For a moment he let himself daydream about Catherine, his sweet Catherine with her beautiful creamy skin wearing this, feeling her softness through it. He snapped out of it when his hand closed on a hard object in the box, pulling it out he realised what the item was shaped like. Alena had included in her gift one of the phallus’ from the harem. Dropping it back in the box he was confused all over again, why would she need this when she had him?
The nights were the worst where she haunted his dreams, wearing the robes and wielding the phallus, taunting and teasing him. By the time the ship neared England he had come to the conclusion that his marriage would probably end up being annulled. She was not the person he thought she had been and his lust for her had overridden his common sense. He would give her the choice but he wasn’t overly optimistic she would choose a him over Arif.
Catherine had been taken aback by the success of the market stall. Visiting again a few weeks later she found the old man selling the items at the stall and no sign of his son. He waved her over and when she approached he hugged her tightly.
‘I must thank you for all the business you have sent me,’ he said gleefully, ‘We are doing a roaring trade of our little wooden items and it is all thanks to you.’
She laughed. ‘I told three friends about you, surely you have not been run off your feet by my friends?’
The old man grinned. ‘I believe that your friends have told other friends, we are selling several of them a day and now we have a little side business showing the women what to do with the items.’
She stared at him. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We hired a room, my son is so young and handsome that when the ladies started asking how they were to be used he offered to show them.’
Catherine’s eyes widened. ‘He is showing them?’
‘We charge them a fee and most of the ladies who buy them have not been touched by their husbands for some time, he is getting most satisfactory results as I believe they are in turn telling their friends.’
Catherine burst out laughing at the thought of these prim and proper ladies going into a room with the young man. ‘Perhaps you would like a trial of our service for free?’ the old man grinned.
‘My husband is due back any day,’ she said, ‘and I look forward very much to it, so as much as I appreciate you offer I will have to say no.’
She laughed all the way home.
Chapter 28
The ship landed in port in the early afternoon and with the cases having been locked away in storage Richard ventured home. He had still not stopped thinking about the Sultan’s words since they had been spoken and it was eating him up inside.
The ship’s captain had been the same for both trips and as Richard departed the ship he winked. ‘Go get into bed with that lovely wife of yours sir, I’m sure she’ll be well pleased to see you return.’ Richard nodded and walked away, wondering if the old sea dog was right.
Pausing at the door before unlocking it he thought of Catherine and James. Beautiful Catherine who had agreed to become his wife in a loveless marriage to protect herself and her child, the thought of her being with any other man drove him to despair. How could he return to a house where she did not share his bed after hearing of her passions for others?
Slowly he turned the key and stepping into the front door heard the sound of his wife’s laughter for the first time in several months. It made him smile and the ache he’d felt for contact with her while he’d been away finally felt like as if it had been soothed.
He was taken aback at the sight of her, sitting in the lounge room with a visitor clearly from the East showing his wife a phallus similar to the one Alena had packed in his bag. Catherine was laughing with the man and as he made a joke about the way she was touching it as if she was familiar with them Richard saw red.
‘Catherine,’ he said abruptly. Catherine looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of him. A warm smile spread across her lips and she stood, arms ready to receive him.
‘Husband,’ she said, ‘I did not know you would be back today, it is good to have you home.’
‘Is it?’ he asked coldly.
Uncertainty crossed her face. ‘Of course, we have much to talk about. Please let me introduce you to a friend…’ Catherine didn’t get to finish her sentence as Richard interrupted her.
‘I have no wish to meet your friend,’ he said, ‘It would appear you have been busy while I have been away wife, now you can get out of my house.’
‘Richard, I’m not sure what you are meaning. Please sit and I will get you a drink and tell you everything that has been happening since you have been gone.’
‘I know all about you now, I have been well informed of your whorish ways and come back to find that you have taken up here where you left off in Ajara. Get out Catherine, I’m sure our marriage will be annulled in due course.’
Catherine was white and the man she was entertaining from the markets stood. ‘I am sorry Mr Black, it appears you misunderstand what I was doing here with your wife. I mean no harm.’
Richard snarled. ‘Get the hell out of my house too, take her with you. I don’t ever want to see you again.’
Catherine was crying now and the older man put a protective arm around her, angry now at the younger man’s assumption. ‘Where I come from men do not speak to their wives like that Mr Black. You left her alone for months to look after herself, she has done no wrong.’
‘Where you come from men have many wives and don’t care about their feelings any more than she cares for mine. I suggest you get out of my house before I throw you out.’
Catherine ran from the room sobbing and the man packed up his things, glancing over his shoulder towards her as he left. ‘You will regret this Mr Black, that young lady is a good girl and clearly better than you deserve.’
Jealousy filled Richard. The thoughts he had had about his wife sleeping outside the marriage bed with several lovers had been boiling away since Ajara. Now it erupted. The door slammed as Abdul left and he looked up to see Catherine coming down the stairs, James in her arms.
