by Jackie Ivie
He called it struggling? Averill had launched herself at him, holding so tightly to his shoulders, her arms shook.
“Come, love. Enough stalling. We’ve a Turkish bath waiting.” He pulled away from her and winked. “For special customers.”
Averill’s eyes widened. “Special—? You were—?”
“Don’t ask. And don’t look at me like that. You’re going to have to let go of me, too. I can’t undress otherwise.”
She stopped his words with her mouth. Hard hands held to her and all thought of anger evaporated.
“Oh, Averill. Oh, God. Oh, love.”
He was murmuring more endearments as he set her down, pulling her hands apart from behind his neck. Brown eyes held her spellbound. She watched as he unfastened his ghotra and dropped it to the floor. His burnoose followed.
“You were planning on staying here...without me?”
She tried to ignore his fingers as he unbuttoned the red shirt he wore beneath his burnoose.
“I wouldn’t have stayed, Averill. Didn’t you hear me? Do I have to shout it? I love you.”
He tore his arms from the sleeves, messily turning them inside out. She looked at him uncertainly. His fingers went to the cord at his waist, and her eyes widened as he pulled the belt out.
“Hold this,” he said, handing the cord to her. Averill was grateful for something to occupy her hands as he opened the waistband and simply dropped his trousers to the tiles before kicking himself free of them. She gasped, put her hands to her cheeks where the tie dangled from one side.
“What?” he asked.
She shook her head. She didn’t have a voice.
“Join me.”
He dropped a kiss on her nose, turned toward the pool, and dove in. The image of his naked body seemed emblazoned on her mind. She watched water lap against the edge before he surfaced again, coming up beside her feet.
“Are you going to bathe with me or not?” he asked, tipping his head up to meet her eyes. “You’re blushing! Why? I’ve already seen you. At the oasis. It was ungentlemanly of me, but I admit it. I peeked. Just as you did. And I found out you’re absolutely beautiful. Everywhere.”
“I—.” Her voice wasn’t working, and he was wrong. She wasn’t blushing. She was on fire with the embarrassment.
“Are you going to get shy on me?”
“But...I...never–”
“Oh, yes you did. Admit it.”
“I didn’t!”
“I know you did. I saw you.”
Averill gasped. “You saw?”
“It’s my profession to see things. Water reflects. Like a mirror. I knew very well what you were doing.”
Averill covered her eyes. She couldn’t face him. He knew? He’s known all along? The room was dim, but it was still too bright. Tears of shame and humiliation filled her eyes.
“I have to admit, I was grateful for the knowledge too, what with the way you have treated me.”
“What?” she whispered to her hands, still covering her face.
“You flaunted yourself. You taunted and teased me. Endlessly. You wore next to nothing when you should’ve been swathed in quilts. You just twirled about in a dance designed to put me…in a desperate state of need. And that was just tonight! I think you’ve turned my every moment into an agony of want and desire. And then you made me think you cared nothing for me. Thank goodness you peeked at the oasis. Admit it.”
The ripples of goose flesh on her body told how his speech affected her. Averill trembled in place. “I...didn’t see...what I am now,” she replied finally, and lowered her hands.
He smiled up at her. “Fair enough. I look forward to correcting that. It’s going to be a long night, love. Come. Help me soap away Kareem.” With strong motions, he back-stroked into the center of the pool before stopping and looking at her.
What was she waiting for? Averill pulled off the headdress with shaking hands. She set it neatly on the floor before working her top free. The entire time, she was aware of Tenny’s eyes on her. He refused to look away. She dropped the top piece onto his trousers. The buckle on her silver belt gave her trouble. She messed with it as her final scarf floated to lie on her foot. She stared at it as if seeing it for the first time. Tenny was right. She had just danced…but for him. Not the others. Oh, could she have been so brazen, dancing only in the small black briefs, when the entire camp was able to see her?
“Enough! I think you’ve tormented and teased me enough!”
She squealed as he grabbed her from behind.
