Daylight fluttered into the room and nudged the usually dawn blind Miss Fisher into waking. She yawned and turned her head to see her Chinese warrior splayed in sleep next to her. Her hand snaked out and laid itself on his head to stroke his hair, as dark as her own and just as fine. To others, the loss of an ear rendered him just short of imperfect but for her, she could want no other. In a photograph, the beauty of the room and its inhabitants would be sold for thousands. Her luminescent glow complimented his bronze countenance much like the meeting of the sun and the moon. Together they fused together as one without dulling any of their radiance.
She gazed around the room and noted the satisfactory way their clothes had been flung onto the floor and chair. Some on the bed even. Her black fur stole lay prettily on the next pillow and it mimicked her yawn and stretch perfectly…oh it was just the cat. Ember looked very stole-like when draped elegantly on a piece of furniture. He was also a ruthless hungry bastard and would trip anyone over for a piece of bacon. Soon he would smell breakfast and would be itching to run downstairs.
Phryne lazily allowed her body to shift further off the bed until she was fully upright. If she was going to be up at this infernal hour, she needed coffee. Strong, dark Turkish stuff, much like one of her earliest dalliances. Short on brains, long on thigh. And other places. She draped a dark purple silk kimono around her languid form and opened the door, persuading her clever fur stole to roll off the bed and run towards the sound of the preparation of kedgeree. If he got there right away he could cajole Mrs Butler into giving him some of that fish.
It was cold on the landing. Phryne softly shut the door and went to sit at her dressing table. She contemplated on her doll-like face in the mirror and sprayed another few drops of Jicky on her collarbone. The silver ring she had got from Shanghai caught her attention. She picked it up and slowly twirled it around to catch the gleam in the new-born light. An intertwined dragon and phoenix, the symbol of the Emperor and Empress. A perfect union of male and female. She considered the creatures and decided that Lin was more suited to being the phoenix, that man who had slipped from the brink of death and she, the dragon. She had ferociously fought for his return and had come just as close to the cold grip of death. The eyes glimmered at her and she could almost hear the hiss of fire, the swish of the wings.
She put it down and carefully slipped back into the silken embrace of her moss green sheets. Her lover did not wake. Perfect. She let herself succumb to the sweet kiss of sleep. Coffee could wait.