by Riona Kelly
“Maybe he was trying to maneuver you to a place where he could rob you. Thievery is quite common here, even more than in Europe.” Colin paused in his massage as he thought about it.
“Don’t stop that,” she instructed as she placed her right hand on his and rubbed the top. “But I wasn’t even carrying my purse. I have a few euros and my passport tucked into a bra pouch, so what did he think he would steal?”
Colin tapped her left ear with his unencumbered hand. “Maybe those sapphire earrings you’re wearing, darling. He might have thought they would be worth quite a bit.”
She caught her breath, and her other hand went to her throat, where a gold chain normally held the matching sapphire and diamond drop. “My necklace! It’s gone. That must have been what he was after. He grabbed me, and while I struggled, he somehow got the clasp loose or broke it to get it. I didn’t even notice.”
Colin came around to look at her throat, not to see if the necklace was missing, but if there were any signs of bruising on her neck where the thief might have pulled it off her. “We’ll have to report this to the police.”
She shook her head, and her emotions plummeted. “No, it’s insured. The police won’t be able to find the man on the poor description I can give. Let it go.”
Applying logic, Colin knelt and encouraged her. “The insurance company won’t pay if you don’t file a report. It’s a formality, and they all pretty much figure you won’t see it again. Unless it’s unique, engraved, or there’s something to distinguish it if it shows up on the market, it’s gone.”
“Oh damn, you’re right. No, it’s just a necklace, a pretty bauble someone gave me, but worth about two thousand dollars with the earrings. I should have taken them off before we started on this trip, but I didn’t think about it.”
“We’ll visit the police station in the morning,” Colin said. “It won’t take long to file the report, then we can go on out to check out the sea road.”
“Very well,” she agreed. “I’ll get changed for dinner.”
“We don’t have to,” he answered as she hobbled toward the bathroom.
In the end, Lindy insisted they go down to the café rather than eating in the room. With leaning on Colin’s arm, she was able to walk the short distance to the elevator, then to the restaurant. They ordered from the menu and chatted as they ate. Colin described the shops he’d settled on. One sold copper pots and pans with samples of their wares hanging from hooks and making a great display.
“I also picked a shop that sells silk clothing, beautiful kaftans, and traditional clothing as well. It will be very colorful in the film, and a great spot for the movie leads to meet and do some business. I think the director will be pleased with the choices. I’m going to send him the images when we go back to the room. I wish you could have seen them and given me your input.”
“I wish I had, as well. Will you show me the photos?”
“Yes, I think I can hook the camera up to the television in the room so you can see them.” He finished his couscous with lamb and shoved his plate aside.
They looked over the dessert menu and ordered M’hanncha, also called a snake cake, which turned out to be a delightful pastry of figs rolled in filo dough. Complemented with strong Moroccan coffee, they indulged in the tasty treat.
“Except for my unfortunate accident, this has been a really lovely day,” Lindy said as she sipped the hot beverage.
“It was,” he agreed. “I am sorry about your ankle and the theft, though. I should have noticed you were wearing the jewelry and said something.”
“It isn’t your fault. I knew better.”
He offered his arm to help her back to their room. As she took it, she considered what might happen now. They had one bed in the place, and she knew he wanted to make love with her. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. She watched as his broad-shouldered, muscular body moved ahead of her to the door and speculated on how sexy he would look naked.
Excusing herself, Lindy went to the bathroom to freshen up and covertly check her text messages. Nothing from Michelle. Several hours had passed since she’d last contacted her. Mildly concerned, she sent a note asking how her evening had gone. While she changed into her negligee and brushed out her hair, she waited for a response, but nothing came through. Lindy figured she was probably out with Roberto, and she’d get a message a little later.
