Sandstorm Page 17

  There were tears trembling on the tips of her lashes, and Nona touched them with a gentle finger. 'Oh, child,' she said, 'hasn't it dawned on you yet? Rachid confided in me that if you had a girl, he might be able to persuade you to stay and give him a son!'

  Three months later Abby climbed out of the blue waters of a swimming pool and sauntered lazily across to where her husband was lying, watching her from a cushioned lounger. Below the gardens of this villa they had leased from a distant relative of Rachid's father, the turquoise Waters of the Aegean glinted in the late afternoon sunlight, and in the distance, the vespers bell from the little Greek monastery tolled the early hour of evening.

  'Come here,' commanded Rachid possessively, catching her hand and pulling her down on top of him. 'Hmm, that is better, much better,' he murmured, releasing the bra of her bikini to find her full breasts with his lips. 'Did I tell you how good it is to have you to myself again?'

  'Once or twice,' responded Abby huskily, aroused as he had known she would be by his caressing lips. 'Oh, Rachid, not here, not by the pool! Anyone might see.'

  'Anyone knows better than to disturb us,' he informed her masterfully, covering her mouth with his own. 'But I agree, it is not the time to make love in the open air. That is best at night.'

  He moved so that Abby was half beneath him on the lounger, her slim legs imprisoned by one of his. She put up her hand and touched his mouth as he drew back, and he caught her fingers between his lips, caressing them with sensual expertise.

  'You're thinking of the night you came home from Paris, aren't you?' she whispered. 'The night I wore the chiffon gown ..

  '... and we swam in the moonlight." he agreed thickly, 'and dried one another with our bodies.'

  Abby caught her breath. It was crazy ..

  'It was not sensible,' he agreed softly. 'But I would do it again. Would you?'

  'Oh, yes. Yes, you know I'd do anything for you,' she breathed, pressing her lips to his bare chest. 'Hmm, you smell salty. Shall we take a shower later? I promise I'll be good.'

  'As you were last night?' he enquired dryly, nuzzling her ear. 'We were very late for dinner.'

  'Did you mind?' she teased, knowing the answer, and his mouth sought the silky curve of her shoulder.

  'To think we have two more weeks of this,' he essayed with some satisfaction. 'Do you think you can bear to be away from Robert for so long?' They had called the baby Khalid Robert, in deference to both his father and hers, but the English name was much easier to use.

  'I think I might manage it,' she confessed huskily, stroking the smooth skin that covered his muscular forearm. 'And I'm sure Nona and Suni will take good care of him.'

  'I pity the poor nursemaid,' agreed Rachid, with a grimace. 'My grandmother can be quite aggressive when it comes to getting her own way.'

  'I know,' murmured Abby reminiscently, remembering the way she had behaved when she thought Abby was leaving, and Rachid lifted his head to look down at her quizzically.

  'That was said with feeling,' he declared. 'Surely you have not been rubbing Nona—how do you say it?—the wrong way?'

  Abby shook her head. 'Oh, no. It was nothing really.' She

  hesitated. 'She wasn't very pleased when she thought I was leaving you. She's very fond of you, you know.'

  'That is how it should be,' said Rachid, with evident satisfaction, and Abby nodded her head slowly.

  'She'd do anything for you, you know,' she added gently. 'Anything!'

  'Including telling you about Farah,' Rachid agreed, a trifle dryly. 'Oh, yes. Do not look so apprehensive-—she told me. She also told me why she told you.' He shook his head. 'How could I be angry when she had my best interests at heart?'

  Abby was relieved. She hated having secrets from him. 'If only you'd told me!' she exclaimed, touching his cheek, and he bent his head to caress her temple with his lips.

  'Shall I confess?' he murmured huskily. 'Shall I admit that I intended to tell you myself? If you had not changed your mind about staying after the child was born, I was going to tell you.' He sighed, shaking his head a little ruefully. 'I am not so unselfish. I am not the knight in shining armour my grandmother thinks I am. I am only a man, and I knew I could not let you go again. That was what I meant when I said I needed to think. I did. But then, when I came back, I was not even sure that my confession would make any difference. You seemed determined to go. When Nona suggested I allow you those weeks in England‑'

  'Nona suggested that?'

  'Yes. She said you might feel differently when you came back.'

  'Oh, Rachid!' Abby wound her arms around his neck. 'I love you so much, and I've been such a fool!'

  'No, I was the fool,' he insisted softly. 'But no more. From now on there will be no misunderstandings between us. You are my wife, the mother of my son, and the only woman I have ever loved. I do not think I could face life without you now.'

  'Darling Rachid,' murmured Abby huskily. 'Wild horses wouldn't drive me away ...'

  Table of Contents

  SANDSTORM

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN