Eve laughed and scratched the pup behind the ears. It was desperate to lick her face. With all that dark fur, she didn’t dare hold it in her wedding gown, but that would be remedied soon enough.
“He’s darling, Garrit. Absolutely perfect!”
“He’ll be waiting for you in the kennel in the morning. I’d rather not have a cold wet nose in the bed tonight.”
She smirked and scratched the dog under its chin. “I think I can go along with that. Unless you do something awful to offend me before the night is out.”
He chuckled and kissed her cheek, pulling her away from the dog and its handler and toward the dance floor. “I’ll try not to.”
Chapter Fourteen: Creation
“Reu,” the voice was soft, urgent and female. Eve rolled closer to the warm body next to her, without opening her eyes. “Reu, you must wake up. If Adam can’t find her this morning, or worse, finds her here with you…”
She felt him move beneath her, carefully withdrawing his arm from beneath her head. She heard herself mumble an objection, but he removed himself anyway with a soft apology.
“Is he awake yet?”
“No,” the woman said. “Sarah and I slept in shifts so we would be sure to wake you before dawn. He’s going to be furious, Reu.”
There was a sigh, and then Reu touched her on the shoulder, shaking her gently. “Eve. Wake up.”
She opened her eyes. Hannah stood over Reu’s shoulder, her expression anxious. “Forgive us, my lady, but if he doesn’t find you, it will be a bad day for everyone.”
Eve rubbed her face and let Reu help her sit up. “Don’t call me that, Hannah. Please.”
“Adam insists.” But she smiled. “Thank you, for what you did for Sarah, yesterday. He would’ve beaten her if you hadn’t stopped him.”
“Go back, Hannah. We’ll be along in a moment. Once he’s awake, you’ll need to check on Lilith. I don’t expect she’ll be well. Bring her some of the bark from the willow tree.”
Hannah nodded and left.
Eve frowned. “What do you think he’ll have done to her?”
Reu shook his head, his face tense again. “Adam uses her poorly when he takes her. He’s convinced her that she has to let him, and none of us have been able to tell her otherwise. Because she allows him, it doesn’t violate God’s law, but it doesn’t make it right.” He stood up, taking her hand. “We need to get you back.”
She let him pull her to her feet and kept her hand in his as they walked. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
He sighed and looked at her, his eyes dark. “You’ll see, soon enough. Though I wish I could keep it from you. Make sure you go with the other women to bathe today. It will be safer for you that way.”
“Safer than what?”
“Than if he takes you himself.” His hand tightened around hers. “Remember what I told you, yesterday. Try not to let him separate you from the others. I’ll keep close, but he’ll be looking for my interference. He might try to send me away.”
The cave was still deep in shadow. Hannah sat near the mouth, grinding the bark between two stones. She smiled at Eve as they passed inside, but said nothing. The others were still sleeping. Reu sat down in the dirt and she dropped to the earth beside him. After sleeping in the grass, the stone chilled her. She shivered and slipped beneath his arm.
He sighed again and tucked her head beneath his chin. “He’ll be angry if he finds us this way.”
“He’ll be angry no matter what.” She curled up against his body and closed her eyes. It was still dark enough to sleep, and she was tired and cold. “I’ll protect you. I’ll tell him I made you keep me warm.”
Reu laughed softly in her ear and wrapped his other arm around her to draw her closer. “You can try.”
Then he fell silent, and she listened to his heartbeat, and the way his breathing slowed. The warmth of his body lulled her back into sleep, but his voice followed her into unconsciousness.
“It’s worth any beating he might give me.”
Something hit her hard in the side, painfully, and she twisted away from it with a gasp even before she opened her eyes.
Adam was standing over her, his expression hard and his eyes like stone. “Get up.”
Reu helped her to her feet, putting himself between her and Adam when it looked like he might strike at her again. “Lord Adam. Did we disturb you?”
Adam ignored him, staring at her.
“I was cold. The stone chilled me.”
His eyes narrowed. “We’ll search the Garden today. I trust that will settle your curiosity from yesterday. You’ll have no reason to get lost in the trees again.”
There was no question in her mind about why he was doing this. It wasn’t for her curiosity. It was for him. For the fruit. Whatever that meant.
Adam’s gaze flicked back to Reu again. “Organize the others and send them into the Garden in pairs. I want a sample of every fruit from every tree brought back. Anything unfamiliar. You’re to taste nothing until I’ve seen it. Is that understood?”
Reu nodded, though his forehead furrowed. Adam stared at him until he left, but Reu glanced back at her from the mouth of the cave before he disappeared and she saw the promise in his eyes. He wouldn’t be far.
Eve dropped her gaze to the dirt, hoping Adam hadn’t noticed. He tilted her chin up, forcing her head to the side to look at her cheek.
She didn’t stop him. Even as his thoughts flooded her mind.
“I wish you hadn’t made me hurt you, Eve. I’ve only ever wanted to honor you. To keep you by my side.”
“You didn’t have to hurt me, Adam,” she said softly. “You don’t have to hurt any of us.”
He grunted, his fingers tightening on her chin. “If you had only waited to speak to me privately, instead of challenging my authority in front of the others, all of this could have been avoided. Look what I offer you, now. A chance to do all the exploration you like. Because you desired it. I would always give you what you desire, if you would only ask.” He shook his head, his eyes hardening again. “And then I find you here, sleeping in the arms of that dog. He’s beneath you.”
She pulled her face away. Reu had promised to keep her from Adam, if it was what she desired. Promised to protect her as well as he was able. But at what cost to himself? Would Adam cast Reu from the Garden when she refused to join him in his chambers, when she refused to let him have her body beneath his? Would he make her watch while he beat Reu for his kindness to her?
“I was only cold. The stone was so cold on my skin after the heat of the sun all day. It wasn’t his fault. I commanded it of him.”
“It’s cruel, Eve, to make a man love you when you already belong to another.”
She looked up then, studying him. They were alone in the cave. “I thought I was your equal.”
He sighed and stroked her arm.
“Is that what Elohim told you? That we were meant to be together?”
His eyes flashed with anger. She saw it clearly in his mind. It was the voice from the void, the same voice that had called her to life and put air in her lungs.
