Lucius hesitated for a moment before pushing his wool pants to the ground along with his loin cloth. He tried to be more dignified as he stepped into the snow in his bare feet, but he ended up hopping and laughing as he ran toward the edge of the pool. The warmth rising from the water kept the shore snow-free for the moment.
Marpesia had already sunk to her neck and was floating in the middle. A contented smile spread across her face as she stared up into the snowing sky, occasionally opening her mouth to try to catch a flake on her tongue. He stood at the shore watching her float lazily, turning slowly.
“It’s much warmer in here, but if it amuses you to stand there and shiver, don’t let me get in the way,” Marpesia called to the shore.
Lucius stepped forward, dipping his toes in, the warmth immediately warring with the cold of his foot. A flat space found to place his foot, he brought the other leg in, carefully advancing until he was immersed up to his waist. The hot water melted away the cold. Although cooler than the warmest part of a Roman bath, the pool was perfect for a good, long soak.
Sighing, he drew up his feet, letting the water take him. Treading water, he rolled onto his back, slowly moving his way toward Marpesia. A faint pink tinged the edge of the western mountains looming above them, leaving the grotto in darkness only lit by the light of the brazier glowing within their cozy tent. Relaxing, the water carried him, keeping him afloat with no effort.
Marpesia’s fingers brushed at his until she found his full hand and held on. The snowflakes glittered like crystals as they entered the dim light rising to meet them. Waves of tingling passed over his scalp as he stared dreamily up into the falling flakes. If he concentrated on one of the big flakes, it felt like he could slow time to capture it in its moment.
“Lucius?”
“Yes, Marpesia?”
“Do you think I’m pretty?”
He smiled before opening his mouth, trying to catch a fat snowflake on his tongue. He couldn’t hide the fact he’d often found himself looking at her. Admiring the eagle-eyed squint of her eyes and the raptor like bend of her aquiline nose. Entranced by the dimples in her cheeks as she laughed, the wind of a galloping horse tugging her messy curls behind. The flash of her axe flying about her, as enemies shrank from her fury.
“You are beautiful, Marpesia.”
“Do you like kissing me?”
Her questions in another would have felt insecure, but maybe the answers weren’t meant to reinforce her confidence. “Every time our lips have met, it’s been more wonderful than the previous. I wonder if the next will continue the pattern…”
She tugged his arm, pulling him toward her until she floated over his legs and into his lap. She let go of his hand and wrapped both her arms around his neck. “I see through your strategy, but I’ll allow it.”
She tipped her head and closed her eyes, leaning into Lucius’s lips. They kissed deeply, Lucius wrapping his arms around Marpesia’s waist, running his hands up her back. She teased his mouth open, seeking his tongue; it sent thrills through him when they met. Marpesia, her hands sliding into Lucius’s hair, pulled him in tighter, her kiss growing hungrier.
By the time they emerged from their kiss, the last of the sun had disappeared entirely, leaving them covered in a black blanket of clouds only lit by the cheery flicker of the fire in their tent. Marpesia turned her back to Lucius, pulling his hand around her to drape his arms across her upper chest. She floated back into him, letting him bear her weight as they leaned back in the water, watching the snow drift from the sky. Lucius, resting his chin on her shoulder, periodically leaned forward to kiss her ear or cheek.
“Thank you for sharing this with me,” he whispered, not wanting to disturb the silence of their hidden corner of the world.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be willing to…” she whispered back.
“I couldn’t resist you.” He paused, thinking about the time he’d known her. “I’ve not been able to take my eyes off you since the first time I saw you sitting in the sunlight in Constantius’s antechamber. If you’re not around, my eyes are always seeking you out. Each night laying against your body has been torture as I resisted seeking more…”
“Do you miss me when I’m not near?”
“Yes.” It was as much an admission to himself as it was to her. “When you asked me to join you with your horse packed and ready, the thought of you gone for several days…felt wrong.”
They floated in silence, looking up into the snowy night. Lucius could feel her strong heart beat under his hand. She reached up and slid her fingers around his hand, grasping it. As he gazed into the black nothingness above him and floated in the warm pool, he felt as if his head drifted in the ether.
