Everything inside the suite was designed for two people; a king-size bed, two large lounging chairs with matching footstools, a very long vanity bench with two wash bowls in the spacious bathroom, plus a huge shower recess with a shower-head as large as a bread plate spraying out so much volume it gave one the sense of standing under a waterfall. So much luxury for one person felt very lonely.
Maybe after tonight—if he had a fruitful meeting—Zageo might deign to give her some news of what he was doing about Hannah’s family. Emily could only hope so. Confronting him again would not elicit anything but another rebuff.
All along she had known there was a chasm of cultural differences between them, yet she had wanted him to deal with her as though he understood and shared her Australian attitudes. Big mistake! His way was his way and she had no choice but to accept that, especially with helping Hannah because she had no one else to turn to.
It was almost sunset. Drinks and canapés were being served from the bar at the back of the large wooden deck built around a large shade tree and extending over the edge of the river. Emily sat on a cushioned lounger, sipping a tropical fruit drink, listening to other guests commenting on the fantastic scenery.
The sky was streaked with vivid colour. About twenty metres away in the water was a raft of hippos, most of them submerged enough to look like a clump of rounded rocks. Much further away and silhouetted by the setting sun, a string of elephants started crossing the river from one island to another. Emily counted seven of them.
The splendour of Africa…
She fiercely wished Zageo was beside her, sharing it as they’d done in Kenya. She missed his company, his knowledge and experience, the excitement of his presence, the fine sexual tension that was constantly between them, promising more intimate pleasure to come as soon as they were alone together.
After two years of being single, with no inclination to join up with anyone, Emily realised that Zageo had well and truly revived her memory of what it was like to be in a relationship with a man—the physical, mental and emotional links that somehow made life more exhilarating. Even though common sense insisted this relationship could only be a temporary one, Emily had to acknowledge she didn’t want it to end here.
It didn’t matter how foreign Zageo was, in so many respects he was a marvellous person who lived an extraordinary life. She felt privileged to share just some of it with him. If he cast her off once he’d achieved his side of the trade…a sense of wretchedness clutched her heart.
She deeply regretted having reduced the sex they’d had to a form of prostitution, holding out for payment. The frustration of having no news of her sister’s situation had driven her stance, not a lack of trust in Zageo’s integrity. However, he’d clearly felt a strong sense of insult on two counts—her rejection of a natural outcome for their mutual attraction and her apparent disbelief in the keeping of his word.
Mistakes…Emily brooded over them, making herself more and more miserable as the evening wore on. She ordered a light dinner from room service but had no appetite for it. In her anguish over what was happening at the special outdoors dinner Zageo was attending, she switched off the lights in her suite and sat on the darkened balcony, watching the VIP guests below and trying to gauge if the meetings taking place were convivial or strained.
The three African tenors took turns in entertaining their audience, only coming together for a grand finale after coffee had been served. They were enthusiastically applauded, deservedly so, each one of them in marvellous voice. Once their concert was over, Emily trailed off to bed, having learnt nothing except for the firsthand observation that powerful people were royally entertained and probably expected it as their due.
Bed was the loneliest place of all. Her body yearned to be once more intimately entangled with Zageo’s, to feel all the intense and blissful sensual pleasure he had introduced her to. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours. She didn’t know when sleep finally overtook her restlessness, didn’t know how long she had slept, didn’t know what woke her.
There was no slow arousal from slumber, nothing pricking at her consciousness. It was as though a charge of electricity had thrown a switch to activate her. Her eyes snapped open. Her mind leapt to full alert.
The figure of a man was standing by the bed. The room was too dark to see his face but her heart did not flutter with fear. She knew instantly who it was. A surge of relief, hope and pleasure lilted through her voice.
‘Zageo…’ She pushed up from the pillow, propping herself on her elbows. ‘I’m so glad you’re here.’
Her gladness ran smack into a wall of tension, which seemed to suck it in and become even stronger, keeping him resolutely separate from her. It sparked a swift awareness that he had not meant to wake her, that he had come in the dead of night to look at her for some private reason and did not like being caught doing it.
Did he miss her, too?
Did he still want her as much as she wanted him?
Was pride forbidding him to admit it?
‘Glad?’ he fired back at her. ‘Because you want news of your sister?’
His voice was clipped, angry, hating how his involvement with her now turned on the welfare of people he didn’t even know.
Emily sat up, hating having dealt with him as she had. ‘No,’ she answered quietly, seriously. ‘I’m sorry for…for making it sound as though being with you was only for the help you might give.’
There was a taut silence as he considered her apology. ‘So…you admit this is not true?’ His tone was more haughty this time, delivering scorn for the lie.
She heaved a rueful sigh. ‘You know it’s not true, Zageo.’
‘Do not think I am deceived by this meek and mild act, Emily. If you imagine it might gain you more to butter me up than to demand…’
‘No!’ she cried in horror at his interpretation of her apology. ‘I have really enjoyed your company and…and you’re a fabulous lover, Zageo. I’ll remember this time with you for the rest of my life, the pleasure you gave me…’
‘Are you saying you no longer wish to withhold yourself from me?’
Emily took a deep breath, anxious to right the wrongs she’d done him and not caring how brazen she was about it. ‘Yes,’ she declared emphatically. ‘I’d like you to come to bed with me right now.’
There! She couldn’t be more positive than that! Her heart galloped as she waited for some response from him, frightened by his chilling stillness and frantically hoping for the desire he’d shown her to return in full force.