Page 80 of Leviticus
"What do you mean?"
"You held your own and were the picture of the perfect Zion wife. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it." It had honestly taken a huge burden of worry off of me, worrying about how we would act around everyone else after a month of being openly ourselves.
"What do you mean by that, anyway?" she asked, suddenly moving away from me and sitting up in bed.
"By what, exactly?" I rolled over onto my back, putting my hands behind my head.
"The picture of the perfect Zion wife." I could hear the confusion in her voice, which honestly confused me as well.
"Well, I just mean that we don't exactly behave like everyone else in town. And it's better that we keep it that way. Like we already discussed." I could feel a tightness grip my stomach, like a silent hand that had been lying in wait and was now beginning to fist.
"I get that, but... I am a Zion wife, aren't I?"
The question hung in the air. And it was the one question that could begin a barrage of questions that could ultimately ruin everything.
"You know what I mean, Ruth. Let's get some sleep before another busy day begins tomorrow." I pushed the question aside even though I felt awful doing so. I just wasn't sure how to broach the subject yet.
"Of course," she agreed with a sigh. She still snuggled right back into my arms. A fact that — for now — let me rest with ease.
"What should I cook for all of you tonight?" Ruth called from the kitchen. I was looking over the numbers for Malachi after his phone call this morning. He was looking into a few investment opportunities that I had to admit, were quite good options. Options I, myself, wasn't sure I could pass up either. After a long discussion in the early morning hours, we had agreed to go in together on not only the property he had found but the additional acreage surrounding it. Acquiring it without drawing too much attention from Zion was the tricky part.
"Anything is fine," I shouted back, only for theclick-clacksound of her shoes to follow.
"Anything is not an appropriate answer, Levi. I don't know your brothers. I will need your insight to prepare a good meal for them," she argued. It was adorable the way she wanted to impress them. Especially considering the fact that she did not go to half these lengths with our company yesterday.
"Ugh, please? Please just be a teensy bit helpful. Any tidbit. Please," she begged.
"You're awfully tempting when you beg, lovely one," I teased, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I'd rather be responding tothatthan trying to plan a dinner for four men I've never truly met," she scoffed and I laughed heartily.
"Alright, alright. Malachi is your typical meat and potatoes kind of guy. Gideon and Ollie are both just food lovers and will eat almost anything you put in front of them. Well, except for cabbage. Ollie loathes cabbage which means the other four of us will feed him cabbage as often as humanly possible," I offered.
"Leviticus! That's cruel!" she scolded. I found myself enjoying the way her brow furrowed in disappointment, but it didn't stop my laughter.
"That's just how us brothers are, lovely. Zeke is a bit picky with food and eats more like a bird than anything. Don't be offended if he doesn't eat much. That's just Zeke. But all in all, they will love your food. It's sweet that you want to make food they will enjoy." I stood from my desk and walked to her, wrapping her in my arms and kissing the top of her head.
"Well, I'm not some heathen," she scoffed, but wrapped her arms around my waist.
"Well... you kinda are," I teased. I couldn't help myself.
"Now, that does sound like a good time, Mr. Temple. How do I get that scheduled into my evening, exactly?" she asked with a come hither smile that drew me in.
I leaned in, whispering in her ear, "Schedule what exactly, Mrs. Temple? Use those sweet, sexy words you know I love to hear."
I saw the shiver run down her body as she considered her options. What she said, however, floored me.
"What if I want something different?" she whispered, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.
"Use your words," I reiterated, my voice sounding deeper, even to my own ears.
"What if I want pain?"
You could have knocked me down with a feather. My jaw ached with how tightly my teeth were clenched. My muscles shook with the effort to not throw her over my shoulder and show her just how beautiful pain could really be.
"Are you sure?" I asked, my voice rough and my throat tight with need.
"I am sure that I want to try it. I am sure that I trust you to take care of me. Just... go slowly." The hesitation in her voice was understandable. I nodded for nearly a full minute before I realized I hadn't actually spoken my response.
