reached the last one, to lift the heavy weight of her hair off her shoulders and remove the gold necklaces that had been placed there only hours earlier as a symbol of their eternal love. They had had a civil ceremony too, at the British Embassy, but these were their real marriage vows that they were to exchange now, Felicia thought dreamily.
At last she was free, stepping out of the rich fabric of her robe and walking into the hard warmth of the arms that opened to enclose her.
‘Love me….’ Raschid whispered passionately against her skin as he lifted her against him. ‘Love me as I intend to love you, little dove. Trust me to make the night one of pleasure as well as initiation. Where there is pain, there is also pleasure, and there will be pleasure, Felicia. I love you, my little dove. So very, very much….’
She was gathered up against him and kissed tenderly and then passionately until every inch of her vibrated with a desire she made no attempt to hide from him as he carried her towards the divan and its silk cushions.
CHAPTER ONE
‘DID you check out the sexy windsurfer attendant like I told you?’
‘Yeah! He was everything you said and more—much, much more. He’s coming up to my room later. Mind you, he did say that he’d have to be careful. Apparently he’s already on a warning from this Sheikh Rashid—the guy who co-owns the hotel—for fraternising with guests.’
‘And you did more than just “fraternise”, right?’
‘Yeah, much, much more.’
From her seat under the protective sun umbrella of the rooftop bar of the Marina Restaurant where she had just finished lunch, the conversation of the two women standing next to her chair was plainly audible to Petra. Still discussing the sexual attributes of the Zuran resort complex’s windsurfing instructor, they started to move away. Realising that one of them had dropped her wrap, Petra picked it up, interrupting their discussion to return it and earning herself a brief thank you from its owner.
As they walked away, still engrossed in their conversation, Petra grinned appreciatively to herself, murmuring wholeheartedly beneath her breath, ‘Thank you!’
Although they didn’t realise it, thanks to them she had just been given access to the very thing she had been looking for for the last two days!
As soon as they were out of sight she got up, collecting her own wrap, although unlike them she had chosen to eat her lunch wearing a silky pair of wide-legged casual trousers over her tankini top, instead of merely her swimwear.
Shading her eyes from the glare of the sun, she summoned the waiter who had served her her meal.
‘Excuse me,’ she asked him, ‘can you tell me where the windsurfers are?’
Half an hour later Petra was lying on a sun lounger, carefully positioned by the attentive beach attendant who had asked her where she wanted to sit so that she had a direct and uninterrupted view of the stunning man-made bay which was home to the resort’s pleasure craft, and an equally direct and uninterrupted view of the windsurfing instructor she had overheard discussed so enthusiastically over lunch!
She could certainly appreciate just why her fellow guests had waxed so lyrical about him!
Petra was used to seeing good-looking muscular men; she had attended an American university and, since the death of her parents in an accident when she was seventeen, she had travelled extensively both in Europe and Australia with her godfather, the senior British diplomat who had been her parents’ closest friend. She’d become, therefore, quite familiar with the sexy beach bum super-stud macho type of man who thought he was heaven’s gift to the female sex.
And this man certainly filled all the physical specifications for the type! And then some!
He could easily earn a living modelling designer underwear, Petra acknowledged as her own rush of sensual heat caught her discomfortingly off guard.
But as she watched him Petra was unwillingly forced to admit he had something else; something extra.
He was gathering up some discarded boards, and even the regulation smart hotel shorts had the effect of heightening his sexuality rather than discreetly concealing it. Across the distance that separated them Petra could somehow sense his maleness, and almost feel the testosterone-laden aura that surrounded him. The movement of his body as he worked reminded Petra of the coiled suppleness of a hunting panther—every movement, every breath a perfect harmony of honed strength and focus, not one single jot of energy wasted or superfluous.
She could see the way the sunlight highlighted the muscle structure of his arm as he held the windsurfer, the breeze tousling the thick darkness of his hair. From beneath their designer sunglasses she suspected that every woman on the beach must be watching him, and perhaps holding their breath as they did so, as she herself was doing. He had a mesmerising presence about him that was wholly and shockingly sexual, a rawness that Petra acknowledged was compelling, challenging, and very, very dangerously exciting! Oh, yes! He was exactly what she needed! The more she watched him, the more she was sure of it!
Compulsively she watched him from the safety of the distance that separated them.
Over an hour later, on her way back to her luxurious hotel suite, Petra was busily making plans. As she crossed the busy souq area of the complex, Petra paused to watch in admiration as a craftsman skilfully hammered a piece of metal into shape.
It was no wonder that this particular complex had received such worldwide acclaim. From the seductive appeal of its Moorish design, with its fragrant enclosed gardens, to its palatial extravaganza of expensive boutiques and the traditional flavour of its recreated souq, the complex breathed magic and romance and most of all wealth.
Petra still could not get her head round the fact that in all there were over twenty different restaurants situated around the complex, serving food from virtually every part of the world, but right now food was the last thing on her mind.
From her hotel bedroom Petra could just about see the beach. The sexy macho windsurfer had disappeared midway through the afternoon, climbing aboard one of the gleaming and very obviously fast boats moored at the adjoining marina, and Petra’s last sight of him had been of the sunshine gleaming on the thick darkness of his hair and the golden bronze of his tanned skin.
He was back now, though, even though the beach itself was deserted as the sun started to dip towards the horizon. Methodically he was collecting the abandoned windsurfers, and the other small pleasure craft the complex made available to its guests.
This was the perfect opportunity for her to do what she had been wanting to do ever since she had overheard the two women discussing him!
Before her courage could desert her she picked up her jacket and headed for her suite door.
Down on the beach it was almost dusk, the cool chill in the air reminding Petra that, despite the fact that the daytime temperature was in the high twenties, in this part of the world it was still winter.
For a second she thought she was too late, that the beach bum had gone, and her heart plummeted sharply with disappointment—her gaze searching the darkening beach.
As she stood looking out across the pretty marina Petra was so lost in her own thoughts that the sudden darkness of a shadow thrown
