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He laughed in her ear and released her, taking a single, small step back from her. She turned around to face him and could not help the smile that slipped across her features. Oh, how handsome he was.
His dark eyes twinkled with mischief, the same mischief that lingered in his smile, and his cheeks were flushed as though he’d just been running. His dark, short hair was damp, too. Maybe he was running because he had been late?
As soon as the thought occurred to her, Keisha regained some of her anger at him. Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “Where were you? You are almost an hour late!” She was not as mad as she had been only moments before, because that was how it always was with Ahmed. There was something about his scent and his face and the broadness of his shoulders that made her insides melt until she forgot everything but the need to be wrapped once again in his arms.
Still, she clung to as much of it as she could.
Ahmed looked around nervously, checking down the packed streets of the bazaar, before returning to her. He took a step closer to her and said, “Can we talk somewhere more private?”
She let out a sigh; what could she say but yes? “Very well. This way.”
They did not hold hands as they walked, nor did they do much in the way of talking or interacting. There were a few heated glances shared and every so often his hand would brush hers, sending a tendril that felt like lightning up her arm and across her entire body.
She led the way towards her home, little more that the equivalent of a small studio apartment, but since her parents’ death, there had been no one else to share the home with. Her sisters were all married now and they often begged her to move in with them, just until she found a suitable husband, but she staunchly refused.
She would make her own way in this world, no matter what.
Keisha led him inside, and when they were finally alone, he took her into his arms and planted a fierce, desperate kiss against her lips. Keisha allowed it for longer than she should have given that she wanted answers, but it was difficult to deny the man she loved so deeply. Her eyes fluttered closed and she allowed his hands to wander her form for a moment, his palms slipping across her hips only to travel back up again along her ribs and belly.
But this was not the time for it. Her body was responding, of course, and there was no denying that she wanted what he was offering, but she needed answers first. Moving her hands up to lay palm flat against his chest, she pushed at him until they’d broken apart.
He gave her a questioning look, but when she folded her arms and raised an eyebrow pointedly at him, he sighed.
“I am sorry, my lovely Keisha,” he said in a tone that was most sincere. “I tried to get away sooner, but the guards made it difficult today. I worry that soon they will know something.”
A frown tugged at Keisha. She had assumed mostly that it had been something like that. It had been the constant strain on their relationship from the very start. Did someone know? Who might they tell? Could his father discover this illicit affair?
All of these questions might not have been so pressing if he weren’t who he was—or if Keisha had been someone else.
Keisha’s arms dropped and she could not help the sadness that swept her features. “I see.”
“Don’t worry my love,” Ahmed told her quickly, stepping close to her again. His hands came to her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “They know nothing. We are safe still and might continue with our love.”
He leaned down to kiss Keisha again and her eyes fluttered shut once more. She put the worries out of her head, ignored what they meant, and for that moment embraced her pure and simple love for the man right in front of her. They could worry about the rest later.
Quickly, the kiss deteriorated into something more. They lost themselves to passion as her clothing slipped from her body and his hands found the bare spots that they loved the most. His clothing did not last much longer and by the time they reached the bed, they smoldered and burned with a passion that could not be quenched.
Their lovemaking was beautiful and lingering and made Keisha think that perhaps all her worrying was for nothing. Perhaps, in the end, they might find a way to still be together.
***
They washed together before Ahmed had to leave. And he did have to leave, though it always broke Keisha’s heart just a little more each time. Her tub was small and it took time for the water to heat, but when it did, they sank in together. She settled between his legs and leaned her back against his chest as his hands used the cloth to wash off the sweat from the day.
She let him do it for a while in silence, though she’d made up her mind earlier about things. Sometime today, before he left, she would have to bring up what was happening to her body. Things were changing rapidly and if she hoped for any future between the two of them, they would have to discuss it thoroughly. They would have to come up with a plan.
It was foolish on Keisha’s part, she knew. There was no chance for the two of them to be together, but she had to try. She loved him too much not to.
“Ahmed?” she spoke eventually, her voice soft and quiet.
“Hm?” he answered with little more than a hum in his throat, sending vibrations through his body which Keisha could feel.
She bit her lip and considered her next words carefully. They would change her life and his completely and once spoken, they could never again be taken back. Was she brave enough to go through with this?
Yes, she thought.
“I wanted to be sure before I told you,” she began, still speaking softly. “But now there is no question. I am sure.”
She could hear the uncertainty and the curiosity in his voice as he said, “Sure of what?”