“You also lied when you told me you couldn’t dance. Yes?”
Averill shook her head rapidly.
“You don’t know how to dance? What do you call what you just did?”
“I...have never done it before. I just...closed my eyes and let the music move me.”
“Another talent? Hmm. I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was hard to follow his words, when every bit of her back was clasped against what she’d just seen.
“Oh, Averill, it’s difficult to remember what I’m supposed to keep in mind when I’ve got you in my arms. Never before? Well, you’ve amazing. Conique won’t live it down. I almost wish we could’ve stayed to see her tantrum. No. That’s a lie. I don’t wish to be anywhere but here. Right here. Right now. With you. I’ve spent so many hours thinking of you, dreaming of you, wanting to feel...”
He reached a hand over her shoulder, tipping her head toward him in order to meet her lips. This kiss was designed to drain resistance. As if it was needed. She loved him and he loved her! That was what mattered. He pivoted Averill, sliding her nakedness against his. There were too many experiences in too many places. Averill’s head arched back to allow him access as his tongue traced her jaw and then he slid it down her neck. And then he licked his way down to her breast, surprising, titillating and emboldening her.
Her fingers clenched wet strands of hair as he nibbled on her. She was on fire! Her knees lost substance, and his hold tightened as if he knew.
“Beautiful Averill. Lovely, sensuous Averill. God, how I adore you! All of you.”
His hands roamed her back, one at her buttocks while the other moved to the nape of her neck, pinning her in place. And this kiss was different, harder, more demanding. Her breath caught and held as he darted a tongue between her lips, igniting thrills wherever he touched. Averill’s heart swooped. It accompanied his groan as he pulled back, in order to fit his nose alongside hers.
“Do I frighten you?”
She nodded.
“Good. Because you scare the hell out of me.”
“I...do?” she asked.
“Oh, yes. You do. I’m in love. Completely. Totally. Forever. It’s beyond frightening. And, it’s also wondrous. Do you know what I’m trying to say?”
She nodded.
“Good. Then, cease stalling, and get this off.” He’d set her back on her feet. Cold fingers touched her abdomen. Averill whimpered.
He raised his head, and the look in his brown eyes stunned her. She thought she’d seen every emotion. This one was mesmerizing as his fingers worked on the belt buckle, each touch making her jump. His knuckles grazed her skin and then she heard the clink as her belt released and fell.
“I’ve waited so long for you, Averill. You’ve tortured me enough for a thousand lifetimes. My nights have been pure, unmitigated hell. My days were almost as bad. And now, I think you’ll pay.” He finished his words by pushing her briefs down her legs and to her feet. And when he was done, he lifted her. She kicked the garment off. And then he walked into the water, taking her with him. Wetness lapped at her thighs, stomach, and then her neck.
“Here.” He set her down in the center of the pool and waited for her to stand. He handed her a bar of scented milled soap. “Wash that black from your eyes. You’re the loveliest woman of my acquaintance. All that black does is cheapen it. You’re too beautiful for such. I’ve hated seeing you in disguise. Did you know that?”
“I...guessed,
” she whispered.
He grinned, his teeth white against his skin. “I suppose you also guessed the other, hadn’t you?”
“What other?” she asked.
“That you’d won. You have, you know.” He didn’t finish the mystifying words. He splashed her as he moved away, taking his warmth with him.
Averill shivered. The water felt cold without him. “Won?” She asked it before wetting her hair and face. She soaped and rinsed herself, then scanned the water for him. “Tenny?”
“At your service, my love.”
She gasped as he grabbed her from behind and pulled her against him again. “Give me the soap. I’ll explain.”
He took it from her numb fingers. She couldn’t help blushing everywhere as he lathered her entire body, his hands sliding about her waist, back, and then he lifted her to his shoulder, in order to finish his ministrations along her legs and thighs.
“Remember my pompous speech over my gentleman’s code? Well, forget it, love trumps everything. I’m not ashamed to admit to it, either. I’m not ashamed of anything. I love you. I’ll shout it from the rooftops of Tennison Hall if you like.”
