�Spoils� Part V
Princess Plum Jade
Rated �NC-17� for language and sexuality
Nightfall--the same day--Rome ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When he finished feeding, Angelus let the limp body drop to the ground next to the other one. Two men, overgrown boys really, had attempted to rob him. Angelus had maimed one by breaking his leg, then mauled and drank the second one right in front of the first, allowing him to witness what fate held in store for him.
Angelus nearly suffocated the man he�d lamed, one hand clamped over his nose and mouth to smother his hysterical screams. Angelus could feel his ribs quivering from the violence of his stifled sobs as Angelus ripped through his jugular and drank. The young man�s body shivered and convulsed in his arms until he was too weak to do anything except submit and die.
He left the limp drained bodies in the seedy tavern alley where they�d attacked him and went along his way. Even the rats remained in the shadowed corners until the vampire left the area before they crept out and examined the corpses.
Angelus strode purposefully through the dank city streets, ignoring the beggars and casting a chill glance at a smarmy con artist. Occasionally a prostitute would make eye contact with him, then quickly look away. Angelus was handsome, well-groomed, and richly dressed, but the aura of cruelty surrounding his person caused the prostitutes to shrink back from him, grateful they hadn�t attracted his attention.
He collected his chariot from the tattered-looking street urchin he�d hired to hold it for him, tossing the child a denarus for his trouble. Angelus�s chariot was generously built and enameled in black laquer with silver-white scroll work along the sides. His team was a pair of striking dark bay horses purchased from the Bedouin tribes south of Hispania. Smaller than the local breeds, these horses were impressively hardy and swift.
Angelus did not employ a charioteer, preferring to drive himself. He held the horses expertly, guiding them through the messy crowded streets. The centurions on guard at the city gates eyed him warily but did not attempt to stop him from driving out of Rome. Angelus followed the paved road for some distance, then drove his horses over a worn dirt path heading southwest.
Angelus felt peculiarly lonely in the clear lovely night. It was not his way to be lonely. He wondered if the full moon was affecting his mind the way he knew it affected werewolves and feeble-minded humans.
Angelus glanced to his right. In his mind�s eye, he visualized Kordelia at his side. Standing upright, clinging to the leather bracing straps for balance, she turned towards him and smiled generously, revealing beautiful, perfect teeth. He barely managed to successfully turn the horses and swerved past a fallen tree on the left side of the road. He shook his head angrily and glared at the empty space beside him. There was that damn tingling in his forehead again, the hungry pulse inside his brain that urged him to fuck Kordelia Apollodorus until she couldn�t walk.
The longer he held back the worse his itch became.
He had watched her at times, when he knew she would not see him. She was imperious and demanding of all the slaves, even Xiao-Mei. But that did not cool their passion for each other. It was a priceless vision, Kordelia embracing the smaller, thinner girl, their mouths sealed in a passionate kiss as they fondled and touched each other. Angelus marveled at Kordelia�s radiant sensuality, the way she spread her thighs and lifted her hips so Xiao-Mei could kiss and stroke her sex. Kordelia crying out, eyes squeezed shut, head dropping back as she climaxed. Her cries, the scent of her sex, her complete abandonment to erotic pleasure was astonishing for a woman of her youth and inexperience.
Angelus swallowed as his mouth watered from the memories of his stolen delights of the two girls. His fangs lengthened briefly. But he was well-fed, sated, and the demon was not easily roused for now.
Angelus drove his chariot up to the stables and left the horses with Nestor, the young slave he�d purchased recently to be Kordelia�s charioteer. It was only a brief trek up a softly rolling incline to his house. Angelus walked slowly, as a human might. As he drew nearer the villa he inhaled deeply and smelled�freshly cooked food? He looked up at the house critically. From an unusual cast of shadows on the south side, Angelus could tell torches had been lit in Kordelia�s private garden.
Kordelia was taking advantage of the clear sky, the full moon, the softly cooling breezes that foreshadowed approaching winter, and the intoxicating perfume from the blooming sweet olive trees. She was dining outside, on her garden patio. She was taking in the night air.
A slight smirk broke out on Angelus�s face. So, the lady liked the night. She intrigued him more and more.
He jogged round the house until he reached the south side and easily scaled the brick wall that surrounded the small garden. Angelus rolled into an easy drop onto a bed of lush green ferns. The fragrance of sweet olive and rosemary permeated the breezes. He also smelled Kordelia�s supper: roasted meat and vegetables, cheese and wine. He strolled quietly down the nicely kept intricately curved brick path that led to the large fountain in the center of the garden. From there he would take the alternate path to her patio.
He watched Kordelia daintily nibble a bite of cheese. Silvery moonlight and golden torchlight cast a subtle glow on her light olive skin. Angelus could see her just as clearly as a human would have seen her in pure daylight. Her eyes were large, almond-shaped, the iris an exquisite blend of rich color: dark gold, brown, a twinge of olive green. Her nose was straight and dainty. How Kleopatra must have envied her! Angelus thought with an inward laugh, recalling the Egyptian Queen�s beaky nose from the days she had visited Julius Caesar in Rome over a decade ago. Kordelia�s mouth was a precious imperfection, the slender, well-defined upper lip complemented by the wide, voluptuously full and curving lower lip.
�Who are you?� Kordelia called out imperiously.
Angelus hesitated. Again he was impressed. He had thought she could not see him at this distance in the shadowy garden. He wasn�t mistaken often.
�Hello?� she prompted him, rising purposefully from the high-backed bronze chair. She had been speaking in Greek and switched to Latin. �Who�are�you�and�what�are�you�doing�in�my�garden?� She enunciated each word slowly and clearly, as though she was speaking to an imbecile.
She was dressed in a long tunic of finely woven Egyptian cotton dyed a rich violet red. The tunic was fastened with silver and mother-of-pearl shoulder brooches and a fine silver chain girdle. Her plump breasts swelled prettily against the fine cotton, nipples clearly outlined in the fabric. Her dark hair hung about her, swept up in a gorgeously untidy fashion, tendrils falling out here and there, pinned up with more jewels.
Angelus shrugged inwardly. He had put off seeing her long enough. He walked the neat brick path, towards the torchlight.
His eyes never left her pretty face and he watched her expression curiously as he approached her. He liked it that she didn�t seem afraid of him. In his experience, Angelus knew that most women were not weak creatures at all. The fact that the Roman government regarded any female as a minor never ceased to amuse him. Less amusing were females who chose to act like delicate and ignorant creatures even when they were not because they believed their menfolk expected it of them.
Kordelia was stronger stuff. She stood, one hand on her hip, watching him closely. The fabric of her tunic was so fine Angelus easily saw the shape of her breasts, her trim waist and lushly curving hips. He could tell she was naked beneath the tunic and licked his lips.
Her expression switched several times as he came closer. From indignantly disturbed to confused to astonished. When Angelus stood before her, her lips formed words but no sound came out.
Angelus?!?
"Spoils" Part VI
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