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"You feel," she glimpsed A bit later, "Can’t help--" Then "beautiful" and "so wet" and "God" and "I love"

"I love this," she told hihim close "I love you"

His teainst her neck Then he shuddered, stroking into her deep--once, twice--and was still

He lay spent and heavy atop her And that was a good thing, because without his weight, Lily thought she just ht I am Julian’s wife

After athe hair fro tender, breathless kisses to her brow and cheeks "Are you well?"

She nodded "Very well indeed And you?"

"Never better" He touched the corner of her lips "And I say that with all honesty, Lily Never better"

Joy lifted her heart

He withdrew fro his arm about her midsection to keep her close

She turned on her side to face hins, the way you spoke with Anna at the coffeehouse?"

He blinked at the abrupt change of topic

"I er alphabet and never practiced it ht at the coffeehouse, she’d excavated the cruns for each letter until she could recall them from memory

He rose up on his elbow "Of course I’ll teach you, if you wish Bear in ns I use are one part e, and one part learned at the coffeehouse Finger-spelled English is more standard, if you ever mean to use it with anyone else"

"Perhaps we could practice both" She trailed a finger down the center of his chest "We are married now We have a lifetile word you say" She pushed herself to a sitting position, folding her legs under her botto the counterpane over her lap

Carefully, and ened letters with her hands

I … L … O … V … E … Y … O … U

S, he took her hands and kissed them each in turn Then he sat up beside her and said, "There’s a way to signal the end of a word Watch carefully"

She stared intently at his hands, noting the subtle wrist aze he used to separate each cluster of letters

I L-O-V-E Y-O-U

And then, T-O-O

She blinked furiously, her eyesher face to his "For God’s sake, Lily Don’t cry Is it such a terrible thing?"

"No It’s wonderful" She wiped her eyes with her wrist "I’m sorry I don’t mean to weep We love each other We’re husband and wife It’s the happiest day ofto figure it out"

He stared at her for a hed

"What?" She sniffed "What’s so a?"

"Lily You have no idea" He scratched the back of his neck, still grinning "Answer me this Do you know that you rub your left ear when you’re vexed?"

"I do? No, I don’t Do I?" Suddenly self-conscious, she pulled her fingers away froan signing along with his speech She couldn’t decode the rapidthe hiht we met," he said, "it was your twenty-fifth birthday A pleasant Wednesday evening, warold braid triloves Your hair was lovely It isted into a knot at the center, with a snon You used to wear that style often, but I haven’t seen you do so of late Have you changed lady’s ht so"

"But how did you …" Lily frowned, not understanding hiht we met"

"Your menu was inspired by Indian fare," he went on "All these exotic curries and chutneys and spiced la at the fact that you’d ordered a birthday meal of entirely unfamiliar dishes, when most would ask for old favorites It told me you have an adventurous spirit"

"Me? I don’t have an adventurous spirit" Lily wasn’t an adventurer She was a keeper of lists and ledgers She only wished she possessed an adventurous spirit

"Not adventurous?" He teased her with a look "In the past week, you’ve danced in asseeous disguise, flung yourself at es and dark alleys If that’s not proof of an adventurous spirit, I don’t knohat is But back to that first night You took us all on a culinary adventure to India Our place cards had little elephants drawn on them I still have mine, somewhere"