Lillian stumbled. “Whoa.”
Jackson silently pointed up towards the sky and looked up. Lillian followed his gaze. “Oh.”
Suddenly the ground seemed to shift from underneath her and Lillian found herself sprawled in the sand.
“Can you feel it, Jackson?”
“Feel what, love?”
“The earth moving. Why is it doing that? Are you cross with me, Jackson?”
“No, not cross.” Jackson knelt beside her and helped her get to a sitting position. “But you shouldn’t have had anything to drink. You know you can’t hold your liquor. You might have slipped up, said something you shouldn’t have. And for Christ’s sake you shouldn’t be flirting with Abdulla!”
“I didn’t drink any liquor.” Lillian blew at a loose strand of hair that had managed to escape her veil. “I only had the tea.”
Jackson removed her veil, and then tucked the strand of hair behind her ear. “Tea, huh?”
Lillian jerked away from his touch and wagged a finger in his face. “And I wasn’t flirting! I don’t flirt!”
“Oh, you flirt!” Jackson playfully tried to bite her finger.
“I do not! You should trust me more. A marriage should be based on a foundation of trust! That’s the most important element of a good marriage.”
“Here I though it was a great shag. I guess I’ve been wrong headed about that. Perhaps I should stop working so hard to please you?”
Lillian’s expression became very serious. “What? No! You should continue, Jackson. Really, you should. Pleasing me, I mean. Frequently. I like it. A lot.”
He smiled. “Oh you do, do you?”
“You’re teasing me!”
“Getting even for the flirting,” he said, helping her to her feet. “Just what kind of lessons in pleasure was Abdulla going to give you anyways?”
“Huh?” Lillian busied herself, brushing the sand off her backside.
“When I walked up to the two of you, you were discussing lessons.” Jackson interlaced his fingers with hers and began to lead her back towards their tent.
“With Sahar, not with Abdulla.”
Jackson looked a bit alarmed. “Sahar? The young girl who was dancing?”
“Yes! Abdulla says that she’s the best. I declined his offer, at first, but he was very insistent. He feels that there are certain skills a good wife should know.”
“Skills?”
“She can show me how it’s done and work with me until I get it just right. I have some experience, but the truth is I’d love to be as good as she is.”
“You actually think this is a good idea?”
“Don’t you?”
“Well, no, not really. It’s just wrong, Lillian. She’s only a girl! Well, even if she were older I’d feel the same way. Not that I’ve never considered what it would be like before. I’d be lying if I said I’d never thought about it, I mean, what man hasn’t?”
“So you’ve thought about it?”
Jackson ran his hand nervously through his hair. “I know that couples sometime experiment with other people. But the fact is, love, I want to keep it just the two of us. I don’t want anyone else in our bed.”
Jackson opened the flap to their tent and stepped aside to let Lillian enter.
“In our what?” Lillian walked inside, and then it hit her. “Oh my.”
“What?”
“You thought we were talking about—” Lillian blushed. Then, she started giggle.
“What’s so bloody funny?” Jackson demanded, annoyed.
Lillian clutched her stomach and doubled over with laughter “We were talking about dancing! Oh! Oh, that’s so funny!” She flopped down on their sleeping pallet and wiped at the tears forming in her eyes. “I know that couples sometimes experiment,” she repeated in a terrible British accent.
“Are you making fun of me?”
“No!” Lillian solemnly shook her head. “I would never do that.”
“God I hope that you don’t remember any of this in the morning!” Jackson lay down alongside of her. “Go to sleep, love,” he encouraged before leaning over and kissing her softly on the cheek.
“I don’t want to go to sleep. I’m having fun. Let’s do something!”
Jackson pulled off his boots. “What did you have in mind?”
“Anything.” Lillian seductively twirled a long lock of her chestnut brown hair around one finger.
“Anything?” Jackson leaned back on his forearms a now prominent bulge evident in his pants.
