Page 49 of Enemies with Benefits

‘The resort is coming up now, on your right,’ Jasper said after fifteen minutes, his voice intimate through the headphones.

Sliding up sunglasses I’d worn to protect against the mid-afternoon sunlight as he went low enough for a close view, I was awed all over again at my first sight of the hillside resort.

Rather than one giant building, it was a sprawling collection of sand-coloured mini castles, joined together by long interconnecting walkways, which would offer spectacular views of landscaped gardens and the Atlas Mountains on either side through elegant Moorish archways.

After landing and an introduction to the general manager in the cool, marble-floored interior of the staggering beautiful reception, I discovered on the tour that followed that those archways had been painstakingly hand-painted in swirls of gold and bronze and turquoise.

Each mini castle contained four luxuryriadpenthouses, complete with private pools, hammam suites and endless sources of pampering and relaxation facilities, a true desert oasis unlike any other.

While I’d seen it all laid out in one report or another in the past few weeks, experiencing it in person was a thrill that drew increasingly loud gasps from me as we toured the extensive grounds. At my latest one, Jasper turned to me, a wide grin splitting his exceedingly handsome face.

‘Am I blowing your mind a little bit, sweetheart?’ he drawled, assured in that fact even before I answered.

‘You’re blowing my mind a lot,’ I replied. And not just with the architecture. More and more, it seemed as if getting on the plane and leaving England behind had lifted a layer of tension off us despite our little charged conversation.

His smile widened, then slowly morphed with sexual heat, increasing in temperature until that space between my heart and stomach tightened with a new kind of tension. The one that warned the addiction I’d feared I was succumbing to had probably passed the point of no return.

When he caught my hand in his and brushed his lips across my knuckles, I experienced an even harder kick. And when he kept hold of my hand for the remainder of the tour that once again led us outside, I let him, that fiercely intimate connection of palms gliding together a sensation I suddenly didn’t want to do without.

Outside, a long rectangular pool was banked by a palm grove, offering the perfect balance of sun and shade that meant guests could linger for hours, the inviting water sparkling in the sunlight.

A little further on, amongst fig and citrus trees that sweetly scented the air, giant awnings resembling the wings of a Bedouin tent offered more stations of shade, with plump cushions and beaten leather pouffes laid out on Persian carpets. It was a seductive and decadent invitation to lounge and indulge, to free up one’s senses to the pleasures the resort provided.

I felt the last of the tension leave my body as we meandered back into the resort.

‘Ready for thepièce de résistance?’

‘There’s more?’

His hand tightened around mine. ‘The jewel in the crown. You’ll like it, I think.’ He stopped to order a tray of mint tea and refreshments at the concierge desk before ushering me into a discreetly tucked away lift that didn’t jar with the blend of traditional and contemporary gold and turquoise decor. Pressing a button that only had a star next to it, he pulled me into his arms as the lift doors shut, content to simply hold me as we were whisked seven floors up.

We stepped into the foyer of what was clearly the largest of the mini castles. A discreet plaque announced it as the Tower Suite and I soon discovered why when, after a jaw-dropping tour of the decadent master suite housing the largest four-poster bed I’d ever seen, I stepped out onto an equally vast terrace. No, to call it a terrace was a gross understatement.

The tennis-court-sized space came complete with turrets, parapet and three-hundred-and-sixty-degree views, the interior accommodations perfectly centred and smaller versions of the whole resort repeated in the vast space.

‘Oh, my God, this is incredible! You can experience everything the resort has to offer without leaving the tower if you don’t want to.’

He nodded. ‘That was the general idea. Even the desert sand can be brought to you if you wish it.’

Stopping at the rectangular bathing pool fashioned from the same coloured turquoise tiles accenting the decor, I trailed my fingers through the cool water. ‘I’ve never felt the need to be clean the way I do right now.’

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, his voice a husky rasp in my ear, ‘Hmm, I can’t wait to watch you bathing under the stars, with just moonlight covering your skin. Well...moonlight and me.’

My laugh felt as unfettered as the contentment seeping into my bones. Then, his words sinking in, I turned within the confines of his arms. ‘Wait, I don’t get my own suite?’

He looked a little startled, then mutinous before he quirked one brow at me. ‘Do you want your own suite? I’m sure I can organise one for you if that’s what you want?’ His tone said he would do so reluctantly.

But it was a moot point anyway because it wasn’t what I wanted. I yearned to spend every spare moment with him. ‘No. I’d love to share this suite with you.’ Why not go all out and embrace this temporary insanity?

The shadows left his eyes, that almost conceited confidence drenching his smile. ‘Brilliant answer.’

The wind-chime doorbell went and Jasper excused himself to answer it. A sharply dressed waiter wheeled out a silver trolley, positioning it under one of the four awnings where a traditional floor seating of rugs and cushions was laid out.

‘Thank you, Azmir. I’ll take care of the rest,’ Jasper said.

The waiter left with a huge tip and a wide smile and when Jasper held out his hand, I joined him, happily kicking off my platform shoes that went with the orange and white polka-dot sundress I’d hurriedly changed into before disembarking the plane.

Reclining against one thick cushion, I accepted a plate of sandwiches, which I finished in record time. With my second cup of mint tea, I sighed my pleasure at my surroundings.

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