of his inheritance money and bought a plot of land on Grand Cayman. With Rachael’s help he had secured a loan to build a house on it. He had worked on the site every day spending hours helping, even after the workmen had long since gone home. He had sold the property for a healthy profit and over the next five years, he had built up one of the most successful property development companies in the Cayman Islands. In fact, this evening was one of their first in the brand-new house that Joe had built for his wife.
Joe turned his admiring gaze towards Rachael as she lay just a few yards away. As she slept, her hair cradled her face in a pillow of auburn, and Joe spent a few minutes appreciating the part that she played in his happiness. She and Joe were so different that their relationship served to strengthen the theory that opposites attract.
Rachael had achieved a respectable position with the legal department of government and could easily have followed her father into politics, but there were more important things on her mind. Rachael’s greatest desire now was to hear the patter of tiny feet, perhaps a couple of pairs.
Joe found these thoughts stimulating and with a naughty grin he concluded that if Rachael had not yet conceived, it was not for lack of trying. Just imagining making love to his wife, Joe became aroused and played out the scene in his mind.
The sun was slowly sinking below the waves and like a drowning artist, it painted its last skyscape. In a breathtaking spectrum of colors that ranged from a rich yellow to a deep blood-red, skillfully blended on Nature’s blue canvas, it submerged in a fleeting flash of green and was gone.
This seemed to be the signal for hungry mosquitoes to emerge from their inactivity and search for their precious food, blood; preferably human. With the high-pitched whining of the first unwelcome insect in his ear, Joe decided to rescue his wife from the impending raid. Moving his six-foot frame quickly, he scooped his wife’s warm body into his wiry arms and smiled reassuringly at her as she awoke, pleasantly surprised at reality commencing where her dream had just left off.
“Mmm. Kidnapped by a horny pirate,” she teased, “Don’t tell my husband.”
“I promise,” whispered Joe. Rachael winked at him, drawing a smile from her captor. As well as being the gateway to her sensuality, her eyes were unique to look at. Their shape was slightly oriental, a legacy from a Chinese great-grandmother and the pupils were lost in an animated sea of green whose waters it would take a lifetime to chart.
Joe maneuvered himself and his prize between their two recliners and strode past the kidney-shaped pool to the patio door. Enjoying his firm grip, Rachael slid the door open from her vantage point so that Joe would not have to put her down. A cool wave flowed over them. The central air-conditioning had performed perfectly and the formation of goose pimples on Joe’s tense arms sped him to the bedroom.
Joe set Rachael down gently on their bed, her arms still wrapped around his neck. She did not want to let go and Joe came forward to kiss her in appreciation of this. They slid under the solitary top sheet and turned to face each other.
They came closer together, probing each other’s warmth, searching for opportunities to please one another. They both knew when the time had come, and when it did, they merged slowly and deliberately, savoring the moment. Rachael’s hands ran down Joe’s sides. Her touch was electric. Her legs began to quiver and she gripped him tightly with them. He sensed her urgency, moving faster and faster spurred on by her pleading, breathless voice. He felt profound waves swelling from deep within and he could not stop. She did not want him to, and they exploded into mutual climax, dissolving in pure emotion. Satisfied, they lay together, Joe’s head resting on his wife’s pert breasts.
About a half hour later, Joe gingerly eased himself away from Rachael’s lingering embrace and succeeded in leaving her asleep so that she could finish the dream that had left her face so serene. He padded out of their bedroom and treated himself to a shower in the guest bathroom. The strong jet of water massaged his entirety and he opened his mouth to savor the cool flow. He would have stayed longer but his awareness for water preservation in this hot climate got the better of him. He pushed in the shower dial, instantly stopping the flow. The sudden silence was broken by the ringing of the telephone.
“Shit!” Joe chimed in. He padded out over the white tiled floor leaving glistening pools of water behind with each footstep. He managed to intercept the call, his calm voice concealing any inconvenience.
“Joe LeRice.”
“Hello, Joe,” said a voice that Joe recognized immediately as belonging to his father-in-law, Arthur Downing.
“What are you and Rachael doing this evening?” he enquired.
“We hadn’t really thought about it. If there’s nothing exciting going on, we may go to Benjamin’s Roof for dinner.” replied Joe.
“Well, if you haven’t made concrete plans, perhaps you’d like to be my guests at a dinner function tonight?”
“Where?” asked Joe.
“At the Hyatt Regency.”
“Why? What’s happening?” asked Joe, now interested. Dinner at the Hyatt was always a treat.
“Oh, it’s just another boring function. Some travel company is presenting their sales awards. Actually, it’s you I really want to talk to. I need your Western expertise.”
Joe turned around to see Rachael coming over towards him. “Hold on a second,” he said, “Rachael’s here. I’m game, but I’ll ask her what she thinks.”
She nodded her head in answer to Joe’s question before relieving Joe of the ‘phone to have a daughter-to-father chat. Joe left them to it and returned to the bathroom to clean up.
He wondered what Arthur wanted to talk about this time. Arthur Downing was now a respected politician, having run in the last election and won one of the twelve seats in the Legislative Assembly, representing the smaller islands.
In fact, Arthur Downing was an important member of government who was responsible for the regulation of the thriving tourist industry. More importantly to Joe, Rachael’s father and his own had been close friends and Joe respected him for the strong values that were now evident in his beautiful daughter.
After Rachael had hung up, she found Joe and said, “It starts in a couple of hours. Daddy wants us to meet him at the Garden Loggia in an hour and a half.”
Chapter Three
The LeRices arrived at the Hyatt Regency slightly earlier than the arranged eight o’clock. With twenty minutes on their hands, they decided to make a detour to the Britannia, a golf-club bar, rather than fight their way through the hordes of hungry travel agents at the Loggia.
The club’s balcony sat over a man-made lake that rippled with the gentle breeze, causing the moonbeams to dart to and fro like mischievous fairy children having escaped their mother’s watchful eye.
It was being able to appreciate scenes like these that made the years of hard work seem worthwhile and although they remained silent, mutual thoughts of love and deep respect raced between them.
Pulling themselves away from this living landscape was hard, but hand-in-hand they strolled through the colonial surroundings and towards the Loggia for their rendezvous.
Their tranquility was broken as they entered the restaurant, a flustered maitre d’ could only point them in the direction of
