Marcus of Duros Ch. 03

"Are you still nervous?" Marcus asked, trying to test the waters and see where they stood.

"No." She said quickly. When he smiled knowingly at her she continued. "Maybe a little bit." She said with a small grin.

"Well, don't worry too much." He said. "To tell you the truth this was a complete surprise, I had never even given much thought to being married until The Lords told me about our marriage today."

"Oh." She said slowly. "Do you not want to be married?" She asked in a measured voice.

"It's not that I didn't want to get married. He began hastily. "I just didn't think about it too much, but if I had, I'm sure I would have thought myself lucky if I found a wife half as beautiful as you."

She smiled at his words and pulled him forward, kissing him softly on the cheek again, this time lingering longer. She stayed there with her lips softly pressed against his cheek for a few moments, then with her cheek against his, whispered in his ear.

"You didn't want to get married, did you Marcus. Don't worry, you can be honest with me. I'm your wife, remember?"

She pulled back until her eyes were looking into his, only separated by a few inches. Hers were the clearest shade of blue he had ever seen in a person's eyes. Like the sea, or a deep river. They begged him silently to open up to her and say what they both knew he was holding back.

Marcus sighed heavily. "No, I didn't"

"Why not?" She pressed gently.

"I disagree with the way marriages are done."

"What part Marcus?" She asked.

"The part where the women have no say in the matter, and her husband may do whatever he pleases with her." He said in a rush, silently begging her with his eyes to understand what he had never told anyone else.

"That's very sweet Marcus, but you can't change what happens to a lot of wives, and you can't change the fact that we are married. Lord Covax entered our names in the marriage register himself." This last piece of information surprised Marcus. "Besides," she continued "I consider myself lucky. I could have been married to one of those men who wouldn't care about how I felt. Instead I got you."

At this last pronouncement she smiled and leaned forward, kissing him softly on the lips. Never having actually kissed a woman before, Marcus was completely unsure of what to do. He settled for sitting still and letting her lead. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but Marcus's head was swimming as she broke the kiss and stood up. She chuckled at the dazed look in his eyes, as if amused by his inexperience.

She turned and headed back into the kitchen. Marcus shook his head and attempted to clear the haze that had settled over him as she had kissed him.

He stood up and made his way down the hall to the bedroom to get the rings he had bought for her at the market. He had left them in the pouch that served as his purse, hung on the back of his belt. As he retrieved them from the pouch he took a moment to appreciate their appearance.

They really were remarkably well crafted, he admitted to himself. Each gold ring, though made of the same material, was slightly different in its design. Some were several bands woven together in delicate twists, while others were a single polished band that shone in the light.

With a start he realized that he had never bought any presents for woman. His purchases were limited to gifts for his parents or friends, or buying rounds of drinks at the bars for his men. A feeling of excitement was bubbling up inside him at the prospect of giving them to her. While he was familiar with the feeling, it had never been so strong before.

Finished appreciating them, Marcus walked back into the kitchen with the rings, holding them in his hand behind his back. The excitement of having something to give her made him giddy. He would have to buy her something else before too long, as he suspected that excitement of his most recent purchase might quickly fade.

"I have something for you Chloe," he said as he reached the kitchen "if you want them that is."

She turned to face him from the stove and looked at him with curiosity. As he drew his hand out from behind his back she let out a small shriek and jumped forward to hug him. He stood still holding the rings his hand, unsure of what to do.

"Oh Marcus, they're so beautiful! Of course I want them. Why wouldn't I?"

She fawned over the gold rings as he deposited them in her hand. She lovingly inspected each one with the other hand, as if trying to take in every curve of the metal, and memorize their appearance.

"Well... you know what it means when a woman is wearing them..." Marcus answered.

"Yes Marcus, I do know what they mean." She looked at him with a teasing glint in her eye as she put the rings on.

"and you don't mind... you know... wearing them?"

"Not at all, as a matter of fact I really want to wear them Marcus." She said with an air of finality. "I should tell you something though," she continued, "I haven't been completely forthcoming with you. When Lord Covax came to see me at the forum about a marriage he was very kind. He showed me your picture, and told me all sorts of things about you. He even let me ask some questions about you. Then he asked me if I would like to marry you, he said I didn't have to if I didn't want to, but truthfully I... I thought you were very handsome and you sounded like a very nice man, so I said yes." She finished blushing furiously as she turned back to the stove without making eye contact.

