Tea and Spices (An Erotic Novel of Colonial India) (34 page)

 
“This is all my fault!” Kalindi wailed.

 
Devora stepped forward and grasped the young woman by the shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. “Kalindi, please! I forgive you. This isn’t your fault. I was the one who had an affair with Rohan. You had no choice when you told my husband, I know that. But I need your help now. Where is Rohan?”

 
Kalindi hiccupped and swiped at her tears. “Rohan?”

 
“Yes. He was dismissed, and he said he would find a room here in the village. Do you know where he is?”

 
“Oh, wait. I think he informed Lota.” Kalindi went back into her room, then returned with a happy expression. “Yes,
memsahib
! Lota knows where Rohan is.”

 
“Wonderful! Where?”

 
“Oh, you want to know where. Wait, I will ask.” Kalindi hurried back to ask Lota. “He is here in the village. You want to see him?”

 
“Yes, I do.”

 
“I tell the
tonga wallah
where to go, yes?”

 
“Yes, please.” Relieved, Devora climbed back into her seat as Kalindi conversed with the
wallah
. Then Kalindi came around and looked at Devora with her wide eyes and tear-streaked face.

 
“
Memsahib
, you are leaving forever?”

 
“Yes, Kalindi, I’m afraid so.”

 
“I am very distressed by this.”

 
Devora smiled and reached out to put her hand on the younger woman’s cheek. “Don’t be. I think I’m going to be quite happy. None of this is your fault, Kalindi. Please remember that.”

 
Kalindi sniffed and nodded. “Goodbye,
memsahib
.”

“Goodbye.”

 
Kalindi said something to the wallah again. He began peddling towards the center of the village. After about fifteen minutes, he stopped in front of a small, whitewashed bungalow next to a spice shop. Devora paid the wallah and went to the front door. Her heart raced wildly, but she forced herself to knock. No answer.

 
“Come on,” Devora muttered, knocking again with more force.

 
After an infinite moment, the door opened to reveal Rohan clad in loose, cotton trousers and a white shirt. An overwhelming relief flooded through Devora like an ocean wave.

 
Shock flashed in Rohan’s expression. “
Memsahib
.”

 
“Hello, Rohan.” Devora wanted to throw herself into his arms, but she forced herself to remain calm. “May I come in?”

 
“Yes. Yes, of course.” He pulled the door open wider to let her pass, then closed it. “What are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“Kalindi told me.” Devora entered his room, which was about the size of the Thompsons’ bathroom. There was room only for a bed and a small desk. Rohan’s clothes hung neatly on hooks from the walls, and his shoes were lined up underneath the bed. “Did you have a difficult time finding a room to rent?”

 
“No. This belongs to the father of a good friend. He has kept the rent low for me.” Rohan gestured to the desk chair. “Please, sit down.”

 
“That’s kind of him.” Devora sat, her eyes drinking in the sight of him. He looked good, at least, if a little tired. His face had become so familiar to her over the weeks that now she noticed the lines of fatigue bracketing his mouth and eyes. “Have you found work elsewhere yet?”

“No, I am still looking,” Rohan said.

 
Devora sighed. “I’m sorry.”

 
“I have told you there is no need for apology. I am as much at fault. The time for regrets has passed anyhow.”

 
“Yes, I believe you’re right.”

 
“Where have you been staying this past week?” Rohan asked.

 
“With the Thompsons.”

“Good lord. Now, for that, I am indeed sorry.”

 
Devora smiled for what seemed like the first time in years. “At least they’ve been good enough to let me stay. I doubt any of the other British would, not with the scandal I’ve created.”

 
Rohan sat down on the bed and gave her an amused look. “I suppose you have finally let the world know that you are different.”

 
“Corrupted is the word I’ve been hearing,” Devora replied. “And scandalous.”

 
“Does it bother you very much?” Rohan asked.

 
Devora shrugged. “Not as much as it should, I think. I’m sorry for having hurt Gerald, but I suspect our marriage wouldn’t have lasted anyway. He’s well entrenched in the British civil lines. He would have realized sooner or later that I wouldn’t fit in.”

 
“And you would have as well.”

 
Devora smiled again and nodded.

 
“What will you do now?” Rohan asked.

 
“I have a ticket for Bombay,” Devora explained. “I leave tomorrow, and I wanted to say goodbye to you before I left.”

 
She glanced at him, wondering if she should tell him about the depth of her feelings. The mere presence of him in the same room comforted her to unfathomable degrees, and she wished she didn’t have to let him go forever.

“I see,” Rohan replied. “And from there you will return to England?”

 
“I expect I will. Although I might stay in Bombay for awhile. I don’t know. I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“You appear to have a great deal of freedom.”

“I’ve had a nice surprise.” Devora explained what happened with the maharaja’s harem woman and the jewelry.

 
Rohan’s eyebrows lifted as he listened. “That is indeed good fortune. You have positive karma, then.”

 
“I don’t know why,” Devora said. “I haven’t exactly been a moral person.”

 
“Remember that karma and destiny also come from previous lives,” Rohan replied. “And you have been honest to yourself.”

 
Devora considered his words. It was true. Throughout this whole debacle, she hadn’t lied to herself about anything, not even her love for Rohan. “Yes, I suppose I have.”

 
“I will miss you,” Rohan said.

 
Devora looked at him in surprise. “You will?”

 
He nodded. “I have always found you very intriguing. I will miss our conversations.”

 
“And here I thought you just found me frustrating and headstrong.”

