The Perfect Concubine (2 page)

‘And this was how you planned on convincing me? You had to know I would not need gold. You must have thought of something else.' He watched her with steady eyes. Even now, despite everything, he wanted her in his arms again, tasting her skin and delving deep within her.

Her tongue flicked over her lips, turning them cherry ripe. ‘I will do anything to get my brother back. When he was here, the family thrived.'

‘Anything?'

She gave a nod as her long lashes swept down, hiding her lying eyes.

‘Shall we test that theory?'

Piso reached for her, gathered her unresisting body to his and lowered his mouth. Her lips reminded him of why she lingered in his dreams. He deepened the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue, slaking his thirst until her hands came up and gripped his shoulders. Her black hair tumbled down her back, the hairpins scattering over the floor. She moaned slightly in the back of her throat. With his last ounce of self-restraint, he put her from him.

‘Now you will take me to Cyrene?' Joy and relief sounded in her voice.

‘That served a different purpose.' He steadied his breathing.

‘To demonstrate your mastery over me?' she asked in a shaky voice. She dropped to her knees, picking up the scattered pins.

‘You planned to offer me your body.' He held the last pin out to her. ‘I decided to sample to see if I liked what was on offer.'

‘I…I…' She froze, fingers outstretched towards the pin and her green cat eyes wide.

‘We both know what you are, Valeria. You proved it six years ago.'

‘Have you finished your humiliation? Your kiss was unwelcome,' she said in a breathless whisper that gave lie to her words. Her lips were too red and swollen; her heart beat too fast in the hollow of her throat.

Piso belatedly realised that he also had erred. His body demanded more than a solitary kiss, but it was within his power to get it.

‘Before we discuss North Africa, you must be prepared to give me something.' He held out his hand. ‘I want more than a quick tumble in the atrium for my trouble. I want you as my concubine. Come share my bed.'

‘Your concubine? Impossible!' Valeria stared at him. As if she'd simply to fall into his bed at the crook of his finger. She valued her independence and her status as a Roman matron far too much. All of the Aventine would hum that she'd become little better than a slave. Or perhaps he expected she would pick up her skirts and run like some frightened Vestal Virgin? She squared her shoulders, emphasising the way the
stola
hung about her. ‘I've no plans to be anyone's concubine.'

‘That's the Valeria I expected. Reputation before your brother's life. Before anything.' A self-satisfied smile crossed his face and she knew he had anticipated her response. ‘Thankfully, in my world, it's what you do and who you are rather than whispers that count. I withdraw the offer. Find some other fool, Valeria. Some unquestioning fool who will believe your lies.'

Rage swept through her as she realised what she had thrown away. ‘You tricked me!'

‘No trick. A genuine offer.' He waved an imperious hand. ‘I won't insult your precious sensibilities by repeating it.'

She ground her teeth, hating herself for being blind to the trap. Simple, effective, and she'd tumbled into it. She tried to concentrate as her fingers explored her aching mouth. He'd been a party to the soul-searing kiss. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. The knowledge gave her courage. She could best him at this game.

‘He does matter more than my reputation,' she said, pasting on her most ingratiating smile. ‘And should you bring him back, I'll be delighted to act as your concubine.'

‘Before I go.' He tapped his finger against the small table where a game of twelve lines with its counters, dice tower and six dice was laid out. The game board's motto of
Play, pleasure, fortune, life is for the living
mocked her.

‘Before? What guarantee do I have that you will even go?' Valeria tilted her chin upwards and glared at him. ‘Trust runs both ways, Piso.'

‘Certain things you take on faith.' His hand sent the stack of counters flying across the board. ‘Or perhaps you doubt your ability to hold a man.'

‘Do you still play dice? They never seemed to be out of your hand that summer,' she said. The glimmering of an idea formed. She was no master at the strategy game, but her mother's predicted omens were excellent for her request. Surely it had to mean the dice would fall her way.

‘I do. It amuses me.' His eyes grew heavy lidded. ‘Are you suggesting we play twelve lines? You used to be an untried but enthusiastic player. Has your skill improved?'