When she returned to the room, she found the lights turned down low, and Colin already in the bed, covers pulled up to his waist, and a pillow propped behind him. She stopped in the doorway and leaned against it, taking a sexy pose with an arm raised while the other pulled her lightweight robe back to reveal her long, slender legs. Her short and very revealing nude-colored nightgown barely covered her torso. She kept her right leg to the back, so the bandages on her knee and ankle were scarcely noticeable. Puckering her lips into a Marilyn Monroe full-lipped smile, she lowered her eyelids to a drowsy, yet seductive look.
Her heart raced as she took in the sight of her Englishman. His broad chest rippled with firm muscles while a thin line of light brown hair tracked down the middle, leaving the lightly tanned pectorals gleaming with the sheen of oil. He, too, freshened up, she noted, pleased and excited by the prospect. Beside the bed, a bottle of wine chilled in an ice bucket. He held a glass of it in his hand, then raised it toward her. His mouth tipped up in a close-mouthed smile, a clear invitation to join him.
With a slow, sensuous strut made a little less effective by her slight limp, she closed the distance between the doorframe and the bed. She slipped into the bed next to Colin as he poured another glass and passed it to her.
“To you, my dear Lindy. The best part of this whole trip. May this be the start of a long and lasting relationship.” Colin held up his glass in a toast to her.
“And to you,” she answered as she tapped her glass against his. “The man who makes my blood race in delight.”
They drank, then she set the glass on the bedside table as he put his on the other side next to the ice bucket. Turning back to her, he reached across to place his hand under her chin, lifting it toward his mouth as he moved closer. Her skin savored the touch of his slightly chilled fingers, and she half-closed her eyes as she anticipated the kiss. Without thought, she placed her right hand on his chest, running her fingers down the middle, just lightly skimming the hairs, feeling the slightly coarse texture of them, and noting how they seemed to pulse to her contact.
The delicate scent of almond reached her as his lips and body moved even closer until his mouth closed over hers in a polite, gentle kiss that began to grow deeper as she responded to it. He released, then came in again for another firmer and more passion-filled taste of her, his lips pressing hard against hers. She wrapped both arms around his middle, pulling him into her as her breasts pushed against his chest in their closeness. She could feel his pulse under her hands as his breath caught.
Her left hand slipped below the sheet and pushed down farther, running over his hip to slide across his smoothly muscled thigh. He felt like smooth marble, a work of art. She wanted to see him, to admire the perfect lines of his body. She brought her left leg up and used her foot to push the sheet almost off the bed.
In response, Colin eased back a little on the lip lock, broke it, and kissed her lightly again as he slipped the sheer robe off her shoulders, revealing the thin straps holding her shortie nightgown up. Then he slid those slowly off first the left shoulder, then the right until they slipped off, and the gown dropped to her waist, revealing her still firm and aroused assets. His teeth bit down with a gentle nip as his lips pulled at her skin. A gasp escaped from her throat, and she fought back a deep, animal-like moan as he repeated the kissing, pulling cycle.
Fire spread through her body, igniting a need she hadn’t felt in many years. She burned with a flame no one had fanned to an inferno since Estaban had first sparked it. How could just his touch do this? Dear heavens, could she stand the full onslaught of his passion?
As she moved to take him in her hands, he caught them and pulled them over her head, positioning his body over hers so he could move against her. Her gown was nothing more than a belt of fabric around her waist as he’d worked it up with slow rocking movements as he continued to kiss her from her mouth to her stomach in a spiraling line of moist, delicious kisses.
She fell into the passion, feeling only the electric tingle of his mouth, fingers, and skin pressed against hers in a symphony of need and desire lifting her from her own skin to soar in ecstasy. Oh, God, she gasped in silence, what had been in the drink? Was this all the released passion she had denied for so long?
Moisture warmed her between her legs, and she felt the growing pressure against her body as Colin’s needs also responded to their fervor. With a firm, but still delicate touch, he moved his hand down to slide between her legs to prepare her. Her body squirmed under him, demanding more, and she gasped and cried out, “Please, now. Now!”
