Book One in the Imperial Desires Series
Daughter of the conquered ruler of Siga, forced to submit to Roman rule over her homeland, Anan Septinius has nothing but contempt for the Romans who now occupy her land and her home. Until she comes face-to-face with two centurions who stir her like no other.
After surviving a nearly career-ending scandal, centurions Cassius and Titus are relegated to a remote post in the barbaric land of Siga to serve as personal guard to Anan Septinius. Dreading the menial task of guarding some foreign queen, they arrive anticipating a bitter, old widow but Anan is not at all what they'd expected. They're greeted by a woman who is as beautiful as she is intelligent, whose loathing for them is only rivaled by the long-denied desires burning in her gaze whenever she looks their way.
They are bitter enemies, but in a harsh land a forbidden passion flares between the trio, one that has the power to heal their ravaged souls if it doesn't destroy them first.
BUY THE eBOOK *** READ THE EXCERPT
By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are under the age of 18, it is necessary to exit this site.
Daughter of the conquered ruler of Siga, forced to submit to Roman rule over her homeland, Anan Septinius has nothing but contempt for the Romans who now occupy her land and her home. Until she comes face-to-face with two centurions who stir her like no other.After surviving a nearly career-ending scandal, centurions Cassius and Titus are relegated to a remote post in the barbaric land of Siga to serve as personal guard to Anan Septinius. Dreading the menial task of guarding some foreign queen, they arrive anticipating a bitter, old widow but Anan is not at all what they'd expected. They're greeted by a woman who is as beautiful as she is intelligent, whose loathing for them is only rivaled by the long-denied desires burning in her gaze whenever she looks their way.
They are bitter enemies, but in a harsh land a forbidden passion flares between the trio, one that has the power to heal their ravaged souls if it doesn't destroy them first.
BUY THE eBOOK *** READ THE EXCERPT
An Excerpt From: CENTURION’S HONOR
Copyright © NADIA AIDAN, 2011
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.
Romans.
She hated them, loathed them.
Yet she knew from many years of dealing with them, she would not have them out of her villa and out of her country until they were ready to leave.
It was best to be gracious, which was why she’d not protested when they sought residence inside her home. She saw it as a measure in her favor. At the least, she could observe them just as efficiently as they now “observed” her.
But with the Decurio’s stinging words she regretted allowing such a thing, and resentment welled up inside her once again. They would be in her quarters, partaking of her hospitality. They would be within her home, close to her own private chambers.
She sucked in a sharp breath at the image of golden flesh tanned from the blaze of the sun and eyes as clear as the sea joined by those as dazzling as emeralds. Her breasts were suddenly heavier, her nipples dragging across the fine wool of her stola. The gods cursed her. Surely they did.
To send Roman soldiers to her home, to have her womanhood grow moist with passion for them, even the one who’d insulted her? They were beneath her in every way and they were Romans. Yet, her body did not seem to care, nor did the slick juices filling up inside her seem to either.
Romans.
She cursed them all over again.
She hated them.
She loathed them.
But she could not do away with them, just as she could not seem to bring an end to her apparent physical desire for them, so she would simply be forced to deal with the cursed centurions—for now.
Roman dog.
The slur she’d issued echoed in his head. The tongue was not entirely familiar to him, but he knew the curses of her language.
Cassius glared at the woman who swept out of the dining room, effectively dismissing him and his second-in-command.
Matron Anan Septinius. He spat her name in his head, with disdain, with anger, thinking of some choice slurs for her as well.
The Dahomey princess would have been lucky to call herself a Roman, but she was not Roman, though her husband had been, and thus she was afforded the same courtesies as any Roman matron, even if she eschewed them, even if she’d secretly waged a rebellion to remove the Roman presence from her province. Although no one could prove her involvement.
Hence the main reason why he was there with a small unit of men—to watch her closely and dispatch her if she was a traitor, to protect her from whoever did raid these lands, if it wasn’t her.
“That went well,” Titus muttered.
Cassius remained silent. Anan did not want the Romans there. Cassius did not want to be there. That was probably the only point of agreement they shared.
She hated them.
He hated her—her and her backward land.
They would get along just fine, he thought snidely.
“Well at least the rumors did not prove false—she is quite lovely,” Titus tried again, attempting to revive the spirits of a room that had grown deadly silent.
That statement earned Titus a sharp glare and in Cassius’ mind did not help his spirits in the least.
Lovely? He bit back a snort until Anan’s copper-hued skin and golden eyes shimmered before him, forcing Cassius to also bite back a groan. Lovely somehow did not pay homage to the exotic beauty of the matriarch. That Anan was comely, he could not deny, nor could his body seem to. That she was a barbarian bitch he could not deny either. His body had no reaction to that either way.
Cassius shrugged. “She is passable.” He ignored Titus’ chuckle.
“You may not like her, but you cannot deny such things.”
Cassius could not, but neither would he nurture Titus’ longings for the woman. He could hear the appreciation in his voice, and he frowned at that. A woman such as Anan was forbidden to them for so many reasons—the most important being that if they were to do their duty, they could not be distracted.
The other reason was far more obvious—that Anan would simply not want them. If the rumors were true she’d barely suffered the touch of her Roman husband.
“You’re a fool if you think she will have you,” Cassius said to Titus as he made his way out of the dining room toward the quarters Anan had furnished for him and his second-in-command. She had actually provided quarters to house his entire unit in a separate wing of her villa. It was a gracious gesture. He did not get the impression Anan was a gracious woman.
“Then I am a fool, because she is the most pleasing thing I’ve seen since leaving the countryside.”
Cassius speared him with his gaze.
“Besides you, of course,” added Titus with a wickedly handsome smirk. “And if rumor holds, she hasn’t had anyone in quite some time.” Titus wriggled his brows.
“I assure you she is not so desperate to lie with a Roman, and a common soldier at that,” Cassius said with a snort before flashing Titus a crooked grin.
The moment alone afforded them a measure of privacy they’d not had in a while and he touched Titus gently along his forearm, a fleeting gesture of intimacy.
His fingertips grazed tanned, golden skin, igniting a small, burgeoning fire in his belly that traced a path to his groin. In an instant, Cassius went from being the rigid Decurio, the commander of the small Roman unit, to a simple lover who sought pleasure in the arms of his second-in-command.
Titus’ pupils darkened and Cassius knew his must have done the same when Titus whispered, “Later.”
He nodded in agreement. Their journey from Tivoli to Anan’s estate had been long and arduous. The pace had been grueling. His men were tired. They had barely rested, let alone indulged in carnal pleasures.
He was weary. Cassius had no doubt his men were of the same mind. Before his duty began, he required rest—his men did too, including Titus.
“Later,” Cassius said to Titus, echoing the thoughts in his head.
LIKED THE EXCERPT?? CLICK HERE TO BUY THE BOOK
No comments:
Post a Comment