“Anything you want. There’s just one…little… catch.”
Jackson’s eyes grew wide with anticipation. “And that would be?”
Lillian backed away from him towards the entrance to the tent. She held her finger up to her lips and made a “Shh” sound before opening up the flap and peering outside. She then looked over her shoulder back towards Jackson, a playful smile forming on her lips and a glint of mischief in her eye.
“What?” he whispered.
“You’ve got to catch me first!” Lillian bolted from the tent.
“Bloody hell!” Jackson jumped to his feet and flew out of the tent. She was already about fifty feet ahead of him. The beads of her costume shimmered. Her body was bathed in the moonlight. Her hair flew out behind her as she ran, her feet kicking up sand. Jackson paused for a second, wanting to commit the vision to memory. Her melodious laughter traveled back on the night’s breeze.
“If you can catch me, you can have me!” she shouted back over her shoulder as she continued to run, taunting him.
“Oh, I can catch you, love,” he said confidently.
Chapter Nine
Jackson entered the tent, carrying a bucket of fresh water. He paused for a moment to look at Lillian, still sleeping comfortably under the silk sheet that covered their pallet. He could see the outline of her body through the thin material and had to resist the urge to touch her. He quietly sat down the bucket and stripped off his sweat-drenched clothes. As he pulled off his shirt he winced. Ahmed was a fast learner and had managed to get in a punch to his mid-section. A bruise had already formed, leaving an ugly mark.
“Lieutenant,” Jemal whispered from outside the tent.
Jackson opened the flap just a bit, allowing a small stream of light in. “You have the coffee?”
“Yes, and fresh bread. Fatima can wash your clothes if you would like.”
“Yes, thank you.” Jackson traded his clothing for the coffee and bread.
As soon as Jemal left, Jackson turned his attention back to the bucket of water. Overwhelmed by thirst, he lifted the ladle and drank deeply. He was drained from the morning’s training and desperately needed to replenish himself. Jackson poured some water into a washbowl and after gathering his bar of soap and a towel from his satchel he began to wash the dirt and sweat from his body and hair.
He found himself momentarily lost in the memory of the day he’d first met Lillian. He turned the bar of soap over in his hands, creating lather and remembering how wonderful it had felt when she’d bathed him that first day. How soft and tender her hands were as they worked the lather through his hair. Jackson reached for the ladle and rinsed. He grabbed the small towel and ran it over his still dripping head, and then retrieved his mirror and razor from his satchel. After quickly shaving, he returned his belongings to their rightful place, walked over to the entrance of the tent, and tossed the water from the washbowl out into the sand.
He felt much better now. Not completely renewed, but definitely better. He took another drink of the fresh water and spent a quiet moment watching his love sleep.
“What am I going to do with you?” he whispered to her in the semi-darkness. Perhaps the more pointed question is what on earth am I going to do without you?
Jackson crawled over to Lillian, slipped under the sheet, and gently ran his hand over the side of her face, over her shoulder, then down the length of her arm. “Time to wake up, sleepyhead.” He lightly shook her body.
Li
llian slowly opened her eyes. “Is it morning already?”
He leaned up on one elbow. “Afternoon, actually,” He handed her the cup of coffee.
Lillian’s eyes widened in surprise. “Afternoon? What time did we fall asleep?”
Jackson smirked “I think you passed out, love.” He could tell she was searching her memory, trying to piece together events from the night before. He dropped his voice an octave. “You were amazing.”
Jackson reached over to fondle her breast, then he pulled the sheet down, leaned over, and began to lave at its nipple with his tongue.
Lillian set her coffee aside, and then slid her fingers through Jackson’s curls. “So were you, I think. What did we do?” she asked hesitantly.
Jackson looked up at that. “What didn’t we do? Really, love, you outdid yourself, made my every wish come true.”
“Crossed some things off your list?” she asked shyly, as she traced little circles around his pecs.