 
“Well, that too,” Rohan agreed.

 
Devora chuckled. “I’ll miss you too, Rohan. You’re the truest person I’ve met in India. Even in my entire life. I’m sorry that we…” Her voice broke, and she shook her head. “Never mind. I should be getting back before the Thompsons realize I’ve gone.”

 
Rohan gazed at her for a moment with a gentle expression. Devora thought back to the time when she had been convinced he would never look at her with anything but disapproval. How wonderful to be proven wrong about that.

 
“I am glad you came to see me,” Rohan said.

 
“So am I.” Devora stood and approached him, clasping his hands in hers. “Thank you for everything.”

 
They looked at each other for a moment, and then Rohan reached up to curl his hand around the back of her neck. His palm felt warm and strong against her skin. He drew her head down towards him slowly as his dark eyes began to burn with heat. Devora loved that flare of passion, knowing the sensualities promised by his gaze. Heart pulsing, she moved easily into the kiss.

An intense contentment overcame her, as if she had known all along that by coming to see him, she was returning to a place of security and peace. With a moan, she pressed her mouth against his and slid her hands into the coarseness of his hair.

 
Rohan’s lips parted, his tongue flickering out to caress her mouth with deliberate, lush ease. He tugged Devora down onto his lap, sinking onto the bed until he was lying on his back and she hovered over him. Her knees pressed against his hips, her sex brushing tantalizingly against the increasing bulge in his trousers.

Bracing her hands on either side of his head, Devora deepened their kiss. She stroked her tongue over his lips, loving the slightly rough sensation and the faint taste of spices. Warmth and love burst inside her, trailing through her blood and settling in a secret place just underneath her heart.

 
She lifted her head to look down at him, stunned by the inflamed darkness of his eyes. Such unfathomable depths. There had been a time when she thought she would never break through his shield, that he would forever be inaccessible to her.

And now, looking into those eyes of his, she realized that no one had been
as
accessible to her as Rohan. No one knew her as deeply, no one possessed such an intense perception of her soul and mind. The disconcerting part was that so many mysteries lay uncovered within him, layers that she had never unfolded. And yet she had never felt so close to another person in her entire life.

 
“My God,” she whispered in amazement. “It’s inconceivable.”

 
Rohan stroked his hands up her back, his fingers tracing her spine. “What is,
memsahib
?”

“You and I. Isn’t it?”

 
“Of course. That is what makes it so good.”

 
He pulled her down towards him again to plunder her mouth with his. Devora shoved her hands into his hair, delighting in the way the thick strands felt against her palms. She drew her tongue over his lower lip and pressed her body downwards to rub her sex over his throbbing erection. The intimate sensation of him pushing against her through the confines of their clothing sent a rainfall of pleasure through her.

 
With a moan, Devora tugged Rohan’s shirt off his body and sat back to look at the gorgeous expanse of his chest. She stroked her hands over him, loving the texture of his hair-roughened skin and wanting to memorize everything about him.

Her fingertips traced the structure of his ribcage as she bent to capture one of his flat nipples between her lips. Rohan groaned and clutched the back of her neck, pushing his hips upward against the apex of her thighs. Devora rotated her hips slowly and rubbed their sexes together.

 
She gave Rohan a wicked grin as she moved down to hook her fingers underneath his waistband. She pulled them off his legs, her pulse surging at the sight of his freed penis. Grasping the shaft in her hand, she stroked up to the tip. A sheen of sweat broke out on Rohan’s forehead as he watched her touching him.

Devora bent to take him in her mouth, wanting to please him as she had never wanted to please a man before. He throbbed against the surface of her tongue, the tangy taste of him filling her mouth. Devora closed her eyes and took him in fully. Rohan’s breath came in harsh pants as she slid her lips over him and traced the veins with her tongue. His fingers twined through her hair and tightened on her scalp.

 
Devora pulled back with a slow, luscious movement, flicking her tongue against him.

 
“Your dress,” Rohan whispered, his voice hoarse. “Take it off.”

 
Devora unbuttoned her dress and pushed it off her shoulders, then removed her slip. She straddled Rohan’s hips again, grasping his cock and guiding it to the opening of her body. He reached up to touch her swaying breasts, skimming his fingers over her areolae until sublime tension wrapped itself leisurely around her body.

Devora moaned with pleasure at the feeling of him pressing against her, and she eased herself down onto him with a desperation borne of need. Only Rohan could evoke such powerful sensations, filling her entire being with a kaleidoscope of emotions.

 
“Oh, yes.” She braced her hands on either side of his head and lifted her hips, allowing him to thrust in and out of her with increasing movements. Her body rubbed lusciously against him and expanded her ache to infinite depths.

 
“Turn over.” Rohan clutched her hips, rolling them both over so that he was above her. He pushed her legs farther apart and sank into her with a hoarse groan. The slick length of his cock pounded into her as he began to work his hips back and forth. Pure sensation wiped out all reason and thought, leaving them submerged in the rough carnality of their union.

 
Whimpers spilled from Devora’s through as she writhed heatedly underneath him, never wanting them to separate, never wanting this to end. She wrapped her legs around his thighs and clutched his buttocks to urge him even closer. His body slammed against hers with every thrust, his mouth open against her neck.

Sensation flowed like an endless, eternal river. Devora pushed her hips up to increase the depth of their union, digging her fingers into his buttocks when the pressure began to mount. His mouth covered hers, his lips muffling her cries.