"With a sheepish grin he replied, "What do you expect? You've tried my wife's cooking. I'm lucky I can still fit through the door."I laughed, glad to ...ee him in such good spirits. It was only a few months ago that he was injured when a fight in the bar spilled out to the street. While trying to break up the melee, a thug pulled a knife and caught him under the ribs. He had been in the hospital for a week, then at home for another ten days before being able to return to work on restricted duty.. This pod is a refuge for all the concubines of Ishtar. It's a place for us to engage in projects we want to surprise the citizens with."Whitney looked unconvinced. "Such as?" she spat.Tina stepped forward. "How about we show you. Follow me." She then walked over to the door leading to the weaving room. Janice and I followed with smiles as Claire nudged a frowning Whitney to join in.When we arrived the door opened and Tina stepped inside. She quickly made her way over to the loom where she was. Life was good. Of course, his mother kept nagging him about continuing the family line. He would always wave her away, "Ma, you know I'm not interested in being tied down to just one woman. Besides, you know I'm too busy. I don't have time to meet women."It was true, he didn't have the time. Sure, there were always women fawning over him, but none had really kept his attention beyond a date or two. He'd had fun with Mattie. Okay, so they'd only really spent a night together, but he'd not felt. She was tilted sideways, wringing the water from her drenched hair. She looked up and laughed. ‘So.., you finally follow me into grotto. We very like this place’ she shouted in Spanglish. Mack looked around. The walls glowed with an internal luster. The grotto was built with small caves and caverns along the walls, another nod to a sense of discretion and privacy for multiple parties of occupants. The water fall provided a sound deadening reverberation that kept sounds from mixing between the.