Sara

Charis gave him a curious look as he moved into the garden. He seemed nervous and nerves weren't something she regularly saw in Tertius. He was usually so...severe. Hard to read, of course, but always confident of himself and his abilities. She nonetheless gave him a small, warm smile as he took a seat on the bench and picked up her hand, uncurling her fingers to deposit something in it. She frowned. And then she opened it and she felt a knife slice straight through her heart. Immin had given it to her - a small token, nothing especially grand - but he'd braided the leather himself and she had worn it every day for years. Until Tertius had stripped it from her arm. She recalled his words even now: There’s no need to cling to a husband, who is no longer here. This is your present life, and you're mine now. She strove to keep her face as neutral as she possibly could. But it was agonising. Agonising to remember that moment, which had so shortly preceded him taking her to his bed for the first time, agonising to remember that she had once - long ago - had another husband. One who cared for her. Loved her. Never asked more than she was prepared to give. And it was agonising not to know what to do. She didn't know whether this was a test. Whether he was giving it to her to see whether she'd accept it, accept back a reminder of a life he had commanded her to forget. Or was he doing it out of kindness? That she didn't know almost made her tear up but she kept them at bay, keeping her voice neutral. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and she was looking over the bracelet in her palm; "I can't accept this." She said with a swallow and a deep exhale. She hated herself. She hated everything about herself in that moment. "It is from another life. Another time. I want to move forward, not look back." she wanted to cry, but didn't. TAG: @Atrice

Hilda chuckled as he reached for her and she quirked a brow at him. "No husband, but a brother who would no doubt be concerned if I didn't come home." She'd never spoken of her intimate life with Wulfric, and she wasn't about to start now...but he would likely be confused and unhappy if he woke to find her absent. Whether it was fraternal kindness or out of the belief Hilda couldn't handle herself, she didn't know. In any case, Hilda wasn't a woman who was sentimental. She was more than happy to have a lay and then leave and with a small smirk at him she pushed herself to stand and padded around the room to try and find her clothes. "As fun as this was Alexius, there's no need to get attached." She grinned at him. "But we should do this again sometime, no?" TAG: @Atrice

She smiled at him, her dark eyes finally moving up from his lips to his eyes. They were full of something unquantifiable to her. She shuddered again. The hand brushing her long, dark hair behind her ear didn't help. Nor did the thumb that swept the high arch of her cheekbone. They were alone. Properly alone. Nobody was going to disturb them here but it wasn't some sort of hovel, nor did it risk her reputation like a hospitia or another sort of rented room would. This was luxury in a way that she couldn't comprehend and the...silence of the rest of the house, the knowledge that they had (virtually) all the time in the world, alone, together, was utterly thrilling. And slightly terrifying. She chose to project, rather than offer any of her own real opinions. "I think that's unfair." She murmured and laid a soft, gentle kiss on his lips. The briefest of brushes, before she pulled back. "I told you last time we met what I thought of. You have not reciprocated." TAG: @Chevi

She arched a brow, a small, slow smile on her face. She was curious but then Tertius so often surprised her - usually, of course, not in a good way. She nodded with a little chuckle. "Of course, husband." And as the litter halted to a juddering stop, she took the hand of a harried house slave and exited first, moving through the domus. Slaves were immediately there to take her palla and she deposited it in their arms. It was...odd...and painfully unnerving how quickly she'd been able to fall into the practices and habits of a born and bred senatorial woman. And then, free of her burden, she padded through into the garden - sandals slipped off - as she enjoyed the feeling of grass under her feet and the scent of flowers. She exhaled and stood in its mid-winter beauty. It was cold for Rome, but she didn't mind. It wasn't cold compared to her home. She closed her eyes and sent a silent, quick prayer to her own Gods not to forsake her - changed as she was - and then she moved to take a seat on a bench. Then she heard Tertius' footfalls and glanced up. "Come to present my present?" she teased, with a quirked brow. TAG: @Atrice