‘I gave up years ago.' Valeria twisted the
stola
about her fingers. She refused to remember their foolish wagers from that golden summer when everything had seemed possible. ‘Perhaps you'd like to make a wager. Trust the gods to decide.'

‘I'm prepared to give you a sporting chance.' He paused and his smile became merciless. ‘Something your father was never prepared to give me when I wooed his daughter.'

‘My father is not part of this wager.' Valeria shifted uneasily. After she'd agreed to her father's demands, she'd prayed nightly to Venus that somehow Piso would rescue her. The next time she saw Piso—on her wedding day—he'd had a prostitute on each arm and was laughing and carefree. She'd nearly collapsed when she realised what she'd done. She had sacrificed her freedom to keep him alive and she had to endure the torment of seeing how little he cared.

‘I've no desire to make your father my concubine.'

‘Do you wish to hear my wager or do you wish to make cheap jokes?' Valeria reached out and curled her fingers about three dice. They were cool in her hand and she tried to think of finding Marcus and how her life would stop being cursed And ever since the disappearance of the Diana statue, which had protected her family, her life had certainly felt cursed. She felt responsible for the loss.
Had taking it been worth it?
‘One roll of the dice. You win, I become your concubine before we go to North Africa. I win, we discuss the arrangement after we return.'

He raised an imperious eyebrow. ‘I risk my life and the lives of my men, Valeria. You are merely risking…your body? Hardly a fair wager, but what did you ever know about honest play?'

Valeria tamped down on her temper. He wanted to provoke her so she would storm out, but she
had
to get him to agree. She drew a shaky breath. ‘You will play then?'

‘I will do it if you agree to exchange the dice.'

Valeria ignored the warning twinge that went through her and accepted his dice. ‘If you insist…Fortunata will favour me whichever dice I use.'

‘You may go first, Valeria. Never let it be said that I failed to give a lady proper courtesy.'

She threw the dice onto the game board. They tumbled over and over for an age. Stopped on the word
Fortune.
Her heart sank. One of the lowest scores possible but not the lowest one. Hope remained. Silently she mouthed a prayer to any passing god.

‘Do you wish to roll again?' his mocking voice asked her.

‘I said one roll and I'll abide by its verdict.'

‘You were always a stickler for the rules, Valeria. It is good to know that you have not changed. I'll use the same dice to prove they were honest.' He plucked the dice from the game board. ‘Watch and learn whom the gods favour.'

He tossed the dice. They landed on the word
Pleasure
with a crash. She stopped believing in Fortunata's favour.

‘Do you dispute my total?'

‘How…how long must I be your concubine?'

‘You should have sought clarification before you wagered.' His smile grew positively sensuous. His fingers splayed across her back. ‘Shall we say until I tire of you? Or until your brother arrives home? Then again, I find women are like guests and fish—best enjoyed for three days only. Do you think you can keep my interest for longer?'

‘Will you take me to Alexandria if I do?' she asked, concentrating on the game board rather than giving into the light caress. So, she had three days to convince him to take her to Alexandria. Three days to accomplish what countless other women had failed to do.

‘I'm open to persuasion, Valeria.' He cupped her waist, pulling her against the hard planes of his body, every inch the arrogant male. ‘No woman has ever reckoned me a poor lover.'

Persuasion.
Valeria twisted away from him. She had singularly failed in persuasion before. Ofellius used to laugh at her, treating her roughly, using her much like a beast in a field. She had suffered for a long time, closing her eyes and thinking of Piso's kisses rather than her husband's touch. Finally faced with his blatant orgies while she suffered from a miscarriage, she left and divorced him.

‘Aren't Roman matrons supposed to be virtuous?' she asked, modestly lowering her lashes. Her mind whirled. The man before her wasn't Ofellius but Piso. She had held him for longer than three days all those years ago. She could play his game and win. Her family's future depended on it.

‘Virtue and you are two words which fail to sit well together.'

‘I've no training in being a concubine. I was supposed to be a wife and a mother.' She hated the way her heart ached over the word
mother.
She had longed to hold her child in her arms. She would have been a good mother.

He laughed. The rich sound rippled down her spine, dispelling her grief and sending a shiver of anticipation through her. ‘You'll find a way, Valeria.'

‘At least one of us has faith in my abilities.'

