Virginia Henley Read Online Free PDF Page B

before him, always behind. When Adam had passed her on his way to the bathing room sheraised downcast eyes and pulled an impudent face at John Bull.
    He said scornfully, “A lotus is nothing more than a common water lily!”
    In the center of the room was a sunken, tiled bathing pool steaming with warm scented water. Adam pulled his white cotton shirt over his head and allowed Kirinda to help him peel off his riding breeches, then he walked down the steps into the water that came up to his hips. His broad chest was heavy with sleek muscle from years of hard physical labor. The tropical sun had tanned him to a dark mahogany above the waist, while below, his taut buttocks and strong legs seemed startlingly pale in contrast.
    Kirinda loved to look at the master’s body, though she always appeared to keep her eyes modestly downcast lest he think she stared at his scars. He was deliciously different from the men of this land. His chest and manhood were covered by black curls and he was wonderously large. His hair fell to his shoulders and was as dark as any native’s, but his eyes were a startling ice-blue and they could freeze a person with one glance if he was displeased.
    She stole a look at him and saw that his elbows rested upon the tile ledge, his head was thrown back, and his eyes closed as the sensual feel of the water relaxed his tired muscles. As Kirinda bent to pick up a sponge her black hair swung forward like a silken waterfall. She straightened, slipped off her richly embroidered sari, and walked gracefully down the tiled steps into the water.
    When Savage bought Leopard’s Leap from its Dutch owners it had been a failing plantation. He had worked twenty hours a day to make it thrive. In those days he had literally been too tired to bathe and so one night she had done it for him. The experience had proven so pleasurable to both that now it was a ritual.
    Kirinda had to reach high on tiptoe to lather his neck and shoulders, then she held up her palm with the cake ofsoap upon it. Adam took it, washed his face and hair, then ducked beneath the water to rinse off the suds. She soaped his back, chest, and belly, then again passed him the soap so he could wash his own intimate parts. Their relationship was nonsexual and completely matter of fact. Adam, now totally relaxed, closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He felt as if his very bones might melt.
    When he opened his eyes a minute or two later, Kirinda was standing patiently with his towels. The ritual time spent with Lotus Blossom was soothing to a man. She never chattered. She never recoiled from his scars. His blue eyes smiled into hers as he slipped on a robe and went to eat his evening meal.
    When he had eaten he went out onto the screened verandah to catch the breeze and enjoy a cheroot rolled from tobacco grown in the dry zone of Jaffra. His thoughts drifted about, lulled by the nocturnal symphony of tree frogs.
    It was still pitch-black when he arose and made his way to the sheds beside the smokehouse. Over the years his tappers had become highly skilled, learning the importance of cleanliness in gathering the snow-white liquid. Savage handed out knives, cups, coconut shells, and buckets. Then he began to pour acetic acid into molds, knowing the tappers would quickly start returning with latex. After setting for eighteen hours the sheets would be put through rollers to press on a rough pattern to prevent adhesion, then hung in the smokehouse for several days to dry.
    The men who had become proficient in English were promoted to overseers and given an umbrella as a badge of office. The Leopard, as the plantation workers also called him, was a hard taskmaster who ruled with an iron hand. He would put up with nothing that displeased him. Punishment was both swift and harsh. He was never lenient, there were no second chances. Mixed with their fearof him, however, was a healthy dose of respect. There was not one task on the entire plantation that he could not