He turned her around. Tears blurred the sight, but the look in his eyes was one she would always remember. If it took forever, she’d never be able to paint such a gaze. It was too beautiful.
“Oh, Tenny!” She laughed and tears streamed from her eyes while he held her, stroking her back.
“It’s a good thing we’re already in the water.” He wiped at her cheeks with his thumbs and held her face as he lowered his head.
Above them starbursts of crimson and plum color showered them with blood-red hues. The strange hardness of his lower torso pressed against her. Even in the water, his flesh seared hers.
“My little, lovely Averill...so frightened. First of her own beauty, and now of me.”
“You don’t…frighten me,” she said.
“I don’t?”
“No. What you make me feel, does.”
He held her to him and bent his neck, touching her forehead with his. “You were right to hide your beauty, especially on the streets of Cairo. Look what happens when you don’t. You intoxicate and enflame. You make me forget everything save you. Why, when I watched you tossing your clothing, I went mad. I couldn’t get Conique off my lap fast enough. I think she fell on her barely-clad derriere. Come. Enough of this.”
He lifted her and walked out of the water, raining droplets on the pile of their clothing and everywhere else. Pressing against his warmth with her eyes tightly shut, she could hardly bear to feel his nakedness, let alone see it. More beads hit her head and shoulders as he carried her out of the room and into another. She kept her eyes scrunched shut the entire time.
“Look at me, Averill.”
He whispered it against one ear and she obeyed, slowly letting her surroundings intrude. The ceiling looked like it was painted black, but she wasn’t sure in the vague light of the one oil lamp. The walls looked like more diaphanous drapery, making it difficult to tell the exact structure. Averill watched shadows cast by their bodies in the lamplight playing about the fabric, and she held to him tightly at the sight. It was too strange. Too intimate. Too passion-inciting.
Tenny went onto his knees to set her onto a low-slung bed, where she sank into softness that clung to her damp skin. She narrowed her eyes to peek at him and held her breath in wonder at the strength evident in every line of his frame.
“Oh, Tenny,” she whispered in awe.
He had the same expression as he joined her, fitting himself alongside her. “I’m going to love you, Averill. I can’t keep from it another moment. I don’t know if I can prevent a child as you asked. It’s too complicated. And I can’t wait any longer. I can’t.”
He didn’t wait for her reply. He simply wrapped his arms about her and maneuvered her to match against him, lifting his chest slightly as he did so. He created an opening beneath his arms that she filled with hers, wrapping them about him. The sound of his groan ended in her mouth as Averill arched her neck and gave him her lips. The light that burst now in her mind wasn’t crimson. It was blue, a vivid, intense blue, threaded with luminous silver. It was the same silver that her knight always wore.
“Oh, Tenny...”
Her hands roamed him without shame, feeling the flesh ripple with shivers everywhere she went. His back was as hard and unrelenting as it looked. His buttocks, firm. Round. Her fingers shaped and defined every ridge of him as she traversed and learned him.
He was doing the same to her. Averill gasped more than once when he stroked along her side, tracing a line down her ribs and across her stomach. As if guided by primal instinct, her legs parted, allowing him access. Her nerves strained and called to him. Every part of her ached for him.
“Oh, love. Oh, Averill. Love....”
He whispered the litany of love words against her lips. His hands were driving her insane. He was running one along her inner thighs, over and over, until she was lunging toward him in a moisture-enhanced agony of want.
“You’re a dream, Averill.”
He spoke it against her neck as he filled the space between her legs. He was groaning again, making little grunts of noise as he teased her opening with himself. Averill was wrapped in a conflagration of desire and want. It was his fault. He’d brought her to a state of madness, and then he denied her? She wrapped her legs about his waist and shoved against him, using her body to beg him to end her torment.
“Tenny? Please?” She whispered it and lunged against him.
“Dreams...end. I’m terrified I’ll awaken....”
