face, sternly handsome
with a full beard and on the head a gleaming, golden crown. Kelp fingers
caress the boy's legs inducing, not a feeling of revulsion, but one of
stimulation so that the boy's cock under his tunic twitches and rises. A
spume of sea foam, which should not have been there, the evening being
windless, springs into the air and seems to beckon him into deeper water.
The face in the water smiles invitingly, hinting at hidden pleasures.
Antinous takes one step further but is halted by a shout from the shore.
"Antinous, Antinous," it is the Emperor himself, clad in his toga
and pacing anxiously along the waterline.
As if the head has heard and now knows his name for the first time,
the lips under the water form the shape and the boy hears anothervoice,
seductive and tempting repeating the words, "Antinous, Antinous."
But it is to Hadrian that the boy turns and splashes ashore to be
welcomed in his bear hug. "Uncle," - it is his pet name for him - "Uncle,
such a strange thing I saw in the water. A head - with a crown."
Hadrian looks concerned. "Fortunatus," he orders, "See if there is
anything there. There, where the boy stood."
The soldier wades in and prods about for several minutes with his
sword swirling the sand so that it obscures everything. "Nothing,
Caesar," he reports.
Hadrian ruffles the boy's curls affectionately. "You know how I
worry," he says.
Antinous looks contrite. He grasps Hadrian's hand, bends and kisses
it. "I am sorry, Uncle," he says. Then he stands up and embraces the
man's body, clasping him in contact its whole length.