He rubbed the back of his thumb against her lips. ‘But I have no wish to keep you against your will. If you should decide the terms unreasonable, you may leave now and never return.'

Valeria kept her back straight. He was testing her, offering her a way out. But there was no easy way. She had to try. A tiny voice in the back of her mind asked if she might find pleasure as well. She silenced it.

 

Valeria strode briskly back to the tiny flat three floors up in one of the back streets of the Aventine. Her feet ached from her impractical sandals and she wished she had thought of asking Piso to provide a litter. The smell of cooked cabbage, urine and people permeated the stairwell. Her stomach revolted. Valeria covered her mouth with her
stola
and walked up.

Her mother knelt before her father's chair. In the corner, a small oil lamp burnt in front of the shrine to the household gods. Valeria saw that the tiny stick of incense she had lit this morning before going out was nothing but ash.

‘You're back.' Her mother spooned another mouth of gruel into her father's slack mouth before wiping his chin. ‘When does the ship depart? I've spent the morning praying to the gods. The augur assured me the omens were good.'

‘No one will sail before the winds change.'

Her mother's face fell. ‘That long? The gold will be gone…surely someone…'

‘Piso the Greek. Everyone said that he was the only one who would be mad enough to go to Alexandria at this time of the year and it's true.'

Tears welled up in her mother's eyes. ‘He refused to see you? His hatred is deep. Who can blame him after what your father did?'

‘Piso saw me, Mother, and agreed to help. But there are conditions.' Valeria knelt by her mother's side. ‘Everything will be well. We'll be able to find a new place to live and proper food for Father…I promise.'

‘I only go from here when Marcus returns. And Piso must never learn the state we have sunk to. Ever. I won't have that man gloating.' Her mother stood and started to pace the tiny room. ‘Will you come and make the sacrifices with me tonight?'

‘I can't stay here. I bargained with Piso and lost.' Valeria took off the
stola
and laid it on the trunk. The earrings swiftly followed. Her head suddenly seemed lighter. She ceased to be a Roman matron and became a woman of no virtue. ‘I'm to be Piso's concubine. Apparently no woman can hold his interest for more than three days, but to save my brother, I'm going to have to try.'

‘I don't understand. He'll find Marcus in exchange for your company? For only three days?'

Valeria shook her head. ‘Fortunata has truly deserted us, Mother. Piso seeks the final humiliation. Only if I please him as a concubine in those days, make him want me more than the allotted time, will he help us. Either my body pays my way or I do not go and Marcus is lost for ever.'

‘Crudeness is unattractive and unnecessary.' Her mother clapped her hands together. ‘You must do as you think best, Valeria. You always do.'

Valeria hated her mother's tone of voice—the implication that selling her body was the correct action to take—but refused to quarrel and snipe.

‘Piso is doing this to test me. He expects me to run away and never come back. Then his conscience will be clear. But I will return. I'll shame him into going before the winds change.' She pressed her hands against her eyes. Her mother was right on one thing. Piso must never discover her father's current state, as she had no idea if he'd be like Ofellius and seek revenge on someone who was helpless. ‘I need to return before…before he sends someone. I won't give Piso an opportunity to gloat at our misfortune.'

‘You were the one who lost the Diana statue, Diana who guarded this family for centuries, Valeria. It is only fitting that you be the one to reverse our fortunes. All our troubles started then. It is why Marcus never returned.'

Valeria gritted her teeth. She had placed the little lead figure in Piso's hand so he would not die and he would know that she waited for him, but clearly fortune had chosen not to favour her. ‘All our troubles started when Father made a pact with Ofellius. When he fought with Marcus about it and Marcus stormed off.'

‘You were always an ungrateful person.'

Valeria went over to the cabinet and took down a selection of paints and creams. ‘Arguing with you, Mother, solves nothing.'

‘Try not to disappoint us this time. It will mean so much to your father to have Marcus return, to bury their argument after so many years apart.'

Fighting back her anger, and the nerves at what she was about to do, Valeria kissed her mother's cheek and took one last look around the flat. She didn't bother to make the customary prayer in front of the household gods. They had forsaken her long ago. ‘I'll do my best.'