He’d heard about the intoxicating smoke of the Sarmatians, assuming it was wild speculation, but had never been invited to share it until now. Whether it was the warm water, the gentle company, or the ritual he’d participated in with Marpesia, the cares burdening him receded, allowing him to relax for the first time in who knew how long.
“Lucius, I wish to return the kindness you gave me after my wounding. May I bath you?”
“I didn’t bring any oil or my strigil to do a proper bath.” He hadn’t thought to see what all was packed. His valet might have included his bathing effects, but when Marpesia asked him to leave with her, his only thought had been going, not checking his packs.
“We’ll do it in the manner of my people.”
“OK.”
Marpesia pushed away from Lucius, swimming toward the small stream that exited the pool. “It’s set up over here where the stream can carry everything away.”
He swam after her, stopping when he reached her. Reaching out, he put his hands on her hips, bringing her in for a kiss. After their kiss, she reached to the shore and pulled out a large leather pouch and opened it, holding it under Lucius’s nose. It smelled of herbs, evergreens, and spice. It had been mixed into a thick paste.
“Is there enough for two?” he asked.
Marpesia, a smile splitting her lips, nodded. “More than enough.”
She rose out of the water and beckoned him over. Standing in front of her, the water coming only to their knees, he couldn’t help but look over her body, the soft light from the tent casting shadows from her curves and teasing the shape of her numerous tattoos and scars.
“Do you like what you see?”
He nodded, reaching out and running his hand over her arm.
“Turn around. I’ll start with your back.”
He turned. The cool feel of grit scrubbing onto the skin of his shoulders alerted him that they’d started. He inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the paste. Excitement coursed through his veins. It was her scent, the one that had tantalized him, distracting him as he tried to identify it every time he was close enough to her for it to tease his senses. Every night it haunted him as they lay in each other’s arms. He felt himself stirring, trying to maintain his calm, but losing the battle as she scrubbed the paste over his chest and stomach. When she touched him, he inhaled sharply, stiffening as she worked paste over his midsection.
“I was beginning to think you didn’t actually hold me in much regard,” Marpesia said, scrubbing from his upper legs to his knees as if nothing at all had happened.
Setting the pouch back on the shore, she lifted a large flat rock from the pool and set it in the dirt next to the water. “Sit here. The rock will keep you warm.”
He sat on the rock as she knelt down on one knee in front of him, picking up his calf and setting the foot down on her other knee. With a handful of the paste, she scrubbed it over one calf and foot, working between his toes before setting it back in the water, then turning to the other one.
Finished, Marpesia sat in the water, seeking the warmth of its liquid caress, her elbows on her knees and her chin resting on her clasped fingers. She stared into Lucius’s eyes as he sat on the flat stone, his elbows resting on his knees. He couldn’t figure out what was passing through her eyes or her mind, her face a guarded mask.
“May I bathe you, now?” Lucius asked, cringing internally at how timid his voice sounded.
He held his breath as he waited for her answer, the seconds stretching into eternities. When she nodded, a tender smile coloring her lips, he exhaled and stood, offering his hand to the beautiful warrior he longed to touch. Despite the lengthening exposure to the cold air, he felt hot, his breath shallow and expectant as he tried to control his nerves. Taking his hand, she stood, the grace of the movement nearly robbing Lucius of his breath again.
Lucius reached down, scooping a handful of the paste, and stepped close to her, looking down into her gray eyes. Her brows furrowed slightly as she gazed back at Lucius. He’d seen hints of vulnerability in her eyes off and on since she’d invited him to this oasis, but this was the first time she was laid emotionally bare before him. He swallowed, licking his lips to moisten them, and caressed her cheek with his other hand. He tipped his head down and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, before brushing his lips against hers. The bathing paste forgotten in his hand for the moment, he rested his forehead against hers, sharing each other’s steaming breaths.
“Don’t take too long, Centurio. It’s getting cold,” Marpesia whispered, chiding him for forgetting his duty.
