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‘Fine. I’ll only be two minutes.’
‘You were looking for something when I came in?’
‘It wasn’t anything important,’ Sadie said quickly. There was no way she could tell him that Monika’s maid had omitted to pack her underwear in the case. And not just some of it. All of it.
‘We can’t waste any more time. There will be a robe in the bathroom—put that on.’
He obviously wasn’t going to leave the bedroom without her, Sadie realised. She hesitated, and then, seeing the irritated look he was giving her, wrapped the towel tightly around herself and hurried into the bathroom to retrieve the robe she knew she ought to have put on in the first place.
While she was gone Drax looked at the bed. If he had followed his instincts right now she would be lying on it, her eyes closed in pleasure, her heart beating against the delicacy of her flesh, whilst he kissed and caressed her until she opened herself to him and begged him to possess her. But she wasn’t his to possess. That pleasure would belong to Vere—if he chose to take it.
When Sadie emerged from the bathroom, securely wrapped in the bathrobe, Drax was standing beside the bedroom door—holding it open. His face was grim.
Was he going to tell her that he had changed his mind and there was no job for her after all? It frightened her to acknowledge how little she wanted to hear him say that.
CHAPTER FIVE
‘CHAMPAGNE?’ Drax asked curtly.
How decadent that would be—drinking champagne, dressed in a bathrobe, reclining in an expensive leather seat, in the company of a dangerously handsome and very wealthy man—and how completely opposite to her normal way of life.
‘No, thank you,’ Sadie said primly. She had already noticed the glossy carrier bags which seemed to fill almost half the floor space of the cabin, and her eyes darkened with an emotion she didn’t want to admit to as she contemplated the woman they were destined for and her probable role in Drax’s life. The role no doubt her unfamiliar self had been so busily and eagerly promoting for her!
Sadie could feel a hot wash of guilt burning through her body. Of course Drax would have a mistress. And more than one, to judge from the number of designer bags in the cabin. What did he do? Summon each one to spend the night with him in a strictly observed rota? Did they all live together, housed in opulent luxury in an old-fashioned-style seraglio, their beauty only ever seen by one man, the whole focus of their lives that of pleasing him and only him? What must that be like? To give oneself over totally and completely to one man’s pleasure? To make it and him the whole purpose of one’s life? To spend hour upon hour preparing your body for his possession in every way there was? She wasn’t prepared for the fierce shudder that gripped her, convulsing her in a series of small physical pangs so intimate and betraying that they made her gasp softly in embarrassed shock.
Immediately Drax focused on her.
‘You are afraid of flying?’ he demanded sharply.
Well, that was one way of putting it, Sadie thought ruefully, but she shook her head. ‘Afraid’ wasn’t exactly the way she would have described the emotion that had gripped her. Raging jealousy was closer to the mark.
Raging jealousy? Of the women in this man’s harem? Had she gone completely mad?
‘Then please fasten your seatbelt; we are about to take off.’
They certainly were. Almost before she had done as he’d instructed, she felt the power surge of the jet’s engines as it raced down the runway and then lifted into the darkening blue of the early-evening sky. Below them Sadie could see the airport buildings, and then the city itself, and then they were banking and turning out into the Gulf itself, before soaring up into the starry sky.
‘You can remove your seatbelt now. Ali will be serving us with a light meal shortly, but first there is something I want to discuss with you.’
This was it. He was going to tell her that he had changed his mind.
‘It occurred to me that Monika might not only have retained your wages but also some of your personal possessions, including your clothes, and for that reason I have decided that it is both necessary and appropriate that a replacement wardrobe should be provided to you as part of your salary package. You will understand that, since you are to be working so closely with both myself and my brother on the preparatory work for our country’s future as a new financial centre, your appearance must be commensurate with the status of this project. In my country a man is valued for what he is within himself, but nevertheless it is expected that his outer appearance is one that commands the respect of those around him. The poor beggar in the street will never be ignored or refused alms, but neither will he be invited to sit at the side of his ruler.
‘I appreciate that in your own country it is not always considered acceptable for a male employer to provide a female employee with a new wardrobe, but here we live by different rules. Therefore, I hope you will understand and accept the necessity for me to provide you with clothing which I consider to be essential to your role.’ She wouldn’t, of course, grasp the hidden meaning within his words, Drax knew, since she had no idea what his real plans for her were.
‘Are you saying that you’re providing me with special working clothes?’ Sadie queried uncertainly.
‘Yes. Although the clothes I have acquired are yours to wear at all times—indeed, I wish to make it clear that you will be required to do so. It is important that you create the right impression even when you are not working.’
Sadie knew that clients in this part of the world could be very demanding, and very specific about their demands, and she was relieved that he was not telling her, as she had feared, that he had changed his mind.
‘I expect the cost will be deducted from my salary, will it?’ she asked him.
‘No. That is not my intention. While we are having dinner Ali will take everything and pack it for you, but I shall require you to select one outfit to wear when we land and I introduce you to my brother. I would suggest the cream suit is probably a good choice.’
As he spoke Drax nodded his head in he direction of the massed carriers, causing Sadie to stare first at them and then at him, before demanding uncertainly, ‘You aren’t…? I mean, all those…? You can’t mean that all those are for me!’ But she could see from his expression that he did.
He gave a small dismissive shrug. ‘We don’t know how many formal events you will be called upon to attend. Naturally we shall require you to be appropriately dressed for every occasion.’
