EPILOGUE
New Rochelle, NY– a year later
A warm breeze filtered through the open windows, ruffling the curtains and pages of Olivia’s magazine. She’d put her newborn son and his older sister to bed, and with her husband in Manhattan on some mysterious errand, she finally had the opportunity to crack open last month’s edition of Nursing Times.
Matrimony proved to be a joy. So much so, Olivia wondered why she’d opposed it so staunchly. She had two beautiful children, a husband who adored her, and a satisfying career, overseeing the opening of an all-women’s clinic as an extension of Harry’s expanding practice. There was nothing else in life she could wish for that would make her any happier.
Finished with an article on a form of pneumonic plague working its way through China, Olivia flipped the page. She’d barely read the table of contents when a handful of pebbles landed at her feet on the window seat.
“What in the world…” Olivia glanced out the window and gasped.
Dressed in a black tunic and matching trousers, Khalid stood in the garden below. He’d wrapped his head in a red turban with the customary alasho covering the bottom half of his face. Hands planted on his hips, he reminded her of Sinbad the Sailor.
“Your one thousand and one Arabian nights await, Madame Du?s.” Khalid swept his arm toward the rose garden.
Olivia eyed the black tent identical to the one they’d shared on the African coast. “You didn’t!”
“Come down and see if it meets your specifications.”
With a delighted squeal, Olivia jumped from the window seat. She jammed her feet into a pair of satin slippers and then ran from the room. Before taking the stairs, she stopped in the nursery to check on the children. Finding them fast asleep, she backed out of the room and closed the door quietly behind her.
Heart racing, she lifted her caftan and flew down the stairs. She took the quickest way to the garden through the twenty-four room mansion built to resemble a French chateau.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Olivia sauntered over to her husband who was leaning against the backyard trellis. Covered with purple wisteria, their sweet fragrance intermingled with the pungent smell of cedar.
“If I followed the rules, would you want me?” He took her into his arms and walked her backward.
“I love you just the way you are.” Olivia rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him.
“What were you doing in the window?” he asked between kisses.
“Reading about plagues.” She giggled at his suddenly serious expression. Whenever she talked technical, Khalid melted into a puddle of lust. If left up to him, they would role play nurse and her extremely horny patient every night.
“So why the tent?”
Khalid bent down and nuzzled her neck. His tongue drew circles over her pulse. Olivia’s mouth dropped open in a silent moan.
“The tent is an anniversary gift.”
Olivia frowned. “Our anniversary isn’t until November.”
“Different anniversary,” Khalid whispered. “It marks the date I took you from New York and whisked you half way around the world.” His hands slid down her back to cup her buttocks, causing her to groan and press her body close to his. She pushed her hands beneath his tunic to caress his skin.
“Want to see the inside?”
“Does it have a bed?”
“With the largest mattress you’ve ever seen.”
Olivia turned, breaking free of his embrace. “Last one inside is a rotten egg.” She picked up the trailing ends of her caftan and took off. She was halfway across the yard when Khalid picked her up with one arm.
“Which one of us is the rotten egg?” she asked as he set her down inside the tent.
“I’m always the rotten egg.” Khalid chuckled.
What the one-room tent lacked in size, it was made up for in the luxurious furnishings. Turkish rugs protected their feet from the grass beneath. Jewel-toned silk covered the interior walls. Two low-backed couches upholstered in antique gold velvet sat on the right side of the room. Wedged between them was a low table containing a pewter chessboard and matching game pieces. The bed took up the opposite side of the tent. Olivia’s eyes widened in wonderment. Khalid hadn’t been exaggerating. The mattress could easily sleep six.
How in the world did he hide such a beautiful gift from her? Every day he did something that made her fall a little more in love with him, but this by far exceeded all the baubles, flowers and notes. Overwhelmed with emotion, Olivia took his hand and tugged him toward the bed.
“So what do you think of our little retreat?”
“It’s so beautiful, I want to thank you properly.” Olivia lifted her caftan and pulled it over her head. She heard his small intake of breath and smiled. His fingers trailed down her back as she crawled onto the bed and she gasped. His touch always had the ability to set her on fire. Remaining on her hands and knees, and already wet with need, Olivia wiggled her bottom at him.
“Tease.” He bent forward and bit her butt cheek. His eyes were so dark with passion they were black and she knew she was playing with fire. He proved it by burying his face in her cleft. His tongue flicked, parted the slick flesh between her legs, and licked her swollen *. “I could do this forever,” he groaned.
Good! She didn’t want him to stop. Silently begging for more, she pressed her hips into his face. His tongue pushed into her, and a violent shiver moved through her, bombarding her senses.
Breathless and dizzy, Olivia gripped the sheets beneath her and held on. Despite all the times they made love, it never grew old.
His tongue thrust into her, lapping and stroking. He rimmed the trembling entrance to her body, sucked on the sensitive bud between her legs.
Olivia came with a loud cry. The orgasm ripping through her, causing her limbs to shake. Gasping, she fell onto her back. Tears coursed down her temples and spilled into her hair.
Naked, Khalid sat next to her on the bed. “You’re not done repaying me,” he whispered hoarsely as he lifted her onto his lap. He pressed against her sex, and she licked her lips. He was so thick and hard, she couldn’t wait to have him buried inside her.
Olivia smiled weakly. He made sure she got hers and when he got his, it would be a win-win situation. Anticipation building, Olivia wrapped her legs around his hips.
“What are your plans for the future, Khalid?” she gasped as he slowly moved her hips over him, establishing a sensual rhythm.
His hand caught in her hair, tilting her head back. The slight tension made her body ache. “You and I rearing about a half dozen children.”
He kissed her—slow and tender—a simple confirmation that their present and future would always be intertwined.