There were afew perks to this kidnapping.Unguarded moments of privacy were one.
Malika took naughty pleasure in the decadence of cool air on her bare skin.Of standing naked in moonlight glowing bright as the sun, while tiny sparkles of fairy light flittered in and out of the trees.
She saw him the moment he came round the lodge.She saw him stop.He backed into the shadows.Then, he watched.
Maybe there was hope for him yet.
Her heart thrummed with desire.They could share an even greater flirtation this evening, in a place such as this.A fleeting moment of passion for them both to remember.To help her prepare for her new career.To help him move on.
No one would know.
And right under Adeel’s nose.
Tomorrow would be an excellent night for escape.But not tonight.What would bring him to her?
One of her sisters had a husband who enjoyed watching her touch herself.Was that what Jayce liked?Was that why he hid in the shadows?She ran her hands over her breasts.
She was proud of her breasts.They were the right size—not overly large, but not small—and they were firm, not saggy from childbearing and age.Aisha’s breasts were no longer perfect, although she said her husband had no complaints, because their household was happy.
She slid one hand over her belly.
The beautiful cowboy, who made her ache, and want to slide her hand lower, stayed in the shadows.
Disappointment in him dampened her daring.Jamal would have scaled a rock wall using his fingertips to accept the invitation she’d sent.
She wasn’t interested in Jamal, however.She wanted the cowboy.
Who wanted another woman.
The reminder came as a cold shock.She would be second to no one.
She went inside.
She would have to finish the evening alone.
*
It was abeautiful day for a wedding.
Malika wore a dress made of heavy gray silk, and a tiny gray hat with a flimsy gray veil.She’d pinned her hair in a knot, the best style she could manage without help.She followed Adeel and the other guests into the church, another first on her adventure.Normally, Jiorjis would enter a venue such as this through a separate entrance.They’d be surrounded by security.She didn’t mind being treated as one of the people.If anything, she preferred it.These people were fun.
Most of them.
She did mind the flat wooden bench without padding where she was expected to sit.Nineteenth century Christians apparently didn’t believe in comfort.
“It’s to make sure no one falls asleep,” Huck Hanson said when she commented on it.
Malika and Adeel sat with the Hansons, which she gathered was quite the honor.Vanessa sat on one side of Adeel with Malika between him and Huck Hanson.Jayce was nowhere in sight.
Malika liked Jayce’s father.He reminded her of the little banty roosters the villagers kept near her home, all puffed chest and ruffled feathers, and an attitude that could take on the world.He was as gruff as his beautiful wife was genteel.
It was lovely to see Jayce’s mother again too.Her dress was gorgeous, all flounces and lace, and a dark, forest green.
Jayce, however…
Malika blamed the moonlight, the fairies, and the magical forest for her behavior last night.She’d gotten swept up in a fantasy of becoming one with the dryads.Dryads were notorious flirts.
She made no excuses for Jayce and his lack of imagination or sense of adventure.If he wanted Belle, fine.But he was missing out on many wonderful opportunities by pining for something that would never be his.
