(no subject)
Weird and a bit rambly, more a vignette than a real story. Sorry.
The woman called Rufia bent over to scoop water from the fountain into the amphora. It was a task better suited to a servant boy, but Rufia's true duties required that she had an excuse to be near him, and his prestige would suffer if he tried to pass her off as his mistress, so a serving boy's tasks she performed.
Senator Marcus Graccus Gallicus watched her as she worked; the sun shone through her threadbare tunic, giving him a glimpse of the silhouette beneath. Gallicus felt a tightness in his loins, something he hadn't felt in years. Not since...what had her name been...the daughter of some official.
There was nothing like the lure of the forbidden to incite a man's lust. Certainly, he had taken far more attractive women to his bed. Women who had been willing, even eager; if not because he was handsome--and he had been, before age and war had taken their toll--then for the power he wielded.
Rufia--or whatever her true name was--would gut him like a fish if he tried anything. Or not--she'd had no weapon when the assassin had come for him, and the man had still died.
Such lethal potential was useful in a bodyguard. In a bed partner, it could be suicidal.
She returned to his side with the amphora, and turned to her duties, cleaning, there to fetch anything he might need. Her silent presence--which he'd first thought was submission but now realized was a warrior's discipline--teased him, as she worked; he was suddenly aware of her.
He alternated between work and watching her for the next few hours, as the afternoon crept toward evening. He was doing the latter, when she went still, the muscles in her arms standing out against. He followed her gaze to another of the house servants. The young woman stood, as if Rufia's gaze was a blade at her throat, for another moment before fleeing. After a moment, Rufia relaxed. She looked at him, the corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement--and it was then he realized he was fully erect.
Rufia straightened, then picked up her bucket. "Be careful what you wish for," she said, her normally cool voice carrying a hint of huskiness. "You just might get it."
Copyright Kit Russell 2004
The woman called Rufia bent over to scoop water from the fountain into the amphora. It was a task better suited to a servant boy, but Rufia's true duties required that she had an excuse to be near him, and his prestige would suffer if he tried to pass her off as his mistress, so a serving boy's tasks she performed.
Senator Marcus Graccus Gallicus watched her as she worked; the sun shone through her threadbare tunic, giving him a glimpse of the silhouette beneath. Gallicus felt a tightness in his loins, something he hadn't felt in years. Not since...what had her name been...the daughter of some official.
There was nothing like the lure of the forbidden to incite a man's lust. Certainly, he had taken far more attractive women to his bed. Women who had been willing, even eager; if not because he was handsome--and he had been, before age and war had taken their toll--then for the power he wielded.
Rufia--or whatever her true name was--would gut him like a fish if he tried anything. Or not--she'd had no weapon when the assassin had come for him, and the man had still died.
Such lethal potential was useful in a bodyguard. In a bed partner, it could be suicidal.
She returned to his side with the amphora, and turned to her duties, cleaning, there to fetch anything he might need. Her silent presence--which he'd first thought was submission but now realized was a warrior's discipline--teased him, as she worked; he was suddenly aware of her.
He alternated between work and watching her for the next few hours, as the afternoon crept toward evening. He was doing the latter, when she went still, the muscles in her arms standing out against. He followed her gaze to another of the house servants. The young woman stood, as if Rufia's gaze was a blade at her throat, for another moment before fleeing. After a moment, Rufia relaxed. She looked at him, the corner of her mouth quirked up in amusement--and it was then he realized he was fully erect.
Rufia straightened, then picked up her bucket. "Be careful what you wish for," she said, her normally cool voice carrying a hint of huskiness. "You just might get it."
Copyright Kit Russell 2004