter if I can bear a child or not.”
A relieved smile lit his face. “Was that what it was? I was afraid you didn’t think I was good enough for you.”
“You are the best I could ever hope for. More than I deserve.”And to Dis with what Horatia or anyone else thinks.
He cupped her cheek, then his brow furrowed, and he hesitated for a moment. “I know our arrangement included talk of ending things after the election. But now…” He lowered his head to brush her forehead with a kiss. “I can’t bear the thought of being parted from you.”
Her heart felt as if it would burst. Warmth swelled within her, and she pulled him close. “Make me your wife, Aelius, truly. Forever. Anddon’tmake me do any more talking.”
He let out a dark chuckle as he rolled on top of her. His weight pressed her into the bed. A memory flashed through Crispina’s mind of the last time she had done this with Memmius. Her chest tightened, but she took a deep breath and ran a hand down Aelius’s arm, feeling the light fur of hair that coated his lean muscles. His weight was grounding and comforting, not oppressive and stifling.
She braced her knees against his hips, opening herself to him. “Yes,” she hissed as he eased himself inside her.
He worked himself into her with gentle, easy movements. When he finally sank all the way in, he let out a rough sigh, sensual tension etched in every line of his face.
Warm pleasure filled her. She hooked her calves over his legs, urging him deeper. He kept his arms braced on either side of her head to hold most of his weight off of her, and moved in slow, smooth strokes.
Too slow. She tangled a hand in his hair and pulled. “Harder.” She needed more, needed to feel him in every inch of her body.
He obliged with a groan, setting a hard, fast rhythm that made undignified sounds burst from her mouth with every thrust. She clung to him, digging her nails into his back and shoulders as the pleasure grew nearly unbearable.
He lowered his chest onto her, finally letting her take his full weight. The change in position, while slight, tweaked something between them. The pleasure swelled and burst. Shudders wracked her body, and she writhed beneath him, hips bucking as if she’d throw him off.
But he kept her pinioned beneath him, a hand gripping her hip to keep him deep inside her. She reveled in his iron grasp as pulsing, sparkling waves of pleasure coursed through her.
Aelius slammed into her one final time with a grunted curse. Then his body went limp, and he collapsed onto her, chest heaving. Crispina stroked the back of his head. He raised his head enough to kiss her forehead, then rolled off her, freeing her from his weight. “My wife,” he whispered with a lazy, exhausted smile.
Crispina snuggled into his chest, heedless of the sweat that coated them both. “Always.”
Chapter 22
Crispina smiled to herself as she knelt in the dirt to gather the writing materials from today’s lesson. Max was off in another corner of the courtyard tossing a ball with the rest of her students.
Her smiles came easier nowadays. Five months of blissful coupling with Aelius had that effect, apparently. Their marriage was now eight months old in total, and now only five weeks remained until the election.
A chilly winter had passed, during which Cassandra gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Taurus was a doting father, and the couple named their daughter Aelia Crispina.
Little Aelia was the only baby who would grace their home for now. A familiar ache brewed low in Crispina’s stomach as she reached for the last wax tablet. She sighed. Her courses would arrive in the next day or two, no doubt. Right on schedule. Over the past five months since she’d been lying with Aelius, she had slowly abandoned her hope of conceiving a child. The disappointment lessened each month. Now, she barely spared it a thought.
The only true dark spot in her happiness was her falling out with Horatia, but even that couldn’t dull her joy. Horatia had sent her a letter about a week after their fight with a detailed apology. Upon reading it, Crispina felt a momentary tug toward forgiveness, but cast the letter aside without replying. She had Aelius, Max, and Gaia now. She didn’t need her old snobbish friend, apology or no.
Crispina stacked the wax tablets in her basket, then counted the styluses. One was missing. She glanced up to scan the ground for it—and her gaze lit on a pair of feet wearing sandals of tooled leather. Her head jerked up to see the hem of a blue-dyed tunic, embroidered with silver thread. Much too fine for this neighborhood.
She looked up even further to find a man’s narrow face staring down at her. Sunlight turned his blond hair to flashes of gold.
Crispina scrambled to her feet. “Rufus,” she gasped. What was Publius Veturius Rufus doing here, of all places?
Her husband’s opponent lowered his head in a stiff nod. “Crispina.”
Two hulking men flanked Rufus, each twice his size and wearing matching gray tunics. The courtyard had gone silent. Crispina glanced around. The children had vanished. Except Max, who was staring at the four of them with his small fists clenched.
Crispina’s mouth went dry. Danger hummed in the air, but she couldn’t think what this all was about. She thought back to the last time she’d seen Rufus, when accepting his insincere apology in the Forum, and summoned the cool demeanor she’d affected then. “Are you lost, Rufus? I’d be happy to escort you home. Oh, forgive me, perhaps you’re visiting family here.”
His pale cheeks flushed. It was too easy to antagonize him by reminding him of his humble roots as the son of a baker. “Alas, lady, neither of your conjectures are correct. I came to see you.”
“How…” She swallowed hard.How did you find me here?
“I’ve been having you followed for the last month. Your husband too, but I’m afraid he never goes anywhere interesting. Not like you.”
