Rome: Marriage Pact

Chapter Ten: Drunk

By the time we get back home, the sun is already setting. To Antony's amusement and my annoyance, I keep finding flower petals stuck in the curls of my hair. I spent half of the ride home picking out different colored petals. "You missed a few," Antony jokes, brushing a stray petal away from my shoulder, fingers grazing my neck.

I jump a little, feeling a jolt of electricity zap up my spine. Antony laughs, still looking amused.
Tired after all of the excitement, I drag myself into the villa and collapse on a couch. Antony follows and throws himself on the couch opposite of me.
"Do you want any wine?" he asks.
I wrinkle my nose. "No, thank you. I'm not much of a wine person."
"Suit yourself. I'll get you water," he yawns, getting up and kissing my cheek on the way to the kitchen.

The wine he had bought must be pretty strong, because Antony is already drunk after the first glass. This is how I find out he is a happy drunk, laughing at dumb things and slurring his speech. "You're adorable, you know that, right?" he hiccups, still smiling like a man who just discovered prostitutes exist.

Despite his drunken flirting, I feel my face heat up. Antony snorts out a laugh at my reaction. "You are!" he muses, dropping the cup on the table where it rattles and falls over without breaking.
"You're like a.." he trails off, fumbling for the right word, "like a flower, all innocent and sweet and shy."
"Is that a good thing?" I ask, hands on my lap as I watch him sit up.

He blinks, the wine only making him sleepy now. "Mhm.." he rubs his eyes. "My sweet little flower.." he trails off, falling asleep laying down on the couch. I get up and search the larger closets for a spare blanket. When I find one, I walk back to Antony and drape it over him.

I leave Antony to rest on the couch and walk over to our room. It's completely dark now, the stars shining high in the sky from what I can see through the window. After getting into a loose tunic, I get in the large bed. Thoughts swirl around in my mind, making it hard to get to sleep.
The field of flowers, the kisses, Antony's touch. My body heat spikes and I suppress a whine.

Is this normal? This feeling of wanting someone to defend me? Slowly, shaking, I close my eyes and touch myself under the layers of furs and silks on the bed. Despite the heat, my hand is cold. I shudder, too caught up in my pleasure to notice Antony had woken up. I feel the release and cover my mouth with my other hand, hearing my heartbeat hammering in my ears.
In my exhaustion, I pass out in bed, barely feeling Antony lay beside me.
****
I'm awoken to Antony's fingers going through my hair in a soothing motion. I groan a little and blink my eyes open. He's already awake and sober, from what I can tell.
"Morning," he smiles, still massaging my scalp. "What were you doing last night?" he teases with a knowing smile. I freeze, heart racing yet again. The guilt must show on my face, but Antony laughs all the same, pecking my lips gently.

"It's normal," he murmurs with a smile. "You don't need to be embarrassed."
"Y-you saw me..." I realize, feeling my blood turn to ice.
"I didn't realize what you were doing at first, but..I want to make you feel that way, if you'd let me." He looks hopeful as he says this. Does Antony not realize I'm still a virgin?

We are still married by Roman law, after all. It's only a matter of time until we had this conversation, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. "Soon," I promise him, matching his smile and praying the fear doesn't show in my eyes. I wouldn't even know what to do to pleasure Antony. Kiss him, cuddle him? I haven't a clue.

His smile widens, then kisses my cheek and touches his forehead to mine. This is the most relaxed I've seen him, eyes closed and breathing calm.
I force myself to be calm as well, wondering if Antony takes my racing heart as excitement rather than fear.