Marcus's mind went into overdrive considering the implications of a Lord himself giving a woman a choice in who she married. He had always had a high opinion of Lord Covax, but this new revelation made him wonder if there were other Lords who were of the same conviction. Marcus reached down and took Chloe's free hand, pulling her over to him.

Hugging her close he said softly: "In that case I'm glad you don't feel stuck with me."

"Don't worry," she whispered back, "I don't feel that way at all, not even remotely." She quickly kissed his cheek again and turned away to find bowls for their dinner.

Their dinner was nothing special, due to the profound shortage in his pantry. As they ate they learned more about each other, and Marcus found that he liked Chloe the more she talked. He was sure he could listen to her voice for hours, if she could speak for that long without asking him a question.

She seemed nearly as interested in him as he was in her, except where he had asked her about life in the forum, she asked about his campaigns and his military friends. When Marcus asked about the baths she was mysteriously tight lipped, her sensual lips forming a small smile as if contemplating pleasant memories.

Before Marcus knew it, they had spent hours sitting at the table together talking. Once they finished their food, Chloe had taken his hand in both of hers and had continued her study of it. From then on, Marcus lost track of time, delighting in her ministrations, and answering her questions as well as he could.

Marcus sighed as he pulled his hand from hers and pushed his chair back. She looked up quickly, wondering why he had pulled his hand away.

Marcus chucked as she looked at him quizzically. "I would be more than happy to let you continue Chloe, but I've been in my dress uniform for hours now, the dishes need to be washed, and it's getting pretty late."

She smiled, looking at the chronometer on the wall. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Why don't you go change out of your uniform, and I'll clean the dishes." Marcus, realizing how tired he was, immediately agreed and headed to his bedroom.

As he stripped down to his briefs and an undershirt, he thought about what he would do about the sleeping situation. Clearly it would be awkward to sleep together. Even though they had gotten to know each other quite well in the past few hours, it still seemed unseemly to sleep in the same bed. Finished washing his face and brushing his teeth, he decided that he would sleep on the couch and let Chloe take the bed.

He walked out into the bedroom and opened the door to his small linen closet. Removing several blankets and a spare pillow he walked back down the hall to the kitchen.

Done drying the last pot, Chloe's face seemed to fall as she saw the blankets and pillow. "What are you doing with those Marcus?" She asked sadly.

"Well, I thought I would sleep on the couch and you could sleep on my bed. I left a fresh toothbrush and a washcloth in the bathroom for you to -"

"There's no need for you to sleep on the couch Marcus." She said quickly, "unless you don't want to sleep with me but... I rather hoped you would." She said, looking up at him expectantly.

"I was just worried that you wouldn't want to sleep with me." He answered shaking his head slightly.

"Well that's a very silly worry." She said pointedly. "Come on." She took his hand and led him back into the bedroom.

"Put those away, I'll just freshen up and be out in a minute." As she walked into the bathroom he put the blankets and pillow he had been carrying back into the closet.

Walking over to the bed, he pulled the sheets down and settled himself on his back to wait. The sheets were a harsh white color, topped with a gray comforter. Like most things in his house, the colors were dull and unexciting. He looked over at his bedside table where one of Chloe's orchids sat.

She had been with him for less than a day, but had already brought more color into his home than he himself had introduced in the past two years. He thought briefly about how nice it was to have another person in the lonely apartment, and how colorful and homey the place might become now that Chloe was in his life.

As he was considering all the possible benefits of having her in his life, Chloe opened the bathroom door and peeked around the corner, hiding her body from view.

"Ummmm, Marcus?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yes Chloe?"

"Well, I wasn't allowed to bring much from the forum, and I wanted to bring you the orchids, and I didn't have room for any other clothes. Sooooo I have nothing to sleep in..."

Marcus's eyes widened at the thought that all that separated her naked body from him was a thin door. He was reasonably sure that if he asked, she would come to bed wearing nothing at all.

