by H. Y. Hanna
Exhaustion was really setting in now and Leah found that she was fighting to stay awake. The police came. She was vaguely aware of Toran talking to them, of a lot of questions being asked, of discussions about raiding the retreat. When the police finally left in the early hours of the morning, Leah gave in at last and shut her eyes. Her last thought as she drifted off to sleep was to wonder what would happen to Fay and the other innocent girls at Sanctum Bona Dea.
Leah didn’t wake up until after noon the next day. She was a bit embarrassed to have slept for so long, but she felt wonderfully refreshed. She waited impatiently—both for news about what had happened at Sanctum Bona Dea and also to be discharged—but it wasn’t until late afternoon that she learned the police had raided the compound and seized all the illegally harvested eggs. The Matronae and Crystal and other key members of Sanctum Bona Dea had been arrested—the rest of the women had been brought back to Singapore for health checks and treatment. Most were suffering from weight loss and malnutrition, but no serious physical harm. The psychological consequences, though, were another story.
“They’re going to need a lot of counselling for a while,” said Julia grimly when she came to meet Leah after the doctor had finished his ward round and announced that she could be discharged. “And a lot of them were emotionally fragile to begin with. Sanctum Bona Dea has really messed with their heads.”
“There was a girl called Fay—did you hear anything about her?” asked Leah as she put on her shoes.
Julia smiled. “She was one of the luckier ones. I think she’s going to be okay. She helped to save you guys, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Leah looked at her in surprise.
“Well, Toran and I had no idea where you two were being held. We would never have thought of looking in that sunken old hut out by the pier… who would? We had gotten into the compound from the mangrove swamps and were running around from building to building, looking for you. Then we overhead a commotion in one of larger huts and when we peeked in through a window, there was a group of women in there, sitting with a bunch of candles.” Julia made a face. “I think they were supposed to be holding some kind of meditation, except that Fay was kicking up a huge fuss, saying that it was wrong and that you shouldn’t have been left out in that hut. The others were trying to calm her down. But we got enough from what she said that we knew where to look. Thank God…” Julia shuddered. “If we hadn’t had that information, we might have been too late.”
Leah followed Julia out of her room and as they walked through the ward towards the exit, she made a mental note to find Fay later and thank her in person. It felt good to know that the Matronae hadn’t managed to brainwash all sense of decency and conscience out of every member at the retreat.
She glanced at Julia, almost afraid to ask. “Where’s Toran? Is he with Angela…?”
“No, I think he’s down at the police station helping them wrap up the case,” said Julia airily. “Angela went home with her parents.”
Leah felt slightly ashamed at the relief she felt. “I guess I’d better head home too.”
“I’ll drop you home,” said Julia quickly. Then she hesitated. “Leah… I… I wanted to say sorry again… you know, for—”
Leah reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. “It’s okay.” She smiled at Julia. “I understand. I still think it was a rotten thing you did,” she added with a wry look. “But… well… I guess almost losing my life has put a lot of things in perspective. People make mistakes, even with the best of intentions. I get that.”
Julia looked at her gratefully and squeezed her hand. “It would have killed me to lose you as a friend, Leah. You mean a lot to me.” She paused, then added, “And I can see that you and Toran mean a lot to each other… I should have seen that a long time ago.”
“So you think he’s good enough for me now?” asked Leah with a teasing smile.
“Hey, the man drives one of the most expensive Audi convertibles on the market,” said Julia, her eyes twinkling. “No, seriously… men like him are worth a dozen billionaires. I think you guys are meant for each other and I promise I won’t ever meddle again.”
Leah was about to respond when she heard her name being called. They were just passing the nurse’s station by the exit and a nurse leaned over the counter towards her.
“There’s a message for you. From Mr Toran James.”
“From Toran?” Leah opened the envelope. Inside was a hotel key card, together with a scrap of paper that said simply: “meet me.”
“What is it?” asked Julia.
“It’s a message from Toran. I think he wants me to meet him at a hotel.” Leah frowned. “But it’s so weird—it’s not like him at all. Why would he—?”
“Oh, who cares,” said Julia. “Maybe he’s trying to be romantic. Come on, I’ll drop you at the hotel instead.”
Before Leah could say any more, she was dragged out of the hospital by her friend and driven across town in Julia’s luxurious black Mercedes. When they pulled up in the hotel driveway, Leah looked at the elegant lobby entrance in apprehension. What was going on? Why did Toran want to meet her here? She got out of the car and waved absent-mindedly as Julia’s car roared off. Then she took a deep breath and walked into the lobby.
CHAPTER 27
Leah made her way across the gleaming marble floors, past the enormous display of fuchsia orchids, to the panel of lifts. This was one of the top luxury hotels in Singapore, with opulent furnishings, dazzling chandeliers, and a dizzying high central atrium, and yet somehow, Leah didn’t feel that it was Toran’s type of place. Frowning, she went up in the lift and found that the key card matched to a door on the top floor.
She slid the card in, watched the light flash green, and pushed the door open, stepping into an enormous suite with a panoramic view of Marina Bay and the Singapore skyline.
