Slave of Rome, The Emperor's Obsession. Book Two Read Online Free Page A

until now, growing up, Myra had always been focussed only on herself, her own pleasures, her own wants and cravings. She had never even stopped to consider how with every passing day of extravagant lifestyle and spending, her father had brought them closer and closer to the beggars' lot. With him dead, the bill was now due and it was her that would be paying it.  
    Her brief afternoon siesta ended when she was awoken by a nondescript house-servant or slave, she wasn’t exactly sure which, who mutely offered her a beautiful toga embroidered with a shimmering sequence of red and black silken threads followed by a pair of exquisite black leather sandals with a slightly raised heel. She had never seen anything like them before. The sandals fit her small feet perfectly allowing a tantalizing peek of her toes but strapping her ankles in place with a small silver buckle that attached to a beautiful gilded clasp fashioned in the form of a lion's jaw at the back.
    The servant raised five fingers which Myra assumed to mean she had five minutes to get ready and quietly left to allow her to don the items he had brought. The dress felt as if it had been tailored specifically for her, its satin belt cinching her waist so that she couldn't help but observe the perfect hourglass of her shadow in the late afternoon sun. But when she donned the strappy sandals, she couldn't help but gasp. The odd heels had added almost two inches to her height and even though she found walking in them a tad difficult, the unbelievable softness of the insole made her feet want to sing with joy and more than made up for the initial clumsiness of her gate. Now that her vantage point had been elevated she found herself squaring her shoulders and standing erect.  
    Normally Myra didn't seek out mirrors, afraid of what she might see in them but this time she walked over to one massive floor to ceiling mirror and looked at her reflection. Even though tighter around the waist than her natural modesty would have initially allowed, she found the garment a thing of unparalleled beauty. The shape and design of the toga added significantly to what she suspected most men already found charming in her appearance. The black and red of the shimmering embroidery worked miracles in bringing out her naturally olive complexion. The hourglass cut   accentuated her body's natural appeal which coupled to her new height almost made Myra wonder if she was still that same girl who just a couple of days ago had left her farm estate and come to the capital of the world.
    Someone at the door cleared his throat and for a petrifying moment Myra teetered precariously on her high heels until her long legs took into consideration the odd height of her footwear.
    "You are ravishing, milady." The Emperor!  
    For a moment her heart almost missed a beat. He was smiling, the most beautiful, carefree smile she had ever seen upon an adult man. And what a man! His attire was simple for a man supposed to be a the ruler of the known world. But it was the quality of the purple silk, the classy design of the epaulettes, the perfect length of his toga ending as it did just above his muscled knees thus allowing an exquisite glimpse of his sculpted shins that screamed his status to anyone that cared to look. The way his body filled the clothes, the way he stood with the relaxed, almost dismissive confidence of a born ruler of men — all that conspired on Myra and for a moment she found it necessary to remind her body to breathe.
    "Don't be late, milady" the emperor smiled, "we don't want to give the senators any unnecessary excuses to gossip behind our backs." He stretched out his hand and she almost swooned. Why, oh why do you have to make everything so deliciously complicated, oh why? Tell me, oh Fate? He kept saying "us" and "we" when he refereed to Myra and himself. She needed wine, the more — the better, and fast. Or she might just grab him by his weighty shoulders and kiss those expressive lips