It only took her a minute to change out of her everyday tunic and into the soft, sheer fabric that fell over her curves seductively. She fastened a necklace around her neck, brushed out her hair, and surveyed herself in the polished brass of the mirror.
A stranger looked back at her. A very beautiful, very sensual stranger with eyes turned to warm cinnamon thanks to the scarlet cloth, hair flowing down her back in a river of jet, and a body slender even in its curves. She closed her eyes against the image and turned to the soft bed. She would wait there for her master to return.
*
Jason bade farewell to his friends with a laugh, wondering if Menelaus would make it back to his quarters in one piece. The man was swaying considerably, the wine of the evening taking its toll. But Titus had put a supporting arm around him, so the others had decided to go on their own ways. Jason headed back to his father’s house, the quiet of the still night encircling him. An edge of dissatisfaction cut through his mind. He knew that Lentulus was headed for a woman to take away his own hunger, and Jason briefly considered finding one himself.
But no, if he decided he was in that great a need, he would simply go to Abigail. She was more beautiful than any of the women whose doors would be open, far healthier, and what she lacked in experience she made up for with that sweet modesty. His friends may say he was too consumed by her, but he could not agree–they were all that preoccupied with the fairer sex, he just happened to have one woman who comprised all he needed instead of having to find a new one each night. That made him fortunate, not consumed.
He approached the house as quietly as possible, let himself in, and headed for his room. He could see from under the door that a lamp was lit inside. Curious, he stepped in and shut the door behind him.
The scarlet of her dress immediately caught his eye. She had apparently been asleep and was just blinking awake, stretching in a way that made him forget he had been tired at all. “Abigail? Did you forget that you did not need to wait for me?”
Giving him a sleepy, simmering smile that made his blood race, she moved gracefully from the bed in a way he imagined Venus may have done. “I did not forget.” She slid her hands up his chest and eased against him, pulling his head down so that her lips could caress his.
Had he just been thinking about how much he liked her modesty? That was strange, because at that moment, nothing had ever pleased him as much as her forwardness. His arms came around her, and he reveled in the joy that came from returning her kiss instead of forcing her to return his. He felt his conscious thought slipping away as her mouth moved down his neck. He barely even noticed when she led him to the bed. He was in a daze when she helped him from his clothes and gave him the attention he had been demanding for the past three months. Even so, he knew very well he would remember this night for the rest of his life.
Chapter Sixteen
Ester lounged on her chaise, laughing with Abigail over the comedy they had just read together. Over the past weeks she had been watching her young friend change, and it showed now in the light in her eyes. The play they were reading was not quite indecent, but about as close as it could get and still make it past Cleopas’s censure. In the past, the girl would have flushed even as she read some of the lines. Today, she laughed at them with the appreciation of a woman who was familiar enough with the world to find the humor in it.
Ester was not certain what she thought of this new face of Abigail. She missed the girl that was afraid to leave childhood, but at the same time, she liked the woman that was suddenly able to talk as an equal on subjects the child had just listened to silently. But mostly, Ester wondered what had happened in the past three weeks to make that possible when the previous three months had only seemed to tire Abigail without giving her any benefit. It took no genius to realize it had something to do with her relationship with Jason. But exactly how that was going, Ester was afraid to ask. Possibly because, yet again, she was not sure of her own thoughts.
What she truly wanted was for everyone involved to be happy; but could that happen? She would personally be satisfied if her son married Abigail, but whether that would achieve the desired results for the two of them was something she was not comfortable speculating on just yet.
Apparently, though, she had been doing just that, for Abigail’s laughter drew her from her reverie, and she smiled at getting caught in another world. “I am sorry, my child. Did I miss something?”
“No, Mistress. Nothing of importance. Do you wish anything?”
“Nothing I know how to ask for. You have changed lately.”
She expected Abigail to give a vague reply, or perhaps evade the statement altogether. Instead, the younger met her eyes. “Yes, I suppose so. I have come to realize your son is not quite as horrible as I had wished to make him. Of course, Andrew helped me come to that conclusion by refusing to speak to me for the past fortnight.”