DesertIslandDelight (6 page)

Chase’s chest rose and fell but he wouldn’t meet her stare.

Red-hot fury rose inside her. She wanted to rip that bastard
sheik to shreds, but she knew she was on his turf in a foreign country where women
weren’t exactly cherished. She drew a calming breath. “Please have a boat or a
helicopter or something to take me back to my hotel. I want to leave right this
instant.”

Mohd’s eyes widened. “You don’t wish to wait for the sheik?”

“Definitely not. Right now, please.” She glanced at Chase,
but he seemed to have withdrawn into himself. Screw him. Screw them all.

She stormed from the room and went straight out the front
door of the palace.

Less than an hour later, a motorboat dropped her at the dock
where her odyssey had first begun exactly two days earlier. Before she
disembarked, she turned to the pilot. “Give el-Tayid a message for me. Tell him
Diana Weston said
fuck you
.”

Wide-eyed, the man just stared at her.

She walked the short distance to her hotel and had a bellman
let her into her room. Collapsing onto the bed, she let the tears flow.

* * * * *

Chase paced the marble foyer of the palace with his hands
fisted at his sides. By the time he’d absorbed all the implications of what
Mohd had told them, Diana had already left the island. He’d considered going
after her but before he did, he was going to give that son of a bitch a piece
of his mind—and maybe something to remember him by.

One of the servants entered the area and asked him again if
there was anything he could get for him.

Chase stopped walking. “Yeah. You can tell me when el-Tayid
will be back from his meeting.”

The man gave him a blank stare. “The sheik in his office.”

He must have come inside through another entrance. Damn it.
He’d wasted precious time waiting. “Where is it?”

“This way.” The man turned and started down a hallway. He
stopped near the end and pointed to the door.

Chase barged inside without knocking. The sheik and another
man stopped speaking.

“Ah, Mr. Cunningham, I was going to send for you. I
understand Miss Weston has left. But no matter. I was so impressed with your
presentation that I’d planned to give you my account.”

“Is it true that you set up the entire kidnapping? That you
planned the whole thing so you could test us as if we were your personal lab
rats?”

The other man in the room cleared his throat and took a step
toward them, but Chase didn’t care.

“If I am going to throw millions of dollars in business at
someone, I want to know how they will do under pressure. I had cameras set up
in various locations on the island. You were never in any real danger. You did
a brilliant job.” He clapped him on the back. “And I enjoyed watching Miss
Weston prance around in her underwear almost as much as you must have. How
about joining me for a scotch?”

Every muscle in his body tensed. “You were watching us the
whole time?”

“Sure. We even had you in our sights for part of that long
swim to the island. Very impressive.”

“So what? You had a camera on the hammerhead shark’s back?
The one that almost killed us?”

The sheik’s smile slipped.

“You’re a bigger asshole than I thought.” He didn’t hesitate
to swing at the bastard’s face. He managed to get in two powerful punches
before the other man grabbed him. It took only an instant for an army of
bodyguards to appear and start pummeling him.

He didn’t care. He’d taken that son of a bitch down a few
pegs and that was all that mattered. No, it wasn’t really. More important was
getting to Diana to apologize for his delayed reaction.

He closed his eyes as the goons dragged him from the room
and beat him until his world went dark.

* * * * *

Diana found her airline ticket home in a dresser drawer.
Thankfully she’d left it and her passport there when she’d left the room on her
way to the sheik’s island two days earlier but the rest of the important items
in her wallet were somewhere on the bottom of the gulf.

Hopefully the American Embassy would be able to help her get
a replacement ID before tomorrow’s flight. She headed downstairs to the lobby
to speak to the concierge about helping her get started.

She couldn’t wait to get out of the country and as far from
Sheik el-Tayid as possible.

And Chase.

God, she’d surely run into him back in New York at the gym.
She’d have to find a new place to work out. But that was the least of it. The
hurt was so intense. She’d been right to avoid relationships.

Her sister Suzanne, a sex advice columnist, had the right
idea. Even though Suzanne herself was happily married, she’d always held that
relationships hardly ever worked out.

Diana had foolishly thought she might have found one of
those rare gems in Chase. Until he’d showed his ass by not standing up for
her—for them—when he learned what the sheik had done.

