She tugged away from him. “No!”
He laughed as he pressed her with his full weight against the wall. “No? You whispered a sweet promise to me earlier, and now you’re going to fulfill it.”
“Wait. There is something I must know. That slave girl you bought for my father. You never brought her to us, and I never heard my parents say anything about it. What happened to her?”
He smiled, but there was nothing like amusement in that look. Pure evil gathered inside his expression, and she shivered within his hold, afraid down to the very core of her being.
“She is in a far better place. She’s with the gods, Adrenia.”
“Dead?” The word came out a shade above a whisper.
“Would you like to live with the gods?”
He gripped her head and kissed her.
“Bastard!” The beefy man roared his anger as he aimed at Terentius.
Terentius ducked, his reflexes outmatching the hulking man.
Teeth bared, the man tried to charge him. Growling at the top of his lungs, the beastly man missed and tumbled into another group of men.
Chaos erupted.
Women screamed.
Men shouted.
Fists flew.
Terentius grappled away from the mess, pushing through the fighting, running, screaming crowd. Like a massive, uncontrollable creature, people lost their minds and flew into an incoherent panic. The insanity surged like a wave.
Adrenia.
She was the only thing that mattered to Terentius.
He worked his way through, searching and seeing no sign of her no matter which way he turned. If Sulla had her—
“Adrenia! Adrenia!”
Damn the gods. All of them.
He’d lost her. She was with Sulla and unprotected. Stark fear ripped his gut. He must find her.
Adrenia flinched, then shuddered in revulsion as Sulla forced his lips tighter to hers. She wanted to fight him. A solution came to her. Do not fight. Let him think she wanted this. When she eased against him, Sulla’s grip came undone. His hands dropped to her shoulders lightly.
She braced to bring her knee up into his groin.
Something hard slammed into them, and she cried out as Sulla fell away. She staggered as a stream of people carried Sulla away down the wide alley, his face contorted as he fought them. People bumped her as they ran passed and tried to escape the forum. She pressed her back tightly against the wall. A break in the flow gave Adrenia an opening. Someone stomped hard on her left foot and ankle and pain shot up her leg.
She dodged people and headed back the way she’d come toward the forum. All she could do now was run as far as she could before Sulla found her again. She broke into the forum.
People closed around her in a panic of screaming, shoving humanity. It took everything she had to stay upright. She tried looking through the crowd for Terentius, but saw no sign of him or Victor. The noise was incredible, pounding against her eardrums. She put her hands over her ears as she stopped for breath.
Two powerful arms clamped around her waist from behind.
Adrenia screamed and twisted in the unbreakable grip.
“Adrenia! Easy, easy. It’s me. It’s me.”
Terentius’s deep voice broke through the din. She sagged against him in profound relief. He turned her to face him. Blood marred the side of his forehead, his eyes hard command and obvious relief. She clutched his tunic, trembling and so happy to see him.
“Terentius.” Her voice barely broke above the noise.
She realized then that Victor stood with them.
“Where is Sulla?” Terentius asked.
“He was swept down the alley,” she said, gesturing back the way she’d come.
“I’ll go after him.” Victor shoved his way through the crowd in the direction she pointed.
More people shoved and pushed, and Terentius kept a firm hold on her. They laced their arms together. Terentius made progress through the crowd, his large body assuring them easier passage through the mess. Still, they were tossed about like balls in an insane, cruel game.
She tightened her hold. “I’m losing you.”
He slipped behind her and wrapped his arms about her waist in a tight grip, blanketing her back. Walking like an awkward animal, they made their way more slowly through the somewhat calmer crowd. Finally they reached the edge and passed into an alley. He took her through it to the other side away from the surging masses of people, and they turned the corner and braced against a wall.
Immediately he cupped her face in both his hands. “Are you hurt?”
She gripped his wrists. “No, but you’re bleeding.”
He laughed, the sound without amusement. His gaze blazed down at her, no longer cold with the fight, but burning with joy at their survival. “I’m well enough now that I’ve found you.” His gaze turned more serious. “By the furies, I never should have let you do this. Never.” He kissed her forehead, then her nose, punctuating each taste with words. “I never should have allowed you put yourself in danger.” He kissed her cheeks.
Once more his gaze fired, hot with a danger far different than what they had faced seconds ago in the writhing mass of humanity. Breathing hard, she recognized a steady building sensation in her loins. She needed reassurance, his touch, his kisses. She needed…more…
His mouth closed over hers.
The raucous sounds of the crowd in the distance faded to nothingness. Unlike Sulla’s brutal kiss, Terentius’s embrace held hunger designed to arouse and coax. She responded to his delicious request, her body filling with an equal need to satiate longings between them both wicked and tender. This kiss assured and scattered her senses, making her well aware of their differences in height and strength.
