mouth with the soft glide of his tongue.
Skilled
was an enormous understatement. The man was an expert. A kissing prodigy. She wanted to be closer to him, feel his arms around her. Yet when he drew her into an embrace, Rayad inadvertently triggered a series of frightening images from deep within her psyche—suffocating recollections that caused her to break the kiss and wrest away.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered around her labored breathing. When she noted the disappointment in his expression, she felt the need to explain. “This has nothing to do with you. It’s me.”
He narrowed his eyes and nailed her with a serious look. “What did your abductors do to you?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking.” But it so easily could have been, had she not had the good fortune to get away. “It’s about the confinement.”
He streaked a palm over the back of his neck. “My apologies for crossing a boundary I should not have crossed.”
The sincerity in his tone touched her deeply, and led her to believe he truly was a “nice guy.” “Rayad, I wanted you to kiss me, but I have serious issues due to the kidnapping. Maybe I’ll tell you a few details tomorrow.”
He couldn’t mask his astonishment. “Then you will come with me?”
Rescinding her agreement seemed prudent. The urge to say “yes” won out over all her concerns. “All right. You win. I’ll go.”
He looked entirely too satisfied, and gorgeous. “We will leave before dawn so that we will have enough time to enjoy our day together.”
Spending even a few hours in his presence seemed extremely appealing. “Then I suppose we should say good-night now so I can join my sister for dinner and get to bed a little earlier than planned.”
“As much as I would like to stay with you a while longer, I will escort you back to the soiree for the evening meal.”
After they returned to the hallway in silence, Rayad gently clasped her hand, turned it over and kissed her wrist. “You will not regret your decision to spend the day with me.”
She sincerely hoped not. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, bright and early.”
“That will be my pleasure.”
He turned and started away then paused and faced her again. “Bring a swimsuit with you.”
That could pose a problem on several levels. “What if I didn’t pack one?”
He brought out his best smile, and it was oh so good. “Then I suppose we will have to improvise.”
With that, Rayad walked away, one hand in his pocket, the other dangling at his side, looking every bit the debonair devilish sheikh turned spy.
Sunny did own a swimsuit, and she’d brought it along. She also owned a scar she’d worked hard to hide. To most, it probably wouldn’t appear that hideous, but it could lead to hard questions. And tomorrow she’d have to decide whether she would tell Rayad Rostam everything.
* * *
For the second time in two days, Sunny’s dear sister had arrived at her suite to deliver a morning greeting, only this time she wasn’t alone.
Piper stood in the corridor outside the guest suite with a sleepy baby, dressed in blue footed pajamas, resting on her shoulder. “I’m surprised you’re up at this hour,” she said as she breezed into the room. “I was walking this fussy little guy and thought I heard you stirring.”
Sunny didn’t care that Piper had stopped by or knocked loud enough to disrupt her sleep, had she been sleeping. She did have some measure of concern over what her twin would see. And after she saw it, the questions would start rolling in. Lots of questions. “Just thought I’d get an early start with my day.”
When Piper laid little Sam on the unmade bed, the baby rolled to his belly with his knees bent beneath him, popped his thumb in his mouth and stuck his bottom in the air as if he wanted to show off the cartoon-airplane appliqué strategically positioned there.
So cute, Sunny’s first thought. Such a big responsibility, her second. A responsibility she
Skilled
was an enormous understatement. The man was an expert. A kissing prodigy. She wanted to be closer to him, feel his arms around her. Yet when he drew her into an embrace, Rayad inadvertently triggered a series of frightening images from deep within her psyche—suffocating recollections that caused her to break the kiss and wrest away.
“I’m so sorry,” she muttered around her labored breathing. When she noted the disappointment in his expression, she felt the need to explain. “This has nothing to do with you. It’s me.”
He narrowed his eyes and nailed her with a serious look. “What did your abductors do to you?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking.” But it so easily could have been, had she not had the good fortune to get away. “It’s about the confinement.”
He streaked a palm over the back of his neck. “My apologies for crossing a boundary I should not have crossed.”
The sincerity in his tone touched her deeply, and led her to believe he truly was a “nice guy.” “Rayad, I wanted you to kiss me, but I have serious issues due to the kidnapping. Maybe I’ll tell you a few details tomorrow.”
He couldn’t mask his astonishment. “Then you will come with me?”
Rescinding her agreement seemed prudent. The urge to say “yes” won out over all her concerns. “All right. You win. I’ll go.”
He looked entirely too satisfied, and gorgeous. “We will leave before dawn so that we will have enough time to enjoy our day together.”
Spending even a few hours in his presence seemed extremely appealing. “Then I suppose we should say good-night now so I can join my sister for dinner and get to bed a little earlier than planned.”
“As much as I would like to stay with you a while longer, I will escort you back to the soiree for the evening meal.”
After they returned to the hallway in silence, Rayad gently clasped her hand, turned it over and kissed her wrist. “You will not regret your decision to spend the day with me.”
She sincerely hoped not. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning, bright and early.”
“That will be my pleasure.”
He turned and started away then paused and faced her again. “Bring a swimsuit with you.”
That could pose a problem on several levels. “What if I didn’t pack one?”
He brought out his best smile, and it was oh so good. “Then I suppose we will have to improvise.”
With that, Rayad walked away, one hand in his pocket, the other dangling at his side, looking every bit the debonair devilish sheikh turned spy.
Sunny did own a swimsuit, and she’d brought it along. She also owned a scar she’d worked hard to hide. To most, it probably wouldn’t appear that hideous, but it could lead to hard questions. And tomorrow she’d have to decide whether she would tell Rayad Rostam everything.
* * *
For the second time in two days, Sunny’s dear sister had arrived at her suite to deliver a morning greeting, only this time she wasn’t alone.
Piper stood in the corridor outside the guest suite with a sleepy baby, dressed in blue footed pajamas, resting on her shoulder. “I’m surprised you’re up at this hour,” she said as she breezed into the room. “I was walking this fussy little guy and thought I heard you stirring.”
Sunny didn’t care that Piper had stopped by or knocked loud enough to disrupt her sleep, had she been sleeping. She did have some measure of concern over what her twin would see. And after she saw it, the questions would start rolling in. Lots of questions. “Just thought I’d get an early start with my day.”
When Piper laid little Sam on the unmade bed, the baby rolled to his belly with his knees bent beneath him, popped his thumb in his mouth and stuck his bottom in the air as if he wanted to show off the cartoon-airplane appliqué strategically positioned there.
So cute, Sunny’s first thought. Such a big responsibility, her second. A responsibility she
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