She swallowed convulsively as she tried to pull out of his grip. "No...no!"
" Yes and yes, Tara", he said. "Do you not want to hear my terms?"
Tara fought for control of her emotions. "Go on, then," she said, dropping her shoulders slightly.
His fingers relaxed their hold, his thumb moving in a slow caress over the pillow of her bottom lip until every nerve was tingling. Tara was mesmerized by his touch. It was so achingly gentle after his flaying words. She felt herself melting, the stiffness going out of her limbs, her body remembering how it felt to press up against his hard, protective warmth.
After a moment, he seemed to check himself. His hand dropped from her mouth and his eyes hardened to black coal again.
"You will be my courtesan", he said.
"I will pay you an allowance for as long as we are together. But I would like to make one thing clear from the outset. Unlike the way you manipulated Fidel Nkwe into marrying you, I will not be offering the same deal. There will be no marriage between us. Ever."
This would leave him a doze of shock too inevitable to recover from.
ReplyDelete