New Rome

26. Power in Rome

The air over New Rome was dense with fog, so thick it seemed to have snuffed out all the lights in the Lantern. The slaves in the Power Pits were shovelling coal onto the fires, their backs close to breaking and sweat streaming down their skeletal faces.

"Grid 1066 is down!" Called out a worker, raising his voice over the hissing pistons.

"Gird 1166 is down too!"

"Fucking piece of shit equipment," the foreman grumbled. It was yet another power failure, the year had been plagued by them.

"Grid 666 is down!"

The foreman's eyes bulged and beneath a thick layer of soot, his face drained of colour. That was an elite power grid, flowing to the houses of senators.

"The gods be fucking with us!" The foreman cursed, sprinting over to the ovens. The rich wouldn't put up with a power outage, they'd want heads rolling. "WORK FASTER YOU DOGS!" He roared at the slaves, getting out his nine-tailed whip.

                 The lights clicked out, plunging them into the darkness. Julia and Sejanus broke apart.

"The monitors are blank." He murmured, catching his breath. They were in the security booth. Julia was sat on the desk, her clothes in a tangle on the floor.

"Power must be down." She replied, before grabbing his face and greedily returning his mouth to hers. Sejanus moaned, his hands roaming her body and hardening his desire.

                  Daviad peeled off his gloves. The staff had lit candles since the power was out, filling the complex with a warm hazy glow. He lumbered down the halls of his home, his pace slow and heavy. With slow deliberation, he slapped his glove against his palm before tightly fisting the smooth material.

                  Julia tilted her head back, her moans continuous as Sejanus thrust into her at a delicious pace. He was exquisite – a forbidden fruit that seemed almost to have been made for her. Her eyelids fluttered and beads of sweat rolled down her long neck.

                     The floorboards creaked beneath Daviad's feet.

"Where is my wife?" He asked. The maid couldn't meet his gaze.

"I... I know not, my lord." She stammered nervously. She missed his glass, spilling grape algae over the table top. Dust fell from overhead and Daviad's gaze rose up to the ceiling. His sharp eyes narrowed.

"What's going on up there? Furniture being moved about?" He asked, frowning.

The maid coloured and that's when they both heard it. A guttural moan.

               Julia's legs were trembling and she clawed at Sejanus' arms, clinging onto him as she slipped over the primal edge. But Sejanus wasn't finished yet. Julia could have wept but she buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling the intoxicating smell of his hard skin. She cried out his name, worshiping him as he pushed her further, to place beyond what she'd ever experienced.

              The foreman's arms were aching and the sweat on his back was making his clothes cling uncomfortably to him. The slave before him, braced himself for the next blow. The foreman growled, swinging his arm to crack the whip against the young man's weeping back. The slave shuddered, his shoulders quivering as he struggled to maintain standing. Blood trickled down his chin, he'd bit his lip to suppress from crying out.