“Wow…” Leah muttered to herself as she walked over to the windows to get a better look. The sky was lit up with a fiery pink sunset that reflected off the glass sides of the skyscrapers lining the waterfront. Lights twinkled across the city, dotting the landscape in flecks of gold.
She turned around, surveying the room. The spacious living area was furnished in dark rosewood and embroidered brocade, with framed Chinese silk paintings on the walls. A bucket filled with ice sat by the bar, with the gold foil top of a bottle of Dom Pérignon peeking over the edge.
A set of double doors led to an inner bedchamber with an enormous four-poster bed overflowing with plump pillows and bolster cushions. Rose petals had been scattered over the bed, their dark red colour showing vividly against the snowy sheets. The curtains had been drawn and a lamp had been switched on in one corner of the room, bathing everything in a soft, warm glow. Leah noticed with surprise that her trolley case was sitting in a corner of the room. Who had brought it here?
She wandered into the en-suite bathroom, marvelling at the double sinks, the sunken marble bath, and the shower big enough for an entire football team to wash together. She didn’t think she had ever seen such a lavish bathroom in her life.
The sound of the room door opening made Leah turn around and hurry back out to the living area. She found Toran standing in the foyer, looking around with a slight frown. He was in jeans and a dark, linen shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows to show his tanned, muscular forearms. He looked wary, tough, and forbidding.
He glanced up, saw her, and relaxed slightly. “Leah?” His green eyes softened as he came forwards. “Did you send this note asking me to come here…?” He held out a scrap of paper. On it were the words: “I’m waiting for you.” It was her handwriting, but Leah had no idea where it had come from since she had no recollection ever writing such a note.
“No,” she said, pulling the note she had been given by the nurse out of her own pocket and showing it to him. “Didn’t you send me this note?”
“No,” said Toran. “Or at least… that’s my handwriting. But look, the edges seem ripped. Like someone
tore this scrap out from a longer message I’d written.” He looked down at the piece of paper he held in his own hands. “Your note as well…”
They stared at each other, then they both said at the same time, “Julia!”
Toran stepped towards the coffee table and Leah noticed for the first time that there was a hotel notepad lying on it, with a message scribbled across its surface. He picked it up and they read the words together.
This is what I should have done twelve years ago. Better late than never, I guess. I hope this makes up in a little way and gives you a head start in catching up on lost time. The suite is booked for the whole weekend. Don’t you dare show your faces till Monday. Enjoy! Love, Julia.
Leah shook her head and laughed. “And she just promised me blithely that she wasn’t going to meddle ever again!”
“She’s incorrigible,” said Toran, caught between amusement and exasperation. “She’ll probably sit up in her coffin on the way to her own funeral and boss people around on how to organise it better.”
“So… what are we going to do?” asked Leah, looking shyly up at him.
Toran gave her a slow smile. “Well, it would be a shame to waste Julia’s efforts.”
“What about… Angela?” asked Leah in a small voice.
Toran turned to face her and spoke quietly. “I saw Angela this morning. I told her about us.”
Pain clouded his green eyes briefly and Leah realised how hard it must have been for Toran, having to hurt someone he genuinely cared about.
She reached out and took his hands. “I’m sorry.” She swallowed hard. “But you know, if you feel—”
“Angela is a lovely girl,” Toran said, his strong fingers lacing through hers. “I hope she’ll find someone who makes her happy someday. But not me. It would have been unfair on both of us, when my heart always belonged to another.” He leaned in closer. “It was always you, Leah.”
Leah felt like her heart was swelling until her chest hurt. She didn’t know what to say. She looked up at Toran and saw him catch his breath as he read the expression in her eyes. He lowered his head and Leah let her eyelids close, her lips parting in anticipation—waiting, craving, aching for his kiss.
His mouth brushed hers and it was as if a spark was lit, somewhere deep in her belly, and the heat flooded through her body, warming her down to her toes. Leah moved, sliding her arms around Toran’s neck, pressing her body closer to him. She breathed in his wonderful masculine scent and twined her fingers in his hair, revelling in the feel of his hard body against hers.
Toran growled deep in his throat as he suddenly deepened the kiss, pulling her roughly against him, and she felt a thrill of excitement shoot through her. His hands caressed her back as his lips moved lingeringly over hers, his mouth at once teasing and possessing.
When he finally broke the kiss, Leah felt almost as weak as when she had escaped from the hut yesterday. The whole room was spinning around her. She was glad of Toran’s arms supporting her.
“Come on… we don’t want to underuse the wonderful facilities this suite offers,” Toran said with a sexy grin and took her hand, leading her into the bedroom. He raised an eyebrow as he saw the rose petals on the bed. “When Julia decides to make up for things, she really pulls out the stops, doesn’t she?”
Leah laughed, blushing. Toran pulled his phone out of his pocket and switched it off, then tossed it onto the bedside table. He turned to Leah and drew her back into his arms.
“No interruptions this time. No intrusions. I don’t want anybody in this moment except us.” His gaze was smouldering.