He nodded, stepping back, and began working the paste over her shoulders, using the same circular motions she’d used on him. He covered her back, sides, and arms before moving to her front. As he approached her breasts, the light brown of her nipples puckering under the attention of the cool air and Lucius’s hot gaze, challenge filled her eyes, curious if he’d continue now that he could go no further without looking like he was intentionally avoiding touching her intimate areas.
Taking some more paste from the pouch, he let his hand circle clinically over her breasts and the tight buds at the end before moving to their underside and down over her stomach. She chuckled at his efforts. As he warred with his desire to touch her, to kiss every part of her body, to become one with her, he continued presenting a placid exterior as he worked the paste over her soft, round butt, and down over strong, muscular legs. When he reached her knees and the water, he stood and pulled the flat rock back out of the water, setting it down for Marpesia to sit on. Offering her his hand, she walked to the rock and sat, letting him finish with her feet and lower legs.
They’d both been out of the warm embrace of the hot spring for a while, and he could feel genuine shivers starting to spread through his body. He thought he saw her shivering too. Even if she lived in this climate, she had to be freezing as she sat in the frigid night air.
“Come closer, Lucius. This is a finer paste. Keep your eyes and mouth closed. I’ll work it through your hair and over your face and neck. Then submerge yourself in the deeper water, but not too far away. Let the current carry it away. I’ll apply it to my face, then join you. I’d let you come back and reciprocate, but I’m getting too cold.”
When she finished, he worked his way to a deeper part of the pool and sank over his head, rubbing water through his hair and over his face. He emerged, sputtering, Marpesia’s nude, paste-covered body walking toward him. He treaded back to make room for her to submerge herself in the pool. She sank, letting the water cover her. Her face clean, she shoved her thick hair so it fell behind her, clearing her face of any runoff. Her curls were still thick with the paste. Floating toward Lucius, she turned her back to him.
“Help me clean it all from my hair please.”
He massaged water through her curls as she floated on her back, her breasts bobbing just above her in the water. The intimacy of bathing her and the sight of her body teased him. He kept his waist away to keep from embarrassing himself with his lack of control.
“I think your hair is clean now,” he said quietly.
She let her body sink into the water, turning to face him. “Can you ensure the rest of my body is clean?” He opened his mouth to object, but she covered his lips with her finger. “I want you to.”
Swallowing, he nodded and ran his hands over her body, ensuring all the paste was gone. As he worked, she continually bumped into him, teasing him. When he finished, she swam behind him and worked water through his hair to make sure it was clean before running her hands over his skin to rub the last of the paste away. As he floated on his back, she worked water over his legs and feet.
He sank back into the water so only his head was above the surface as he let the gentle movement of his arms keep him in place. He startled as hands ran over his sides, under his arms and settled over his chest. Marpesia pressed her body into his back.
“Your heart races so fast, Centurio…” She practically purred into his ear, kissing around edge of his earlobe.
He let out a small groan.
“Are you cold?” Marpesia whispered.
“No.”
“Then why does your body tremble?” Her was voice tinged with knowing humor.
“It…it has been a long time since I’ve been this intimate with anyone.”
“I know; I can tell. Do you want me to stop?” She kissed his jaw just under his ear, trailing little kisses up his cheek.
He turned his head. She kissed the corner of his mouth.
“No, I don’t,” he replied, barely audible.
“I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you, standing in the sun with your finery over your battle armor. My desire has only grown since I’ve gotten to know the man you are.” There was a small hitch in her voice, an air of vulnerability seeping in. “Do…do you want me?”
He took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh. “Yes, I want you.”
“Good. Tonight, we can have each other.”
Lost in the haze of events moving faster than he could keep up with, he remained silent, basking in her warmth and touch as they floated in the black pool of warm water, the snow falling steadily, stacking thicker on the ground of their little slice of peace, his head floating from the smoke they’d shared.
After their exertions, Lucius stepped out to relieve himself, returning quickly to the warm embrace of the brazier and the tent. Marpesia, sweat glistening on her skin and her wild hair scattered about her head, lay on her stomach watching him add more charcoal to the brazier—only her calves were covered in a blanket. Satisfied with the fuel situation, Lucius lay down next to her, propping himself up on his elbow so he could look over her back and its mix of tattoos and scars.
