Companionship. Novelty. Unpredictability. They made up for everything. Days ran. Nights crawled. She was a changed woman. Suddenly nothing seemed to matter anymore but the unknown, unforeseen present. Sunshine. Green grasses. Fresh air. Blue sky. She dressed for dinner with Lannap. Red wine. Moonlight. A profession of undying love.
Lannap came across the clearing to the hut. Stopped dead in his tracks. “Eso, what the hell are you doing here?”
“Has it gotten to that?” Eso looked away from the window. Beyond it, inside the room, both men could see Eryka pulling on her dress, slowly, seductively. “I am not supposed to be here? I forget. I am trespassing on honeymoon property.” His gibe suddenly turned serious. “But then there is something more serious than little nightly trysts, don’t you think, Lannap?”
“Get away from that window.” Lannap’s voice fell to a hard whisper.
“Oh, playing the protective husband already? Well, before you get carried away, there isn’t any good response from Benin City. My confidence is starting to shake. I don’t know about you but Chollong feels the same way. We both think it is nearing time to abort mission.”
“Shut up,” Lannap whispered furiously.
“What sort of answer is that? Is this girl getting to you already? Damn it, think with your head not your pisher. We have to do something really quick.”
Lannap clamped a hand around Eso’s arm and pulled him away from the hut. Several feet from the door he stopped. “Whatever it is you have to do, don’t bring it here. You’ll ruin everything. And don’t let me catch you gawking at her through the window like that again.”
“Is something wrong?” They were so caught up in each other they didn’t hear Eryka come up to them.
Eso’s eyes raked her over. “No, nothing. A little men’s talk. I was just about leaving. See you later, Lannap, and don’t forget what I said. It will get to that sooner than later. And you better be in on it.” He walked away.
“In on what?” asked Eryka. “You two looked like you were about to kill each other.”
Lannap led her away toward the side of the mountain, by the bank of the river, where moonlight spilled like a cascade. Nothing was wrong, he said with a winsome smile. “Do you know I keep falling more and more in love with you every passing day?”
