Courtesan Read online

  I stared at his cock. As thick and as long as a babe’s arm, it rose up in readiness. Women went wild for this man and he was all mine. ‘You are awe-inspiring,’ I said. And then he was in my arms. My skin caressed his, warming him, while my hungry kisses stoked a fire between us. He drank so deeply from my mouth that I almost forgot to breathe. Tearing my lips from his, I took a gasping breath and tightened my arms around him.

  ‘You’re mine.’ He ground his cock against my belly. ‘Say I’m the only one who fucks you.’

  ‘I am yours – only yours. You’re the only one.’ And it was true. He’d paid enough for me from his winnings that I didn’t need anyone else.

  He brushed his fingers against the hard nub of my nipple. ‘Open your legs. Put your heels on the edge of the bed.’

  I paused a moment before lifting my feet. The soft folds of my quim parted and juices trickled from my sheath. Grabbing my knees, he rubbed the length of his cock against my wet slit. He pulled me to him and crushed my lips beneath his, pushing his tongue deep into my mouth. I opened for him, and my arms and legs held him. His hands in my hair, he drew me back so he could look into my eyes. ‘I want to get inside you.’

  I let out a soft moan.

  ‘I need to be a part of you, Theo. Tell me you’ll let me. Because once I start fucking you, I swear to God, I’m not stopping.’

  ‘Yes, Gaius, yes,’ I panted.

  Falling back on the bed, my breasts bounced, and my hair fanned against the white blankets. He grabbed his cock just below the head, and positioned the knob between the moist lips of my quim. With one long thrust, he pushed into my hot wetness, slamming the head of his prick against the barrier to my womb. I gasped at the force of his entry.

  He kissed me. ‘You have the sweetest…’ He thrust once again. ‘The tightest…’ He shoved harder. ‘Most fuckable…’ And even harder. ‘…cunt I’ve ever been inside.’

  My lips trembled as he lifted my thighs to my stomach. He kissed me softly. ‘Besides, this is what you want.’ He rammed hard. ‘Isn’t it?’

  ‘Oh, Gaius, yes. Yes it is.’ And it was. I yearned to be full of him, to have him so deeply inside me I couldn’t tell where he began and I ended.

  Gaius sent five body-jolting attacks against my womb, choked back a moan, and then sent five more. My sheath clenched around him. My breasts bounced with every thrust. When he paused, I lifted trembling hands to his face. ‘If I am Aphrodite, the goddess of love, then be my Hephaestus. Be the hammer that breaks me open.’ I bit down on my lip and tilted my hips.

  His fingers clenched in my hair, and with his cock as hard as iron, he battered the door to my womb. My breasts bounced again and my quim squeezed and sucked on his massive prick. Rearing back with every thrust, Gaius watched the progress of his assault with lust dripping from his eyes. He gripped my hips with a muttered oath, then held me still as he sent a barrage of shattering blows against me. I moaned deliriously. My head fell back. My eyelids fluttered.

  ‘You’re mine, Theo. You’re the sheath for my cock.’ My body shook. My back arched. My fingers grasped the blankets. On a low moan, my quim began to draw. With the first strong, sucking pull, Gaius bore down with all his strength, grinding the swollen head of his cock into me. I bit back a sharp cry.

  Bending over me, he rained kisses on my breasts and scraped his teeth over my straining nipples. I groaned again. Gaius spoke against my mouth. ‘I’ve got to move, Theo. I’ve got to fuck.’ He rocked forward again, and his hips pumped wildly, thumping me into the bed. I felt my hot quim lifting and clenching. ‘You’re so delicious,’ Gaius groaned. ‘So fucking delicious.’ He dropped his mouth to mine, pushing his tongue deep as he kept withdrawing and thrusting, withdrawing and thrusting. He bit my lip before breaking the kiss. My swollen mouth trembled, and the pulse in my neck beat wildly. His hips pumped and pumped. My orgasm was rising. ‘Pull back your knees with your hands, right back,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to feel anything but cunt.’

