Part 46 (1/2)
”Have you, um...?” I trailed off.
”Never,” he stated.
It was my turn to blink. ”Never?”
”Never...recently,” he amended.
There it was.
”Mm-hmm,” I mumbled.
He drew me nearer, gentled his voice and explained.
”There are Heads of Houses who do these things. I am not one of them. I was married, my wife my one and only. After that-but I learned it before I was married, my dove-I found it uncomfortable to be around maids who knew me in this manner.”
”In other words, they all fell for you,” I deduced.
He nodded. ”It's difficult to sit at dinner when the woman serving it is giving you longing eyes and you have had your fill and don't intend to drink more from that cup.”
I looked away, murmuring, ”I bet.”
When I didn't turn back, Apollo's hand at my jaw brought me back. ”Is there something else on your mind?”
I peered into his eyes, trying to decide whether or not to bring it up.
Then I brought it up.
”There was this woman who visited the house the night after you left me in Fleuridia.”
His brows shot together and not in a confused way but in an annoyed one.
”Celise came to the house while you were there?”
”Well...yeah.”
”She was not invited,” he stated.
”She seemed to...” I hesitated, ”well, it appeared she...”
”I have had her,” he shared straight up. ”Repeatedly. She visits me when I'm in Fleuridia.”
Oh boy.
He kept going. ”She has great beauty and she's very expensive because of it, that as well as her talent with her mouth.”
Okay. There was my answer. Too late.
I shouldn't have brought it up.
”Uh, maybe we should stop talking about this,” I suggested.
”You do not have wh.o.r.es in your world?” he asked.
”Well, yeah, but it isn't exactly bragged about, going to one.”
”Why not?”
I stared at him.
”It's an honorable profession,” he declared.
I kept staring at him.
”And only the best practice it. There are those who offer their services for a tumble, of course, but they cost little coin. However, they make much more than,” he paused for emphasis, ”a barmaid.”
Eek!
He kept talking. ”But there are those who cater to those of us who can afford the more skilled of their set, and they are quite talented. Some are even famous. Celise is one of them.”
”That's crazy,” I whispered.
”How so?” he asked.
”How not?” I asked back.
”This is not an answer to my question, poppy. Are wh.o.r.es not celebrated in your world?” he asked.
I shook my head. ”No.”
”Strange,” he muttered then focused on me. ”There are men, and women, who holiday in Fleuridia just to visit Fleuridian wh.o.r.es. They are the best in the Northlands.”
”That's...well, I guess I find that kind of shocking,” I told him.
”As I find it equally shocking providing such a service and being celebrated for your talent in doing it would be looked down upon in your world, as your reaction clearly states they are.”
He looked like he was disappointed in me.
”We're not as free s.e.xually as you are here, I'm getting,” I explained.
His eyes grew dark and I would know why when he inquired, ”Do you feel guilt for what you do with me?”
”No,” I told him quickly.
”If our coupling would be looked down upon in your world, why not?”
”Because I enjoy it and I like you and I like spending time with you and being close to you. So much, if we were in my world, I wouldn't care what people think.”
His eyes shot straight to tender and he said softly, ”This is a good answer, my poppy.”
I felt the tenderness in his eyes sliding through my insides, however, I did feel it necessary to point out, ”Just to say, the men who pay for it in my world, and the women who get paid, are what's looked down on, Apollo. There's more s.e.xual freedom for those who are free to be...uh, s.e.xually free.”