Bride of the Emperor (The Prophecy of Sisters Book 4) by Hayley Faiman (urban books to read .TXT) 📕

abandoned basket that the famulus left behind full of soaps and fragrance. Before she answers me, I use the fragrance, dumping some in the water, along with some of the rose petals. Though I typically do not use such things to wash with, I know from asking the famulus and Cassia, that my Drucilla does indeed care for these things.

“They do, happily. Anything to give their partner pleasure,” she announces. Then she lets out a groan and continues. “I mean, I guess some people don’t do it. But I’ve never shied away and my lovers haven’t either, at least not as I’ve gotten older. As teenagers not so much.”

“Interesting. My people do not do this,” I inform her. Her eyes widen and she flicks her gaze from me to behind my shoulder where I was standing just moments ago. “My free people do not do this. The mouth is sacred, Drucilla. I would never sully you by penetrating your mouth, I would never dishonor you this way. Giving you my seed, that is the most important gift that I can give to you. Only servis’ knees touch the ground, only servi put their mouths on our bodies that way.”

We stare at one another in silence for a long moment. Neither of us speaks, although she watches, her eyes search my face as she attempts to understand my words and my people. I also attempt to understand her people.

“We don’t have slaves and I’m very uncomfortable with you having them,” she admits. “I wish that you didn’t have them. What is your stance on this?”

Looking down, I try to hide my smile. Lifting my gaze to meet hers, I give her a small smile. “They are part of our society, of our very functioning society. They will not be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Can you maybe not acquire more?” she asks.

I hum, wondering if this could indeed work, if it could be implemented. But then who would do all of the work that the servis do? It would be a complete reworking of my people’s entire society. I have no doubt that it can be achieved, though we are not the only society with servis, there are others that do not have any, like Bunafi and Devilrise.

“We shall see, melculum. Now, I wish to hear more about why your people devalue their mouths and bodies the way that they do and why you wish to do this with me, instead of allowing the famulus to do her duty?”

Drucilla shakes her head, her hair flying around her, the tips wet and moving through the air, slapping her shoulders as it does.

“In my world, when you’re married, nobody touches that part of you,” she whispers. I arch a brow, wondering how our worlds could be so different and yet seemingly very much alike as well. “At least not unless it’s been agreed upon.”

My lips twitch, wondering if there is more to her world that perhaps she is just ignorant about, perhaps naïve about.

“People do not enjoy others? Everyone is monogamous?” I ask.

She frowns, then her violet eyes find mine and hold them. “I suppose they do, but not me. I don’t want that.”

“You did not want this, me, either, yes? Yet, here you are.”

“It’s not the same,” she breathes.

With a hum, I close the short distance between us, needing to be near her, touching her. Lifting my hand, I cup her uninjured cheek, my eyes searching her own, holding her gaze and taking her in, still unbelieving that she is here, real, and alive in front of me.

“I could not allow your body and mine to be defiled that way. It is not something that I could ever agree on.”

“But you will have another person do that to me, and you would have another person do it to you?” she asks, her voice weak and broken sounding.

Broken.

I have hurt her, my traditions have hurt her and there is nothing that I can do about it. This is not something that I could or would ever relent on.

Sliding my thumb across her bottom lip, I think about these lips being the gateway to all that is sacred in my world.

“I have never kissed another woman other than you,” I admit.

She gasps at my words. I am glad that we are having this moment, that we can now speak candidly and do so using the same language.

“My people take this seriously. I take this seriously.”

“No other women,” she breathes.

Arching a brow, my eyes connect with hers, holding them. “You think of famulus as women?” I ask.

She blinks, almost as if she is confused by my words. “What are they, Tiberius?”

“Famulus,” I say with a shrug of my shoulder.

“They are women,” she whispers. “No others.”

I can see that this is important to her. Although, I could tell her that her opinions, her wants, her desires matter not, I do not. I wish to have a true marriage with her, I wish to find acceptance, companionship, and apparently if the prophecy is to come to fruition, I must find love with her as well.

There will be no love without trust, companionship, and acceptance first. There also must be compromise between us.

Chapter Twenty-Four

DRUCILLA

I don’t know what I expected, but Tiberius washing my hair, helping me bathe, and not trying to take things any farther, while we were both naked was definitely not anything close to how I thought the bathhouse would turn out.

When he slides the thick gauzy towel around my shoulders covering my cold naked body, I watch as he wraps the same one around his waist and makes his way over to me again. I shiver when his fingertips press against the small of my back and together, we walk back up to his bedroom, or maybe it’s ours now.

I am lost inside of my head, still reeling from his words, from his explanation of why couples don’t do oral. Then I remember Laurentia on the ship, the way she looked so haunted every morning.