Intrigue Among the Pyramids

I launched into my rehearsed diplomatic oration, full of references to our countries' long history of cordial relations, our shared interests, but carefully avoiding anything that could be taken as a firm commitment. Pharaoh listened politely, a slight smile on his lips, and when I dared to glance at Menesamun, her expression was equally impassive.

Suddenly a voice burst into my words from the end of the table. "Your Majesty – forgive my interruption, but everything being said by this man is meaningless. He promises nothing, offers nothing – why is he even admitted to your presence?"

Pharaoh's smile grew almost imperceptibly. "Tanakh, have you learned no patience in your long years? When one plays senet, one does not cast all one's pieces onto the board in the first throw..."

Tanakh subsided, and Pharaoh inclined his head to me. "Please, go on."

I drew my speech to a close with a hope that there would be further opportunity for dialogue, and Pharaoh smiled, tilting his head in acknowledgement. "I wonder, do you enjoy chariot racing?" he queried, raising one eyebrow at me.

"Very much, Your Majesty."

"Then come tomorrow morning to the arena, and we will see how your skill matches against the temperament of some of our Egyptian horses."

He got to his feet. "Amsi, please see our guest back to his quarters."

Pharaoh made his way out, followed by his advisers, but Menesamun lingered until they were out of sight. Amsi glanced at me, then moved a few paces away as Menesamun approached.

"A good beginning," she murmured. "One piece of information that may help you tomorrow – when Pharaoh is about to urge his horses to pull ahead, he pushes his bracelets up each arm to secure them. Watch for it."

I nodded gratefully. "When will I see you again?"

She smiled knowingly. "Soon, I promise." And she was gone.

Amsi made no comment, bidding me farewell from his sedan chair as we arrived back at the House of Ajnabi. I climbed the stairs, finding Charis waiting for me at the top. She pretended to look at me apprehensively, and I chuckled. "Have no fear, I am sure the priestess's elixir has worn off."

Charis nodded. "Then come. I have brought fruit for us."

"And we still have wine," I remembered.

We sat on one of the couches, the tray of fruit on a table beside us. "May I know how your audience went?" Charis queried.

I shrugged. "Diplomacy – nothing is decided at the first meeting. I will race with Pharaoh's horses tomorrow, and he may reveal more of his mind to me then."

Charis sipped at her wine, then took another bite of one of the red fruits, juice running down her chin. "Wups."

I chuckled. "I think after this meal, we will need to wash."

My words proved true, and Charis threw me a smile over her shoulder as she shed her garment and stepped into the water. I quickly undressed, and followed her into the water, reaching for a bottle of the scented lotion and pouring it into my palms. "Let me wash you, my love..."

***

Charis speaks:

I stood in the shallowest part of the pool, the water lapping at my thighs, and felt Timon move up behind me. His hands as he started to caress my shoulders were already slippery with the scented lotion, and I breathed in deeply. "Mm..."

He wrapped his arms around my waist, then moved his hands upward to cup my breasts in his palms. My nipples had been tingling, waiting for his touch, since I'd stepped into the pool, and I gave a soft gasp, pushing my breasts into his hands. "Yes, like that."

Timon caressed me for a few moments longer, then his hands returned to my shoulders. This time he stroked down my back, and his fingers continued into the cleft of my bottom. I tensed instinctively as I felt a fingertip brush me in a place I'd never expected to be touched by anyone else, and I heard him chuckle softly. "This is new to you, then."

"It feels – strange, but good," I admitted, his touch somehow increasing the desire growing deep inside me.

I leaned back against his chest, shifting my feet slightly apart to give him access to anywhere his fingers might choose to explore, and his response didn't disappoint, his fingertips moving to gently probe my opening then slip inside a little way.

The urgency in my voice when I spoke again surprised me. "Timon – the bed? Now?"

Again a soft chuckle. "Of course."

He lifted me into his arms, carrying me to the sleeping platform, lying me down. I parted my thighs in readiness, but before he could move his body across mine, I voiced my request. "Could you do to me, what you did to the priestess?"

Timon smiled, and knelt between my feet, bending to rub his nose gently through the fur covering my mound, then kissing it softly. I felt a thrill as his mouth moved lower, his tongue exploring, then gasped as he drew his tonguetip over my most sensitive place. "Oh!"

He paused, looking up past my breasts to my face. "Too much?"

I shook my head. "Don't stop."

My fingers curled to grasp the sheet beneath me, as much to stop me – what? Pushing his head away from me as the sensation became almost unbearably pleasurable, or to tangle my fingers in his hair and pull him more tightly against my body – I didn't know which.

I felt the ache which signalled my longing to have something inside me, and as if Timon was reading my mind, he slid two fingers into my opening, curling them to brush his fingertips against a sensitive spot I didn't even know existed. "Oh – oh gods –" I breathed.

I felt Timon smile. "Will you call on them as Menesamun did?"

He moved his tongue more insistently, stopping me from giving any answer my pleasure-fogged mind might have been able to come up with. As the delicious tension in my body grew, I was vaguely conscious that his other hand was between my thighs as well, a finger dipping into me momentarily. Then I gasped, a current as if of lightning running through me as once more I felt his fingertip brush that other place he'd briefly explored as he caressed me in the pool. He pressed more insistently, and as the tip of his finger penetrated that opening, his tongue flickering on my hard nub, I tumbled over the edge into something I'd never experienced before, pleasure coursing from the clenching muscles in my belly, through my painfully-hard nipples, and back down to where his fingertip still pushed into that most secret place. I gave voice to my pleasure, not caring at that moment whether anyone could hear just how their Roman guest was indulging himself in the body of the slave girl who'd been provided for his amusement...