“Don’t have any more lists, baby.” He lifted her finger to his mouth, and licked the tip.
“No more lists? You mean we even?”
Jackson looked steadily at her and nodded slowly as he drew her finger in and out of his mouth. Lillian gasped. Jackson released her finger and leaned over her, sweeping his tongue across her lips. “Oh, yeah, and once more? You loved it! Made me promise we would do it again first thing this morning as a matter of fact.”
“I did?”
Jackson rolled her over so that he was spooned behind her. He ran his hand over her bottom, caressing her possessively. He lifted one of her legs and draped it over his so that he could move in closer to her.
“No.” He trailed kisses down the back of her neck. “No?” Lillian quickly pulled away, then rolled him onto his back, pinning him to the pallet. “No?”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed as she climbed on top of him, straddling his body. “You’re in trouble, mister!”
“Really? What kind of trouble? You realize this really isn’t much of a punishment, don’t you?”
“Big trouble!”
“Big, huh?” Jackson tilted his hips up so that his erection ran up and down the length of Lillian’s backside.
Lillian closed her eyes; her breath hitched. “Stop.”
Jackson smiled. “You don’t really want me to stop.”
“We’re in the middle of a fight here.”
“Not me.” Jackson turned them and slipped the head of his cock inside of her moist channel. “I’m not fighting. I’m fu—”
Lillian covered his mouth with her hand. “Don’t call it that.”
Jackson stilled his movements. Reaching up, he removed her hand from his mouth.
“Last night you were completely smashed, pet. There was so much opium around and then Abdulla gave you this tea. It lowered your inhibitions. You were a huge tease. You made me chase you around the bloody desert for what seemed like hours then you passed out. I carried you back here, tucked you in snug as a bug, and had myself a very unsatisfying wank.”
“Honest and truly?”
“Yes.” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Can we make love, now?”
“Thought you just wanted to fuck.”
Jackson pulled back slightly so that he could look into her eyes. “Forgive my rudeness. I love you, Lillian. I’m sure of it. These feelings I have for you, they’re growing, every day. I need you.”
“I need you, too.” She raised her hips slightly, inviting him in further.
Jackson hissed and closed his eyes. “God, you’re so wet.”
“That’s what you do to me.” Lillian reached out and took his earlobe between her teeth. She groaned. “You feel so good.”
Jackson started to move inside of her, slow, steady thrusts.
“That’s it,” Lillian groaned. “Let me feel that big cock of yours.”
“Are you talking dirty for me, pet?” Jackson paused for a moment and smiled down at her.
Lillian flushed with embarrassment. “I want to be the one to fulfill your fantasies. I want to be the one you want to be with.” She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him back in.
“God help me, I love you.”
“But not only me,” Lillian whispered.
Jackson froze.
“You gave me fair warning, Jackson. You will always love her. Maria’s really your wife, isn’t she? She’s the one you really love.”
He looked into Lillian’s green eyes. The pain reflected in them was enough to fell the strongest of men. He shrank inside of her. All of the passion instantly drained from his body. His heart filled with regret and shame. He pulled out of her and ran his hand over his face.
“I’m sorry.”
“No you’re not, but it’s nice of you to say so.” Jackson took his time gathering his thoughts. He chose his words carefully then spoke truthfully. “I love her, yes. But not like I love you. Honestly, I never had the kind of love for Maria that I have for you. I never knew it could be like this. She’s not my wife, Lillian, not really. You are. You are in every way that matters to me. And, someday, I will make you my wife in every way that matters to you, I promise.”
“I don’t want to force you to make promises that you might not be able to keep,” she said, tears forming in her eyes. She choked them back. “This is a confusing time and—”
Jackson grabbed her by the forearms, pulled her flush to him, and growled, “You think you can force me to do anything, little girl? Trust me, you can’t. Now I want you to listen to me. I. Love. You.”
