Naila al-Kimyai is the Demon's (head) wrote in rooms,
Re: Iris' bedroom "Gray"/Iris
[Touch had always calmed her. But her leaning into his touch, that came only when her want exceeded her frequent denials. He inhaled, his arm curling around her tight shoulders, one long fingered hand rubbing up and down her bicep from elbow to shoulder.]
You cannot hurt me, Colombe. I have told you this. [But he listened, hand rustling against cloth and smiled again when she looked down and touched her belly. It wasn't round yet, not even bulging, not even a bump, but it would in the next few months.] If you had been born even a century ago, no one would think anything of these things. You would not have been expected to care for yourself. [In the years before that, she would have been seen as property, first as her father's, then as her husband's. There would have been no reason to be concerned. As for what was wrong with her -] Learned behavior does not make you unsuitable.