The climax felt like the most indescribable, the best sort of ecstasy that she couldn't even fathom. Gods this man. She was shuddering still, panting against his chest, head swimming as he moved to kiss her throat and the lifted her up and off of him. She groaned, mourning his loss for a moment before she realised what he was doing and she smiled against the skin of his chest, moving a hand to help him. It did not take much longer and he groaned in his own pleasure, head rolling back. Hilda rolled, breathless, utterly spent, to his side and moaned herself, her body finally calming. Gods above. She felt his bite on her ear and chuckled. "So do you." She grinned and turned her face to glance lazily at him next to her. "All night?" She quirked a brow and shook her head. "I should go, sweet Alexius." And she moved to sit up although she felt boneless. TAG: @Atrice

Hilda was close. So close. Too close. She wanted to hold on but his motions weren't helping and she couldn't stop herself, from riding, from touching herself just the wa she liked. She groaned loudly as he said not to worry about her. Gods this man. "Pull out." She choked as she neared her climax. "When you spill." She didn't want to deal with the consequences of tonight. And then she felt the familiar tugging deep between her thighs and she choked. She was so close. She gasped at him; "Deeper." And as she brushed herself with her fingers it was all over. She cried out, loudly, her whole body tightening - her hand laced in his clutched on for dear life as she shook and collapsed onto his chest. He still within her. TAG: @Atrice

She nodded and asked, interested; "I would like to visit others. If you'd take me?" She meant it, genuinely. Not out of some genuine belief in their Gods - she had her own - but because it was a reverent spectacle, the sacrifices she had seen. And she wanted to see more. Understand more, of Rome. She had lived a relatively sheltered life since she got here to Rome. There was so much more to explore. "I'll pray that she listens." She replied with a small smile. He didn't like her praying outside, as she had been the day he found her in the garden, but she still did her own prayers, before sleep, when she walked in the gardens, when she saw beautiful things in the city. She curled one of her fingers around his own but soon enough they were descending the familiar hill on the Esquiline and she gave him a small smile. "We're nearly home." Traffic at this time of day was evidently quieter. "And I am intrigued for my gift. Should...I...go straight in?" TAG: @Atrice

She was taking her time, trying to draw this out but then she felt the strong arms wrap around her, bringing her flush against his chest and she choked but in pleasure. From this angle he was deep and it was a hard pace but satisfying. Utterly, wonderfully satisfying. She moaned against his lips an he kissed her. Deeply. Thoroughly. Gods this man. Was he perhaps the only good one in Rome? She heard his words and meweled. She was close but she needed more. She let out a shuddered breath and then pushed herself back up again so she was riding him but she enjoyed his movements too, their bodies meeting in perfect synchronicity. Then she reached down her own hand between her thighs, moving it in gentle circles and she let out a groan. "I'm close." She shuddered in Latin. "A-are you?" TAG: @Atrice

She shuddered. Gods dammit she shuddered. She let out a little breath and moved her fingers to brush stray hair from his forehead, tilting her face to the side, but her nose brushed his and her dark eyes bored into his own. So similar. So heated. So much for going slow. But it always ended this way - it had since Saturnalia. She wasn't sure what Lucius did to her but he sent her wits scattering to the winds, blowing everything else out of her mind but him. She brushed her thumb over his bottom lip, watching it rather than his eyes. Her voice was low. "You're teasing me." She murmured. She was still watching his lips. She exhaled and glanced up at him. "Would you believe me if I said those reasons were the excellent lunch you put on, and nothing else?" She arched a brow, a sly smile on her lips, but she didn't pull away. TAG: @Chevi

She grinned at him, giving him a triumphant little look. "Well you've succeeded in that husband. I am thoroughly spoiled." she had wealth and belongings now beyond her imagining. Even when she had been a free woman in Britannia she had nothing like this. Of course, if she dwelled on it, she had been happier then. She had been truly free in a way she never would be again. She shoved the thought out of her mind with utter determination. A personal gift though? She quirked a brow and was about to ask more questions but he moved the conversation on and she knew better than to press him. Instead she gave him a little sigh and picked at some of the grapes that were still in the litter form before. "It was...different to what I expected. I have seen sacrifices, of course but this felt...different." She was being honest now. It was hard to put into words. "Deeper? Does that make sense? I think it was the darkness and the sounds and the prayers..." She shook her head. "It was...fascinating. Do you...do it a lot? Visit and make a sacrifice?" TAG: @Atrice