  I sucked in a breath as Gaius sank into me. ‘Oh, God, that’s good,’ he moaned. He withdrew and pushed. My body curled and I was ready to explode. He retreated and thrust once more, harder and faster. I strained beneath him, every muscle taut and quaking. Again and again he thrust, stretching me, burning me. I gave a shriek; my head lifted from the bed and slammed back down. My quim sucked him in, and my body found rapture. I let out a scream as a heavenly shudder radiated from my core. The walls of my sheath pulled, gripped, and pulled again. With a final great heave and a muffled cry, I let down a hot wash of juice.

  Gaius lay still in my fluids. I was limp beneath him, and my lip bled from where I had bitten back my cries. A flush spread over me. ‘You are glorious,’ I breathed, pressing my legs against his sides. ‘Take from me what you need.’

  ‘What I need?’ He thrust. ‘This is what I need.’ He pulled his knob nearly halfway out then shoved all the way in to the root. ‘I need to be inside you.’ He kissed my bruised lips. Pressing his stomach to mine, he scooped his hands beneath my back and gripped my shoulders. ‘So deep inside you.’

  He slammed into me and, with every deep stroke, his heavy balls slapped my arse. Panting now, nostrils flaring, eyes mischievous and lusting, he leaned into me and grabbed my breasts in his hands, squeezing them as he pummelled my quim. With a grunt and a final shove he pressed his face into the curve of my neck and I felt the spasms of his cock as his seed spurted into me.

  ***

  The next day he was dead, killed when his chariot flipped over during the last race of the afternoon at the Hippodrome; it broke his neck. I lost my protector, my glorious Gaius. No man since has fucked me like he did. No man since has looked at me like he did. No man since has loved me like he did. He gave me a baby, a girl, but she died soon after I gave birth to her. Two heartbreaks in quick succession, but not the last I’ve suffered. I blink back tears. Why am I remembering all this now?

  The door swings open and a tall man comes into the room. Holy Mary Mother of God! I can’t resist staring at him while he stares back at me. His white tunic, tight against his broad chest, reaches to below his knee, leaving calf muscles bare and rippling under the laces of his sandals. Hair the colour of bronze, dark blond really, and his eyes. Sweet Jesus! His eyes are green like the sea before a thunderstorm, and just as intense. Square jaw, clean-shaven, unusual as most men sport beards these days. His full lips curve in a smile. ‘Theodora,’ he says with a voice to melt hearts, ‘we meet at last.’

  I drop to my knees.

  II

  Justinian reaches forward and holds Theodora’s shoulders. He helps her up, and kisses her on the lips – the customary greeting among acquaintances, even though they’ve only just met. The girl is famous; he saw her perform some years ago, and she’s been in his thoughts ever since. I know her already. Her breath is sweet, minty, and he catches the scent of roses from behind her ear. She isn’t wearing any make-up – except for some sooty olive oil to darken her huge eyes. A gilded pin skewers her coil of ebony hair, drawn up on top of her neat, poised head. Her stola falls open to reveal a compact, shapely body dressed in a figure-hugging tunic. She’s quite exquisite.

  ‘Please, sir, call me Theo. Everyone does.’

  ‘I’m not everyone, Theodora.’ He smiles to take the sting from his words. ‘Your name means “gift from God”, does it not? Except it is rather a mouthful, much like my own name. All right. Theo it is, then.’ He pauses, enjoying the air between them. ‘The Patriarch writes highly of you, and of your time in North Africa. Might I ask why you’ve returned to Constantinople?’

  ‘It’s my home.’

  ‘You have family here?’

  ‘My sister, Comito. My parents are both dead.’

  ‘Ah yes. Your father was Acacias the bear tamer, wasn’t he?’

  ‘Father worked for the Greens, but they refused to help us after he was killed so we switched our allegiance to the Blues.’

  The Blues and the Greens go far beyond simple chariot race
factions. Arch-rivals, they run the City whilst the Emperor runs the Empire. It will be vital I involve them equally in my celebrations, if I wish to avoid trouble. Theodora knows how things work. Will she be the right person to help me get Constantinople on my side?

  ‘Tell me, Theo. What do you think is the most important thing I need to do for my planned festivities?’

  ‘Establish order. Show your strength. Then you will win the respect and gratitude of the people.’

