Free Awoken by the Sheikh by Doris O'Connor Page A

sexuality. Astrid
held onto the rail a bit tighter and shut her eyes to block out the terrifying
sight of another wave approaching, as she recalled her first meeting with him.
    “ Welcome to the island of dreams, beautiful lady.”
    Astrid harrumphed at that memory. Beautiful? Her? Yeah, sure, buster. Next he would be offering to show her
around personally. Lynn had said the staff was extremely accommodating. Heaven help her if his deep, accented tones hadn’t done strange things to
her insides, however. Not that she would ever admit to that or let him see her
reaction.
    She’d ignored the outstretched hand, which had earned
her a chuckle and a raised eyebrow from the infuriating man, and then the
speedboat had roared to life. Astrid was going to kill Lynn for insisting that
she come to this, this place. Hours on planes, and now this boat, whose swaying movements made her stomach churn. Exhaustion
pulled at her, and thanks to the suffocating heat she could barely
breathe.   Her hair whipped around her
face in a tangled, frizzy mess due to the salt air, and she was sure she had
sweat stains that would never come out on her suit.
    Very beautiful, indeed. What a load of bull designed to make women swoon.
    Thinking of Lynn made her groan out loud. Lynn, who
was so full of life that Astrid got tired just
watching her. This trip was Lynn’s birthday present to her. She couldn’t have
just gotten her the latest novel she asked for, oh no.
    That would have been easy and helpful, and meant
Astrid could have relieved her sexual tension while safely tucked under her
covers with the aid of her little purple friend.
    “ Hold on
tight, beautiful lady. This bit gets rather rough.”
    Astrid almost jumped at the deep, male voice and
rolled her eyes as he threw her another one of those lingering looks. Oh no,
you don’t, buster. It would take a lot more than male eye candy served in a
white uniform for her to be at all interested.
    Wouldn’t it?
    Nonetheless Astrid breathed a sigh of relief when the
little craft finally pulled up at a small quay. Her torture was almost over.
Ignoring the outstretched hand of sailor boy, Chippendale wannabe, she managed
to climb off the boat, grateful for the wide, female smile that greeted her.
    “ Welcome
to the island, Miss Griending . I trust that your
journey over was not too tiresome and that Pedro behaved himself?” The middle
aged woman’s smile deepened at Astrid’s barely suppressed, “Harrumph!”
    “ I always
behave myself, Anna, you know that.” Pedro shot Astrid another one of those
looks as he handed her luggage out of the boat. “Unless the
lady doesn’t want me to?”
    Damn the man . Heat rose in her cheeks, and with one last chuckle
the infuriating example of why she normally avoided men at all costs was gone
with a burst of speed.
    “ I bet he
says that to all the women he ferries about.” Astrid grumbled the words under
her breath.
      “ Don’t you mind Pedro,” Anna said. “His bark is worse
than his bite. If you follow me, I will show you to your accommodations so you
can settle in. You will feel better once you have freshened up.” Anna picked up
Astrid’s bags and set off at a brisk pace.
    Astrid had little choice but to follow the petite
woman up the winding path. She was so tired by now that she could hardly think
straight, and she wasn’t really listening when Anna offered her a choice of
huts.   Surely one was as good as the
other? And why was she asking her about her favorite childhood book? What did
that have to do with anything, and why on earth was she smiling at her like
that?
    If she didn’t know any better she would have thought
that welcome drink Anna handed her was spiked, she was so woozy. Oh stop being
paranoid, girl. You’re just tired.
    She was dimly aware of being shown into a cozy looking
beach hut, situated on flawless white sands, before the sight of the hugest bed
she had ever seen made her forget all her other worries, and she simply