She grinned. "I don't know which I prefer though, Hop or the domus." She chuckled and curled closer, stretching an arm over his chest, fingers stroking his side as he kissed her cheek. But that was not entirely enough. She tilted her face so she could study him intently - lips quirking, eyes narrowed in challenge. She loved the games. They sent a thrill through her. "I'm sure I could think of a reason or two to meet you again." She leant in softly, brushing her lips against his in the briefest, gentlest, most chaste of kisses. TAG: @Chevi

Hilda gasped in sorrow as he moved out of her, mourning his loss for the briefest of moments but then he rolled to his back and she gave him a breathless, flushed smile as she moved to straddle him. His hand helped guide her in and she sank over him slowly, moaning deeply from the bottom of her chest. Her head rolled back, eyes drifting shut as she let herself settle on him. The sweetest of pleasure. His hands roaming over her body only increased it. After a long few moments of delicious stillness, she began to move, rocking her hips in a slow pace. But she took him deeply and then moved to place her palms flat on his chest. Her nails curled into his skin and she choked; "Fuck..." And then in German, losing herself, "You feel so good..." TAG: @Atrice

She laughed, genuinely, her shoulders shaking a little in amusement. "Yes yes, I kept a vigiles recruit around for the riches." She rolled her eyes. He was so precocious. She chose to swallow the thought that once, a long time ago now, had he chosen a different path he could have given her riches. And a marriage. And a proper domus, not just one he had borrowed from a vacant owner. She took a sip of wine and tried her best to shove the thought out of mind. It was not for now. "Oh please." She rolled her eyes. "You're saying you don't know me at all? Or are you just too lazy to figure it out, hm?" TAG: @Chevi

She gave him a bemused little look, her lips curling in a small smile. "Of course I'm happy." and she couldn't honestly say it was a lie. She was being showered in luxury and her son was well and Tertius had been kind to her today. Besides the small little spat they'd had in the litter on the way here. But her brows rose and she gave him a slightly wider smile. Curious. "Another gift?" She let out a small little laugh and settled back against the backrest in the litter with a small smile. She was so little that even with her legs stretched out in front of her he had plenty of room. "You've given me so many already. My freedom, my jewels, my clothes..." She gestured at the fine chiton and palla she was wearing. Not a stola. She wasn't a respectable matron after all, even if she was a wife in all but legality. TAG: @Atrice

"Not by blood." She murmured. "And even then, history teaches us great men don't mind that." She wrinkled her nose and chuckled, curling a little closer to him and crossing her ankles on the table. Sh made a mental note to seek out this Mania. Similar age. Jewellery business. Mania. That was enough to go on to find her. Then she'd judge for herself whether the comparison was awfully cruel, or kind. "But answer me this, my sweet Lucius..." She gave him a sly look, "If your family own a jewellery business...why have I not received any of their wares as a gift?" TAG: @Chevi

Charis watched Tertius climb in and she was pleased his back was turned so he didn't see the roll of her eyes. Immin had always helped her climb her horse first. Opened doors for her. Tertius, however, seemed to revel in his precedence. One of the slaves extended his arm which she gripped as she ducked in, sitting opposite him and rearranging the folds of her palla. She gave him a bemused, awkward little smile and shrugged her shoulders, looking at him. "I'm...happy. I suppose." She reached across to stroke her thumb over his knuckles. He was quiet, as if he was thinking deeply on something and she frowned, tilting her head, watching him closely. "What is on your mind, husband?" TAG: @Atrice

"Working?" She glanced at him, amused. "I've never heard of such a thing before. I don't think it sounds like something I'd enjoy." Chuckling, she took another sip of the wine. It really was very good, he'd cleared not spared any expense. Her interest...and her...jealousy was piqued though. She quirked an eyebrow as she stared up at him. "Mania. That's a lovely name. For a lovely woman? How old is she?" She asked, feigning innocence. "And why would she hate you, my sweet?" TAG: @Chevi

She smiled and relaxed into his touch, moving to curl up next to him on the couch, stretching her legs out again in front of her and taking the cup of wine from him with a contented little sigh. "Good." She chuckled and settled into the crook of his arm. "How is your home, by the way? I'm not sure I've had the pleasure of meeting your adopted siblings yet, or your father?" She turned her face up, tilting it to look at him. "Or are you largely at your barracks, squirrelled away?" TAG: @Chevi

