Aris: A Sexy Romance Novel (Thief of Hearts Series Book 1) by Elody Knight Page B

smile on her face.  She tilted her head motioning for Saoirse to come down to her.   Mata took her hand leading her to the market.  The woman wound her way through the stalls and stands looking at all the vendor’s wares. 
    “You eat fruit?”
    “It doesn’t matter.  I’ll eat whatever.”
    “No.  You eat what you like.”
    “Fruit is fine Mata.”  Saoirse smiled at her.
    “You are afraid?”
    “Afraid?  I don’t understand.”
    “Aris.”
    “No.  I’m not afraid of Aris.  He just...”  Saoirse wasn’t sure how to describe the conflict he created inside her.  Part of her remembered the man that kissed her in the helicopter.  The part of the man that smelled so good last night and felt so warm with his arms around her.  But she didn’t trust him.  Part of her was sure that he’d hurt her.  He didn’t play by any rules.  He’d get his own way.  How did anyone deal with that?  He seemed to know everything about her already, right down to raw unsalted cashews, but how did he know?  It rattled her confidence that he had all the answers.  It made her nerves raw that he knew she liked the dress but was upset that he gave it to her.  He just did whatever he wanted and everyone else followed along.  She wasn’t good at following.
    Saoirse put her hand over her growling stomach, “Excuse me.”
    Mata giggled.  She took her to a small white and blue building.  Inside there were several women that recognized Mata when she came in.  She spoke to them in the same language that Saoirse supposed Aris and Noah had used with her.  It was probably something wildly exotic that fit more in with Aris’s world than it did in her everyday life. 
    The ladies chatted for a few minutes before handing a large cup across to Saoirse.
    “What is it?”
    Mata seemed confused about the word, she could say it in her own language, but didn’t know it in English.  The other ladies didn’t speak enough English to know either.  Mata waved her hand.  “It’s good.  Eat.”  she said something more to the ladies as they waved. 
    “Thank you.” Saoirse called out.  The ladies in the shop smiled waving at her.
    Whatever it was, it was slightly chilled.  It was an odd orangish yellow color, but it was sweet and creamy.  She guessed the chunks in it were mango or papaya or something of that sort.  Better still, it made her headache go away.  Saoirse followed Mata around the market.  She bought cheese, fruit, and some nuts.  She also bought fish, which, in this market, meant they were whole.  Mata laughed at the face Saoirse made at the sight of the fish’s face.  She also bought chicken.  Unfortunately, Seer thought she might lose her breakfast as the vendor butchered the chicken on the spot.  Mata had a good giggle at Saoirse about that too. 
    Saoirse had several bags on her arms by the time Mata was done shopping.  Standing in a corner of the market, Mata seemed to be taking a mental tally of everything she had gotten.  An odd aroma wafted through the air.  Saoirse frowned trying to figure out what it was.  It was odd, but not bad. 
    Mata saw the confusion on her face.  She took a deep breath thinking about something.  She thought for a little bit longer before throwing her shoulders up.  Smiling she said, “Koyn.”
    “I don’t understand what that is.”
    “We eat.”  Mata said, leading her in the direction of the smell.  There were a couple of fifty gallon drums cut in half with wire mesh holding meat roasting on them.  Mata began talking to one of the men.  He pulled two of the skewers off, handing them to her with two flat loaves of bread.  Mata motioned for her to hold out her hands as she pushed the meat off of the stick onto the bread, then took a bottle from the top of another drum.  It was a cloudy color with bits of white floating in it.  Mata shook it up until everything was swirling around, shaking it lightly on the bread and meat.
    They sat down on a patch