Lillian’s eyes opened wide as the intensity behind his emotion hit her full force.
“I. Love. You,” he said more softly. “I need for you to believe me. If something were to happen to me, or you… I need for you to believe me. ”
Lillian crushed her lips to his in a fervent kiss.
“I do,” she said, pulling back slightly. “I do.”
Jackson released a sigh and kissed her lips tenderly before resting his head on the soft pillow of her breasts.
“I’m completely knackered. Only slept a couple hours before getting up to train. And we’re not done for the day. There’s so much to do if the men are going to be ready. I’ve got to go back.”
“Shh. You don’t have to go back now.” Lillian wrapped one arm around his torso and then rhythmically ran a hand through his hair. “For now, you rest. You’re gong to exhaust yourself and you’ll be good to no one.”
“Rest,” Jackson repeated.
“Yes, darling.” Lillian placed a kiss on the top of his head. “Rest now. I’ll wake you in a bit. Everything will be all right, you’ll see.”
The past few days had been spent much like this one. Everyone in the camp had become accustomed to the routine of rising before the sun, and then a light breakfast, followed by hours of grueling drilling and training. They would break for a few hours in the afternoon, when the sun was at its high point in the sky and the desert the hottest. During those hours most of the men ate, then napped to replenish themselves for the afternoon session. By sunset the women of the camp had a meal prepared that most were too tired to fully enjoy.
Jackson pushed them all to their limits and then some. On the afternoon of the first day of training he successfully recruited Ahmed to assist him with the simple acknowledgment, in front of the other men, that Ahmed’s sword skills were superior to his own. Since then, Ahmed had been working extremely hard to do whatever he could to improve the troop’s skills with both the sword and scimitar. No one, however, worked harder than Jackson. There were not many who owned guns, but he worked on marksmanship with those that did. He also taught hand-to-hand combat techniques, incorporating use of a knife.
When the other men returned to camp at sunset to retire for the day, Jackson stopped for a quick drink of water and proceeded to the prince’s tent. Abdulla refused to train with the other men, afraid to allow them to see any sign of weakness. So Jackson trained him and Lillian together, in the privacy of Abdu
lla’s tent. Tomorrow was to be their last day of training, the last day before they would begin the journey to Aqaba. They would train in the morning, and then the men would be released to rest for the arduous journey.
It had been decided that they would travel by night, under the cover of darkness, and sleep during the day when the sun would make progress difficult. Most of the men were accustomed to traveling long distances in the hot sun, but Jackson wanted to use caution. He needed to ensure that they would be in fighting form when they reached their destination.
“Are you two ready?” Jackson asked as he entered Abdulla’s tent, wiping the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.
Lillian saluted him smartly. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Abdulla leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I believe his rank is lieutenant”
“I know that!” Lillian replied, playfully giving him a shove.
Abdulla smiled at her, and then turned to Jackson. “Well?”
“Start with your warm-up drills.”
After twenty minutes of watching them Jackson interrupted, “I want to see the two of you spar.”
“With each other?” Abdulla asked.
“Not afraid she’ll hurt you, are you?” Jackson teased.
“Certainly not!” Abdulla responded.
Jackson walked up to them. “In battle, no one is going to refrain from trying to best you simply because you are the prince.” He turned to Lillian. “And I can’t be everywhere at once. I want to know that you can hold your own. We can continue to train at night as we travel, if we need to, but we’re running out of time.”
Lillian and Abdulla exchanged a look then Abdulla nodded. “Very well.”
“No holds barred,” Jackson said. “Fight to win. Ready? Go!”
The two of them simply stood there, staring at one another.
“What the hell are you two doing? Lillian, he’s wide open!”
At Jackson’s prompting Lillian let loose a series of blows. Abdulla managed to keep up with her, blocking her with ease. She changed tacks quickly, executing an almost perfect roundhouse kick and sending him sprawling on the ground.
The Soldier & The Spy Page 10
