She nodded her acceptance and the sepoy stepped down and handed the reins to Savage. Adam had changed into fawn riding breeches and cream shirt and jacket. The coat was a special concession to his guest. The most he usually ever wore was a shirt.
He handed her from the phaeton and saw she was wearing high leather boots beneath her whispering silks. “I have a horror of creeping things,” she explained, her mouth curving deliciously. He took her arm and led her through the factory.
“The top three floors are simply withering lofts. These fans keep the air moving until the leaves become dry.” As they descended to ground level he kept a strong hand at her elbow. “Four rollings extrude the oil, which is a sticky golden green. This floor is kept continually cool by having water run down the walls. Your nose tells you when the tea has fermented enough to be put in the ovens and fired.”
He led her into an airy building adjacent to the first where the pleasantly pungent fragrance rose up from the heaps of black, crisp tea. “It’s ready for sorting, cutting, sifting, grading, and packing.”
Evelyn touched the tea chests stacked against the wall. “When the English sip their orange pekoe or souchong they haven’t the vaguest idea how much time or labor is involved.”
“They pay a high price for the privilege, so I cannot complain.”
Money! It was the subject Evelyn was longing to pursue. She must be subtle, and yet she must waste no more time in breaching the barriers between them that would lead to a more intimate relationship.
Chapter 4
Adam handed Eve back into the open carriage and urged the horse toward the lake. Then he invited her to walk with him. The deep blue of the sky was turning to saffron with shafts of brilliant gold. A swarm of macaques with tufted faces gamboled in the branches, throwing fruit rind at submerged water buffaloes. Sapphire kingfishers and black and golden orioles darted across the water to catch gnats, while a flock of flamingos took wing.
As they strolled along the lake’s edge the sky was turning into a deep red, making Eve’s alabaster skin a blush-pink. From beneath her lashes she saw how Adam’s cream shirt contrasted against his mahogany throat and her breasts began to tingle. Adam Savage had such an air of authority and command, which she knew came from having supreme confidence in himself and his own abilities.
Evelyn was used to having her own way in life. She had avoided marrying a dominant man and as a result ruled her own roost like an empress, but at the moment this virile, dominant self-made man was an unbelievable catch. He was attracted to her, he was still available, and most important, he was wealthy.
They stopped short as two wild water buffalo roared at each other a few hundred yards off. She watched in disbelief at the speed and ferocity of the charge. One bull hit the other so hard, it knocked it through the air and it lay in the mud as if dead. Then the victorious bull mated the waiting cow buffalo in a spectacular orgy of pure sexual pleasure. The man who witnessed it felt an atavistic thrill.
Eve gasped and drew back against Adam. He took her in his arms swiftly, decisively, and brought his mouth down on hers as if he were starving. Her belly felt like molten mercury and she stiffened as her breasts and mons felt the iron hardness of his chest and groin. He mastered her with his tongue and as her mouth filled with the feel and taste of him she moaned.
A wave of guilt swept over her. It had nothing to do with her recently deceased husband. Sex always made her feel guilty and dirty. She had thought the act of the animals disgusting and was fearful that the primitive mating, coupled with Savage’s virile presence, might sexually arouse her.
She was on very dangerous ground here. Savage might make her lose control, and Eve did not want that to happen. She must retain control. She suppressed her body’s physical response immediately.
Adam was surprised when she suddenly pulled from him and with cheeks flaming looked about to see if they had been observed. He noted with sardonic amusement that this would have horrified her. She retreated to the phaeton and her previous formality.
Adam drove to the stable and turned the horse over to a native groom. His instructions brought alarm to her face. “I cannot stay late—” She said low, “Servants gossip incessantly.”
“As you wish,” he said quietly, but no matter how much she wished otherwise, the kiss had wiped out a great many barriers that he would not allow her to reerect.
As they passed through the front hall Rupee retreated to the far end of his perch because of the stranger and cried, “Sinner! Repent!”
John Bull was relieved that the bird chose biblical words that did not offend because there were many words in the white man’s Bible and Rupee’s repertoire that were offensive. Eve, however, could have stoned the mynah.
Though the windows and doors of the dining room had jalousies to let in the breeze, a servant sat cross-legged on the floor pulling the cord that turned the punka ceiling fans.
Beside Evelyn’s plate Adam Savage had placed an exotic orchid. Its black velvet petals were shot through with veins of gold and scarlet. “Lovely,” she murmured, and suddenly Adam wanted to see it against the pale gold of her hair. He resisted for the moment and pulled out her chair for her.
John Bull in immaculate white jacket and pantaloons served the meal in his most unobtrusive manner, never uttering a word. Adam knew how much restraint this took on John Bull’s part and made a mental note to compliment him.
Though the servant’s manner was unobtrusive, Lady Lamb’s eyes fastened on his crimson turban, which was anything but. In its center was a ruby as large as a man’s thumbnail. She had suspected Savage was a wealthy man, but she’d had no idea he was rich enough to shower his servants with jewels.
The ruby made Eve change her tactics. The subject of money must be broached, and in her experience a strong, dominant man responded best to a delicate, helpless woman.
Adam watched her make a pretense of eating. After a couple of small bites she began to toy with the delicious food on her plate. Eve found Indian food repulsive and she was thankful that it was so. Eating practically nothing was the only way she could retain her slim figure. Adam assumed she had not regained her appetite since her bereavement.
“Eve, do you need someone to talk with?” he asked quietly. He saw the relief in her eyes.
“Oh, yes … I need your help … your advice,” she amended quickly. “I will no longer receive Russell’s salary from the East India Company. They will appoint another administrator.”
Adam was not taken aback that she spoke of money. He was shrewd enough to see through her pretensions. Perhaps she was more interested in a financial partnership than an emotional relationship. Perhaps he, too, wanted her more as a chatelaine for Edenwood than as a real wife. “Russell explained that you own Government House outright. It doesn’t belong to the Company.”
Eve nodded and said helplessly, “Yes, but, you see, they paid us a very generous amount to use our home as Government Headquarters here in Ceylon. That money will stop now.”