The Roman Senate had decreed that a representative should be sent on amission to Athens, following some trouble involving the governor, and Marcus had drawn the short straw. He had two days to prepare himself for the journey and he decided that he would treat himself to a night of carnal delight with the pretty new slave before he went. There was always trouble brewing in the Hellenic provinces and any conspicuous Roman was at risk of ending up with a knife in his back. It would be a shame to let all Julia's training go to waste.

When he told his wife, on the night before he was due to leave for Athens, that Chloe should be sent to his bedchamber, she seemed uneasy. 'I'm not sure she's quite ready, Marcus.'

Her prevarication inflamed him. Didn't the stupid woman understand that this might prove to be his last fuck on earth? Even a condemned slave was allowed some privileges.

'I will have her, ready or not!' he snorted.

Julia's eyes turned cold and it occurred to him that perhaps she'd hoped to be invited to his bed herself. In retrospect it might have been a nice gesture, considering the danger facing him, but it was too late now. Concupiscence had over-ruled conjugal rights.

While he lounged on the couch in his room, his body cleaned, scented and relaxed, Marcus idly speculated about Julia's love-life. He was pretty sure she still had one, although its details evaded him. A distance had grown between them since he'd informed her of their new marital arrangements, and he regretted the loss of their past closeness, but it was too late to remedy it now. Perhaps he had committed a blunder in asking her to train the Greek slave in Roman sexual mores, but there was no better person to do it and he regarded it as a mere extension of her wifely duties. If she felt otherwise it was unfortunate.

There was a tentative knock on his door and the lovely Chloe entered, decked out as if for her wedding night. Marcus let her stand there while he gazed on her unusual beauty for a while. Since she had come to live under his roof her hair had grown a little and someone had been busy with the crimping iron so that the fair locks now curled fetchingly around her face and neck. The scared rabbit look that she'd displayed for the first few weeks was fading too.

Although her expression was apprehensive there was an assurance about her bearing that augured well. The naive young virgin that had so attracted him as she stood on the auction block was maturing into a sensually aware woman, thanks to his wife's pains. He must remember to reward Julia with some item of jewellery if the girl proved to be up to scratch. 'Come here,' he said, kindly, rising from the couch and holding out his hand.

Chloe approached with a diffidence he found charming. She was wearing a diaphanous green robe trimmed with gold braid on the hem and sleeves. Two bands of gold also criss-crossed between her breasts, making them more prominent, and he fancied he could glimpse the faint shadow of her delta as she moved.

'I believe my wife has instructed you in the art of love. Tonight you will have a chance to put her teachings into practice.'

'Yes, master,' she cooed with eyes averted, a flush appearing in her cheeks.

He placed a finger beneath her pointed little chin, forcing her eyes up to meet his. 'I particularly asked that you should be trained to suck cock. It is a special preference of mine.'

A desperate look flashed in the sea-blue depths of her eyes, but she recovered quickly. He asked, more sharply, 'Are you practised in the skill of fellatio?' She gazed dumbly at him. Evidently the term was unknown to her. 'Cock-sucking!' he repeated.

'Oh . . . yes, master.'

'You've practised then?' She nodded. 'On whom, may I ask?'

'Alexis, master.'

'Ah, a fellow Greek! And how did you find his precious cock -easy to please, was it?'

Bewildered, Chloe gave another nod. It was clear that she was unused to such frank talk. Marcus had told his wife to improve the girl's technique, but he must remind Julia that lewd conversation was also part of the seduction process. So far the creature was nonplussed. She had a long way to go before she could call herself a courtesan.

His curiosity about Julia revived itself at the mention of Alexis. Wasn't that the slave for whom she had shown a preference? The thought that she might be using him to train Chloe in order to get closer to him herself was amusing.

'These . . . cock-sucking lessons, did they take place in the presence of my wife?'

'Yes, master.'

'And did she demonstrate how to do it herself?'

Chloe's eyes widened in shock. 'Oh no, master. She gave me instructions, that was all.'

'But watched you all the while, eh?'

Chloe frowned, puzzled. 'Of course. How else could she know I was doing it properly?'

'Quite so.'

Marcus smiled to think of how frustrated Julia must have been, forced to stand on the sidelines while the inexperienced girl handled the man's equipment with fumbling fingers and awkward mouth. Had she gained vicarious pleasure from it? And when the lesson was over, had she given herself solitary pleasure or . . .

'After you finished with Alexis, did he leave the mistress's bedchamber with you?'

She paused to reflect. 'No, master, I think not.'

'So he was still with her when you left her bedroom?'

Chloe hesitated, unsure what kind of quagmire his questions were leading her into. Marcus could see she didn't want to get her mistress into trouble. On the other hand, she didn't want her master to catch her lying.

'I . . . I believe so,' she said vaguely, adding for safe measure, 'but I could be wrong.'

