The street was quiet at the moment, but Volusia was right, anyone could wander by. He wasn’t prepared to give up his chance at a kiss, so he pulled her into the narrow alley between her house and the neighboring building. Shadows cloaked them. He took her in his arms once more, and she didn’t push him away as he pressed his mouth to hers.
She kissed him back enthusiastically, and slid her hands over his chest to anchor on his shoulders. His hand tangled in her hair, tilting her face up to take possession of her mouth. They stumbled back, until her body pressed against the outer wall of her house. Lust spiked, scrambling his thoughts and reducing everything to heated gasps and groping hands.
She hooked one leg around his, and let out a purr as his rapidly stiffening cock nudged against her thigh. His breathing stuttered as her hand grazed over him through his tunic.
He grasped her thigh, hiking her leg up to open her to him. “I could take you like this,” he murmured, his voice hoarse with desire, “if you’d let me.”
She put a hand on his chest. “I would certainly not,” she said, looking adorably indignant. “I will not be taken in an alley!” She giggled and pushed him away.
He released her and stepped back, taking a deep breath to clear his mind of the lust still muddling his thoughts. Taking her in an alley had been a stupid idea, and she’d been right to refuse, but her rejection threw even more light on the differences between them. In moments like this, Max was more than willing to let everything else fall away, to focus solely on the pleasure they could find with each other.
But Volusia deserved better. She deserved a man who could think beyond the present moment, who could help her build a future for herself and her son.
“I will always desire you, Max,” she said, her voice soft. “But…”
“I know.” He didn’t want to hear her say it, to hear out loud that he wasn’t the right man for her. He kissed her on the forehead, one last time. “It’s almost dusk. I should see to the horses and then get home.”
She nodded. They left the alley, and Volusia disappeared inside. Max untied the reins of the two horses, and headed for home.
Chapter 22
AfterMaxleft,Volusiarequested dinner for her and Lucius to be brought to her room. She didn’t want to see her stepfather after how he had treated Max. Instead, she ate with Lucius, listening to him spout facts about the reigns of ancient kings and the battles they’d fought. He was such an intelligent boy, with a vast ability to understand and retain information from his tutors’ lessons and the books he devoured. He had a particular aptitude for numbers, and loved nothing more than to work out complicated sums on his abacus. Great things awaited him, if she could give him the right opportunities.
Once they finished eating, she put Lucius to bed and returned to her room. She sat at her dressing table, painstakingly removing the threads that secured her hairstyle. She could have summoned a maid to do it, but without Iris she preferred to be alone.
A knock disturbed her as she brushed out her hair. “Who is it?”
A throat cleared. “Your father.”
Volusia set down her brush. Usually, when Rufus wanted to see someone, they were summoned to him—even his wife and stepdaughter. “Come in.”
The door swung open, and Rufus entered, hands clasped before him. “Your absence at dinner impressed upon me that I may have upset you earlier. Your mother suggested I may owe you an apology.”
Volusia turned toward him but didn’t rise from her chair. “You were extremely rude to Max.”
Rufus’s lips tightened. “He is insolent and coarse.”
“He saved my life. Even if he hadn’t, you had no right to try to dictate whom I may or may not speak to. I’m my own woman now, Father.” Thanks to Avitus’s will, she was emancipated from guardianship and in control of his entire estate, to keep in trust for Lucius until he came of age.
“Yes,” he admitted. “But might I still have the privilege of advising you?”
“Let me guess. You want me never to speak to Max again and pretend he doesn’t exist.” Rufus would never see the loyal, brave, fearless man Max had become. It pained her for Max to be so misunderstood.
Rufus fixed her with a steady gaze. “I would be pleased if you came to that decision, I won’t lie. Setting aside my vehement dislike, I know you were fond of him once. And now, after he has so gallantly saved your life, and with the time that you spent together on the road, it would not surprise me if that fondness had resurfaced.” He watched her face carefully.
Volusia suddenly found the carvings on her ivory comb fascinating. She said nothing. Anything she could say would only confirm his suspicions.
“And now that you are your own woman, as you say, you might think there can be no harm in pursuing that fondness,” he continued. “I certainly can’t stop you, so I wish only to caution you against destroying Lucius’s prospects and throwing your life away.”
Her throat grew tight. “You think it would be throwing my life away to spend it with Max?”
“He is a disgraced solider without influence or prospects. He can do nothing for you, or for our family.”
To hear it said so plainly made her chest ache. Max was not right for her. But that didn’t stop her from wanting him so much it hurt. Even today, she’d been only a breath away from letting him take her in the alley, an arm’s length from her family’s house. Only the most tenuous grasp on propriety had saved her.
She could write off their couplings on the journey as a need for comfort. Now that she was back in Rome, back to her real life, she had to put Max behind her.
She gave a shaky nod. “I understand.”
