Sarah Clement

The year is 70CE in Pompeii, Italy, and highborn Quintus Vistorius is about to break his family's heart when he runs away from home to escape society's obligations that he marry and have children. At the same time, Valens, a sheep farmer from the country, brings his new wife to start a life in the city. Already, his life is inexorably wound to Quintus' whose disappearance has sent shockwaves through the city.
When they do meet three years later, it's in the Lupanar, Pompeii's most notorious brothel where Quintus is now a sex worker going by the name of Ignis. For Val, it's love at first sight. For Ignis, it takes a little longer as loving Val threatens the modicum of freedom he has found within the brothel's walls.