Cleopatra's Secret: Keepers of the LIght Read Online Free PDF

now?
    She gazed at the star-filled sky. The constellation of Osiris, which the Greeks called Orion, winked down at her. Was it there in the great vault of the heavens Caesar rested?
    Cleopatra closed her eyes for a moment and imagined him with her in the darkness. She could see his eyes filled with wisdom and tenderness, felt his warm comforting touch...
    But this was torture to imagine a phantom love.
    “Isis,” she prayed, in a whisper, to the Lady of the Sea and Stars, “send me another love. Another such as Caesar. Send me a great man to rule at my side. I have been alone too long.”
    The night tingled with promise and a soft breeze caressed her cheek. She stood soaking up the fresh sea air for a moment longer before leaving the terrace to return to her chamber where Charmion and Iris waited to prepare her for bed.
     
    ***
     
    The warm hand that ran stroking fingers down her sensitive naked thigh made Cleopatra’s eyes flutter open in confused pleasure. She rolled over to find the Roman general reclining next to her, his form outlined in the flicker of dim torchlight.
    Cleopatra opened her mouth to cry out––to order him from the room. But as her lips parted, he pulled her into his arms, his leather breastplate solid against her soft flesh, which was only thinly veiled by the finest linen. For a moment she met those blazing dark blue eyes, now drunk with desire instead of wine, before his lips claimed hers, thoroughly––ruthlessly.
    The passion in his kiss sent flames licking through her, heat rising from her core up through her flushed breasts, making her nipples rise to his touch as he tore the sheer fabric of her robe and cupped her full honey-colored breasts in his impatient grasp, his thumbs rubbing in firm, burning circles around her flesh.
    She let out a moan of pleasure, even as she somehow forced her drugged mind to form words. “This is not the way….”
    But his kisses were scorching down her neck, sharp as scorpion stings, and her body arched, aching for this divine fire he was sparking in her. As his lips reached the swell of her breast she let her mind go, pushing her body against him, shameless, melting, surrendering utterly to the inflamed Roman general.
    He tore fiercely at the remaining fabric of her robe, pulling the wisps of shredded linen from her ripe flesh. She lay back, completely exposed, her almond skin glowing with sweat, her lips parted, her thighs opening under his firm hands to reveal the deep pink flesh of her sex.
    She wanted him, this hard Roman soldier to fill her up, flood her with his brutal, urgent need, ached for his thrusts.
    “Please…” she whispered, “don’t wait!”
    His eyes glowed as he wrapped one arm firmly around her waist and pulled her up against him. The tip of his shaft touched her delicate nerve endings and a lightening storm of sensation flooded her body as he began to enter her.
    She sucked in her breath. “Antony!”
     
    ***
     
    Cleopatra’s eyes popped open. The room was dark and silent. She was alone in bed, but her body still pulsed and throbbed with a warm glow. Turning onto her back, she tried to shake off the unfulfilled longing that left her irritable and confused.
    Why was she dreaming of Antony?
    She frowned into the dark room. She had simply been without a man for too long. After all, it might be politically advantageous to forge an alliance with Antony, but she was not some naive maiden to wantonly fall prey to his very common form of, what some would call, charm. He was simply on her mind because they had discussed him earlier. Her dream meant nothing.
    And yet, didn’t the women of Egypt enter the temple of Isis to sleep away the night in the hopes the Goddess would send visions to reveal an image of the lover who would soon overtake them?
    Cleopatra turned over again, this time onto her belly and closed her eyes. She would think of this no more. She lay still as a rock with her eyes pressed shut, willing herself to sleep. If