Page 31 of Dancing With Temptation

“I am, yes. Why? I’m not just a pretty face you know.” He pulled her close to whisper the words to her. “Although, your face is much prettier to look at than mine.”

“That’s debatable, Link.” She got her own dig in by calling him the nickname he hated.

“You might get a spanking if you do that again.” He growled along her throat and she had to hold back a loud giggle. They were still in the village, where anyone could hear what was going on in the tent.

“Don’t you make promises you can’t keep here.” She turned to pull him down onto the bed with her while his hand reached out to turn off the lantern on the bedside table.

“I can keep some promises, Roxie.” He whispered against her lips as heat flared to life between them.

“Then show me, Lincoln. Don’t tell me, show me.” She whispered back before she caught his lips with hers.

There was something different about the moment they shared this time. She’d always hated the term making love. It was fucking or sex to her but this? The soft, gentle way he touched her, the way they seemed to worship each other and merge in those dark hours they spent together, might just be making love. When it was over, they clung together, both too tired to speak.

Roxie turned, realizing they hadn’t used a condom, but not caring. It was a safe time in her cycle, she hoped. She didn’t want to get pregnant. Motherhood wasn’t in the stars for her, but she enjoyed the special moment they shared and didn’t want to spoil it with worry about pregnancies.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Lincoln. I think I needed it.” She said finally, though she wasn’t sure if he was still awake.

“It’s my pleasure, Rox. Thanks for agreeing to come with me. I know we haven’t spent much time together here, but we will at some point. And we have the nights to spend together. That makes this place even more special.”

“I’m glad I came with you.” Her fingers twined into his in the darkness and for a while, they were quiet, listening to the rain.

Roxie was glad the tent had a sturdy plastic floor, otherwise, she’d be walking around in mud. Whoever bought these tents knew what they were doing.

* * *

A couple of days passed, and Lincoln said they’d have to stay a little while longer. The only problem was, he needed to go to Singapore to take care of some business there.

“Do you want to go with me and go back home?” He asked late in the evening.

“No. I’d like to stay another week, please? Pretty please?” She balled her hands up under her chin and blinked her eyelashes at him with a grin. “I don’t want to leave yet.”

“If you’re sure you want to stay, that’s fine with me.” He kissed the tip of her nose, a habit he had now, and went to sit in one of the camp chairs arranged around her tent. He still maintained his own tent, but he spent most of his evenings in here with her. “I don’t want to fly out there, but it has to be done. I’d rather stay here with you though.”

His eyes locked onto her and Roxie was shocked to read what he’d left unspoken written all over his face. He’d love to stay here with her forever. For a second, Roxie was sure her own face said the same thing, but she looked away.

Forever was a long time and they still had the contract, and, well, life was complicated. She didn’t deserve, couldn’t afford, to think about forever with anyone. She’d lost too much already. But maybe. Maybe she could pretend while she was here, that there was a chance for that.

They made love again that night, with him remembering the condom this time. It was slow, gentle, and brought out the stars and the sky behind her eyes. Slow and hushed, Lincoln claimed her in a way she’d never been claimed before. She was certain he’d consumed every part of her soul completely, with his slow caresses and the urging of his body.

When she woke up the next morning, she had a smile on her face even though she was alone in the narrow bed. It was as she taught a group of 7-year-olds how to say ‘red’ in English that she finally understood it wasn’t just Lincoln that had caused this odd change in her thoughts and feelings, it was the people of this village that had changed her as well. It was a good change, she decided, a positive step forward that she wouldn’t resist.

She remembered the last time Emily’s mother had tried to insult her, how she’d sneered that Roxie’s parents must be ever so proud of her, and couldn’t help but hold her head up a little higher. Her parents would be proud if they knew who she was now, even with the stripping and pole dancing part of her life. She was a decent human being, at least, which was more than could be said for some people born with a silver spoon in their sour mouths.

Since the day she finally picked herself up out of the memory of the ashes of her burned-down home and the death of her parents, Roxie had not cowed before anyone. But being here taught her that she wasn’t as bad as she thought she was. She’d had to work hard and fight to be where she was back home, but here? Here she got the chance to be so much more than she ever thought she’d get a chance to be.

Lincoln had promised that he’d only be gone for a day or two and two days had passed without him coming back. She wasn’t surprised to know she missed him and wanted him to come back to the village. It might have been easier if he’d been able to call her or text, but he must have been really busy because there was no contact from him at all.

The hours passed though, filled with teaching kids dance moves after school and playing with them. She made more friends, both with the team working there and the locals. For a while, she actually felt like a necessary part of a community and it was…nice.

In the evenings she talked with Wendy through video chats, she called Emily once, and texted the girls she used to work with. They were all really excited to hear about what Roxie was doing in Cambodia and it felt good to have their support. But then, she’d always had the support of her friends, she just hadn’t been in the habit of accepting it too often. Maybe that would change when she went back home.

When Roxie woke up on the third morning of Lincoln’s absence, she headed over to the eating area to get breakfast. The sky was dark and ominous, so it wasn’t a surprise when she heard the others talking about a storm that was supposed to arrive in three days. Roxie didn’t say anything to anyone but if they’d asked her opinion, she’d have told them that storm was arriving early.

She spent the day helping the adult villagers with their English pronunciation and was about to go to lunch when the wind picked up drastically. She could see why Lincoln was so eager to get the buildings repaired here in the village. The repairs had continued while he was gone and most of them were done now, with the help of so many people. It looked like they’d finished just in time for another storm to tear through.

Thunder started to echo through the long row of houses in the village, houses that looked like something out of the Three Little Pigs story, while Roxie wandered back to her tent. When rain started to pour down on the tent in a heavy torrent and the wind threatened to pull it up out of the ground, Roxie gathered up her things and went over to the temporary community center. It was the sturdiest building there.

She wasn’t the only one who had that idea because she saw almost the entire village and Lincoln’s crew sitting on chairs and the floor, waiting to ride out the storm. The downpour only grew worse, threatening even the sturdiest buildings in the village. The door to the community center flung open and everyone gasped, their heads turning to the door.