Page 92 of Inconvenient Honor
“And so you will fix everything.” Her scowl took him aback. Now what? She looked like she would tear the skin off his back if she weren’t exhausted.
He took the dish away. He went down on his heels to loosen her sash and lay her down. She attempted to smile, failed, and let her eyes drift shut.
He began to finish the food, dipping bread into the savory meat sauce and devouring the bits quickly while he watched Lily’s breathing become even. His eyes fixated on the gentlerise and fall of the swell where his son lay.Lily says daughter. He smiled at the sleeping woman and tucked the thin blanket under her chin.That’s the least of our problems now.
Light faded away, and in the darkening, he remembered their brief intimacy in the afternoon. Lily’s words resounded in his mind. There is no reason to forego lovemaking. Sitting alone in the dark, the logistics of the thing seemed awkward any way he imagined it. Clearly some parts of his anatomy stood eager to try, if only Lily didn’t need sleep so badly.
He shed his robe and climbed gently over the sleeping woman to lie against the wall. Lily lay on her side facing the door; Richard snuggled up behind her, his chest against her back. He embraced her swelling belly with one arm, kissed her neck, and tried to convince his overly eager manhood to settle down. To distract himself he began to devise ways to escape their predicament and reject them one by one, until he finally nodded off.
Lily jerked awake deep into the night. He pulled her back against him and kissed the spot where her neck met the slope of her shoulder. “Go back to sleep.”
She reached for his arm and pulled it tight around herself. “Don’t leave me. Don’t ever leave me.”
“Bad dream?”
She nodded. “You tried to swim.”
Tried. And failed. She didn’t need to say it out loud.
“I won’t leave you, Lily. You can be sure of that, if nothing else. I won’t leave you.”
Her warm bottom moved across his groin, causing an immediate swell of desire. He groaned with pleasure; Lily repeated the action. Minx!
“Please,” she said, rolling over, seeking his kiss. He obliged her. One of his arms circled her head, and his other hand roamed over her growing middle. Astonishment greeted the unexpected discovery that a breeding woman responds quickly to a man’s touch, if he is gentle and knows exactly which places need a caress.Such a touch to her nipples elicited a moan, the invasion of a finger, moisture. She threaded fingers into his hair and held his mouth on hers. “Please,” she repeated, attempting to pull him closer.
“Easy, Lily. We must have a care. Let me.” He rolled her back to her side and nestled behind her, pleasuring her with his hands until she squirmed restlessly. When she leaned her head back onto his shoulder and whimpered softly, a smile spread across his face. Her pleasure delighted him—delighted and inflamed.
He slid into her moist heat from behind. His last coherent thought wasYou’re a treasure Lily, never a burden. Never that.
The grubbytoddler in Lily’s lap pointed to her eyes. Most of the children obsessed on her hair until Grandmother finally told them to quit touching it. The boy in her lap was the first to notice her green eyes. She smiled at him. The smile he returned made her heart flutter.
“Green,” she said pointing to her eyes. She looked around but found little on the rocky island in the same color. She spied a wide stripe on her young friend’s sash and pointed. “Green.”
The toddler followed her gesture. His little eyes squinted. He looked back at her face. One tiny hand came up to the side of her eye. “Green,” he repeated.
Whispers of the word went around the little circle of women around Lily. She looked at their eyes, curious and eager.Of course! These women are as anxious to learn as I am. They are no different than the intelligent women in the Seraglio or in London. The more they know, the richer their lives become.The teacher in Lily emerged from its sleep.
“Let’s begin, then,” she said in English to baffled expressions. “I am Lily.” She put a hand over her heart. “Lily. Zambak.”
When she pointed to the girl, the young woman didn’tdisappoint. She put her hand on her heart and said, “Izza.” She pointed to Lily and said, “Zambak.” She giggled then and added, “Lily.”
Introductions passed amid much laughter. Only one refused, the woman with the most heavily decorated headpiece who invaded Lily’s peace the first day. She rose in a huff and retreated to her own home.
“She is Wasila, wife of headman,” Izza explained. Lily decided to ignore the rebuff and forge ahead. She learned as much as she taught when they moved on to exchange simple words: house, sash, tea, tree, boat, man. Man or guard? Hard to tell.
The sun had risen high above before the women began to drift away reluctantly. Lily looked up and saw Richard watching her from the door of their hut.
“How long have you been there?” she asked.
“Long enough. You’re teaching them English.” His expression looked grim.
Lily’s mouth tightened. “Do you find harm in that?” she demanded.
“No.” Still his expression didn’t soften. “English and did I hear Berber?”
“Some Turkish, a word or two of French. We’re exchanging.” Richard stared down at his feet deep in thought.
“They learn quickly. Most people do when given an opportunity,” Lily said into his silence.What bothers the man now?
