She said it before she’d even processed it. Hadn’t she run away to gain space, time alone? But suddenly she no longer wanted anything of the sort. She wanted companionship. She wanted Lucia to stay.
She dipped a courtesy, ‘Of course, Domina.’
‘Sit with me.’
Her eyes wavered, her hesitation clear. Or was it just surprise at being asked to sit?
She smiled. ‘I don’t bite.’
Lucia laughed gently, her face lighting up and sending butterflies loose in Aurelia’s tummy. She really was very pretty. It was a wonder Tiberius had given her up.
But then, had it not been his wife benefiting from Lucia’s servitude? Heat coursed through her veins, memories of all she and Gaius had discussed, the purpose of Tiberius’ gift. Her tummy contracted over the instant pang between her thighs.
Lucia lowered herself to the ground and folded her legs off to the side as Aurelia asked, ‘Do you miss your old household?’
Her eyes snapped to Aurelia’s, a strange sense of panic in their depths and then she lowered her gaze, her delicate fingers toying with the grass in front of her. Was she deliberating or refusing to answer?
‘I’m sorry,’ Aurelia said, kicking her brashness. ‘I didn’t mean to pry.’
Lucia licked over her lips and gave a gentle shake of her head. Was she nervous?
‘I miss my old Domina.’
Only her Domina…?
‘What of your Dominus?’
‘My duties were to my Domina.’
Was that her way of saying “no”?
‘I take it you liked her?’
Her eyes glistened and her breath hitched, the reaction more revealing than her words, ‘She was good to me.’
How good?
She burned to ask. There was something about Lucia that captivated her.
And it wasn’t just the knowledge of what her and her previous Domina had shared, although that in itself had her pulse racing, her breasts swelling against her tunic as the blood rushed to feed their budding ache.
It was her.
Her green eyes that glowed like emeralds in her pale white skin, her blonde hair tied in a simple braid, emphasising the elegant length to her neck.
And down further still, to the way her small breasts undulated in the simple tunic draped over her body, hiding what she knew to be a slight waist and curvaceous hips. Her legs petite and slender.
It had all been on display when she’d arrived with Tiberius. A simple band holding her breasts tight and a strip of cloth at her waist. Aurelia had made sure her clothing had been taken care of promptly. But now she’d give anything to have the girl dressed so once more.
Stop it, her conscience demanded, yet still the warmth spread, her mouth suddenly parched. She took a sip from the jug and hoped she would sound normal when she said, ‘I hope you will find me just the same.’
‘Of course, Domina.’ Lucia shifted awkwardly, her cheeks flushing and Aurelia realised the error of her words, how they could be misconstrued.
‘I mean, I hope you will come to like working for me too.’
The girl’s colour deepened, her green eyes flicking briefly back to her. ‘I know I will.’
‘Good, that pleases me.’