She stepped off the elevator in the lobby. The place was
massive and decorated to look like a jungle with tropical plants and trees
everywhere. It almost made her miss the island where they’d been castaways for
a day. Almost.

She started toward the desk but saw someone speaking to the
concierge ahead of her, although he hardly looked like one of the guests. More
like a vagrant.

His clothes were ripped and dirty and his face was all
bruised and bloody. He only had one shoe on, for heaven’s sake. Poor man.

She leaned against a column and waited.

“You have to believe me. I was kidnapped and…oh hell. I need
to get into my room. How am I supposed to give you proof that I am who I say
when they took my wallet?”

Chase!
She gasped. What the hell had happened to him?

“Can you tell me if Diana Weston returned to the hotel?”

“I’m sorry, sir,” the concierge said. “I can’t release
information on any of our guests. And unless you can prove you are who you say,
I’m going to have to ask you to leave the hotel.” The man steered him a few
steps toward the door and Diana’s chest tightened when she noticed Chase was
limping badly.

“Please, you have to believe me. Diana could be in trouble.”

Diana was about to go help him but a part of her wanted to
hear what he had to say. She slipped behind a tall plant.

The concierge picked up the phone. “I’ll have to call
security if you don’t leave now, sir.”

Chase shook his head. “Listen to me. I’m not some bum. The
sheik had his goons beat me up…after I clocked the sheik for what he did to
Diana and me.”

She silently cheered. Tears stung behind her eyes.

“I should have done it sooner, but…”

“Sir, please. You’ll have to leave the hotel.”

Diana couldn’t wait another second. Heart ready to burst,
she practically sprinted to the desk. “Chase, are you okay?”

His eyes lit up as he pulled her into his arms. “Diana,
thank God you’re okay. I’m so sorry. I should have—”

“Sh. Not now. Let’s get you to a hospital.”

“No, I’ll be fine, now that I know you are.” He held her
face between her hands and tried to smile, but his mouth was cut and bleeding
and his left eye was nearly swollen shut.

“I’ll need some first aid supplies sent to room 2110,” she
told the concierge. She put Chase’s arm over her shoulder then helped him to
the elevator. Minutes later in her room, she cleaned up his cuts and bandaged
him as best she could.

When she’d finished, she handed him the icepack she’d made
and smiled down at him as he lay on her bed.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips, then winced as
he kissed her skin. “Sorry. Nothing against you.”

“I know.”

“You won the sheik’s account you know.”

She shook her head. “I never even gave him my pitch.”

“You didn’t have to. He researched your other campaigns.
They’re damn impressive.”

She doubted he was telling the truth about the sheik, but
she gave him points for saying so. “You rest now. Let me take care of you for a
change.”

Epilogue

Chase spotted Diana in a dark corner of the restaurant—
their
restaurant as they’d been calling it for the last month and a half, ever since
they’d returned to New York and started dating for real. He couldn’t wait to
give her the news.

Her eyes lit up when she smiled up at him and he couldn’t
resist kissing her. Never hurt to mark his territory. “Hey, how was your day?”

She rolled her eyes. “Peterson’s such a
prick. He refused to go with the pitch I’ve been working on for Manchester
Pharmaceuticals and lo and behold, we lost the account to Perillo and Smyth.”

He took out the envelope that had been burning a hole in his
pocket all afternoon. Setting it on the table between them, he took her hand.
“I have some news. And hopefully you won’t ever have to worry about Peterson or
any other boss again.”

A waitress came over before he could tell Diana his news.
“What would you like to drink, sir?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Bring us a bottle of champagne, good
stuff. Do you have Perrier-Jouet?”

“We do.” She melted into the hustle and bustle of the place.

“You were saying…” Diana prompted.

He tapped the envelope. “This came today.” He opened the
letter and read. “Dear Mr. Cunningham. For your time and trouble. No hard feelings.”
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the check, turned it so Diana
could see it.

She narrowed her eyes at it. “Two hundred fifty thousand?
From the sheik?”

“It’s the least the son of a bitch could do after everything
he put us through.” His broken ribs were still a little sore. “It could be our
freedom, Diana. What do you say to opening our own agency, the two of us? We
could call it Cunningham and Weston.”

She studied him for several seconds. “You’re serious?”