  The girl is intelligent, just as Timothy described. ‘You must be hungry, Theo. I’ve ordered a meal to be prepared. We can talk while we eat. I’d like to learn about your time away.’

  He takes her hand, leaving Narses to return to his duties. ‘I hope you like my residence. It’s called the Palace of Hormisdas. Not as grand as the Great Palace, but the views from the roof terrace are quite spectacular.’

  The girl has to take two steps to his one. She keeps pace with him as he leads her through a corridor and reception room, pillared and walled in polychrome marble, and gleaming with gold-inlaid mosaics. ‘It’s stunning,’ she says.

  ‘Not as grand as the Emperor’s palace, but I prefer things simple.’

  They arrive at the dining room, draped in damask, and furnished with three couches of exotic wood and ivory crouching on lion-clawed feet. He indicates the one she should use and reclines opposite her.

  Slaves parade in, carrying golden platters of oysters swimming in butter and topped with delicate dollops of salted grey mullet roe, dove meat on toast with quail eggs, and pale orange cantaloupe stuffed with minced lamb and rosemary.

  The slave hovering at his elbow measures water into two silver goblets of strong white wine. He likes to drink it that way and scoops in a spoonful of spices, stirring it before taking a sip. ‘I know all about you, Theo. It’s useful to have spies. Even so, please tell me a bit about yourself.’

  She tucks her feet under the hem of her tunic. ‘Where would you like me to begin?’

  ‘After your father died. What happened next?’

  ‘As you’re aware, the Blues helped us. Except, there wasn’t enough money and my sister and I both became actresses.’

  ‘And then courtesans, eh?’

  She sucks an oyster from its shell, her delightful pink tongue swirling, and he shifts position to accommodate the tingling in his balls. ‘Yes, sir,’ she says, smiling at him briefly. ‘Only actresses can become scenicae. I was never one of the pornai prostitutes who work in the brothels and tavernas.’

  He puts his goblet down. ‘I saw your performance of Leda once. It was wonderful. Tell me how you managed to pull that off!’ His cock twitches as he remembers her lying spread-eagled on the stage. In Greek mythology the god Zeus seduced Leda by taking the form of a swan. Leda then gave birth to Helen of Troy. It must have taken guts for Theodora to replicate the act with a goose – a more amenable bird than a swan, for sure, but even so… in front of an audience of thirty thousand men! It’s a scene that has returned to his mind several times over the past three years: the dancers, twirling their tits with tassels on the ends, spreading grain across the stage and over Theodora’s torso and legs. The feathery white beast following the trail and pecking at her quim while she screams Zeus! and Oh God! and More, please more! writhing and undulating and letting out orgasmic squeals.

  Theo laughs. ‘It was one of my maddest ideas, but it made me a star. I wasn’t really naked, you know. I tied flesh-coloured linen with fine string around my nether parts.’ She frowns. ‘Sometimes the goose was a bit over zealous. He hurt me.’

  ‘Are you susceptible to pain, Theodora?’

  ‘I learnt to cope with it. Doing perfect splits can be quite painful. And Menander was a hard teacher.’

  ‘Did he beat you?’

  ‘Sometimes.’

  Oh, the thought. The delicious thought.

  Ever since watching her perform, his fantasies have been of her. If she hadn’t departed Constantinople soon afterwards, he would have arranged a meeting. His bad luck she took up with that man. The man the former Emperor sent to govern the Pentapolis. Too far away – right at the edge of the Empire. If Uncle had been Emperor then, he, Justinian, would have found some way to rescue her.

  ‘Tell me the reason you left Hecebolus.’

  ‘Your spies will have told you the story. Why do you want me to repeat it?’

  ‘To make sure they’ve told me the truth.’

  She glances down. ‘I can’t speak about him. It’s still too upsetting for me.’

  The tale that came to him beggars belief. No wonder Theodora is defensive. ‘Then tell me about your time in Alexandria. That interests me greatly.’

  ‘I fled there after…’ She takes a deep breath. ‘Then I met Severus. The Patriarch of Antioch deposed by your uncle.’

  ‘Yes. Yes. You don’t need to tell me who Severus is. His belief that the Christ is wholly divine, not human and divine, does not sit well with our desire to reconcile with the Church of Rome. I hear he converted you.’