She responded with everything inside her. His tongue caressed and she sank into delight, caressing his shoulders to test their strength. His erection pressed against her belly, an intimidating intruder that forced his sheer masculinity into her awareness stronger than anything else could. His touch lingered on her face and then traveled down to her buttocks. He cupped and stroked until her heartbeat hammered, and her breathing came choppy with excitement. Forbidden desires wended a sure path through to Adrenia’s belly. Whimpers of delight left her throat, and his caresses became bolder, urgent, undeniable with possessiveness. One kiss became two, became three…then four. When she felt a featherlight caress over her breast and he gently plucked her nipple, she gasped in shock and pleasure into his mouth.
Breathing hard, Terentius broke from the kiss and buried his face in her neck. He hauled her closer. He wanted her, and she knew it. Yet she couldn’t deny she wanted the same. Despite shakiness in her knees from her violent encounters with the crowd, her need for him equaled in force and brushed away all thoughts of danger.
He drew back just far enough that she could see the lustful yearning and apology so clear in his expression she couldn’t mistake it for anything else. “I beg your forgiveness, Adrenia.”
“For what?” she asked.
“For exposing you to such danger. It’s unforgivable.”
“No. No, there is no way you could have known the crowd would react this way. I’m more worried how this will reflect on you with your superiors. Will they blame you for the disorder or losing Sulla?”
“They could. But they also know I am hunting Sulla and planned it in disguise. Without my official uniform, I cannot maintain order. Everyone thinks I’m a civilian.” His attention scanned her features, as if he didn’t believe she was real. “Did Sulla…”
Trembling, she told him the one thing he probably shouldn’t know. “He kissed me.”
His eyes flashed with anger. “I will hang him from his toes and allow lions to gnaw him.”
“I would have kneed him in the balls, but the crowd swept him away.”
He brushed hair back from her face. “Good.” He laughed gently. “You are a she cat. All claws and hiss.”
“Is that a bad thing? I’m not def
enseless. You should go now and find Sulla.”
His thumbs brushed her cheeks, and his gaze burned. “The gods may smite me for losing Sulla, but you are more important to me than catching him right this minute. I will see you totally safe first.”
Her heart soared, her mind dazzled by the thought this soldier would throw over duty in order to keep her safe. Compelled to touch him the same way, she skated her fingers across the stubble on his chin. She savored the sight of him and tried desperately to brush away the memory of Sulla’s dirty paws on her body. She knew deep in her heart only Terentius could remove the flavor of Sulla’s mouth and the violation.
That’s when she realized Terentius was having a strange reaction. Worry spiked high within her. “You’re shaking. Is something wrong?”
“I cannot allow something like this to happen again.”
“It was an excellent plan. It would have worked but for the crowd panicking. We can try again.”
“No.” The denial in his voice remained implacable. “I must take you somewhere safe.”
“I can go home.”
He took her hand and started to walk. “That isn’t safe.”
“What?” She held back, and he came to a stop, his grip on her hand firm. “Terentius, what are you not telling me?”
He sighed and indecision filled his gaze. “I learned some things about your family. Rumors about them.”
Then she understood. Or at least she thought she did. “Vicious rumors about my family aren’t uncommon. Cordus’s daughter Cordia dislikes me intensely and spends an inordinate amount of time spreading rumors. She told me the other day that she has plans for you.”
His brow creased, then cleared as he threw back his head and laughed. Mirth after the events of the last several minutes made her anger roil. She huffed and started to walk away.
“Wait!” He grabbed her arm. “You aren’t going anywhere without me.”
“If you are meant to be with Cordia, I shouldn’t have allowed…you shouldn’t have kissed me.”
Loosening his grip, he nevertheless kept Adrenia in his hold. His expression cleared of amusement. “She’s obviously a very young, very stupid girl.” His fingers brushed in a lingering, tender touch over her cheek. His gaze devoured her, made her feel beautiful in ways she’d never felt before. “You, on the other hand, are woman. Pure woman.”
His touch did insane things to her body, sending madness and craving into all parts of her until she wanted to find somewhere private and discover the full secret between man and woman.
“There is nothing Cordia could do or say that would entice me to marry her.”
Adrenia didn’t understand. “But she is a woman of good birth. She has money and position. I am—”
“A person of dignity and honesty. I don’t care about Cordia’s money or position. Those things matter nothing to me.”
Shocked, she stared at him. “You are a strange man, Terentius Marius Atellus.”
He laughed again, and she liked the way it lightened his eyes and removed that steady hardness that always seemed to flame within him at unexpected moments. She couldn’t help but respond and smile.
“I may be strange, but I’m not oblivious to a woman’s greed. Cordia obviously sees me as a piece of opportunity if she is plotting to marry me.”
“Because you are a centurion.”
“That’s the way of it.”
He took her hand and led her away from the crowds that dispersed now that the festival atmosphere had disappeared. Terentius went silent as they moved. As he urged her along at a quick pace, she sensed a far more serious reason for his quietness.
“Where is Victor?” she asked.
“Don’t worry. He can take care of himself.”
She shook her head. Men. They thought they were indomitable, especially soldiers. Yet something inside her responded to this soldier’s strength, to his seemingly invincible exterior and confident interior. Indeed, no person had ever made her feel safe the way he did. Part of her loved it, another part feared she would lose everything she was if she allowed his protection to surround her even one more time.
