When Briana arrived in her room, hot from the combination of the black abaya and the midday heat of the desert sun, she stripped the garment over her head and ducked into the shower to cool off.

As she stepped out of the shower and onto the mat to dry, she heard someone banging on her door. A quick glance at the clock indicated it had only been forty-five minutes. The delivery wasn't supposed to be for another fifteen. Perhaps Sabirah was nervous and sent it earlier than advertised.

Wrapping a large white towel around her middle, she rushed out of the bathroom, her heart skittering in her chest. This was it. Her chance to free her father.

"Just a minute."

She raced to the closet and pulled the rest of the money she owed Sabirah from the tiny room safe and stuffed it between her breasts. Anxious to get her hands on the Eye, she didn't wait to dress. Tucking the towel in tightly over her chest, she whipped open the door.

Two large Arabic men who could be bouncers at a bar stood on the other side, one carrying a plain brown box. Their eyes widened at her state of undress, but they didn't speak. Good. Kate wasn't in the mood to put up with Saudi male chauvinistic bullshit.

"Is this from Sabirah?" she demanded.

The man with the box nodded.

When she reached out to take the box, he swung it away from her. "First the money."

"How do I know my merchandise is inside?"

"You don't. But no money, no box."

This deal smelled worse and worse by the minute. But she had to have the Eye, her father's life depended on it. She dug into her cleavage and brought out the money. "Here. Now let me have the box."

One man took the money, the other shoved the box in her hands and then both walked away.
Kate was already tearing into the tape holding the box together before she even closed the door. When she had the box open her fingers dug into the foam peanuts until they came into contact with a smooth hard object. But it wasn't in the shape of a big round jewel. It had a long neck and fat bottom. She lifted the object from the box and held it up. "Damn you, Sabirah!"

In her hand was an old, blue-green glass bottle covered in a thick layer of dust. It had to be hundreds of years old, maybe thousands. But Kate didn't care. It wasn't the Eye of the Serpent.
Maybe the men hadn't gotten far. Kate dove for the door to her room and stared out. No one stood in the hall. Still clad in her towel, she was in no state to run out into the street chasing them. The Saudi police would have her thrown in jail, stoned or something for running around naked in a country where they didn't see anything but a woman's eyes.

With her stomach knotted and anger boiling in her veins, Kate stormed back into her room and slammed the door. As she passed by her cell phone on a side table, she grabbed it and punched in the numbers for Toad-the-Sleaze.

Damn! Damn! Damn! Sabirah had gotten the best of her and all her money. She'd be double-damned if he got away with it.

"Toad."

"Todd. The name is Todd." He sighed. "What do you want Kate?"

"You know damn well what I want. And if I don't get it, you and your man Sabirah are dead men," she said.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your delivery men just arrived with the wrong item."

"The Eye of the Serpent was in the box. I made sure myself."

"That's not what made it here. I got some old nasty bottle." She lifted the glass and brushed at the dust with the corner of her towel. "Tell Sabirah, I want the Eye of the Serpent or I'll be on him like stink on shit. You got me?"

"I saw the Eye in that box, I swear. Look Kate, I'll get back to you in two minutes. Let me find out what's happening."

Kate slammed her phone shut and rubbed the towel over the glass again. "Damned ugly bottle, too. I'm going to kill Sabirah if it's the last thing I-what the-"

The floor shook so violently Kate tossed the bottle onto the couch and dropped to her knees. As a rumble of thunder filled the air, she grabbed a cushion from a nearby chair and held it over the back of her neck.

Had there been an earthquake? Did a bomb go off nearby? What the hell was going on?
Then the room went still. Kate eased the cushion aside and ventured a look around.
Her gaze lit on a pair of large, bare feet. For a moment she studied the toes until her mind registered these really were feet she was looking at.

She sat up and pushed away as fast as she could. Her heart in her throat, her gaze traveled up ankles, knees, and thighs, equally bare to-

"Wow!" Her perusal hung on what was hanging between the thighs. The biggest cock she'd seen on a real man, not one of those pumped up guys in the porn videos. Dragging her gaze away from his male body parts, she forced herself to find the face that belonged to that incredible-whew!
Heat sizzled along her nerve endings as she looked up a long way to find Adonis staring down at her. No other words could describe his golden-haired, blue-eyed perfection. And he was naked as the day he was born, only fully equipped and quickly becoming fully erect.

Adonis scrubbed a hand down his face. "Where am I?"

For some stupid reason, Kate couldn't find her voice to respond.

"Are we-?" He scratched his head and gestured toward her bare legs and the towel draped loosely around her middle. "Did we-?" He squinted at her face his gaze finally moving away from where her legs protruded from beneath the towel. "I'm sorry. Let me start over. Do I know you?"

BUY THE BOOK