The swim back was more leisurely than the one to shore had been, and as they approached the yacht, Aurora had to admit that part of her irritation stemmed from the fact that she was there at Khaleel’s pleasure—he could abandon her on the island if he wanted to, and she wouldn’t have much that she could do to counter it. She also realized that she felt more than a little bit guilty about the fact that she’d stowed away and then lied to the man. She tried to tell herself that she didn’t have much choice once she’d given into the impulse, but that was a lie. She could have turned herself in, just as Khaleel could have confronted her immediately instead of toying with her.
Khaleel insisted that Aurora climb up onto the deck before him. “It’s dark here in the shadows,” he said. “If you slip, there should be someone here in the water to make sure you aren’t hurt.”
Khaleel followed behind her and they both clambered onto the deck. The breeze gave Aurora a slight chill and she shivered until one of the crew members appeared with big, fluffy towels; the woman holding them gave Khaleel his and then, with a doubtful expression on her face, handed one to Aurora.
“Let me show you to your quarters,” Khaleel said. “You can have dinner there; I’ll give orders that you’re to have whatever you want from the kitchens.” He started off, and Aurora followed, feeling the fatigue in her legs from the swim; it was a sweet kind of ache, and in the back of her mind, Aurora was glad that Khaleel had invited her out to shore with him.
Khaleel came to a stop at a door along one of the winding corridors that made up the yacht’s interior, and Aurora tightened the towel around her. “There will be your quarters. There are some clothes in the dresser,” he said. “Some pajamas, I think—maybe something you can wear during the day. You can send your wet clothes to the laundry and they’ll be taken care of.” He looked at her for a moment and smiled. “Have a good night, Aurora.”
“I do still kind of resent you for confining me to this ship,” Aurora told him, though there was no real conviction in her voice when she said it. If she was honest with herself, she knew very well that there were much, much worse things that Khaleel could have done when he discovered he had a stowaway on board.
“You’ll sleep well, at least,” Khaleel said, giving her a faint smile before turning away. “If there's anything you need, let someone know. I’ll put the word out.”
Aurora watched him disappear down the hallway and then opened the door to her room, stepping through it tentatively. It was not nearly as grand as Khaleel’s suite, but it was easily ten times more luxurious than her cruise ship cabin had been. Aurora’s gaze took in the full-size bed, the furnishings that were just as clean and ornate as those in Khaleel’s room, if somewhat smaller and more compact. Her quarters also boasted an ensuite with a shower and a bath, not as huge as her host’s but more comfortable than what she had back in her own apartment.
Aurora wandered around the room, looking everything over, shaking her head to herself at the strangeness of her circumstances. The drawers in the dresser were sparsely populated with clothes, but there were a few things that Aurora thought she might be able to wear.
She stripped off her clothes and tossed them into the laundry hamper in the bathroom, stepping into the shower stall and pulling the glass door shut behind her. Khaleel had also provided for toiletries; whether the soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower were simply always there for guests, or he had had them provided specifically for her, Aurora didn’t know, but she was grateful to be able to get thoroughly clean. She washed her hair and scrubbed the salt off of her body, standing under the hot water for a few minutes to savor the feeling.
A little packet left on the bathroom sink had a comb, a brush, and a few other necessities. Aurora dried herself off, combed her hair, and wrapped one of the copious towels around her head before she slipped into a pair of pajamas.
She looked around the room again, bemused and oddly pleased at her quarters, and tried to decide what she wanted to have to eat. “There has to be some kind of menu,” she said to herself, glancing at the various surfaces in the room.
There was a phone on a nightstand next to the bed, and a directory of extensions throughout the yacht, just like on a cruise ship. Aurora found no menu, but when she called down to the galley, one of the crew members told her that the menu was fixed for the night by the Sheikh—she could have what the man was eating in his own room, or she could order something she liked, and they would see if they had the supplies. Aurora settled for the same meal that Khaleel had ordered for himself and thanked the crew member. It was early still, but Aurora knew that by the time she ate something, she would be just about ready to turn in for the night.
EIGHT
Aurora couldn’t remember how it was that she had ended up back in Miami; but somehow, she was miles away from the boat, wandering around an art gallery—she thought it looked like Spinello Projects. Somehow, the space was much bigger than she recalled it being, hopelessly vast, the walls moving farther away from her the farther she walked. Art flowed around her, wavering and then resolving, and Aurora wondered if she’d somehow managed to drink something spiked. What am I even doing here? I haven’t been to Spinello in months.
She had no answer; Aurora just knew that she was exactly where she was supposed to be, wandering around and through a sparse crowd, looking for someone in particular—though she couldn’t say who it was she was looking for. She was dressed in a more beautiful cocktail dress than she could remember ever owning, in a deep amethyst color that made her skin glow. Aurora looked around, glancing at fleeting faces in the crowd, trying to remember why it was that she had come to the gallery, and who it was she was looking for.
Time flowed by without Aurora counting it, and as she wandered around the gallery, she forgot that she had even questioned her presence in the space. She looked at artwork, stopping to admire a painting or a photograph.
“Aurora, it’s good to see you here.”
She turned quickly, and her gaze fell on the face of Khaleel. She started, staring at him in shock for what felt like an eternity, unable to quite believe the fact that he was right there in front of her. “Khaleel?”
“Who were you expecting?”