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Then, with a little deave a tiny shake of her head ‘It’s the gown,’ she said ‘It’s a work of art in its own right’

‘Then it needs a toast of its own!’ Nikos laughed

A servant was hovering, waiting to open the chane, and Nikos nodded his assent ADiana a softly beaded flute and raising his own

‘To your gown—to its exquisite beauty’ He paused A sown They were on Diana ‘And to you, Diana, my most exquisitely beautiful bride’

She gazed up at hilass motionless, and

And suddenly out of nowhere, out of the soft desert night that was sloeeping towards theolden dunes, she felt a sense of helplessness take her over She hadn’t wanted to come to this place—this jewel-like desert hideaway, this royal love-nest dedicated to sensual love—but she was here Here and noith this man who, alone of all the men she had ever encountered, seemed to have the ability tomasculinity

She si herself to re Greymont for her, to who the role that he wanted her to play at his side

How could she think of things like new roofs for Grey stonework and all the bills that ca just a useful means for Nikos Tramontes to move in circles he had not been born into? And how could she think of things likemore than business deals?

It was i here, in this priceless precious goith a glass of vintage cha out over the darkening desert, miles and miles from anywhere, alone with Nikos

So she raised her glass to hi the delicate ne

‘To you, Nikos,’ she said softly ‘Because I would not be here were it not for you’ Her eyes held his still ‘And, as you say, this is an experience of a lifetime’

Soold like flame, deep within ‘It is indeed, my most beautiful bride’

A frisson went through her and she was powerless to stop it Powerless to do anything but look back at him and s narrow-cut evening trousers, but not a dinner jacket His dress shirt, made of silk, was tieless, open at the neck, his cuffs turned back and fastened with gold links that caught the last of the setting sun and exposed his strong wrists

He looked cool, elegant and—she gulped silently—de

vastatingly attractive His freshly shaved jawline, the sable hair feathering at his nape and brow, the strong planes of his features and those dark, deep-set, inky-lashed eyes that were e in them that she could not deny