“Yes, him. He is missing his right arm, you see, but he could perform his duties as a bank clerk without one. So my Father starting providing funds, as did her father, and...” She shrugged. “It just grew from there. And now some of the funds come from the men who have been helped. When they can afford to do so, they reimburse the charity for the money that was spent to make them a suit of clothes or to repay us for the bribe. As a result, we have never had to turn anyone away for lack of funds.”
Apparently impressed, Ertugrul settled into the squabs and regarded her with a curious expression. “I should like to visit your charity,” he said.
“You would be welcome to do so,” she assured him, glancing out the window again.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Oh, I merely wish to see where we are. I fear Mother will not be pleased with me having spent so long at the museum.”
“I will take the blame,” Ertugrul stated.
Adeline giggled. “Well, you can try, but she knows I will not leave the museum until I am forced to do so.”
Ertugrul grinned. “We are of like minds on that account.” He lifted a finger to his brow and scratched it, the bow ring at the base of his thumb glinting in the late afternoon light.
Remembering the beautiful design on the ring, Adeline wondered if he wore it all the time. There was a moment when she imagined it sliding over one of her nipples, the cool metal sending shivers of delight through her breasts and belly. A moment when she wondered how his lips might feel if he were to kiss a nipple. To draw it further into his mouth and suckle it. And then repeat the entire process with her other nipple.
How would that cold metal feel against the rest of her skin? If he pressed it into her flesh, would the tughra leave its mark? Branding her as his?
She imagined the sensation she would experience as he drew his hands down her torso. Down her thigh and to her knee to bend it before he moved his mouth to kiss the inside of her thigh.Maybe kiss her down there.
She wasn’t supposed to know about such things, of course. But how could she not when her mother made salacious comments to her father during breakfast about their lovemaking the night before?
Everyone in the household knew her father and mother enjoyed one another. They would have had to be blind given both were so open with their affections. So teasing with one another before they raced up the stairs to enjoy another round of lovemaking.
For the longest time, Adeline thought everyone’s parents were madly in love with one another. It wasn’t until she was in finishing school that she learned some barely spoke to one another. Or they were so polite in mixed company, they came off as aloof in their feelings.
If she did get married, she thought she would prefer an attentive husband. One who would tease and taunt and take her to his bedchamber in the middle of the day. Surely that would be better than a husband who behaved as if he were merely a friend.
No friends, she decided.
If she was to marry, it would be to a man who had no qualms about showing his passion. No qualms about proving his passion. Whose eyes would darken, making his intent known without any words needing to be spoken.
Much like Ertugrul’s were doing this very moment.
Adeline gave a start, realizing almost at once that the coach had come to a halt. Wrapping her shawl more closely around her, she gave the sultan’s son a nod. “I do not wish to be rude, but I really must rush up to my room to change clothes,” she said in an effort to hide her embarrassment over what she had been imagining.
He allowed a shrug. “I understand,” he said. “I will be right behind you since I must do the same.”
Sure her face was bright red, Adeline wondered at his look of bemusement and remembered he couldn’t possibly have read her thoughts.
So why then did his thumb tap against his thigh in an anxious tattoo?
