Torrential Love

Chapter Twelve

~DUNCAN~

The two figures stopped in their tracks, and their bodies turned towards each other. One of them shoved the other playfully, and the other stepped back a little before lurching forward again to catch his partner. They soon disappeared from the end of the alleyway.

Duncan heaved a sigh of relief. That was close. He thought that those two men were the unfriendly men from before. He could hear their thoughts in his head. They were close, and roaming about the alleyways nearby looking for targets. The two men who had chased each other playfully earlier were lovers according to their thoughts.

He reached the end of that alleyway in no time and removed some food from his pockets to throw at the ground. In no time, a few rats emerged from the drains to feed on the pieces of food. Hopefully, those men from the KKK would not cross this path and find the couple. They weren't exactly fond of homosexuals either.

Duncan walked down the other side of the path and returned home. When he was within the comfort of his home again, he brought the books over to Yael. She took them from him and her face lit up in excitement as she read the words on the covers. She beamed at him.

He took the chair from his table and pulled it to the side of her bed, then sat down on it. He showed her the book that he purchased to teach him conversational Hebrew and pleasant surprise crossed her features.

"I hope we'll be able to understand each other soon," he said to her.

She blinked in confusion. "Et un ye, Du - " she said. "Du - "

It took him a while before he understood she was trying to speak his name, but was having difficulty.

"Duncan," he said to her. "Dun. Can."

"Der - " she said. "De - "

He brought his hand closer to his mouth. Showing her how his tongue touched the top row of his teeth, he spoke the first part of his own name slowly for her.

"Dun," he said.

She stared at his mouth, then mimicked the way his tongue had touched his teeth.

"Dar - "

He reached a finger and thumb towards her and held her chin in between them, pulling her mouth open. Her lips parted.

"Dun - " she said.

"Can," he finished for her.

"Dun. Can," she said. He nodded and her face brightened with pride. "Duncan!"

"Yael," he said to her.

"Duncan."

"Yes, Yael?"

She continued to beam at him. Lifting her language book up, she showed it to him with a cheeky smile. She flipped it open and traced her finger along the first few lines, her brows furrowing in deep concentration.

He smiled, getting up from his seat to head to the kitchen to cook dinner for the both of them. As he prepared the food, he could hear her practising the English words with focus. He slid all the diced food into the pot and the stew simmered. He covered the pot with the lid.

"Duncan!"

He spun around.

"Duncan," Yael said again.

He came over to her side, dropping to the seat before her. She was trying to say something, but her mouth couldn't form the words right away. He stared at her pink lips, and they adjusted.

"What do you want to say?" Duncan asked her.

She closed her lips before parting them again to lick them with her tongue. She looked between him and the book, and took a deep breath in before she spoke.

"Duncan," she said. "Thank you."