"You're greedy, that's what it is," he told her, his expression less distant. "You want to drain me."
"Hardly," she said, her face inscrutable. "You do not understand what I want if that's what you think I'm doing."
"All right, then; what is it you want of me?" He had moved over her and had succeeded in pinning her shoulder to the couch. "Tell me."
"I want you," she said directly. "All of you, without ruse or deception."
"What?" Her serious answer took him unaware and he released her, watching her with great curiosity.
"You asked me what I want: I've told you." She remained unmoving.
"You want me?" He spoke as if the words were unfamiliar and difficult.
"Yes."
"Why?"
She hesitated before she answered. "Because you touch me, you reach something in me that has not been reached for many, many years."
"I wish you wouldn't do that," he complained softly.
"Do what?"
"Keep talking as if you were as old as the sphinx," he said. "All right, you're probably older than I am, but that doesn't mean you're my great-grandmother."
Olivia chuckled but there was a sadness in her eyes. "I'll try to remember that," she said in a remote way.
"There are times you're impossible," he said, and ended their disagreement with a long, deep kiss that left both of them breathless and wide-eyed. "If I am what you want, then I'm yours." He ran his fingers over the planes of her face, so lightly that she almost could not feel them.
This time they made love easily, with less frenzy than before. The demand they felt grew more slowly, losing nothing in being less urgent than before. Drosos was willing to permit her to take the time she wanted to bring him to a level of arousal that astonished him, for until she did this, he was certain that he would never be more stimulated and eager than he had been when he first sought her.
"Lie back," she said as her hands traced patterns of desire through his body. "There is no reason to press."
He did as she told him, luxuriating in the endless subtle caresses and kisses she bestowed on him. He returned them, taking pride in the depth of her response to him. He had known enough women to realize that Olivia's desire was more profound than any he had encountered before, and that Olivia was more vulnerable to him than any woman he had taken to bed in the past.
"Your breast was made to fit my hand," he said, demonstrating.
"There are other parts that fit as well," she reminded him, her voice low.
"Oh, Kyrios," he murmured, his need for her intensifying even more.
She drew him closer to her, her hands pressing him against the length of her body, and then into her. She arched to meet him, moving with him. The tang of him, the weight of him pervaded her senses and increased as their union deepened.
This time when it was over neither spoke; they hardly moved. Each was replete with the other, each was gratified beyond all expectation. They lay together, not quite asleep, their arms around each other no longer straining but unwilling to part more than comfort demanded.
"Olivia?" Drosos whispered, hardly more than a breath.
"Umm?"
"What if the slaves find us?"
"Niklos will bring a blanket," she said, drowsiness making her words slur.
"But you are a widow—"
"I am a Roman," she corrected him.
"But if your slaves gossip, you might be criticized for what you… do with me." He brushed her hair back from her face. "I don't want you to suffer on my account."
She opened her eyes and studied his face. "People will talk no matter what. As a Roman, I will be the subject of speculation. The worst they can say of me is that I have taken a Captain of the army as my lover. If they say any more, then we can worry about it then." She kissed him affectionately. "How good of you to be concerned for me."
"Just as well that one of us is," he said, rousing himself enough to show his worry.
"If there are questions," she said as she smoothed the line that had deepened between his brows, "you need only tell anyone who has the ill grace to speculate that I am bound by my husband's will to remain a widow."
"Are you?" he asked, genuinely startled.
"No." She smiled sleepily. "But many Roman women are, for reasons of property. There was a time when it was different, when…" Her voice trailed off. "That was long ago, and there is no point in recalling. It only serves to make me angry at things I cannot change." She stretched her one free arm and then rested it across his chest. "If you say that I am obedient to my husband's will, no one will question it and you and I can continue as we are."
"But if it is a lie," he began only to have her stop him.
"Drosos, it is close enough to the truth that it does not matter. If you wish to remain my lover and you need some explanation, then this will do as well as any."
He took her hand in his. "And if I wish for more?"
"You are an officer in the army and your life is not wholly your own. Wait a while before you decide that you want more of me." She did her best to conceal a yawn. "In a year, if you think then that you need a different arrangement with me, we will talk about it. By then, you might prefer the way we are now."
"And I might not," he warned her.
Her smile faded as much with sleep as with apprehension. "If you insist," she said.
Drosos slid his hand over her back and drew her more close before he drifted into sleep.
* * *
Text of memo from Panaigios to his superior, accompanying several other memos from several of the Censor's secretaries.
To Kimon Athanatadies, from his devoted Panaigios,
The slave Simones has proven to be industrious and reliable, at least so his first two reports have led me to believe. It is my intention to subject him to another test and if he passes it as well as he has passed the first two, increase his duties and his power so that he will have more freedom of activity than has been allowed until now.
He has revealed that Antonina is actively promoting the interests of her friends as well as the returning officers of her husband Belisarius. This must be watched and guarded against for some little time until we learn one way or another how much power she has gained through the use of her influence with the Empress. It is fortunate that Simones is willing to reveal this, for it makes our dealings much more direct and useful.
You have said that you want to know what changes occur when Belisarius returns, and I have already informed Simones that he will have to be more active then. Doubtless he anticipates these developments with mixed feelings, but he will be prepared to give us the information we require to protect himself as much as to establish any fault on the part of his master.
With prayers for your continued diligence and zeal, and with great thanks for the opportunity to serve you and our glorious Justinian, I am
Panaigios
secretary
8
The Hippodrome resembled the Circus Maximus, though it was not as boisterous or as crowded as the huge amphitheater in Roma had been. The stands were full, but the people behaved more decorously than the Romans. Taking her seat beside Antonina, Olivia watched the stands, her expression carefully blank.
"Is this familiar to you?" asked Antonina as she directed her body slave to arrange her pillows more comfortably.
"To a degree, but it is also very different." She looked down the length of the oblong stadium. "In Roma, everyone was more active than I have seen the people of Constantinople be."
"Yes, we do put more value on good conduct than the Romans," said Antonina with a degree of complacency that made Olivia want to argue with her.