Sold! A Romance In The Sudan (3 page)

The women his sisters
paraded in front of him only made him yawn. He didn’t want to risk
the prostitutes on the harbour front; sure they were rife with
disease that would defy a dozen condoms. Instead, he contracted
live-in girls from China and Thailand. They worked hard but they
were all depressingly dull. Having packed Ngam home, he hadn’t
bothered replacing her.

Now he had an English girl of his own. And
for a thousand dollars too! Way cheaper than the Egyptian sharmotas
and the Asian mail order dolls.

Hafiq was feeling good. He was convinced he’d
found a rare bargain.

A week later Hafiq wasn’t so sure about his
great bargain. After a hot shower, a bath and another shower, Lilly
had finally felt clean again. Despite her fever, she’d wolfed down
a meal and kept it down. Getting the collar off her neck had been
more difficult.

“It’s a simple pin but the metal is corroded
and twisted at the top and bottom,” Hafiq said after examining it
carefully. “I can get it out but it’s going to take some work.” He
looked at her meditatively. “Perhaps it’s better to leave it as it
is. It’s sexy.”

“Not when you’re wearing it,” Lilly grumbled.
“Every time I move my head it bangs my collarbone. My neck is one
big bruise.”

It was the one and only complaint she’d made.
Hafiq still couldn’t believe how calm she was. “I’ll get it off,”
he soothed.

He took her out to the terrace and had her
lay her head on the wall that ran along its edge. Carefully
positioning the end at the back of her neck, well away from her
face, he hammered the pin ends until they were smooth. Then he used
a nail to push the pin through and out of the other side.

It had only taken the fishermen a few minutes
to secure the collar but it took Hafiq a good half an hour to get
it off. While he was working, Lilly hadn’t moved a muscle. When he
finally took it off and saw the relief on her face, Hafiq felt like
a hero.

Unfortunately, as he had predicted, Lilly
fainted immediately after. She had fallen victim to malaria.

As he was tucking her into bed, she came
round and was sensible long enough to tell him that she’d had the
foresight to take all the recommended vaccinations for visiting
Africa, including chloroquine, the malaria preventative. The
medicine had prevented the fever from taking a life threatening
hold but Lilly still felt terrible.

“Maybe that’s what made me so sick,” Lilly
ventured as the chills cycled through her body.

“More likely it was the food poisoning that
stopped it from working properly,” Hafiq sighed. “Never mind, go to
sleep. I’ll give you another dose and you will feel better soon.”
The better shape she was in, the bigger the reward he would
get.

But Lilly had fallen into a fever. At first
he wasn’t too worried. He didn’t trust his staff to look after her,
so he put his business on hold and took care of her himself.

Hafiq had bounced a few baby nephews, nieces
and cousins on his lap but he’d never taken care of another human
being before. Looking after Lilly proved a fulltime occupation.

He stood her under a cool shower when she
felt hot, piled her under blankets when she felt cold and soothed
her as she shivered with fever. Despite her suffering, Lilly never
cried or complained. Hafiq slowly found himself becoming fond of
her.

When her temperature rose sharply on the
fifth night she became so delirious that he panicked. He cradled
her in his arms, convinced she was at death’s door.

At three o’clock in the morning he remembered
hearing of a retired Libyan doctor moving into a villa just a few
miles away. He packed Lilly into his truck, stormed through two
army security checks and blasted his car horn until the old man had
come scuttling out of the house.

Hafiq thought it was the handful of cash that
had persuaded him to look at Lilly. He had no idea the Vector SMG
in his hand made the old man think his last hour had come.

Nervously aware of the rifle, the doctor took
one look at Lilly and pooh-poohed Hafiq’s concern. “It’s just a
little fever. A touch of malaria.”

“I’ve given her chloroquine but it’s not
working!”

“Foreigners take a little longer to get over
it,” the old man soothed him. “She hasn’t our resistance. She’ll be
all right in a day or so.”

“Thank God!”

Realising this was a worried and not a
murderous young man, the doctor told him to bring Lilly inside.
While his wife set about making tea, the doctor examined Lilly
thoroughly. What he saw, reassured him.