Leah dropped her eyes. It was stupid, but she felt suddenly inexplicably shy. Maybe because she too had spent her whole life dreaming of this moment with Toran and now that it was here, she felt scared, overwhelmed. What if she didn’t live up to how he imagined? What would he think when he finally saw her naked? How would things change once they crossed this last line together? What if—
Toran dropped his head and claimed her lips, stopping her thoughts. His mouth was hot, demanding, and passionate, and Leah felt a thrill again as she realised how much he desired her. It gave her a heady sense of power. She broke the kiss and reached out to touch his chest beneath the soft linen of his shirt. Slowly, her fingers wandered to the buttons and she undid them one by one, until at last the shirt parted. She slid her hands underneath, feeling his taut muscles and hearing Toran’s sharp intake of breath.
“Leah,” he groaned as he captured her lips again, his mouth moving with sensual hunger across hers.
He broke the kiss only long enough to grab the hem of her T-shirt and pull it over her head in one impatient movement, then his mouth was back on hers. His hands roamed slowly down her body, caressing the curves and hollows. Leah shivered with pleasure as his fingers lingered on the bare skin at the small of her back, then dipped under the waistband of her skirt. She reached back and unclasped it, stepping out of the skirt as it pooled around her feet. The air felt deliciously cool on her heated skin. She gasped and dropped her head back, arching against him as Toran trailed a fire of kisses down her throat.
Dimly, Leah was aware of him scooping her up and then she felt herself sinking into softness. She was on the bed, with the sweet perfume of rose rising around her. Toran brushed the petals impatiently aside. Then he paused and picked one up. Moving with tantalising slowness, he brushed it gently against her skin, trailing it from the hollow at the base of her throat, across her collarbone, and down her chest to the soft swell of her breasts just above the lace edge of her bra. Leah closed her eyes at the sensation of the satiny soft petal stroking her skin. It was like something between a teasing tickle and a sensuous caress, as it continued moving down, over her quivering abdomen and between her thighs. She wanted him to stop and she wanted him to keep going.
His fingers replaced the rose petal and Leah moaned, arching her back and clenching the sheets around her. Her eyelids fluttered open to see Toran looming above her, his green eyes dark with desire. The soft light from the lamp caught the hard planes of his chest, the ripple of muscles over his shoulders. He looked magnificent. Suddenly she wanted his hands on her—all over her. She didn’t want to play games anymore. She felt his fingers retrace a path back up her body, until it reached her bra. He played with the lace edge, sliding his fingers up and down, up and down, until she wanted to scream.
“Toran…” she begged him, squirming against him.
He laughed, a deep, sexy sound. “I never realised you were so impatient.”
“I never realised you were such a tease,” she said, panting.
He rolled over suddenly on top of her and Leah gasped as she felt the rough thrust of his leg between hers. Somehow, her bra and panties came off and then his clothes as well—and then it was just skin on skin, heat on heat. His hands were everywhere she wanted now and his mouth was a delicious agony. Leah gasped and writhed and screamed as she lost herself in an ecstasy of pleasure. Toran was rough and tender, powerful and passionate, and making love with him was like nothing she had imagined and everything she had imagined and more…
Leah stirred awake, realising that she was curled against a warm, masculine chest. She felt Toran’s arms tighten around her and she smiled. A faint line of light was showing around the edges of the curtains. It was morning. Leah rolled slightly away from Toran and stretched deliciously, memories of the night before returning and bringing a flush to her cheeks.
“Good morning.” Toran’s voice was a sexy rumble in the pillow next to her. She smiled and reached out to stroke his unruly dark hair. She had always wondered what it would be like to wake up next to him. Now she knew. It was wonderful.
“Good morning,” she said softly, feeling some of the shyness returning.
Toran turned and looked at her. In the dim light, his eyes were the deep sea-green of rock pools and Leah stared at them fascinated. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the amazing changes of colour in Toran’s eyes. She smiled at him, then real
ised that he was looking very serious.
“Leah… I’m sorry—about Angela.”
She looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, you were right. I should have told you that she was staying at my place. I shouldn’t have kept that from you, no matter how good the reason. I should have trusted that you’d understand.” He reached for her hand. “No more secrets. We’re starting again now and this time, I want no more secrets between us.”
Leah leaned forwards to touch her lips to his. “No more secrets.”
Toran rolled up on one elbow, his expression softening into a tender smile as he looked down at her. “I know this is a cliché, but you look beautiful in the morning.”
Leah laughed. “You’re right, it is a cliché. But I think I can cope with it.” She reached out a hand and ran a finger along his muscular shoulder. “You don’t look too bad either.”
His eyes darkened and he leaned forwards, his lips hovering a few inches above hers. “Looks can be deceiving. I can be as bad as you want me to be.”
Leah opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, her stomach responded for her by suddenly growling very loudly. She clutched her belly and giggled. “Sorry… I haven’t had anything proper to eat for two days and I think my stomach is still complaining about the enforced starvation at Sanctum Bona Dea.” She glanced around the room. “Maybe we should go down to the breakfast buffet.”
Toran made a face of mock horror. “I thought we were following Julia’s orders of not leaving the room all weekend.”