Marcus shook the thought from his head, it would be hard enough to sleep next to her when she was wearing clothes. There was a very good chance that his "morning wood" would end up being "all night wood" as it was.

"I'll just see if I can find you something to wear tonight." Marcus said as he rolled out of bed and walked over to his bureau.

Inside he found an old shirt that he used to wear to bed. It was a little too short for him now, having been shrunk several washes ago. It might fit Chloe though, he reasoned as he did up the buttons that clasped the soft cotton shirt down the middle.

He crossed across to the bathroom and handed it to her, her body still concealed by the door.

"Thannnk you." She said in an adorable sing-song voice that made Marcus smile.

She closed the door and put the shirt on quickly, and was out before Marcus had climbed back into the low bed.

If the voice she had used a moment ago had been adorable, her appearance now was even more so. The shirt, which had barely fit Marcus, reached down nearly to her knees. The cuffs hung well past her hands, and as Marcus watched she began rolling them up to past her elbows.

The shirt, while comically small on him, looked very sexy on Chloe. The curves of her body; her breasts, her hips, and her ass, were all visible in her new sleepwear. Her nipples poked insistently within the shirt, forming tiny peaks of soft cotton over the hardened nubs.

Marcus wondered briefly about that, the way he understood nipples was that they got hard when it was cold, his bedroom was kept at a comfortable temperature however. Marcus brushed it off, unwilling to spend too much time using his brain on trivialities when there were other things to think about.

"I think I like this outfit almost as much as the one you were wearing before." Marcus said with a suggestive smile.

"I bet." She replied with an equally lecherous wink. "Does your shoulder hurt?"

"Hmmm?" Marcus asked questioningly. He realized he had absentmindedly been rubbing his left shoulder which felt unpleasantly tight. "Oh this? It's nothing. I guess I must have pulled something on the campaign..." He trailed off.

Chloe looked at him slightly impatiently. "Well how are you supposed to sleep well with your shoulder hurting you Marcus?" She asked. "Take off your shirt and lay down on your stomach so I can rub it for you."

Marcus nodded quickly, the idea of having her warm body pressed on top of his, AND getting a back rub made it an offer he couldn't refuse.

He quickly stripped off his shirt. Chloe smiled as she watched him struggle to pull it off hastily. When he finally succeeded and looked at her she was wearing an entirely different expression.

Her eyes looked more intense than they had a moment ago, and her smile was gone, replaced by an expression Marcus had never seen before: she was biting her lower lip slightly and a hand had gone to her throat, stroking the base of her neck softly.

"How about that back rub?" She asked, her voice huskier than before.

He turned away from her and sank down onto his stomach on the bed. Chloe followed, straddling his ass, wiggling suggestively as she settled herself.

She took a moment to lay herself down, pressing into his back, laying her head on his back, and snaking her arms under his armpits and pulling up on his shoulders to press herself even deeper into his back.

"Mmmfffff" Marcus sighed sleepily. "I'll give you a year to cut that out."

"Mmmkayy" She answered, her voice muffled.

After several minutes of just laying there, Chloe sat up and began rubbing his shoulders, starting first with the one which was bunched up into a knot. Once she had eased the tension in it, she moved on to his other shoulder, then the rest of his back, and neck.

He wasn't sure how long she sat above him. It seemed like a while, but finally when he felt her hands were beginning to tire he reached behind him and began rubbing her knees that still straddled his ass.

Even her knees were soft and Marcus felt a need begin to overtake him. He flipped himself over onto his back, surprising Chloe who still sat above him. Now instead of straddling his ass, she was situated right above his groin.

The erection that had been pinned between himself and the bed now tented his briefs, putting pressure on her groin.

She gasped at the sudden change, but it quickly morphed into a moan as her eyes closed and her hips began to grind against him involuntarily.

"Chloe?"

"Mmmmm... Yes Marcus?" She replied, her voice a shuddering almost whisper, she peered at him darkly.

"Where's your underwear?" He asked thickly.

She laughed, but the laugh turned into a grunt as her hips began to gyrate again. "Mmmhhmm... I never wear underwear to bed Marcus."

"Oh." He answered simply.