She blinked as he stood up but there was a soft smile on her face and she turned it up to look at him. She cleared her throat and then sighed deeply in contentment as he brushed his hands over her waist, her ribs, her hips. And then she let out a hum of pleasure as he kissed her forehead. She listened to him, staring up into his dark eyes - so like her own. She flushed. She knew exactly what he was referring to. Last time they had met they had gone so far, only to fall at the final hurdle because she had panicked and couldn't cope. She kept her hand stroking the high arch of his cheek, a soft smile on her face. "I...want..." What did she want? "I want things to be normal. I want to eat lunch with the man that I...love." It was still hard, odd to say, "And I want to sit close to you, not glancing over my shoulder." So simple. So chaste. But so important to her. She craved him - even in the chaste intimacy she was proposing. "Can we sit together?" She asked. "And...just be...slow?" TAG: @Chevi

She looked awkward. Shy. And his compliments didn't help. It felt different than when she was paid compliments by her family. This was...different. And more thrilling, but also unnerving in its own way. She gave him an awkward little smile. She mumbled as he took her hand and kissed it. "You are a flatterer." she chuckled and cleared her throat. "And look at that...?" She chuckled, her awkwardness dissipating a touch, "I'm not running away like last time." She moved her hand to cup his cheek. TAG: @Chevi

It...was not a short song and by the time she finished, carrying the final, solemn note, her cheeks were flushed and she was breathless. It reminded her of home. Not her home, but a warm, gentle place - like the love her slave had shown her when she was a girl, before she'd been sold when her arthritis had gotten too bad. She sighed and then gave Lucius a shy smile. Most unlike the smiles she usually gave. And then she tried to bluster her way through it, dipping into a mock bow, sweeping low before rising with a smile. She was embarrassed and she didn't know why. She knew she wasn't terrible but it was still...intimate. Oddly so. She cleared her throat. "Consider the debt repaid?" TAG: @Chevi

If there was a double meaning behind his words, even now Ovinia was too naive to grasp it. Instead she flushed a little and mumbled something incomprehensible to herself before she took another deep sip of wine. It was not half bad. With a pointed glare in his direction, although there was very little actual heat in it, she pushed herself to stand up and moved to face him, her back to the garden. She cleared her throat. "There's a Greek one I like." She offered and smoother a hand nervously over the fine fabric of the chiton as she unwound her palla and tossed it at him; the gauzy silk covering his face for a moment. "It's quite melancholy though, so if it puts a damper on the whole afternoon you have nobody to blame but yourself." It had been a song her slave, her nanny, had sung to her when she was a girl and - before she lost her nerve - she started; somewhat quietly at first, but her tune was excellent, her voice clear and the pitch perfect as she sang through the tale; of a family, torn by love but brought together in the end. She watched him closely as she sang. TAG: @Chevi

She groaned and fell back on the couch, moving to stretch her legs out onto the low table, now she was properly pouting. The fact her calves were visible from where her chiton had ridden up was entirely incidental. "You mask it in politeness and sweet words but you're still going to make me sing for you, aren't you?" She huffed and took a deep sip of her wine. She was watching his face closely though. "You never said you enjoyed it. When I did that first time, the day we met. Why do you want to hear me sing now?" TAG: @Chevi

She groaned. "You are not going to give up are you?" She wrinkled her nose and pushed herself to sit up, turning to face him on the couch. She was pouting and sighed heavily. Dramatically. "What if I bat my eyelashes at you? Or offer you a kiss instead?" She tilted her head, watching him deeply and she had a slow, sly smile unfurling on her face. "Or what if I ask very nicely?" TAG: @Chevi

Ovinia blinked at his tone. It wasn't quite a snap, but it was more stern than she'd seen Lucius in months. Not since Barbatius. She swallowed and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I was joking." She grimaced. She understood it was serious. Vigiles had a terrible reputation - even amongst her own family, and even after their domus had been saved by vigiles. She gripped his hand a little tighter and offered a small smile. "I have faith that you'll improve things." Lucius had a heart of gold. Granted, it was wrapped in ego sometimes and a headstrong belief that he was inherently right...but...his core was solid. And good. As the moment passed in a heartbeat and he raised her knuckles to kiss she rolled her eyes and sunk lower on the couch, petulantly. "Let me drink my wine first. And you haven't given me any hints about what sort of song. A happy one? Sad? And it's more challenging with no accompaniment." She mumbled. TAG: @Chevi