“What were they like? Were they ferocious? Did they slaughter anyone? Are they cannibals?” Marcus’s eyes lit with interest.
“Marcus!” Lucretia scolded. “Felix does not wish to discuss such things.”
“It’s all right,” Felix said with a laugh. “Though in truth, it was rather boring, all things considered.”
Marcus made a noise of disappointment.
“Come, let’s be on our way,” Lucretia said. “Marcus, you’ll return home, and then I’ll see Felix to his house and make sure he’s taken care of.”
“Can’t I come with you?” Marcus asked.
“Felix needs to rest,” Lucretia said sternly. “You’ll keep him up half the night with questions about the pirates. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t.”
Marcus gave her a look of begrudging concession. “Fine.”
“Meet me at the gymnasium tomorrow after you’re done with school,” Felix said.
Lucretia raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You mean to exercise? Don’t you wish to take a few days to rest?”
Felix flexed one arm experimentally. “I’ve spent the last nine days sitting on a ship doing nothing. Marcus may actually have a chance of beating me in my current state.”
Marcus let out a gleeful laugh, and Lucretia sighed. “Very well.”
They saw Marcus home, and then made their way to Felix’s house. As she expected, his staff had a hot bath waiting for him, and he disappeared to wash and change his clothes while the kitchen prepared dinner.
He looked much restored after the bath, and he ravenously tucked into the expansive spread laid out in the dining room. Once she saw the food, Lucretia realized she hadn’t eaten all day, and she joined him in demolishing an embarrassing amount of the excellent fare.
“I will repay Lentulus first thing tomorrow morning,” Felix said as he polished off a second duck leg.
Lucretia loaded up her plate with wine-poached pears. “Will losing all that money hurt you?”
“I won’t be begging on the street, if that’s what you mean. But I will need to scale back my operations temporarily, until my capital is rebuilt. I’ll have to delay my planned expansion to other ports.”
“So you’ll stay in Ostia.” She shot him a coy sidelong glance. “A terrible fate.”
He met her gaze with a crooked half-smile. “Devastating.”
They resumed eating in companionable silence. Finally, Felix pushed back his third empty plate with a sigh of defeat. “That’s about all I can manage.”
“Are you very tired?” She would leave if he wished to rest, but being alone with him in the dining room where they had spent so many intimate moments was causing a different kind of appetite to flare. Now that he was safe, and now that she had forgiven him, all she wanted was to fall into bed with him, to truly reunite and repair their relationship.
“Not very,” he replied. “I think I should be, but I feel strangely invigorated.”
“Good,” she said. “May I take you to bed, Felix?”
His eyebrows shot up—clearly that was the last thing he expected her to say. Then the surprise faded, and a lascivious gleam took its place in his eyes. “You may.”
She stood and took his hand, pulling him to his feet. They left the dining room, heading for his bedroom. As soon as the door closed behind them, Lucretia busied herself in pulling off his tunic. The fresh clothes smelled strongly of marjoram, and Lucretia took a deep breath, filling her lungs with his scent. She had missed that.
Her hands skimmed down his body, luxuriating in the feel of him beneath her fingers. He was a trifle thinner than she recollected, but no doubt a few good meals would remedy that in short order.
His cock, thankfully, hadn’t been affected by his ordeal, and it was as robust as she remembered. She curled her fingers around it, feeling it twitch and stiffen against her palm.
“I forgot how good that feels,” Felix hissed. “How goodyoufeel.”
He reached for the shoulder of her dress, but she caught his hand and moved it away. “Not yet.” She gently guided him over to the bed, where she sat him on the edge of it.
Then, she sank to her knees between his thighs and took him into her mouth.
