Tangled Passion Read Free

window.
    “Well you’ll have all the rest you need at the Fort.” Longstands promised, offering a smile that Suzanne didn’t bother to appreciate.
    “I am looking forward to it; I don’t want to lift a finger during my stay. I am here to rest, I mean to really rest,” Suzanne said, the glow and smirk on her face betraying the fact that she had everything figured out as to how she planned to spend her time at the Fort.
    “You don’t have to do anything,” Longstands replied reluctantly. Even though he was happy to have his family with him, he couldn’t help but look forward to their stay coming to an end. He couldn’t wait for Suzanne to head back to England and leave him in peace—she was the most difficult woman to please. The carriage pulled into the Fort and the female slaves fell over each other, peeping through their windows trying to catch a glimpse of Massa Longstands’s family; especially his wife
    “She is four times his size,” one of them whispered.
    “And taller too but I love her dress,” another whispered.
    “I don’t like her and I don’t like her dress. Look at the way she is walking, the arrogance and air of unlimited authority she flaunts. Look at how she is inspecting the yard; I think we are in trouble as long as she is here,” a third added.
    “Hmm!” the others agreed, pulling back their heads from the window.
    A few hours later, the square was packed again. “This group consists of the chefs,” Massa Longstands said, commencing his introductions with Nathan and Suzanne by his side. “They are responsible for the meals—one, two, and three,” he added, pointing out two women and a man from the group dressed in sparkling white aprons, “prepare our meals and the remaining four prepare the meals for the others.” Suzanne nodded without a smile. Longstands went ahead to introduce the yard slaves responsible for maintaining the Fort; the trees, flowers, and grasses as well as the reinforcement of dilapidating structures. Suzanne nodded again, this time excited at the number of people at her disposal. Nathan also nodded but with lesser enthusiasm; unlike his mother, he was not enjoying the parading of humans like goods on a display and he was just about to excuse himself when his eyes fell on Ashana.
    She was amongst the plantation slaves, standing at least one foot taller than the others. Nathan cautiously adjusted his position for a better view, being careful to conceal his movement; he needed a better view and he got it. She was slim, her shoulders slightly broad with voluptuous breasts that stood erect on her chest, pushing fiercely against the cloth that barely covered her body. Her hands were slim and long and so were her fingers and legs; her stomach was flat and the slight curvature of her hips and hind was appealingly proportionate to her body.
    In Nathan’s eyes she was the epitome of beauty. In his heart, she was a princess disguised as a slave and there wasn’t the slightest doubt or hesitation in his mind about his desire for her. He admired her skin; smooth with a shiny chocolate-brown tone that reflected in the sun. His eyes were still on her when his father ended the introductions and permitted the slaves to return to their quarters, and they were still on her as she turned her back and slowly dissolved in the sea of slaves hurrying back to their quarters.
    Later that night Jonah sat in the pitch darkness behind the hut that he had known for the eighteen years that he’d spent at the Fort. His chin rested on his knees and his thought travelled many miles away; journeying to lands very far from the one he found himself trapped in, and resting in an imaginary land where he was free with Ashana. The wind travelled back and forth, briefly caressing his body then it rushed into the bushes where it noisily rustled the leaves and branches before vanishing. Jonah enjoyed every minute of the routine; it was almost as though he were friends with the wind, which enjoyed