His mouth closed over hers as he entered her with a short thrust, then a deeper one as he began a slow rocking nearly driving her over the edge, but didn’t take her completely. He released her hands to shift his hands to cup her rear, then lift as he started the passionate drive that brought her to the brink, then flung her into the abyss. She clung to him like a monkey to a coconut palm in a hurricane. Her body rocked with the storm as it burst across them both.
Colin slipped his arms across her side, just under her ribs, sending a tingle of sensation through Lindy as he snuggled her closer to him. His chin rested against her shoulder, with his lips close to her ear as he whispered, “You are absolutely stunning, darling.”
She shifted her left arm back to slide across his hips, giving her hand the freedom to caress the firmness of his well-muscled posterior. It felt like smooth marble to her touch, but much warmer. “You’re pretty sensational yourself, lover,” she answered. “Your ex-wife was a fool.”
He chuckled then showered the back of her neck with little kisses.
Relaxed and sated, her eyes half-closed as she pressed even closer to him as if she might meld with him. He had half-pulled the sheets back up the bed, although they were still warm from their exertion. They had made love with more exhilaration and passion than she’d ever experienced, even with the fabled Esteban. Dreamily, she closed her eyes as he rubbed her shoulders, and somehow, she drifted off to sleep in the middle of it.
Awaking a few hours later to a still-dark room, Lindy was no longer wrapped in Colin’s arms, but he remained close to her, although turned onto his left side with his back curved to her. A tiny smile touched her lips as she thought about running her finger up the line of his spine but then decided more sleep sounded better than another round of sex. You’re getting old, girl, she told herself. A younger me would go for it.
She glanced at the clock to see the time. Four-eighteen. Had Michelle texted her back? She reached for the phone and didn’t see any notice of a new message. Thinking it might have gone to a folder, she displayed the recent texts, but nothing from her since early afternoon. A concerned look wrinkled her brow as she considered this. Perhaps she hadn’t gotten the message for some reason, or maybe Michelle couldn’t send one from her phone. She sent another text asking her to contact her, then set it back on the nightstand. If she didn’t have anything by morning, she’d call her.
She rolled back toward Colin, pulled the light blanket up a little higher, and slipped an arm over his waist as she cuddled closer.
Chapter 9
Wearing a barely-there white bikini, Michelle sat on a wooden box and tried to look provocative as she held a pose while Roberto sketched. The position grew more uncomfortable the longer she held it as her left leg bent while her heel pressed against the box, and her right leg stretched out in front of her. Posed with her left arm behind her for support, she tilted her head toward the artist. A pair of standing lights illuminated the work area of the studio, casting a warm glow on her body.
“Are you almost done, Roberto? I can’t hold this much longer. My leg is starting to cramp.” She didn’t want to sound wimpy, but the calf muscle in her left leg sent little twinges of pain up her nerves.
“Un momento. Another moment only,” he said, looking up from his sketchpad to give her a reassuring smile.
His fingers made quick, sure strokes as his pencil scratched across the rough paper to create a well-executed framework of the girl. He told her he wanted to capture all the key elements to make working on the painted canvas easier, even though he had taken many photos for reference. This was the fourth sketch he’d done of her in this position as he moved to different angles around the room.
The moment stretched to several moments, and Michelle gritted her teeth, then moved her leg. “That’s it. Finito. I have to move.” They’d been at it for almost two hours, and this was the third pose she’d done for him. She bent forward to rub at her leg as she rocked her foot back and forth on the floor to try to loosen the cramped muscle.
“It’s good. I have what need and the pictures.” He set the tablet down and crossed the room to her, where he pulled her to her feet and helped her limp across the room to the sofa.
“And this is why I have no desire to do modeling for a living. Too much posing,” Michelle complained.
Conceding she was playing this up more than it actually hurt, she allowed his assistance and sank onto one end. Roberto dropped down at the other end and lifted her leg into his lap, then began massaging the tight muscle. His strong fingers worked the knot as he pressed and squeezed against her calf.