  ‘I wasn’t too sure at first about God’s true form, but it was a miracle I found Severus when I did.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘My stay in Alexandria gave me a fresh start, purifying and healing me.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘I learnt to spin wool. My plan was to get a job as a wool spinner when I came home.’

  ‘No need for that. Timothy wants you here for something much more important. Do you know what that something is?’

  ‘The Patriarch thought I could be of use to you.’

  Justinian rubs his chin. ‘I hope you don’t think you can spy on me.’ His laugh has a hollow ring. ‘Who do you report to?’

  ‘No one. I’m my own mistress, sir.’

  ‘I would be your master, Theodora.’

  Her eyes widen. ‘You would?’

  ‘You’ve been sent here to influence me. I can see through most subterfuge, though I must admit sending me such a delightful courtesan is a very clever ploy.’

  ‘I’m not here to be your courtesan, sir. I can be useful to you in other ways.’

  ‘And if I say no?’

  ‘Then I shall get that job spinning wool. Never again will I let a man abuse me like…’ The beauty before him shudders.

  ‘One thing I can promise you, dear Theo. I shall at no time, ever do anything to which you do not agree.’ Never again will I push a woman too far. ‘I would like to offer you a deal.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘Stay here with me. Work with me. Give me the benefit of your knowledge of life in the City and how to give the people a good time. I’ll make you a powerful woman. But I will need something from you in return.’

  She gives him a quick look. ‘What?’

  He takes his time, eyeing her shape, the curve of her breasts, the life in her beautiful eyes. ‘I will need you to be subservient to me when we are alone.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Let’s just say I have certain… tastes.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘I like to take a dominant role in the bedroom.’

  She gives a shudder. ‘So do most men, sir.’

  ‘I think you’ll find my tastes differ from most other men’s…’

  A slave waits at Theo’s elbow, but she covers her goblet with a hand before he can refill it. ‘I’m not sure.’

  Justinian gets up from his couch and sits next to her. With his fingertip he traces the apple of her cheek, then runs it down to the swell of her lower lip. Her nostrils flare and she trembles. Good! She’s affected by me.

  ‘Can I think about it?’ she asks, her voice husky.

  ‘Of course. I’ll wait a day or two for your decision. In the meantime, I’ll get Narses to arrange a room. You’ll be more comfortable here than at your sister’s. Her senator only has a small apartment.’

  ‘You know so much about me, but I know so little about you.’

  ‘All the more reason for you to stay here and get to know me better. It’s your
call, Theo. But I hope you will come to enjoy what I can offer you. I have a feeling you will.’

  ‘You sound confident.’

  He laughs. ‘I usually get want I want. I will not coerce you, but I will persuade you, one step at a time.’

  Theodora looks him in the eye and there’s nothing subservient about her gaze. ‘I’ll stay for now,’ she says. ‘I want to be useful to you, really I do. But I don’t know if I can please you in the way you’d like.’

  ‘It’s not a question of you pleasing me, Theo. It’s more a question of whether you’ll let yourself surrender control to me so that I can please you. I don’t expect you to trust me straight away. That’s something you will learn in your own time. And when you do, you’ll give yourself to me without reservation. Completely, Theodora...’ He pauses to smile. ‘…I mean completely.’

  ***

  After Theodora has been taken to the room he asked Narses to prepare for her, Justinian goes to his study and sits at his desk. He’s in the middle of compiling a codex of imperial edicts to streamline the Empire’s centuries of convoluted laws, many of which contradict one another. He sets down his stylus and the wax tablet, but it’s hard to focus on his work.

  God he was disappointed when the beauty Theodora departed for the Pentapolis. Word had it that Hecebolus promised her his bronze marriage belt and the red sandals of a patrician to get her to go with him, the bastard.

  Theo is even more enchanting than Justinian remembers. Those eyes! Like a mosaic of mahogany flecked with gold. Intelligence shines from them. And that luscious mouth. What would it feel like wrapped around his cock? He’ll hide her in his shadow, chain her to his side, and, in return, he’ll give her everything she desires. He’ll have all of her, every part of her, and she will have every part of him. This WILL happen, because I want it to happen.