In Thrall To The Enemy Commander
Cleopatra’s slave girl…And an enemy Roman soldier…Egyptian slave Wen-Nefer is wary of all men. But she can’t help but be captivated by handsome Titus, advisor to Julius Caesar—even though he is commanding, and intolerant of bold women like her. Their affair is as all-consuming as it is forbidden. But is he a man who will go to any lengths to love her despite their boundaries…or a sworn enemy she must never trust?
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Cleopatra’s slave girl
and an enemy Roman soldier...
Egyptian slave Wen-Nefer is wary of all men. But she can’t help but be captivated by handsome Titus, adviser to Julius Caesar, even though he is commanding and intolerant of bold women like her. Their affair is as all-consuming as it is forbidden. But is he a man who will go to any lengths to love her despite their boundaries...or a sworn enemy she must never trust?
“Gilbert’s passion for ancient history imbues her tales with authenticity [and] immerses readers in a long-lost culture.”
—RT Book Reviews on The Spaniard’s Innocent Maiden
“Gilbert’s desert romance is a tale to prize... Definitely a must.”
—RT Book Reviews on Enslaved by the Desert Trader
GRETA GILBERT’s passion for ancient history began with a teenage crush on Indiana Jones. As an adult she landed a dream job at National Geographic Learning, where her colleagues—former archaeologists—helped her learn to keep her facts straight. Now she lives in South Baja, Mexico, where she continues to study the ancients. She is especially intrigued by ancient mysteries, and always keeps a little Indiana Jones inside her heart.
Also by Greta Gilbert
Mastered by Her SlaveEnslaved by the Desert TraderThe Spaniard’s Innocent Maiden
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.
ISBN: 978-1-474-07358-5
IN THRALL TO THE ENEMY COMMANDER
© 2018 Greta Gilbert
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
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For my dad: friend, mentor, sparring partner, fearless leader, fellow dreamer, guiding genius, benefactor, my superhero
Contents
Alexandria, Egypt—48 BCE
She should have known better than to trust a Roman. She should have never listened to his honeyed speech, or considered his strange ideas, or dared to search his onyx eyes. Seth’s teeth—she was a fool. ‘Beware the heirs of Romulus and Remus,’ the High Priestess had always cautioned her, but the words had been but a riddle in her young ears. By the time she finally understood their meaning, it was too late. She was already in love and doomed to die.
She remembered the day she started down that terrible path. She was working at her master’s brew house in Alexandria, Egypt’s capital city. She had lived through one and twenty inundations by then and had been bound in slavery since the age of twelve. She had never tasted meat, or seen her face in a mirror, or touched the waters of the Big Green Sea, though the harbour was only streets away.
What she had done was toil. She awoke each day at dawn and worked without rest—stirring mash, cleaning pots, pouring beer—until the last of the brew house’s clients stumbled out on to the moon-drenched streets. Then she would curl up on a floor mat outside the door of her master’s quarters and welcome the oblivion of sleep.
That was Wen’s life—day after day, month after month, from akhet to peret to shemu. It was a small, thankless existence, redeemed only by a secret.
