quickened. Would she join him in the parlor? He wanted to try to communicate with her more.
But her soft footsteps headed toward her bedroom.
Alan felt a stab of disappointment as the door shut behind her. He let his book fall shut too and stared at the yellow flame in the lamp. He couldn’t stop picturing Shu-Ann in the next room, so pretty and so unattainable. He’d never take advantage of a woman in her situation but couldn’t smother the flame of lust that Bonnie Dee
65
rose in him. He’d wanted her before he ever knew her, and now to have her settling to sleep on the opposite side of the wall was killing him.
Alan imagined going to her room, knocking on the door and being invited inside. He could almost feel how soft her hair and her skin would be and how her lips would feel under his. He imagined her hands gliding over his chest, his belly, unfastening his trousers and reaching inside, the firm grip of her hand around his cock.
The parlor was too warm, the air too stale. Alan tossed his book aside and hurried from the room. He had to get outside into the fresh air and take a brisk walk. That was the only way to eradicate the unbidden fantasies tormenting him. He definitely had to get his body and his mind under control before he proved true all of Shu-Ann’s worst suspicions about men.
Chapter Five
Huiann moved the night table in front of the door as if the flimsy piece of furniture would stop the big man from bursting into the room if he chose to do so.
Sitting on the thin sleeping mat on the floor, the blanket draped around her shoulders, she stared at the door as his heavy footsteps came down the hallway.
She leaped from the bed, bird wings fluttering madly in her chest as she pictured his hulking body filling the doorway. He could do whatever he wanted to her. If only she’d taken the sharp knife from the kitchen as she’d intended. But no, her foolish heart had told her it was safe to trust the white man’s welcoming smile. Now she had no weapon except her fingernails with which to fight him off.
But Alan Somma walked past her room without stopping and went downstairs. Moving close to the door, Huiann listened to the squeak of the hinges on the kitchen door as her benefactor left the building.
She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to the open window to catch a breath of fresh air. The wall of another building was only a few hand spans away. She craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the starry sky above. Below, footsteps caught her attention and she looked down to see the top of the giant’s head and his wide shoulders as he walked down the narrow alley toward the street. The pale streaks in his light brown hair caught the moonlight. She watched until he disappeared around the corner of the building.
Bonnie Dee
67
Huiann pulled her head back in the window and removed the blouse and skirt her host had given her, glad to be rid of the unfamiliar garments. She wrapped the blanket around her and lay on the pallet, staring at the shapes of the shadows on the wall.
This day had ended far better than she could’ve hoped, but her good fortune in landing in what seemed to be a safe place didn’t stop melancholy from washing through her. She feared she would never be able to earn money to return home. What if she died in this country with no relatives to mourn or bury her properly? She would wander in this foreign land as a ghost—forever parted from her ancestors.
She worried about Xie Fuhua. Would he let her go so easily or send his men to look for her and question the shopkeepers in this area? Not only did he have a financial investment in her, but his pride would be injured that she’d dared to run away from him.
As if these thoughts weren’t enough to keep her awake, Huiann’s mind kept returning to Alan Somma, the friendly giant whose looks, speech and manner were utterly different from any man she’d ever met.
Yet she felt certain he wouldn’t harm her. She’d felt safe at
But her soft footsteps headed toward her bedroom.
Alan felt a stab of disappointment as the door shut behind her. He let his book fall shut too and stared at the yellow flame in the lamp. He couldn’t stop picturing Shu-Ann in the next room, so pretty and so unattainable. He’d never take advantage of a woman in her situation but couldn’t smother the flame of lust that Bonnie Dee
65
rose in him. He’d wanted her before he ever knew her, and now to have her settling to sleep on the opposite side of the wall was killing him.
Alan imagined going to her room, knocking on the door and being invited inside. He could almost feel how soft her hair and her skin would be and how her lips would feel under his. He imagined her hands gliding over his chest, his belly, unfastening his trousers and reaching inside, the firm grip of her hand around his cock.
The parlor was too warm, the air too stale. Alan tossed his book aside and hurried from the room. He had to get outside into the fresh air and take a brisk walk. That was the only way to eradicate the unbidden fantasies tormenting him. He definitely had to get his body and his mind under control before he proved true all of Shu-Ann’s worst suspicions about men.
Chapter Five
Huiann moved the night table in front of the door as if the flimsy piece of furniture would stop the big man from bursting into the room if he chose to do so.
Sitting on the thin sleeping mat on the floor, the blanket draped around her shoulders, she stared at the door as his heavy footsteps came down the hallway.
She leaped from the bed, bird wings fluttering madly in her chest as she pictured his hulking body filling the doorway. He could do whatever he wanted to her. If only she’d taken the sharp knife from the kitchen as she’d intended. But no, her foolish heart had told her it was safe to trust the white man’s welcoming smile. Now she had no weapon except her fingernails with which to fight him off.
But Alan Somma walked past her room without stopping and went downstairs. Moving close to the door, Huiann listened to the squeak of the hinges on the kitchen door as her benefactor left the building.
She breathed a sigh of relief and moved to the open window to catch a breath of fresh air. The wall of another building was only a few hand spans away. She craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the starry sky above. Below, footsteps caught her attention and she looked down to see the top of the giant’s head and his wide shoulders as he walked down the narrow alley toward the street. The pale streaks in his light brown hair caught the moonlight. She watched until he disappeared around the corner of the building.
Bonnie Dee
67
Huiann pulled her head back in the window and removed the blouse and skirt her host had given her, glad to be rid of the unfamiliar garments. She wrapped the blanket around her and lay on the pallet, staring at the shapes of the shadows on the wall.
This day had ended far better than she could’ve hoped, but her good fortune in landing in what seemed to be a safe place didn’t stop melancholy from washing through her. She feared she would never be able to earn money to return home. What if she died in this country with no relatives to mourn or bury her properly? She would wander in this foreign land as a ghost—forever parted from her ancestors.
She worried about Xie Fuhua. Would he let her go so easily or send his men to look for her and question the shopkeepers in this area? Not only did he have a financial investment in her, but his pride would be injured that she’d dared to run away from him.
As if these thoughts weren’t enough to keep her awake, Huiann’s mind kept returning to Alan Somma, the friendly giant whose looks, speech and manner were utterly different from any man she’d ever met.
Yet she felt certain he wouldn’t harm her. She’d felt safe at
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