As her hips continued to twist his hands began sliding up her thighs. The shirt, which fell to mid-thigh, was pushed up as he reached her hips.

From there he continued his exploration towards her ass, finally seizing it with both hands and kneading it. It was every bit as full and muscular as he had thought, not only that, it was wonderfully soft.

Her skin was impossibly soft and smooth, and it felt amazing under his hands. "You're so soft Chloe, I love touching you." Marcus whispered as his hands moved from her ass to trace the lines of her stomach with his thumbs.

"Mmmmm. I love it when you touch me Marcus." She replied.

As she finished speaking she began unbuttoning the shirt, until the only thing holding the two sides of the front together were here breasts. As she leaned forward, she placed her hands on the sides of Marcus's head. Her eyes were only a few inches away from his own, and Marcus could see the desire that darkened her normally bright eyes.

"Touch them, please Marcus." She said shakily.

He looked where she had flicked her eyes pointedly. Her breasts hung inches from his chest. They were large, maintaining their shape somewhat even when the hung, terminating in long, pink nipples that stood erect with what he reasoned must be desire.

He lifted his hands and gently began caressing the undersides of her breasts. He could feel his heart beating in his throat as he explored around with more vigor, mixing in gentle squeezes with his gentle strokes. Her breasts were softer than the rest of her body with a pliable firmness that aroused him even more, if that was possible.

Finally his explorations brought him to her nipples. A slight pinch with his index fingers and thumbs made Chloe gasp and shudder. A pitiful moan escaped her lips. Marcus didn't think he had heard a more beautiful sound in his entire life. It tugged at his heart, and woke something inside him.

He quickly sat up, taking her with him, until she sat, more or less in his lap. Initially frustrated by her inability to rub effectively against him, Chloe humphed. The humph quickly turned into a ragged moan as Marcus closed his mouth around one of her nipples and began pinching and tugging at the other.

"Oh Marcus that... I... that feels soooo... g-good."

Switching back and forth between her two nipples, nipping softly with his teeth, he continued to tease her breasts, increasing the pressure gradually.

I can't... t-take it much longer... Marcus I..." Chloe's incoherent words merely egged Marcus on, as he continued his ministrations.

Suddenly Chloe's voice reached a deeper pitch. "Marcus wait... I'm going to... going to..."

"Going to what Chloe?" Marcus asked curious, as her nipple popped out of his mouth.

"Ohhhhh God nooo, please go back Marcus. I'm going to come soon. Please Marcus!" Chloe grasped the back of his head with one hand, and taking her breast in the other, forced it into Marcus's mouth. At this he began sucking and licking with renewed passion, his tongue tracing circles around her nipple as his lips sucked it into his mouth.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh Marcusssssss..." Chloe moaned as her hips began to thrust against his stomach from where she sat in his lap. "I'm c-coming... really h-harrrrdddd... ohhhhhoooo... mmm... huh"

As her orgasm began to subside, her entire body convulsed gently, forcing air from her lungs in breathy gusts.

Seeing that her body limp and shuddering, unable to support itself, he gently lowered her to the bed and lay on his side next to her, his forearm pillowing her neck.

For a while she simply lay in his arms shuddering. Finally the shaking had subsided and she turned to him, her face cracking into an enormous, lazy, smile.

"Hi." She said simply.

"Hi yourself." He replied

"That was reallllly nice Marcus. I mean really nice."

While Marcus was glad that she had enjoyed herself, he was still confused. He had heard many of his married friends discussing the female orgasm, but they had never mentioned that it could happen from playing with their nipples.

"I didn't know women could have orgasms by having their nipples played with." Marcus said questioningly.

Chloe smiled up at him sheepishly. "Well, they don't normally... I'm just really sensitive."

"Lucky me." Marcus replied with a smile.

He didn't bother asking how she know she was sensitive to having her nipples manipulated. He assumed it was a story for another time. He had other things on his mind, he had just caught sight of her glistening pussy, completely shaved, and no longer hidden by the shirt or crushed into his lap.

Intrigued, he dragged his free hand slowly down her body, as he passed by her stomach a portion of it quivered.

"mmmmHHhhhph... sensitive spot..." She said haltingly.