“She’s fine. Really. I think she’s over the
worst of it already.” He looked at the grazes and bruises. Now that
they were healing, they’d turned into interesting shades of black,
blue and green. “She fell?”

“Car accident,” Hafiq lied smoothly. Gossip
was meat and drink to Port Sudan residents and he didn’t want the
story of how he found his girl naked, in a market ,to become a nine
days wonder. He didn’t want the authorities lining up, sniffing for
a share of the pickings.

Appeased by the old man’s words and clutching
some extra medicines, Hafiq had driven home sedately. Money and
apologies at both army checkpoints soothed ruffled feathers and
prevented an angry summons from town officials.

Driving into the gates of his home, Hafiq
determined to get some rest. Carrying her indoors, Hafiq thought
for a second and then decided to take her to his room. It was his
rule to keep his room a private sanctuary but he couldn’t face
sleeping in a chair in the guestroom again.

He sponged Lilly down again, dressed her in a
pyjama top he found in a drawer, tucked her under the covers and
felt her forehead. He thought it was cooler but it might have been
the effect of the early morning air. At least she wasn’t delirious
anymore.

Hafiq lay down with a groan of pleasure. He
hadn’t slept in his own bed for almost a fortnight. Rolling onto
his side to take one last look at Lilly before catching some sleep,
he was surprised to see her looking at him. Her eyes were clear and
bright with recognition.

“Hello,” he said quietly. “How are you
feeling?”

“I’m good.” Her voice was low but she sounded
like herself. “Where am I?”

“My place.” Hafiq replied.

Her eyes were a few inches away from his. She
smiled. “More like in your bed, I think.”

Hafiq grinned. She was definitely over her
fever. “Do you want anything? A drink of water, something to
eat?”

“No thank you.” She could see shadows under
his eyes. She was aware that he’d not left her side for days. “I
know I already said this but thanks for looking after me.”

“It’s no problem.” He was so happy to see she
was all right, that he really didn’t mind. He’d grown more than
fond of her.

Seeing the smile in his eyes Lilly smiled
back. Without thinking about it, she wriggled closer and settled
herself against him.

Hafiq stiffened with surprise. He wondered
what she was doing, then realised she was just making herself
comfortable. The trust she showed stirred his heart. He carefully
put an arm around her, settling her head on his shoulder. He was
rewarded with a happy sigh.

“This sounds really corny,” Lilly muttered,
“but I feel really calm. It’s like I’ve died and this is the start
of a whole new life.”

Hafiq stroked her hair. He was so tired that
he couldn’t keep his eyes open. “I never thought I’d be a midwife,”
he mumbled. Two seconds later, he was fast asleep.

When Lilly woke up, she was instantly aware
of being alone. She touched the pillow next to hers. It was cool.
He must have gotten up ages ago.

Lilly suddenly felt abandoned. Hastily she
got out of bed. Peeking through the windows she could see a
terraced garden. It was deserted. A quick glance in the room next
door revealed that it too was empty. She recognised it instantly as
“her” room. Someone had made the bed and tidied the bathroom.

Looking around, she spotted the slave collar
lying on the bedside table. Half curious and half repelled, Lilly
picked it up. It was just a thin rolled iron circlet with two loops
at the ends but to Lilly it looked evil. She shuddered as she
remembered its rough edges scraping her skin.

“Thought you’d like to keep it. It’s not the
usual tourist souvenir, is it?”

Lilly almost jumped out of her skin. He was
standing right behind her.

“Jesus!” She was instantly flooded with
guilt. “Sorry. Taken His Name in vain. Didn’t mean that.”

“Gave you a scare, huh?”

He wore swimming trunks and had a damp towel
thrown over one shoulder. Lilly suddenly realised how big he was.
At six feet two he towered over her. She knew he was strong by the
way he’d carried her but now she could see the muscles rippling
down his chest and arms. She’d seen bodybuilders with less
muscle.

He’s gorgeous! Her inner voice exulted. Give
him a kiss!

He was so close that she could smell him. It
was a clean scent, with a hint of salt. From the sand on his feet
she realised that he had been swimming. She finally identified that
steady noise in the background as ocean surf.