Pain stirred through the blue-tinted mist in her mind. Averill wondered if he brushed against her wounded shoulder. It didn’t matter. She urged him on, straining against him. She felt herself tearing, and he couldn’t fit. She squeezed her eyes tight and hoped he wouldn’t notice her pain.
“Oh God, Averill. You aren’t. No. You never told me.”
He’d stopped, and everything on her was in a state of pain. Her heart clogged her throat with the strength and heat of it, rivulets of shivers flowed everywhere, and her loins were in an agonizing condition of hurt. She didn’t know what was wrong with her.
“Oh Averill, I didn’t know. Forgive me.”
The words were crooned, yet harsh. His hands lowered to her hips, pinning her in place. Averill kept her eyes scrunched shut, holding the reaction in, as he shoved against her time and again, ignoring the moaning she couldn’t keep silent.
“No...Tenny...no,” she finally whimpered.
Suffering centered all about his entry, throbbing through her as he filled her. And then he stopped while Averill did her best to absorb it. His nose slid along her chin, followed by his lips. Then he lifted his head. She knew he was studying her.
“Averill, look at me,” he whispered.
She shook her head, ashamed at herself. If she had to feel such pain at what he did, it was her secret. She loved him! She just hadn’t known it would wound so badly. No one had told her.
“Darling, it will only hurt for a little. I promise.”
She opened her eyes in confusion. It’s supposed to hurt? He chuckled, and she pulled him tightly to her as that small movement pained. And she knew he saw it.
“I didn’t know, Averill, and…there are no words. I should’ve known…guessed, but I thought...” He looked down, his eyes lost in the darkness. “I love you, Averill. I do. I swear it.”
Trembling filled her. She’d never felt anything like it. Her entire being was enthralled, yet frightened. And then he moved inside of her. Averill cried aloud and watched him wince.
“I’m so sorry, Averill. There I go, apologizing again…but it’s true. You’re so tight…and I…just can’t wait. I can’t.”
Averill locked her legs around his hips and held on. Breathing grew hoarse, the movements increased. His eyes held hers, promising everything and then giving it. There was no escape. He was right, the pain was ebbing. She began lunging upw
ard with her hips to meet his. Averill couldn’t decide if it was the brightest yellow or purest white that her mind tried to capture now.
“You must tell me if it still hurts, Averill.” The words were huffed, disjointed, matching each thrust of his body into hers.
It was definitely white that blazed through her closed eyelids, scoring into her, branding her. “It doesn’t,” she whispered.
“Oh, thank God.” The words were harsh.
“Oh, yes...yes...yes! Tenny...yes!”
Averill’s voice choked off as pure ecstasy filled her, the sensation appearing to carry an entire palette of colors. Their intensity surprised and codified. A high-pitched note joined in, coming through the fluttering of the draperies. It was like the windpipe flute earlier, only it wasn’t. It was more personal. The keening noise came from her. And then Tenny slammed his lips to hers, blending a groan with the sound. Shudders ran through him, shaking them both. She’d never felt such love. Such bliss. Such wonder. There wasn’t talent capable of capturing it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“Averill, wake up.” A soft kiss touched her lips. “It’s almost dawn.”
Her lips curved into a smile as she recognized Tenny’s insistent kisses. She opened her eyes slowly, savoring the time it took. And what she’d see.
Oh.
He was Kareem again. The dim light couldn’t disguise the sneer on his lip or the unkempt appearance. Not that it mattered. He was still Tenny. She pursed her lips for another kiss.
“No time, darling. You’ve little enough as it is.” He swatted her rear.
Averill pouted and stretched and luxuriated in the silkiness about her. She never wanted to wake from such a delicious dream. Her eyes flew open as morning consciousness came fully. She jerked into a sitting position, clutching covers as he lit the lamp. And then she pulled her knees to her chin and settled her face atop them, nose down.
“Oh, Averill. I ask you to wake, and what do you do? Stall. What am I to do with you?”
She shook her head at his teasing tone.
He sighed. “All right. What is it?”