It was almost dawn, although as yet no light glowed in the eastern sky. Feeling like the only person in the world, she took a deep breath and moved farther out onto the balcony.
The hair on the nape of her neck lifted, and unthinkingly she stepped back into the darkness of the overhang, senses straining as her eyes darted back and forth to search out what had triggered that primitive instinct.
Don’t be an idiot, she told herself uneasily, there’s no one out there—and even if there were it would be some sort of night watchman.
Moving slowly and quietly, she eased into her room and pulled the glass door shut, locking it and making sure there was no gap in the curtains.
But even then it was difficult to dispel that eerie sense of being watched. She marched across to the bathroom and set the glass down, washed her face, and then wondered how she was going to get back to sleep.
Half an hour later she gave up the attempt and decided to email her sister Jacoba.
Only to discover that for some reason the internet link wouldn’t work. Thoroughly disgruntled, she closed down her laptop and drank another glass of water.
It seemed that Felipe had decided to continue his charade of rejection. After breakfast in her room the butler hand-delivered a note that told her Gastano had business to attend to in Moraze’s capital, and would see her that evening.
Suddenly light-hearted, Lexie arranged the transfer of her luggage to a new room, then organised a trip up to the mountains, eager to see the results of the world-famous bird-protection programme.
It was a surprise to find herself alone in the small tourist van with a woman who informed her she was both driver and guide.
‘Just you today, m’selle,’ she confirmed cheerfully. ‘I know all about this place, so, if you got any questions, you ask.’
And know about Moraze she did, dispensing snippets of information all the more intriguing for having a strong personal bias. Lexie plied her with questions, and once they reached the high grasslands she looked eagerly for signs of the horses.
‘You like horses?’ the driver asked.
‘Very much. I’m a vet,’ Lexie told her.
‘OK, I tell you about the horses.’
Lexie soaked up her information, much of which concerned the legendary relationship between the horses and the ruler.
‘As long as the horses flourish,’ the guide finished on the approach to a sweeping corner, ‘Our Emir will also, and so will Moraze.’
She spoke as though it were written law. Lexie asked curiously, ‘Why do you call him the Emir?’
‘It’s kind of a joke, because the first de Couteveille was a duke in France. He got into trouble there, and after a couple of years of roaming in exile he found Moraze. He brought an Arabian princess with him.’ She gave a thousand-watt smile. ‘Their descendants have kept Moraze safe for hundreds of years, so you better believe we look after those horses! We don’t want anyone else taking over our island, thank you very much.’
Lexie gasped with alarm as the guide suddenly jerked the wheel. The van skidded, the world turned upside down, and amidst a harsh cacophony of sounds Lexie was flung forward against the seatbelt. It locked across her, the force driving the breath from her lungs, so that she dragged air into them with a painful grunt.
The laboured sound of the engine and a strong smell of petrol forced her to ignore her maltreated ribs. A cool little wind played with her hair, blowing it around her face. She forced her eyes open and saw grass, long and golden, rustling in the breeze.
The car had buried its nose in the low bank on one side of the road, and when she tried her door it refused to open. She turned her head, wincing at a sharp pain in her neck, to see the driver slumped behind the wheel. The woman’s harsh breathing filled the vehicle.
‘I have to turn off the engine,’ Lexie said aloud. If she didn’t it might catch fire.
Easing herself around, she freed the seatbelt and groped for the key. She could just reach it. With shaking fingers, she twisted rapidly, hugely relieved when the engine sputtered into silence.
Now she had to see if the driver was all right. If it was a heart attack she could at least give CPR. But first she had to get out, which meant crawling over the poor woman, possibly making any injuries worse…
She reached for the driver’s wrist, hugely relieved when the pulse beat strongly beneath her shaking fingers. And then she heard the distant throb of a powerful engine, a sound she identified as a helicopter.
The pilot must have seen the wrecked car because the chopper altered course. The clack-clack-clack of the engine filled the air, and seconds later the craft landed in a haze of dust and wind. Immediately a man leapt down, ducking to avoid the rotors as he ran towards her. Lexie put her hand up to her eyes and closed them, then looked again, blinking hard.
Even at this distance she knew him. Rafiq de Couteveille—the man who had kissed her only last night…
Stunned, her stomach hollow, Lexie watched him yank open the driver’s door and crouch beside her. After one quick glance at the unconscious woman, he transferred his gaze to Lexie’s face.
‘You are all right?’ he demanded, pitching his voice so she could hear him above the noise of the helicopter.
Lexie nodded, ignoring the sharp stab of maltreated muscles in her neck. ‘I think she might have had a heart attack.’
He bent his attention to the crumpled woman beside her. Was he a doctor? No, he didn’t look like a doctor.
The driver stirred and muttered something in the local Creole French, then opened her eyes.
‘Don’t worry,’ Rafiq de Couteveille said. ‘We’ll have you both out soon.’
No sooner said than done; within a few minutes the driver was free and being carried across to the chopper by two men, and Rafiq was saying, ‘Let me help you.’
‘I can manage, thank you.’
But he eased her past the wheel, his strong arms gentle and controlled. In spite of the shivers racking her when he set her carefully on her feet, her breath was shallow and her colour high.
And all she could think of was that she must look a real guy. ‘Thank you,’ she said as crisply as she could.
Something flickered in the dark eyes—green, she realised in the clear light of the Moraze day. Not just ordinary green, either—the pure, dense green of the very best pounamu, New Zealand’s prized native jade.
‘So we meet again,’ he said with an ironic twist to his beautifully chiselled mouth.
He was too close. Taking an automatic step backwards, she turned slightly away, her brows meeting for a second as another twinge of pain tightened the muscles in her neck.
Sharply he asked, ‘Where are you hurt?’
‘I’m not—the seatbelt was just a bit too efficient.’ Her smile faded as she asked anxiously, ‘Is the driver all right?’
‘I think so.’
Lexie swallowed to ease a suddenly dry throat. ‘I’m so glad you happened to be passing.’
He responded courteously, ‘And so, Alexa Considine, am I.’
‘Lexie. My name is Lexie,’ she told him. ‘From New Zealand,’ she added idiotically.
She shivered, then stiffened as he picked her up and strode towards the chopper.
‘I can walk,’ she muttered.
‘I doubt it. You’re in shock.