Page 8 of Veiled Fantasies

Better. Keep going…

A black Arabian stallion, snorting with anticipation. She mounted with an effortless leap, dug into the stirrups, and took off at a gallop. Hooves pounded as the shadow of a hawk swooped overhead. Her white desert robes flapped wildly with the wind…

Get to the guy already!

More hoof beats. She glanced over her shoulder to find a white Arabian carrying a rider with a determined air and dark, flashing eyes. Her stallion whinnied a challenge and thundered away, thrilling her with his power. She bent over his steely neck, urging him on. His hooves drummed a quick, steady rhythm, his breath came in heavy snorts. The stranger was relegated to eating their dust but never shaken off entirely. No, that was not the idea. Not the idea at all.

She galloped up a long ridge of sand. At the crest stretched a view into the oasis, swaying like a moonlit mirage. Her mount pulled up to a walk, and the game was over. For the horses, that is. Jill slid off and led the stallion down without so much as a backward glance at the stranger. The wind carried his scent to her, though. Fresh, masculine. Outdoorsy. The scent of a man who wanted more.

Definitely more! Fast forward!

A single oil lamp illuminated her tent. The fabric flapped softly in the breeze. Incense burned in a rosewood stand, the scent teasing her imagination. A soft footfall, and he was at the entrance, silhouetted by the moonlight. Dark eyes locked on hers as he stepped closer, slowly unwinding the headgear masking his face.

It was him. Mister Perfect, in his new desert look. Wearing a slow, sinful smile, inviting her to come closer.

She reached out, free of all her real-life inhibitions, and unwound the rest. All of the rest. Pulling away the belt, loosening his clothes. Touching him through the fabric, then on the skin. The robes fell away, and he was hers. Bronze skin, broad chest. All hers. She stepped closer to let her hands measure the hard planes of his body. Solid, radiating heat and desire.

She turned her back, inviting him to caress. Strong, sure hands traced the line of her back and eased back her robes until she, too, stood in a puddle of cloth. They teased her breast like a zephyr—a light, ghostly touch, there, then gone. His chin came to rest on her shoulder. His light breath tickled her breast. His hands touched down again, admiring every curve in her body. He murmured in approval, then kissed one side of her neck while his hand stroked the other.

She turned and kissed him lightly, then harder. His lips were open, inviting her inside. A delicious, fresh taste, the taste of a man who’d quenched one thirst from a mountain stream and would now quench another. His arms wound around her, pulling her close as if he’d dreamed of this moment as long and as hard as she had. They lined up perfectly, from whispering lips to bold hips.

Desire flared, the pace still slow, yet determined. Her hands slid down the taut muscles of his back and over the rise of buttocks so tight and smooth that her hands threatened to slip right off. So she changed direction and reached around the front. Her secret lover gave a light groan as she wrapped her hand around his shaft. Stroking slowly from the thick base to the wide tip, she knew just what to do. Slow, strong, she felt him tense. All that power in her hand. She dipped and took him in her mouth. Starting with tiny licks and kisses, then taking him deep, pleasuring him, controlling his groans.

She felt like she would glow in delight when he swept her gently to the ground. Like a dancer, he balanced easily along her body, nostrils flaring at her scent. His lips suckled at her breast, setting off a seismic reaction even before his eyes melted hers. A drop glistened at the tip of his shaft, poised right at her entrance. With a nod, he slid deep inside and filled her—smooth, hard, delicious. She wrapped her legs around him, seeking exactly the right angle. Finding it and thrusting against him, hearing his approving groan. Then he began to pump his hips against hers, and she was aflame.

Jill re-played the encounter over and over in her mind. She arched her back a thousand times, giving herself to him and the blaze of desire. She felt him pulsing and pushing inside while she clenched in return. Letting herself voice her pleasure, she demanded more and promptly felt his response. The tent receded to the distant background as her world shrank down to the feeling of their bodies joined. She glanced down, admiring the beautiful thickness of him disappearing into the juncture of their bodies, enjoying the slick, easy ride that pushed ever harder, deeper. The two of them moved in perfect time as he hit exactly the right spot exactly the right way and sent her soaring like a desert hawk. Over and over and over again.

A mirage.

A most delicious desert mirage.

Chapter Four

The fantasies eased Jill into unsettled sleep until sounds filtered through the open window. Hushed voices. Chairs dragging. The clatter of dishes. Her first morning in Dubai.

The real Dubai, not the place of her dreams. Camels. Expensive hotels. Sheiks. Women locked behind veils. That was about the sum total of her knowledge, or preconception, of the place she found herself stranded in. For days, maybe weeks, all because of a volcano in Iceland.

Fire and ice united two distant points of the globe. Jill pondered the irony over breakfast, stirring a cube of sugar into her bitter coffee. The inner courtyard of the hotel was just as dreary as her room, but it was an oasis where she could take stock of her situation.

She should have been home by now. She should have been sleeping in her own bed, getting up early for a quick run, showering in her own bathroom and eating breakfast from her own dishes. But she wasn’t. She was in limbo.

Time to face reality, Jill.

At least she had a roof over her head and a full stomach. Right? She had her bank card and a credit card. The hotel and meals were on the airline—for now. Baring disaster at the ATM, she would get by.

What about work? Waking up early had its advantages. She’d been able to get in the relatively short line for the guest computer terminal to send an email to the office. Surely they wouldn’t fire her because of a volcanic eruption. Would they?

Luggage. A ticket onward. Those were her most immediate problems. She had a long day ahead of her. But every problem had a solution, right?

Right!

Hopefully.

Possibly.

She sure hoped so.

Jill bought a toothbrush at the hotel shop and made her way back up to her room as if she had a lot of belongings to organize in there.

---