He traced his finger along a long, curved scar, silver with age, along her left shoulder blade. Along the concave side, a stag curled around the lines of the scar in its elegant out of proportion style he was coming to learn was the preferred style of his Roxolani allies. On the convex side, a griffin, in the same style, dove toward the stag. He leaned down and kissed the scar.
“Who gave you this one?”
She let out a short harsh laugh. “Some Alan princeling trying to make a name for himself objected to my wolves riding across the patch of grass he claimed for his clan. He thought defeating my warriors would earn him much renown with the surrounding clans of Alans. Like many before him, he doubted a clan lead by a woman would be able to stand against his prowess. I sent his skull to his heir and offered to make it into a pair of goblets for my kumis if he decided to stand in my way or press for revenge.
“He was a more reasonable man to negotiate with. He wasn’t fond of his elder brother. He’s sure to give me a wide berth when I choose to ride through his lands.” She reached up to touch a round, puckered scar along Lucius’s left forearm. “That looks like an arrow.”
“Aye. Took a Parthian arrow. Punched through my scutum and kept going. I snapped it off and shoved it through.” He rotated his arm around to show her the matching scar on the other side.
She tipped her head to the side, blowing an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. “Parthians? My father used to tell tales of his grandfather’s father raiding the Parthians when they’d grown weak, their empire crumbling around them.”
Lucius nodded. “I took this about a hundred years before that during Traianus’s Parthian War.”
Her eyebrows tipped up. He wasn’t sure if she was skeptical, even after their earlier discussion of his age, or if the evidence and story shocked but confirmed the stories about him and his age. Instead of asking for elaboration, she shifted slightly and pulled her nearest calf out from under the blanket and rolled onto her side, pointing to a similar scar about halfway up her calf.
“An Alan arrow. I caught it before it could pierce the side of my mare. I didn’t get to repay whoever did it. When I called my warriors to order and let loose our wolf cries, they decided they’d shot at the wrong band of travelers and fled. If I ever find them though, I’ll repay the kindness they paid me.”
Lucius chuckled, kissing his fore and middle fingers before laying them across her arrow scar. “Different clan of Alans?”
“I think so.”
“You seem to have a problem with the Alans.”
She made a sound of profound disgust. “Those pointy-headed bastards are greedy. There are plenty of steppes for us all. I don’t want to do much besides ride to the other side of the hill to find new things to trade for. But the Alans feel if they have eyes they can put on land, it should belong to them. Always pushing us west, further west.”
Lucius was still coming to know the more complex expressions of her beautiful face, but he thought she looked troubled about the Alans’ territoriality. Not knowing what to say, he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Why do you call them pointy-headed?”
She made another disgusted sound. “They bind the heads of their babies to elongate their skulls. Unfortunately, they breed like maggots on a dead deer and raise their pointy-headed babies to be just as greedy as them, seeking new lands to raise more pointy-headed babies on. The Alans are a hungry beast trying to swallow all before them. I just hope they choke on something before they come to gobble my people up too.”
Marpesia’s forehead creased in worry, the muscles in her cheeks flexing. She sighed, giving her head a little shake that reverberated out through her wild curls. “No more troubling talk for this evening. This place is for peace and relaxation. And you seem to have lips that are eager to kiss my skin and I could use more of that right now.”
She rolled onto her back, angling her chest toward him. When his eyes drifted to her breasts, she smirked, victory shining in her eyes. Lucius shook his head at himself and leaned down, kissing the silver scar across the bridge of her nose.
“Took a glancing blow to my helmet. The edge cut a gash in my nose.” She pointed to her lips. “You can’t see it well, but there’s a scar here too.”
The corners of Lucius’s lips tipped up as he fought to contain a grin. “A Lugii spear?”
“No, I bit it.”
“Dueling a horde of Gothic raiders?”
“I tripped.”
Lucius could no longer contain the grin as his lips parted, about to make another joke.
“If you won’t shut your mouth and kiss me, I’ll have to shut it myself.” She pulled him onto her, stopping his words with her lips against his.