“As a hammerhead shark.”

Her smile could melt an iceberg. “I say a quarter million is
barely enough to start a business in a town as expensive as this. But a half
million, now that would probably do it.”

The waitress arrived with their champagne and poured them
each a glass. Diana set an identical envelope on top of his. She raised her
glass. “I got one too. Here’s to Weston and Cunningham. That has a nicer ring
to it.”

They tapped glasses then drank. He wasn’t about to argue over
whose name would go first. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before they’d
be Cunningham and Cunningham.

Muscles deep inside Diana pulled taut as she stared into
Chase’s eyes. She’d never been so completely wanton as she had the past six
weeks. They’d had sex nearly every morning and night yet she still couldn’t get
enough of him.

Chase used his index finger to wipe a circle of condensation
off his glass. Her nipples hardened as she imagined him doing that to her.

“Hungry?” Chase handed her a menu.

She moistened her lips. “Um, no. I’m not, actually. Well, I
am, but…not for food.” She blinked at him, hoped he’d catch her drift.

A wicked smile slowly lifted the corners of his mouth. “I
see.” He poured them each another glass of champagne then signaled the waitress
for the check.

Twenty-five minutes later they stepped off the elevator at
her apartment building. Well, they actually stumbled out of it since they were
already tearing at each other’s clothes.

One of Diana’s neighbors came out of his apartment, threw
them a disapproving scowl then strode past toward the trash chute.

Diana held back a giggle as she dug in her purse for her
key. “I think we’ve offended Mr. Templeton.”

Chase took the key from her and unlocked her door. “Fuck Mr.
Templeton.”

She grabbed Chase’s lapels and dragged him inside. Then she
gave him a scorching kiss. “No, sweetheart. Fuck
me.”

He wolf whistled. “Damn, woman. You’re pretty feisty with a
little champagne in you.” He hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her into
the bedroom. Dropping her onto the bed, he fell next to her.

She started yanking at his belt until he took both her hands
in his. “You don’t have an ounce of patience, do you?”

He raked his gaze over her body and heat wicked through her.
Liquid desire gathered between her legs. “I can’t help it. You’ve turned me
into a sex-crazed maniac. I want you. Now.”

He pushed her skirt up around her hips then yanked down her
lace panties. She let out a pleasured moan when he slipped his hand between her
legs and cupped her mound.

“You’re burning my fingers.” He pressed his mouth to hers.
Sliding his tongue inside, he stroked and tangled with hers. She writhed as he
pressed his thumb to her clit and gently circled it. He rubbed and massaged,
touched her with such erotic skill that she came apart at the seams, detonating
in her climax in mere moments.

Waves of bliss quaked through her as she twisted and moaned.
Before she’d fully recovered, Chase had his belt open and his pants unzipped.

He took hold of her hips and flipped her over so she was on
top of him. Hiking her skirt higher, she lowered herself, inch by delicious
inch, onto his hard cock.

She rode him slow and sweet at first then harder, faster,
taking pleasure, making sure she gave as well. Chase held her hips, guiding her
movements until another orgasm started rising within her. She let out an
incoherent gasp then shattered in ecstasy.

Chase pulled out of her then lifted her to her knees and
took her from behind. God, the man knew how to play her body.

She heard his now-familiar growl as he emptied himself
inside her. Then he collapsed onto her back, breathing hard. “I guess…we
should…have taken off…our clothes.”

She grinned. “Well, we were in a bit of a hurry.”

He lifted her hair and trailed kisses over the back of her
neck. “I want you naked for round two. After a brief nap.” He wrapped an arm
around her and took her with him as he rolled onto his side.

She settled against him, right where she belonged. “You
know, of everything that happened to us in the Middle East, I wouldn’t change a
thing.”

He was silent for a minute. “Even the shark?”

She mulled over the question. “Even the shark. You saved my
life. I never saw anyone act so heroically. You were so brave.”

“Trust me, it took a hell of a lot more bravery to kiss you
that first time.” He nuzzled the back of her neck.

“Hey!” She gave him a playful kick.

“You had lots of barbwire around you. I could have gotten
all cut up. But instead, I made it through. And I’m so glad I did.”

“Me too.” He’d broken through all her defenses and she had a
feeling he was inside to stay.