“Let’s have a look at you.” He slung the
towel over his shoulder, put an arm around her and casually put a
hand on the side of her neck.

Lilly became enormously aware that she was
wearing nothing but a pyjama top that barely covered her bum. It
was plain black but made of the softest China silk. The way it was
clinging softly to her body, outlining her curves and fluttering
lightly across the tops of her thighs, set her senses tingling.

Ooooooh, what a slut, her secret self
jeered.

Stricken, Lilly could feel a flush of
embarrassment flooding over her.

Unaware of her rising embarrassment, Hafiq
checked her over systematically. He’d done it so often during the
last week that it had become routine.

He looked briefly at her eyes, noting that
they were no longer bloodshot. He touched her neck; slightly warm
but not feverish. Then, turning her around so that she stood in the
light, he held back her hair and checked her neck. The bruises and
grazes left by the collar were fading. Gently holding her wrists,
he turned her arms so he could see her elbows. The rope burn had
healed completely. If she kept out of the sun for a while, it
wouldn’t leave a mark.

He looked at her legs and was lifting the
pyjama top to check the rest of her when he realised that she had
stopped breathing. At first he thought the flush was a sign of the
fever returning but when she couldn’t look him in the eye, he
realised she was blushing furiously.

Hafiq was instantly amused. “You know I’ve
seen all this before, right?”

She mumbled something as she tried to tug the
pyjama top down over her thighs.

“What?”

Lilly looked him in the eye and then looked
away. “I said I know you have.” He was still holding her. Part of
her wished he’d let go; part of her wanted to nestle up against
him.

Hafiq knew enough about women to know exactly
what was going through her mind. Her blush brought it home that
he’d been so busy monitoring the health of her body, that he’d
forgotten she was a girl.

He looked at her again, noting the long
shapely legs, the gently rounded arms and the heart-shaped face
with the big, green eyes. Her chestnut hair set off her creamy,
white skin. After a week of nursing her, he knew every inch of her.
In his mind’s eye he could see the soft breasts and the trim waist
that lay underneath the pyjama top.

She smelled good too. There was the faintest
whiff of peach soap that he’d used to wash her but what attracted
him was her own fragrance. It was pure, warm, clean, toasty and
all-girl. The scent went straight to his toes - and his cock.

He leaned down and kissed her lips lightly.
Her mouth was velvety soft. As he kissed her again, she wrapped her
arms around his neck. He could feel her body pressing against his.
She was warm, luscious and soft. Her lips parted and she moaned
slightly. He was instantly flooded with desire.

Hafiq picked Lilly up, tossed her on to the
bed, jumped in next to her and began to peel off her top.

Instantly Lilly squeaked a protest. “Hey, no,
wait a minute!”

Puzzled, Hafiq stopped. “What’s up, Green
Eyes?”

She had both hands against his chest, pushing
him away. He could see she was near panic. He spoke soothingly.
“What is it? What’s wrong? You’re not feeling sick, are you?”

“No, it’s not that.” Flooded with confusion,
she couldn’t look at him directly. “Mr Master.” She stopped, paused
and looked at him with a little frown that he was dying to kiss
away. “I don’t know why I’m calling you that. I’m going to call you
Yuri, ok?”

Hafiq wondered if the fever had turned her
brain. “You can if you like but my name is Hafiq.”

Lilly stared at him. “I could have sworn you
said your name was Yuri Masters.”

He couldn’t help laughing. “It’s Hafiq. Hafiq
Rahma Mansur.”

Lilly blinked. “Oh my God! Not “Yuri Masters”
but “Your Master”.

Hafiq grinned. “It seemed appropriate. In
fact, my great grandfather was known as the Slave King of
Africa.”

“So buying girls off the block runs in the
family.”

She was the most unusual girl he’d ever met,
Hafiq decided. She also looked adorable with her face all flushed
and the laughter set her breasts jiggling. Encouraged, he ran his
hands round her body and up her back.

Lilly closed her eyes. The feel of his warm,
slightly rough skin electrified her. She had a sudden flashback,
seeing herself sitting in a tub of bubbles as he sponged her all
over.

He’s hot and we want him, her ever-truthful
self whispered salaciously.