The Roman. Caroline Storer

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ sighed, “Now I have upset you. I’m sorry.”

      Justina looked across at him, and shook her head, “No, it is I who should apologise. I had no right to pry.”

      She saw his eyes close, and heard his soft groan of remorse, before he shifted closer to her. “You were not prying. It’s…it’s just that I find it so hard to share myself with anyone. I’m not used to having anyone care about me.” Then he leaned forward, and she watched mesmerised as his mouth came towards hers. Then his lips were on hers, and they both gasped in unison as a frisson of awareness surged through them both.

      “Sweet. So sweet, as I knew you would be,” Marsallas whispered, his breath mingling with hers as his fingers gently cupped the softness of her jaw, squeezing gently until Justina had no choice but to open her mouth. Her gasp of pleasure was obviously what he wanted to hear, as his tongue probed deeper, teasing and tasting the sweetness within. Then the kiss, gentle at first, changed, deepening in its intensity as Marsallas increased the pressure of his mouth on hers as he felt her passion match his.

      Justina didn’t know who pulled away first, but after what seemed like a lifetime their lips parted and they just stared at each other, young lovers caught up in the intensity of their first kiss, their first embrace. She shivered at the expression she saw in his blue eyes. Desire had darkened them to almost black, and she watched entranced unable, and unwilling, to look away.

      It was Marsallas who ended their embrace, and Justina inwardly mourned the loss of his arms around her when he finally stood up.

      “I have to go. Will you come tomorrow?” he asked quietly, staring down at her intently.

      Justina nodded. “I’ll try. It depends on my father and whether he will go to-” She stopped speaking abruptly, unwilling to say anymore, but not before she saw the small frown that creased his brow.

      “Like I said earlier, Justina. We all have things we want to keep to ourselves,” he murmured after an awkward silence had fallen between them. His tone was gentle, soothing, as if he understood her plight, her reluctance to tell him everything.

      “Yes. I…I…”

      “Try to come tomorrow if you can,” he said, interrupting her faltering words as he smiled down at her, in what was an obvious attempt to lighten the tension between them. “It is important that you do, as we have unfinished business.”

      Justina looked up at him in surprise. “Unfinished business? What unfinished business?”

      Marsallas grinned wickedly, “Why, the business of getting to know each other of course. Farewell my beautiful, Justina.”

      Then before she could say another word, he turned and ran back towards the water edge and waded out into the cold water before swimming away, leaving Justina staring after him.

      * * *

      “Lie still please! I’ve nearly finished.”

      “How can I? With a million ants crawling over me. I’m sure one has just crawled up my ar- err - up crevices I never knew I had.”

      “Marsallas!” She cried, her tone horrified.

      Marsallas laughed. “You are such an innocent!”

      “Stop teasing,” she said, smiling at him. “Please Marsallas, just a few minutes more. I promise.”

      She heard him grunt, the noise conveying to Justina that he didn’t believe her for one moment, and she couldn’t contain her giggle. But he obeyed her plea, and she saw him assume the position she wanted, his body unnaturally still.

      “Is this pose really necessary? My poor legs and arms are killing me. I must look stupid.”

      “Yes, the pose is necessary. You are supposed to be Jupiter defending the Empire, about to jump a hurdle. Now be quiet.” Inwardly she laughed, but said nothing more. She saw him move his head slightly, knowing that he was watching her, and a glow of pleasure went through her as she felt the heat of his gaze on her.

      But then her work took over, and a frown of concentration settled on her brow as she knelt on the sand, her hands quick and frantic as they moulded and shaped the damp sand. It was over an hour later when she finally stood up. “There, I have finished. You can get up now.”

      “At last!” Marsallas said, groaning theatrically, as he rose from where he had been lying, busily brushing the sand off his body.

      He walked over to where Justina stood next to the sand sculpture and glanced down at it. He let out a gasp of surprise, and looked up at her, stunned amazement on his face. “It…it is wonderful! Unbelievable.”

      She blushed, and glanced away in embarrassment. “Really?” She breathed, as if she could not quite believe what he said, as if she could not see her own genius.

      “Yes, really. You have a brilliant talent. It is as if the sand is about to fly off into the air, it is so lifelike.”

      Justina smiled up and him, and he smiled back, and their eyes locked. Then Justina pushed him away gently, breaking the spell, “Go and wash yourself, you are covered in sand – and ants!”

      Later they sat by the water’s edge, the waves of the sea lapping gently at their feet as they watched the setting sun. They both knew that the time was approaching when they would have to leave.

      “Is there no way you can start sculpturing properly? You have such talent it is a waste to see your sculptures washed away by the incoming tide.”

      Justina smiled sadly. “My father is only a poor baker. He – we - work incredibly hard, there is not much money left over for luxuries such as letting me train as a sculptress. Besides, it is a male dominated world, I doubt very much whether anyone would take me on as an apprentice.”

      “But-”

      Marsallas stopped short, but she knew what he was going to say. They’d had this conversation before, on quite a few occasions in fact, during the past few weeks of their acquaintance. He was going to argue the point that surely her father made a decent enough living as the town’s best baker, to afford to let her train as a sculptress.

      But thankfully, this time he said nothing. Instead, she saw him lean over and rummage in a small cloth sack he had brought with him.

      “I nearly forgot,” he said, taking out a small wooden box and handing it over to her, murmuring softly, “Happy birthday, Justina.”

      Her eyes shot to meet his sparkling blue ones, “You remembered!” She exclaimed, as she took the small box, her hands trembling.

      “Of course I remembered. It’s not every day a girl has her sixteenth birthday.”

      “What is it?” She asked, looking down at the small wooden box she held in her open palm.

      Marsallas smiled, “Why don’t you open it and find out.”

      Justina looked down at the box, then back up at Marsallas. She smiled, a radiant smile that lit up her face. Then she looked down and carefully opened the box, unable to contain her gasp of shock when she saw the ring inside. Hesitantly she took it out, and stared entranced at the beautiful gold and ruby ring СКАЧАТЬ