Feeling the tendons start to relax, she closed her eyes as the cramping eased. “Ah, you could keep doing that for hours.”
“You know, I think it was a fortunate incident your aunt had the flat tire. Otherwise, I would not have been animated by you.”
She blinked at him, trying to figure out what he meant. “You mean I inspire you or something like that?”
“Si. You are my muse.”
She laughed at the earnestness in his voice and replied, “Hardly, although I may amuse you.”
Stretching her arms above her, she let her eyes drift shut again and tilted her head back against the cushion, exposing her long neck. Roberto swooped in like a hawk, planting a pecking kiss in the pulsing hollow at the base of her throat. Her eyes flew open as he worked his way, tiny kiss after tiny kiss, up her throat, then landing with a plunge to her open mouth.
Oh, my, what a tantalizing feeling, she thought, but she should not allow it. Not yet.
As he skimmed his hand over her stomach, he brushed against a ticklish spot under her ribs, and Michelle broke the kiss with giggling. His eyes twinkled in amusement as he gloated,
“Ah, ticklish!” Then he began searching for more sensitive spots, running his hands over places where she might react.
Michelle squirmed under him, trying to retaliate by finding a place where he might react as well. Alas, he had the advantage with her being nearly naked, and they were soon a jumble of arms and legs, laughing and cursing as they slid to the floor.
“You’re wicked!” Michelle wiped at the tears of laughter running down her cheeks.
Robert sat back, braced on his elbows pressed to the floor behind him. “Guilty, carita.” He gazed at her with a look of admiration in his eyes and said in a low, sexy voice, “You are maravilloso. So beautiful and spirited.”
She blushed. “And you are so full of it.”
“What?” He acted innocent, pressing a hand against his heart and looking wounded.
“You know, amigo. I’m hungry. I’m going to go change while you find dinner for us.” She started up the stairs to his bedroom, where she’d left her clothes in the larger bathroom. Glancing back, she caught him watching her; his expression was amused and adorable.
She popped into the bathroom to freshen up and change into her cut-off jeans and a cropped tank top. Her aunt would probably have a cow if she knew she was riding around on the back of Roberto’s motorcycle in such a skimpy ou
tfit, but so many girls her age were wearing them here, and while Auntie’s away, little Michie will stray... a little. Grabbing her drawstring bag from the floor, she wrapped it around her arm.
Bounding down the stairs, she caught Roberto studying the commissioned painting Arturo was so anxious to receive. He seemed pleased although he’d said there was something a little off in the eyes, but he would need more time to correct it. He doubted Arturo would let him have it.
“Well, to my non-expert eye, it looks fine,” she said. She hugged him as he turned to pick up the sketchpad to hand it to her.
“Take a look,” he said, “while I go clean up a little.”
She nodded and sat on the stool where he’d perched while drawing. Her eyes grew in astonishment as she turned the pages and realized the number of sketches he’d done of each pose. Of course, she was aware he had moved around the room, just as he’d done with the camera with each pose, but she didn’t realize he was doing four and five sketches of each new position. The book held dozens of pencil drawings, capturing her body, her face, and her hair in a minimal number of lines and curves. What she didn’t know about art could probably fill several volumes, but she did know when someone had outstanding talent. If Aunt Lindy would help him, Roberto could become a famous artist sooner.
Roberto came back down, ready to go out for the evening. Michelle grinned at him, noting he looked dressier than she did.
“I hope you don’t have something fancy in mind. I could go back to the hotel and change?”
“No, you are fine as you are. It’s a small café, then we go to a dance club where locals go. Nothing dressy.” He held out a hand. “What do you think of the sketches?”
“They’re amazing. I didn’t realize you did so many.”
She climbed on the back of his bike, and they were off again to a café not far from the town, a quiet, family-run place. Their dinner was simple but filled with delicious flavors.