The Haj - Leon Uris [86]
His awe of every new aspect of this fairyland was now tempered by continuous voices of caution. It was dream stuff, his preview of paradise, but he realized Kabir’s hospitality would have a steep price.
Dinner found them in a room straight out of Arabian Nights, designed for partying. Large embroidered cloths formed a tent on the walls and ceiling, interspersed with mirrors. The floor was covered, not with thin oriental rugs, but deep plush Western carpeting. Pillows and low tables added a sense of Roman debauchery. The two men ate alone, save a quartet of handsomely muscled young servants and a pair of guards uniformed like old Turkish Janissaries with bloomered pantaloons to the ankles, wide red sashes about the waist, and fez head coverings. At the meal’s end two servants carried in a six-foot silver platter of fruits, nuts, cheeses, and European chocolates, pastries and candies that seemed half as high as Mount Arafat. Kabir clapped his hands, delivered an order, then dug into the great mound of afterdinner delights.
Lo and behold, a quintet of musicians appeared, and as they whined out a repetitious melody a belly dancer slithered in from nowhere and began to gyrate before them.
In Allah’s name! What does this man want of me! I must be alert beyond alert! This could all be a softening-up process to lull me off my guard and then assassinate me. Why does he want to kill me? Oh yes, I made him travel to Tabah once. Although that was a quarter of a century ago a man like Kabir would never forget such an insult! Nonsense! He is only trying to be a good host ... on the other hand ...
The Muktar of Tabah gaped as the woman wiggled her torso toward them, then danced directly above where he was reclining. She was not an Arab, for her skin was a Western white and her hair was gold and her eyes, blue. Kabir leaned over, propped on an elbow, and put his lips close to Ibrahim’s ear.
‘Her name is Ursula. She is German and extremely clever, very talented. She is one of my favorites. Can you believe she learned to dance like that in less than a year? She will visit your room tonight. Keep her as long as you wish.’ Kabir paused slightly to crack a walnut and his eyes roved to the male servants standing at attention. He nodded toward a young man of startling, sensual feline beauty. ‘Or take them both.’
Ursula pumped a beautifully curved, firm, delicious hip an inch from Ibrahim’s nose and met the warm, uneven breath huffing out of him. She turned ever so slowly so that her sacred part was all but in his face.
‘Why was I brought here?’ erupted from Ibrahim.
‘Time enough for business tomorrow,’ Kabir answered. ‘It has been a long day for you. I hope the night is equally long.’
The music abruptly halted, as oriental music often does.
This cannot be true, Ibrahim thought as he lay back on a satined bed in a room fit for Mohammed himself. It was dimly lit and floating little lines of incense twirled to the ceiling.
I know! She is the one assigned to kill me. I must be extremely careful.
His heart thumped audibly and tried to leap through his throat as he sensed movement behind a latticework that divided the room. He could barely see through it but could make out the girl on the other side. She feather-stepped her way into the room, gowned in filmy transparent chiffon, and came to a halt at the foot of the bed and unabashedly revealed herself, stitch by stitch, with agonizing deliberateness.
When her gown dropped to her feet, she came over the bed toward him on all fours. Haj Ibrahim seized her, threw her on her back, and his thrusts were rapid, powerful, and inflamed. In a moment he dropped back, gasping and perspiring. He had never touched flesh like hers. It was madness.
Ursula survived his first assault graciously. The next time he took longer and was not as rough. He collapsed for a second time, finished for the night. The girl lay tightly beside him and her fingers wove elfin circles about his skin.
‘You are so gentle,’ he said at last. ‘You hate me. I made love all wrong.’ He was surprised by his compulsive burst of