Toxic - Zoe Blake Page 0,69
oversee the unloading of your luggage if you’d like to take the Jeep,” he offered, holding out the keys to Richard.
“Thank you, Timoci,” replied Richard, clapping him on the shoulder. “We could only bring a few bags with us this trip. The helicopter is returning with the rest of our luggage.”
Timoci nodded his head. “I will see it taken care of, Your Grace.” Turning, he gestured to a gate on the other side of the tarmac. “Through that gate, you will find the primary road. Just follow that and you will see the villa.”
Taking my hand, Richard led me to the silver Jeep, which looked nothing like any Jeep I had ever seen. It looked like a mash-up between a Jeep and a monster truck.
Laughing, I asked, “What kind of Jeep is this?”
Richard helped me climb into my seat before moving to the driver’s side. Hopping into the vehicle, he responded, “It’s called a Jeep Hurricane. It was never officially on the market.”
He gave me a wink before he started up the Jeep and put it into gear.
As we cruised along the road that took us close to the water’s edge, I watched Richard as much as the stunning landscape. He looked devastatingly handsome in his unbuttoned white linen shirt, showing off his muscled chest and flat abs. Even the mark from the bullet in the center of his chest couldn’t mar the male beauty of his body. It tousled his dark wavy hair in the light breeze and he had a relaxed ease to his smile.
It was crazy, of course, but the color of his eyes even seemed brighter. Usually I thought of them like the dark sapphire color of a deep, unfathomable ocean, but now they were an azure blue reflecting the waters that surrounded us.
Who would have thought my proper and disciplined English duke of a husband would look more in his element on a remote tropical island?
As we pulled up to the villa, an older woman dressed in a bright orange and green sulu greeted us. After telling us her name was Neomai, she informed us dinner would be ready in an hour.
Placing a hand on my lower back, Richard gave me a tour. It really was too beautiful. The villa was massive and sat on numerous pillars driven directly into the sand on the edge of the beach. While having the structure of an authentic Fijian villa, there were also touches of European luxury.
It had an open floor plan, with just about every room opening up onto a wide patio that surrounded the house. Furnished in dark bamboo with crisp white decor touches, everything felt clean and fresh.
It had everything you could wish for in a vacation villa. Cozy reading nooks tucked into the shade of a crop of palm trees complete with hammocks. Outdoor Jacuzzis with a view of the volcano. A small heated pool only steps away from the bedroom. Decks with fire pits and comfy padded lounges.
Richard needed to check on a few details so he left me alone to rinse off in one of the outdoor showers, which felt incredibly naughty. I dressed carefully in one of my new resort dresses from Gucci’s summer collection. It was a pale, blush pink with small gold accents, which draped loosely over my body like a sarong. It had a plunging open neckline, so I wore one of my jeweled bird brooches on a heavy, braided gold chain that rested just between my breasts. As a special surprise for Richard, I wore nothing underneath it.
He joined me out on one of the patios overlooking the beach and water. His hair was wet from his own shower. Dressed in another open white linen shirt, this time paired with a faded pair of jeans. I bit my lip, feeling a delicious stirring between my legs, finding even his bare feet sexy as hell.
Yes, I was definitely liking vacation Richard.
Dinner was a traditional lovo feast. A whole Spanish mackerel was cooked by wrapping it in banana leaves with coconut and then burying it in the ground and covering it with hot rocks. Richard’s private chef served the delicate fish with roasted taro and cassava root vegetables. It was divine.
What was especially exciting was that our dinner table actually sat on a sizeable piece of glass that had a view of the sea below. As we ate, I could watch as blacktip reef sharks slowly circled below my feet.
We finished our meal by sipping cups of kava, a