Saturday's After Dark Moments

I'm participating in something new today -- Saturday's After Dark Moments. A mini hop for erotic romance. For me, this time it's a few paragraphs from my award-winning Loving Leonardo.
 

In this scene: The Leonardo da Vinci conversation takes an intimate turn (condensed from a larger piece to capture the moment)

In Great Britain the topic on the table was not usually discussed in a lady’s presence. Not that my nymph of a wife minded, indeed, she voiced it plain enough. Luca didn’t answer right away, instead he sipped his wine. I wished in that moment I could read his thoughts for he appeared nervous. I wished for a lot in that moment.

Luca met her eye. “Did you know the ancient Greeks didn’t consider sexual proclivity to be a social characteristic? They didn’t distinguish a person’s sexual desire by biological sex, only by the role that he or she played in the act.”

Ellie took on her lovely blush, and for the first time I realized both desire and discomfiture lie within the hue. She asked plainly, “Do you mean to say all that mattered in ancient society was whether someone played the active penetrator or the passively penetrated?”

Bold-as-brass. I chuckled.

Luca’s smile widened and his shadow-blue eyes sparkled. “Yes.”

I believe we were all aware of a sexual tension growing in the intellectual-rich loam. There were little things at play now: the way Ellie moistened her lips and looked at us with eyes that lingered from one to the other. The way Luca’s irises had darkened from snow shadow to moon shadow as he looked upon her. The way I’d catch myself with a reminder to breathe as my eye was drawn to these small distinctions. Like da Vinci’s sfumato, our mutual attraction hung in the air, and I was struck by the notion that the smoky quality depicted in his art was desire. Desire like this.

“Ah.” Ellie nodded in understanding and circled the rim of her wine glass with her fingertip. I could feel the gears turning in the perfect machine of her mind. She proved my estimation right when she laughed suddenly, “Why Signore Franco, I do believe you’ve evaded my original question.”

He touched his heart with mock surprise. “Would I do that?”

That made Ellie laugh just as she was about to sip her red wine, causing her to slosh it on her white silk blouse. “Fiddlesticks! Please excuse me gentlemen, I must see to this before it sets.” Giving us an adorable self-deprecating smile, she quickly excused herself. We watched her go and shortly after the tap ran in the bathroom.

To a man such as I who’d lived on the same side of the fence for so many years, Luca’s answer had been plain enough. There was a silent language men like us used in public that only those of the same persuasion might guess what lie below the surface. Society might speculate all it wished, but unless the intent was blatant, no one knew of it for certain. In a world of unfounded prejudice, discretion might save one’s life. Our eyes met. We knew.

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