Free Taurus by Christine Elaine Black Page B

slightest hint of a spy accessing Lady Gregorian.”
    ****
    Taurus glanced outside. The sun dominated the horizon. The time had come to go to the Villa Verragius and socialize with a girl who could become his wife. He despised such trifling events with their small talk and women flitting about like butterflies. Lidia would watch him like a hawk, dissecting every word and action, inferring the wrong conclusion. This evening she hoped to push him further into marriage negotiations and see Panua’s heirs come swiftly as she neared sixty-five annals. Taurus owed Lidia much, but where did her ambitions end and his truly begin?
    He groaned at the thought of marriage. Taurus had the power to sentence a woman to death if she dallied with another man. Panuan law called only for a woman’s fidelity, and Rome had a similar law. Most men opted for discretion when married to a nobleman’s daughter and indulging in an affair, but Taurus planned to take Kallie to the home of Verragius to flaunt her as his mistress, as a defiant snub against Lidia as well as to set the tone for his prospective wife, to make it understood his marriage would be only to appease his grandmother’s burning desire to keep the name “Paulus Paulinus” alive for the ages. If they deemed it an insult, their complaints would fall on deaf ears. A Supreme Commander of Panua had every right to conquer, in and out of the bedroom.
    A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. He had never housed a woman in his private quarters before. None had interested him as much as the woman who waited there now. A searing pulse of desire ran through his body at the mere thought of touching her soft skin and kissing her sensuous mouth.
    ****
    Kallie had gone to great lengths to look her best for this evening. Taurus itched to display her as a plaything in front of his little court in Panua. She wore a red dress shot with golden thread that shimmered in the lamplight. She had artfully braided her hair in a long twist and laid the dark, glossy length over one shoulder. Bracelets of gold accented her smooth, sun-kissed arms, from wrist to elbow. A gold chain dangled between her round breasts with a large, clear gemstone winking a rainbow of color in the firelight. Bronzed powder and a tiny application of dark tincture on her features enhanced her beauty tenfold.
    Taurus entered the room without preamble, dripping wet from the pool, his half-naked body streaming with rivulets of water that accented his muscles and tanned skin. The drying sheet around his waist dropped to the floor and Kallie failed to concentrate her eyes on his upper half.
    He smirked as he moved to her side, causing a squeal as his wet body pressed against hers, undoing hours of preparation. “I’ll be careful,” he muttered, as his lips touched her cheek.
    “You can’t do this now,” she begged. “It will take too long to rearrange myself.”
    Her dress loosened easily at his touch. “You give me no choice when you look the way you do.” He chuckled at her dismay.
    She threw her arms around his neck in resignation. If his guests were kept waiting or if she arrived disheveled, it would be his fault. “Fine, but they will know we have tangled together as soon as they see me,” Kallie whispered.
    “You belong to me. I possess you when it pleases me.” Taurus pressed her mouth apart with his kisses until she gasped for breath.
    “You are a wild animal at heart, Governor. You will be as bored as me at this evening’s party. Let’s run away together!” She giggled.
    “Where would we run?” Taurus smiled at her game.
    She ran her hands across his strong, muscular chest as he hitched up her legs.
    “Anywhere. I don’t care.”
    Conversation ceased as more pressing matters took their attention. It was over as quickly as it had begun, and then Taurus helped her dress, and he too, was ready within minutes. “You will be sensational tonight,” Taurus decreed.
    “If you wish.” Kallie considered the