LJ HOLMES PRESENTS: THIS TIME FOREVER

My name is Ariana and I am the conquered slave of

Roman Centurion Marcus Andronius.

Prior to my capture, I was a

High Priestess in my Goddess,

Hestia's honor.

I went from power and grace to being a

slave to my master and his baser interests.

At first I resisted. I took my vows to my goddess, quite seriously. I swore my

 to her and although Rome renamed her

Vesta when they stole our

pantheon, she is one and the same.

How would a

Roman Senator, or

Caesar himself feel if their

Vestal Virgins were violated the way the Romans chose to violate my

Greek sisters? Our vows

are not honored, and we are forced to perform duties we have vowed to never perform. Rome

cares only about

Rome.
I am

Greek and

a slave, therefore subject to Rome's interpretation of what is and will be.

His name is Marcus Andronius. I have heard in the streets he is considered a "catch", and admit he is a most visually appealing creature, as males go, not that I had much experience with such creatures. I entered Hestia's cloistered Temple at the

age of five.

I truly did try to resist, and although Marcus Andronius did not rape me, as many of his brethren did with my sisters, he meant to have his way

through the art of seduction.

What was I to do? I could not stop my

mind, body,

heart, and yes, my

immortal soul from accepting...no, more than accepting my

fate.

I am the High Priestess Ariana, and despite my vows, despite my status as a slave, I am regrettably

in love with my master, Marcus Andronius.

It can go nowhere, this love I feel.

Roman law forbids a

Roman citizen marrying a mere slave, especially a highly placed centurion., but not even Roman law can prevent the powerful pull of the

lust my mater's feels towards me.

Upon the many pedestals throughout the home I am bound to, are

statuettes commissioned by Captain Andronius that express, quite explicitly, what I am to him.

We live in

Pompeii,

a far more

decadent

and debauched

city than Rome itself. I guess we are far enough away to keep 

Cesar in the dark, but not far enough away to have no import in the Roman hierarchy.

Their can be

no legitimacy for my relationship with my captor, nor the children his seed planted in my womb. They are NOT his heirs! For that, he must wed a high placed

Roman maiden, plant his legitimate seed in HER womb and secure the lineage of the Great

Captain Marcus Andronius.

I am Ariana, and the future holds pain for me. I must remain bound to my master and endure in silence his marriage to another because I, a fallen

Hestian Priestess, now a mere slave am not good enough to produce a future Roman heir.

How does a slave,

madly in love with her master, bear up under such pain?

I am Ariana in this year of 79 A.D.

I hate Pompeii and the Roman laws,

and although we don't know it,

change is coming to Pompeii.


My name is Cassandra,

Cassie for short, and I cannot believe what I am about to do this night.


For two years now, I have been communicating over the

Internet with

Jacob, {Jake} Stone. Tonight he flies in from the west coast and we will meet at the

Hilton Hotel.


At this very moment I am behind the wheel of my midsized Chevy 

Vega heading towards the hotel and my first face-to-face with a man who has

captured my imagination, and stirred something so deep

inside me I cannot imagine where it came from.


The Hilton Hotel.

I'm a coward, true...a

SAFE coward. No way was I going to bring him to my home...how could I?


It's a very cold night. The

north wind is blowing down from the

Arctic and there's the crisp smell of

snow in the air. So why, with the temperature hovering just above the freezing point, am I having these scalding

hot wide-awake-dreams of a life that I think must have occurred during the Cesarean reign of the

Roman Empire?


 while driving to this already

nerve jangling meeting is this happening?

What is its import, and

who the hell are the centurion and his beautiful though

angry slave lover?


What role do they play in MY future?

Turn around and

RUN!

Will she?

THIS TIME FOREVER, cover by Muse's Queen Cover Art Goddess

Delilah K. Stephans and written by award winning author

L.J. Holmes is releasing next

Friday,

August

12,

2011 from the

Muse It HOT side of

Muse It Up Publishing, Inc...the place where

Gods, Goddesses,

Muses and

The Fates reign in today's modern world.

In the meantime, L.J. Holmes can be followed on her Muse AUTHORS PAGE, her BLOG and via her e-mail.THIS TIME FOREVER can be checked out on its BUY PAGE.

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