“There you are,” came a distinctive and familiar voice out of the dwindling crowds. Victor frowned as he walked up to them, leading two horses behind him. “I lost Sulla, damn it. I’ve been looking all over for you.” He nodded at Adrenia. “I’m glad to see you safe.”
Terentius clapped one hand on his friend’s shoulder. “We’ve failed the mission for now. We will take Adrenia someplace safe.”
“Take me home,” she said. “Terentius, if you want to still catch Sulla, I want to help you.” The words almost stuck in her throat, but she forced them passed her lips. “Sulla as much as confessed to me that he killed that slave girl that I told you about. He said she is in a far better place with the gods. He used my father’s money to buy the girl, then we never saw her later. What is even more disturbing is that my mother and father never said anything about the girl.” She rubbed her fingers over her forehead, weary. “I should have asked after her. Instead I was cowardly.”
“It is suspicious the girl never showed up at Adrenia’s home,” Victor said, his gaze fixed on Terentius.
Terentius jammed a hand through his hair and growled his next words. “He is a blemish on the ass of Mars. I will send him to the gods myself.”
“Not without my help,” Victor said.
Adrenia reiterated her commitment. “Or mine.”
Terentius’s mouth twisted. “Adrenia, you must not do this. I haven’t told you…”
“Yes?” she asked.
“Come. Get on my horse, and I’ll tell you what I learned from some villagers today. If you stay at the farmstead, your life could be in grave danger. But I have a solution. You will marry me.”
Stunned into silence, she gaped at him. Conflicting emotions tossed inside her like ships battered on the ocean by a storm. Her mouth felt dry, her head hurt, and she wondered if she had taken leave of her senses. “No.”
Now it was his turn to stare at her in disbelief. “We’ll go to your father now and ask permission.”
She looked away and patted the horse’s neck, her throat tight and her eyes filling with tears of anger. “I have no money other than what I’ve saved, and it is not enough for a dowry.”
He gestured dismissively. “That’s of no consequence. I want to marry you, and your father will welcome it.”
Hurt stung deep into her heart. She stepped away from the horse to glare up at Terentius. He hadn’t said the one thing that might have influenced her to say yes.
I love you.
“No,” she said.
Victor cleared his throat. “I’ll take the horses around the side over there.” He pointed at a building in front of them. “When you’ve completed negotiations—”
“No.” She rounded on Victor. “There will be no negotiations. I’m not marrying anyone.”
Victor, who never seemed fazed by anything, stared at both of them as if they had lost all sense. “As you wish. A private conversation such as this is not for my ears.”
He led the horses away, and once he disappeared around the building, Terentius approached her. She took a step back, aware that if he touched her, much of her reserve would disappear under sensual persuasion.
Terentius stopped, his jaw clenching. “Are you afraid of me all of a sudden?”
“No.”
“Then why did you step away?”
She chose to ignore his question. “Eventually I will have enough money to buy my own loom and start my own business. As soon as that happens I intend to leave my father’s home. It’s been my only goal for some time. I will not trade that freedom for marriage bonds. I approached Cordus’s wife the other day and asked if I could become one of their tenants by renting a room at the villa. She said if I could provide them part of the profits from my weaving, she thought it an excellent idea. Her husband must agree, of course.”
His mouth twisted for a moment as if he might s
peak. As rain splattered the land, Terentius slipped the hood on his cloak over his head. She did the same with her worn garment. He urged her to stand closer to the building roofline.
He leaned closer to her. “I commend your plan, but I fear it will not work.”
She bristled. “Why not?”
“Because if a mob comes after your family, they may torch the villa proper as well. You cannot take that risk. Even if you refuse to marry me, at least find shelter in my quarters. I won’t demand wifely duties from you. You will be free to come and go as you please.”
Ah, but curiosity made her wonder deeply about wifely duties. The physical aspects, in any case.
His concern warmed her, but a deeper fear prevented her from appreciating his attentiveness. “What makes you think a mob is coming after my family?”
They went silent for a few drops of rain until he continued. “A man came to me today and said people were angry and may attack your home.” He explained what he’d learned. “Do you believe what he’s said about your family?”
Adrenia’s heart twisted but if she confessed what she knew, what she believed might come to be true, she feared Terentius’s reaction. “I’ve suspected for some time that my parents had something to do with my siblings disappearing, but I have no proof. As for what they are doing with Sulla, I don’t know.”
His eyes were fierce with question. “Then why won’t you take this opportunity to escape them?”
“By staying with the Cordus family, I will work toward my complete independence. I already have one male in command of my life, sir. I dare say I do not wish to take on yet another.”
His mouth twisted, and she saw desperation in his eyes. “You do not trust me.”
“Adrenia!” Her father’s voice echoed across the short square.
Her heart sped up. Everything within her rebelled at leaving Terentius’s side, despite what she’d said to him. Her father walked toward them, and Adrenia found herself reacting to old tunes. Obeying. Deferring.
“Father.”
He stood in front of them, eyes flashing with annoyance and suspicion. His hair was plastered down on his head from the rain. “What are you doing here? Where have you been?”
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