The Perfect Concubine Read Online Free Page B

by a pillar on the upper floor, Valeria peered down at the arriving guests in their glittering array of brightly coloured dining robes.
    Luckily she did not know any of the men who were assembled or the women they had brought with them—all wearing tunics and veils that revealed more than they concealed. Women of light virtue. Dinner party? An orgy, more like.
    Valeria grasped the pillar, feeling more injured that she would have imagined. Their first night together and he threw an orgy. She had thought…Valeria banished the thought. Romance had no part in their relationship. He was a man from the same mould as her former husband. Piso had acquired her solely because she’d been fool enough to throw the dice. She had three nights to prove herself irresistible enough for him to agree to sail to Cyrene, and she would. Party or no party.
    Valeria gritted her teeth. Piso was seeking to demonstrate her new status. Very well. She’d oblige him. She hadn’t suffered through her marriage without learning how one teased in a dining room. She had been forced to watch others perform the trick often enough. It never seemed that complicated or complex, simply overt and obvious. This was her one chance to play the game and play it properly.
    She couldn’t be completely naked but she decided to strip down to her under-tunic. A demonstration to Piso that underestimating or intimidating her would fail.
    Her fingers examined her swollen lips. She had no idea why he had kissed her and then put her from him. There had been something more than carnality in the kiss and she hadn’t expected her response. She closed her eyes and refused to give into wishful thinking. Tonight was an adventure into the unknown. It certainly would be a tale to tell in the baths—the night Valeria brought Piso to his knees.
    She retreated up to the bedroom where the servants had placed her things. There she took out various pots and paints and made up her face, taking care to whiten her face and heavily kohl her eyes in the latest style. Staring at the small mirror, she found it hard to recognise the woman who looked back at her. Despite the thick paint, there was a latent sensuality in her lips and her eyes sparkled a bit too brightly. Valeria frowned. Suddenly her under-tunic seemed far too intimate a garment for such a gathering.
    She went over to the clothes press, opened it and discovered a simple tunic of fine linen. She slipped it on and the soft folds came down to her mid-calf, sliding about her legs as she moved. The cloth appeared to accentuate her curves and hint at what was hidden underneath. She took her belt and fastened it around the middle, straightening the folds so that her waist was emphasised. As a final defiant gesture, she took the pins out of her hair and allowed it to flow down her back. She took one last look in the tiny brass-backed mirror and did not recognise the perfect concubine who stared back at her.
    She hated to think of the woman who must have owned this first, and the delight in Piso’s eyes when she wore it. But the outrageous idea she had planned for tonight was sure to keep Piso’s attention firmly on her. She summoned several servants and explained what she wanted. They appeared dubious but accepted her order.
    â€˜Seek to humiliate me, Piso?’ Valeria tapped her finger against her mouth. ‘Two can play at this game.’
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    Piso leaned on one arm and with other hand he reached for the bowl of olives. The conversation about gladiators, and the upcoming season, ebbed and flowed around him.
    Valeria was taking a long time, far too long. A protest at the guests’ status? Overcome with nerves? He’d watched the shadowy figure on the landing as the guests arrived. The company might not be entirely respectable but they were far more interesting than ponderous senators or other worthies. And they had the added bonus of ensuring the identity of his new concubine would be all