Marcus decided not to pursue it. The sight of the nubile slave was making his penis throb and jerk and it was time to give the fellow his head - or rather, for her to give it!

'Never mind,' he said briskly, 'just remove that nice robe you're wearing and we'll get down to business. I've had little time for sex lately, and my little tyrant is demanding immediate satisfaction. Let's go to it!'

So saying, Marcus pulled up his robe to reveal his sturdy erection. He was rather proud of his organ's dimensions and couldn't resist asking the girl how it measured up to the Greek's. She hesitated before saying, 'I think it is a little longer, master, although his may be thicker.' Marcus frowned and Chloe stopped in the act of undoing her shoulder knot, afraid she had said the wrong thing, but then he laughed. 'You flatter me with the truth, I think. I must remind my wife not to educate your tongue in the art of lying. Candour is a charming trait. You may be a slave, but you shall not become servile.'

Again the girl looked confused, so he nodded at her to continue disrobing. When she stood naked before him he was pleased to see that she had been well scrubbed and oiled. Her fair skin gleamed with good health and she had put on some weight, making her breasts and hips look more seductively rounded.

'Come!' he commanded. 'Kneel here, and place your pretty lips around the tip of my cock. The rest I shall leave to you. I hope you are a credit to your teacher.'

He lay back and closed his eyes, relishing the soft kiss her lips gave to his foreskin before gently retracting it. Her fingers were as cool on his shaft as her mouth was warm on his glans, the dual stimulation bringing him on very quickly until it was hard to delay his climax. He wanted to prolong the action, to let her show some virtuosity, but the urge for release was terribly strong and his balls were aching to relieve themselves of their load.

Was she prepared to swallow spunk? No sooner had the thought occurred to him than the unstoppable rush began and the pumping spasms delivered a fountain of hot semen into the girl's warm, wet mouth. Marcus groaned loudly, half disappointed that the climax had come upon him so soon, but as the throbbing sensations died away leaving him bathed in a sensual glow, he told himself that the night was young and there was plenty of time for more sport. For a while he lay insensate, keeping the girl hovering uncertainly by his couch, but then he opened his eyes and propped himself up on his elbow to observe her. She had wiped her mouth with a corner of the linen coverlet, which was now damp and wrinkled, but he decided to let it pass.

'There, not so bad, was it?' he said, his tone mildly avuncular.

She looked downcast, but struggled to produce a rueful smile. Marcus frowned. This one was a far cry from the lovely, lusty Fariah. She performed her sexual tasks with efficiency but it was obvious that her heart wasn't in it. What a shame!

'Come, Chloe, let us go to the bed,' he smiled, taking hold of her hand as he stood up.

She followed him like a lamb being led to the sacrifice. Marcus knew that he would have to find a way to arouse her if he wanted a more willing bed mate. When she was lying down on her back he began to kiss her pale neck and brush the firm tips of her nipples with his fingers. Gaining momentum, he proceeded to nibble his way around her breasts and was soon suckling heartily while his hands made inroads between her thighs.

He had to force her legs apart and then found her cunny dry and uninviting. Anger rose in him. What a fool he'd been to give in to his wife's jealousy and dismiss the lecherous Fariah! This frigid little bitch was no substitute for that randy creature, who had turned his bedroom into a classy brothel every time she entered it.

'Come on!' he grumbled. 'Give a little, woman! I'm not such a repulsive fellow, am I?'

She gazed down at him with her blue, worried eyes. 'I . . . I am unused to men, master.'

'Well now's your chance to get used to this one! Women can enjoy sex too, you know. You may receive pleasure as well as giving it. Just relax, let yourself go a little.'

Marcus could feel his pick hardening again, growing eager to be inside that hot, tight little quim. His thrusting finger grew bolder, yet there was little yielding of her flesh. Impatience gripped him and as soon as he was hard enough he began nudging at her entrance. 'By Jupiter, you're as tight as a virgin again,' he grumbled.

No matter how he tried to coax her, with kisses and caresses, Chloe remained tight and stiff against him. Eventually he penetrated her, but while he laboured she remained inert and passive so that it was like fucking a corpse. He knew he was not inflicting pain on her, since her pussy was starting to lubricate, yet she seemed miles away, her mind on other things. Spending himself with a volley of satisfying spurts, Marcus wallowed in pure pleasure for several seconds before coming back to the reality of having just fornicated with a woman who showed no signs of having enjoyed the experience. Realising that his gratification had been entirely one-sided, he pulled out of her and leapt off the bed. She looked up at him with blank, accusing eyes and he felt his anger rising as swiftly as his libido had, minutes before.

'Turn over, wretched girl!' he snapped.

She obeyed languidly, displaying a pair of buttocks that were provocatively pert and smooth. How dare the girl have such an exquisite body and not gain pleasure from it! The perversity of it struck him with new force. It was against nature to flaunt bodily charms in that unconscious fashion, rousing men's basic instincts, when she was incapable of reciprocating . . .