Goosebumps danced over my body, another moan into the coffee cup. A slurp of liquid to conceal my shameless lust. She looked right over my head at som...one behind me. I didn't care who it was, I just looked into that face.Those elegantly plucked eyebrows, those dark lashes, that soft enticing mouth. I wanted to give her my number, to try to seduce her, to show her my appreciation for that red-gold fire she wore around her neck.Gawd, I felt my heart stop for a moment. Such beauty, such flawless. I finally put the book down after an hour and put on my coat, gloves, boots, and new fedora, and went for a walk. It didn’t help much, because I had no idea how Elizaveta was going to respond.After about twenty minutes, I gave up and went back to the house, got out my guitar, and managed to lose myself in the music. I eventually put the guitar away, changed into casual clothes, and headed to the Kozlovs’ house. I had a bit of trepidation when I walked up to the front door because I wasn’t quite. In a fit of generosity, Chief Umgallah gave me all eight of the horses taken from the barbarians in the fight. This was quite a gift, and I made sure that he understood how much I appreciated it. On top of that, quite a contingent of his men rode back to our home with us as added protection. We got home in plenty of time to fix a feast for those nomads who had escorted us home, so everybody was pleased with a very productive day.It was already dark when it came time for the nomads to return to. The smell of his after-shave was still in the air. I started wondering now and walked back to the living room. He could be in the bedroom. I walked back and opened the door. It looked horrible. Sheets, blankets and pillows were spread all over the place. A small table lamp was broke right beside the bed. What happened here? I thought to myself. Suddenly an alert sign just started to ring inside my head. "I need to get my gun!" was the only thing I could think of. I walked back to the living.