The child looked ruffled, disturbed from sleep as his mother, fearful of the temper Richard was now showing tried to do as he had commanded to keep the peace. She paused at the door. ‘It’s not what you think Richard. I have missed you very much.’
‘Your Sultan lover has offered you the position of Sultana in Ajara, he thinks that you should take his offer and make James his heir,’ he said.
‘Arif said that?’ she asked. Hearing the uncertainty in her voice he closed his eyes, now she had to make her choice.
‘He did, there has been a generous settlement given to you but he also put this offer on the table. Arif would move heaven and earth to have you back.’
Catherine looked at her feet. ‘You should consider it, it’s a good offer. The boy would be with his father and you would be with the man you love. It is no longer the season to sail but in a few months should you wish to go I will organise passage for yourself and James.
Her head jerked up. ‘That’s not how I feel anymore Richard.’
‘Yet you are torn, I can see it in your face, hear it in your voice. Go Catherine, I don’t want you here anymore. I want a woman who will love me and only me. One who will share my bed, not one who will go back on their marriage vows. You need to consider the offer from Arif, it is a good one. You would rule Ajara together. When it comes to the season to sail again and you choose to stay then we will talk again, I don’t want you choosing one thing only to leave as soon as the opportunity arises.’
Richard turned away, and Catherine knew there was no changing his mind now. ‘If it means anything,’ she said, ‘I have not turned my back on any marriage vows. I have been a true and faithful wife to you and my marriage to the Sultan only had marriage vows made by him. I played no real part in the wedding other than being there and then being humiliated.’
Then she was gone and he thought of her making her way across the park to her parent’
s place. The sight of her sitting there, fondling that toy and laughing with such familiarity with Abdul playing in his mind over and over again.
Mr Simpson paid a visit in the late afternoon, having been advised that Richard was back. ‘How did the visit go, did the Sultan give us the compensation?’ he asked excitedly.
‘A good sum for Catherine’s parents and more for Catherine herself,’ said Richard, ‘I must also tell you that she has gone to live with her parents once again. The Sultan has made her an offer to become his Sultana and I have sent her away to make her decision.’
Simpson looked at him. ‘Are you sure that is what you want? She was contented here I think.’
‘We had words when I arrived back, some that I regret but as far as Ajara goes I think the idea intrigues her but I am hoping she will decide to stay, I have told her that I do not want her to make her final decision until the season changes and passage to Ajara is available. I do not think I could bear it if she chose to stay and then left.’
The old man nodded. ‘I understand, I will keep watch over her Richard. I do know how you love her.’
Richard sighed. ‘I only hope that is enough for her.’
Sarah Stanton had looked out her front parlour window when she heard the knock on the door and was delighted to see it was Catherine and James. When she opened the door and saw the bag beside Catherine she gasped. ‘What has happened sweetheart?’ she asked. Catherine looked up and Sarah saw her red swollen eyes. ‘Oh Catherine’ she said, pulling the pair inside and hugging Catherine tight. James squawked and Sarah took him from Catherine’s arms while she pulled her bag inside.
They sat down and Sarah put James on the floor while she hugged Catherine again. ‘Richard told me to leave,’ she said between sobs.
‘But why?’ asked her mother, ‘He was so in love with you, we could all see that. I know you missed him greatly while he was away and I had hoped you two would add to your family and give James a brother or sister.’
Catherine nodded. ‘As did I. I love him Mama, I really do.’
‘Do you think this trip has made him uncertain, the time away?’
‘I don’t know Mama, he’s come back and it’s as if he hates me for something I haven’t done.’
Her mother looked at her. ‘What do you mean?’
‘He’s convinced I’ve been unfaithful, or will be’ She said sadly.
‘Why would he think that Catherine, there hasn’t been reason for him to think that has there?’
Catherine looked into her eyes. ‘Mother, I have never given Richard any reason to doubt me. He doesn’t trust the life I had before when I was forced into marriage with one man and in love with another.’ Her mother was quiet. This was more than Catherine had told her before so she continued. ‘I love Richard, I want a life with him. I want him to be my husband and the father of my children.
James gurgled with delight at grabbing hold of Catherine’s leg and she looked down at him and smiled. ‘There is something else.’
‘What is it?’ said her mother.
‘Arif has changed things so that we could be together, Richard says I should consider his offer so that James can be with his father. I would be Sultana and with Arif.’
Sarah looked at her daughter. ‘Is that what you want? You’ve worked so hard building a new life here and I was sure that when Richard returned you two would find your way to each other.’
Catherine sighed. ‘When I first came back everything here was so strange, a big part of me missed my former life. Being in Ajara is so different Mama, I would have anything I wanted. Richard has been my best friend and I did not hesitate to agree to marry him even though I knew he had feelings I did not return but that has changed these past months while he has been away and he is my love now.’
Nodding, Sarah reached for Catherine’s hand. ‘I can understand the attraction of Ajara but people like Arif never learn responsibility, not really. He is very young to be in charge of such a place and I am glad you have those feelings for Richard now. I would not want to lose you again not so soon after being reunited with you.’
