Severina.’
She looked up sharply.
‘Remember that. I won’t rest until I get what I want.’
‘And what do you want, Lucan?’
His eyes were cool and determined when they met hers. ‘You,’ he said. ‘I want you.’
Chapter Seven
‘Don’t look now, but we’re being followed,’ Lucan said as they shouldered their way through the crowded Forum.
She turned impulsively, and he jerked her back around. ‘No! I said not to look around, and what’s the first thing you do?’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Let’s do this my way, shall we? In a minute I’m going to stop and put my arms around you and kiss you. And despite my outstanding abilities as a lover, you’ll have to keep your head together and attend to business.’
Severina’s heart clenched with abrupt, intense longing. She was half-afraid he was teasing—and totally afraid he wasn’t.
He chuckled at her startled expression. ‘Relax, will you? I’m not trying to seduce you. While you’re in my arms, you’ll look over my shoulder and tell me whether you know the man who’s following us. Tell me if you’ve ever seen him before.’
‘But you have to kiss me?’
‘Yes. I think maybe he’s merely a hopeful suitor smitten by your beauty. If so, he’ll turn aside when he sees our kiss. If he doesn’t, then he’s either damned persistent or up to no good.’
‘Smitten by my beauty? You can’t be serious.’
‘Don’t laugh. I’m entirely serious. I once followed a beautiful woman through Ostia for an entire afternoon: to the butcher’s shop, the vegetable market, the clothing vendors. I was in serious pursuit, until a man built like a gladiator joined her for an afternoon at the theatre. The minute he kissed her, I abandoned all my romantic hopes.’ Lucan sighed dramatically. ‘A woeful tale, but true.’
‘She must’ve been a great beauty.’
‘She was. But then, so are you.’
Severina made a sound of disbelief.
‘Do you find it so hard to believe that you’re beautiful?’
Severina didn’t answer.
‘Trust me,’ he said quietly. ‘You hold a sensual allure that any normal man would desperately long to explore. It’s almost mystical, Severina, and very compelling.’ He shook his head. ‘So I don’t blame that man for following you. But I do need to make sure he’s not dangerous.’
He pointed up the street. ‘See that small alcove there? It’s perfect. I’ll push you back gently against that wall and I’ll kiss you. You pretend to go along, but you’ll really be looking behind me for a tall, angular man with black hair and a thick beard. Not many Romans wear a beard, so look for that. It’ll make him easier to spot.’
‘Look for a beard,’ Severina repeated.
‘Yes.’ Lucan glanced at her almost sympathetically. ‘We’re almost there. Let me know when you’re ready.’
Severina drew in her breath, knowing she’d never really be ready.
At her word, Lucan halted and pulled her into his embrace, carrying her backwards with him to the stone wall and into a passion that felt far more real to her than feigned. The moment his lean body made full contact with hers, Severina gasped. ‘Lucan! Oh, no.’
‘Look. Look for him!’ His command was hard and breathy. Then his lips came down on hers.
Severina was suddenly drowning in sensation. Thought fled away beneath the primitive power of Lucan’s kiss. His hands held her, clenched tightly in the folds of her cloak. His body held her, pressed hard and tightly against his own.
His breath seared her lips.
‘The man, Severina! Look for him!’ Lucan’s low-voiced command forced her to open her eyes. She struggled for coherence, fought the flood of sensation, but Lucan’s lips were warm as they returned to her mouth, tracing a light path across the sensitive edge of her lips, a whisper of touch, barely there, teasing, making her wish for more.
Her lips parted, and her breath sighed out between them. Her hands tightened on his shoulders, fingers pressing into his muscle in an unspoken request for something deeper, firmer, something—
‘Look for that man,’ Lucan growled.
She resented having to look when what she really wanted was Lucan’s kiss. And his hands on her body. And his—
‘I see him,’ she said finally, her eyes closing languidly even as she spoke. She didn’t want to think about anything now but the feel of Lucan’s arms around her, his powerful body holding her firmly against the wall. He felt beautiful, so mighty and so strong. A warrior and a lover, as fully man as she was fully woman.
His lips touched on her chin, her cheek, her brow, so careful with her. She didn’t want such reticence. She wanted his lips to come back to her mouth, so that her stomach fluttered hard and made her ache. She wanted to taste him, to burn in deep places. To grow weak and hot and…to feel utterly wonderful.
Lucan pulled back to look down into her face. ‘Sweet hell and damnation, Severina. Don’t do this to me.’
He took a ragged breath that shuddered all the way through her. She could feel his tension and his growing desire; their bodies were indecently close.
‘Pay attention to that stranger. Do you know him? Have you ever seen him before?’
‘No.’
‘He’s still there?’
She could barely open her eyes. Her lashes rose, fluttered, fell again. ‘No.’
Relief rolled through Lucan. His muscles loosened a little as he drew in a long breath. His hands released her cloak. Severina sensed his intention to pull away and suddenly she didn’t want that.
‘Don’t go.’ The words were her own, but they sounded strange.
He went immediately still.
There was a moment when everything hung in the balance, when the world stopped and even time itself slowed.
His growl of surrender gave her a fierce and immediate satisfaction. His mouth came down hard on hers, tasting of strong, raw desire. This time, he gave her no light kiss. It did not flirt or tease at the edges of her mouth.
It took her breath and demanded even more. It was hot and hungry, possessing, devouring.
Severina’s knees weakened and Lucan pushed her into the wall with the hard pressure of his body. The rough stones dug into her backside, but she welcomed the brutal sensation.
She was alive, gloriously alive, wanting this man, needing him, aware of his answering desire as his lips left her neck and burned down her throat. Aware that his lower body ground hard against her skirts, pulsing against her aching core, soothing and arousing at once. She wanted to part her legs and let him slip into place between them. She wanted more, and she wanted it harder, faster, hotter.
Lucan groaned as he pulled away. ‘Not here. Not now. Not like this.’
He steadied her with one hand as his supporting weight was withdrawn, leaving her limp and miserable against the cold wall, her knees trembling, her loins moist and suffused with fire.
Lucan ran an agitated hand through his hair. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.’ His eyes seemed abnormally dark, a deep green forest burning with gold fire, the pupils wide.
Long moments passed. Severina fought for control.
‘Don’t apologise,’ she said finally. ‘It wasn’t your fault. I wanted