‘Nor I you Mama,’ Catherine said, a wan smile breaking through her tears. ‘This is James’ birthplace and I love you and Papa so much I do not think that I could bear to leave you either.’
‘Then I would suggest giving him some time, he adores you Catherine. It was obvious from the start how he felt about you. Just give him time to settle back in, he’ll soon realise how much he misses you two and come to his senses.’
After Simpson’s visit, Richard made his way up to his bedroom to get some sleep. He was tired and cranky after his confrontation with Catherine and just wanted to lose himself in sleep. He bitterly regretted his outburst hoping he hadn’t inflamed the situation further but now the matter was in Catherine’s hands, he would just have to wait for her decision.
The bedroom door was open and he found on the bed a shift like the one Alena had worn in Ajara. Catherine must have been sleeping in here he thought. He wanted to cry thinking of her in his bed with other men but exhausted he stripped and crawled into bed only to find that his bed smelled of her scent.
Tired and confused he held the shift to him and fell asleep, his dreams filled with the woman he loved.
Chapter 29
In the weeks that followed Catherine was miserable. James was her only delight and he was growing so fast and started to crawl. It made her sad that Richard had missed such an event and although he had brought over the rest of their things she had stayed in her room rather than cause any type of scene.
Her parents didn’t talk to either of them about the situation, they thought it would resolve itself if they left it. It was clear the pair loved each other but whatever it was keeping them apart was not going away in a hurry. She rejected the money from Arif, it had all been put into an account at the bank in her name but she refused to touch it. It was for James, everything for James now.
Mary, Beth and Clare did not take kindly to Richard’s news that Catherine was no longer living in his home. The three of them had shown up a few days after she had left for their usual weekly gathering, a tradition they had gotten into since he had left.
It was an awkward situation and they berated him for letting her go. There was no avoiding it. He gave them Peter and Sarah Stanton’s address and sent them on their way with a heavy heart. These women who he trusted as his friend’s wives loved Catherine as did everyone who met her seemingly. It didn’t seem appropriate to ask them if his wife had taken any lovers while he was away and yet they were the ones most likely to know.
Even after being apart from her for so long the house seemed so empty without her. Everywhere he looked reminded him of her and he had been surprised when Mr Simpson had told him she had not been interested in the money from Arif.
He’d taken everything from the house that was hers or James to the Stanton house and she had avoided him. It was probably just as well he thought, if he saw her again he might be swayed with those beautiful blue eyes with the impossible eyelashes, the rosebud lips that he’d longed to kiss, that long dark curly he wanted to tangle his fingers in. Just the thought of her made him itch.
When the other women arrived at the Stanton house Catherine greeted them with caution. While they had grown close she didn’t know which way they would go with her separated from Richard but it soon became clear that they had no intention of letting her go the way he had. Their adventures in the market place had seen to that.
Her mother was out shopping which made it easier for Catherine to talk to her friends and they were horrified when they discovered why she was not living with Richard. ‘You were most faithful to him while he was away,’ Mary said, ‘If anything it was us who were led astray but even then none of us have gone back on our marriage vows.’
Catherine raised an eyebrow knowing that Mary and Clare had been visiting the young man in the market at least once a week since they’d discovered him. Their ‘lessons’ in how to use the phallu
s had been going for some time now. She’d been amused by this before, now it pained her that their husbands were blissfully unaware of what was happening while she who had done no wrong was apart from the man she loved.
‘I love Richard, I need to make him see it’s him I want and prove to him somehow that I was a faithful wife. There is no way to prove it though,’ she said sadly.
‘We all told him what we thought of you being apart,’ said Beth, ‘That man is an idiot to not want you in his bed with what you must know.’
‘Beth!’ said Clare, ‘That is one of the reasons why Richard has pushed Catherine away. There must be some way to make him see how much you love him.’
‘I just don’t know,’ said Catherine.
‘Go to his house at night and seduce him,’ said Clare gleefully.
Catherine sighed. ‘That’s just it, I don’t know if he will be open to that given how he feels. Maybe this just won’t be fixed and we won’t reconcile.’
Mary hugged her. ‘Don’t think that way Catherine, Richard is missing you too I’m sure of it.’
‘I only wish that were true, those last weeks when he was away I was desperate for him to come home. It was only when we were apart I realised just how much I loved him. Now he may request to annul our marriage.’
Mary’s eyes widened. ‘How? There are no grounds, surely?’
‘Our marriage is unconsummated,’ said Catherine, ‘I had hoped that would change when he came home but instead he told me I had to leave and make my decision. All I can hope for is that when he comes to ask me for my decision at the end of the winter that he still wants me.’
‘Whatever happens,’ Clare said, ‘you know you have us, we won’t turn our backs on you.’ The others nodded and crowded around Catherine, putting their arms around her. Catherine realised that her life was not that much different now, this was her harem.
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