Oasis

Chapter One

“Whew.” Charisma took off her hat and wiped the sweat from her brow. The sun blinded her as she looked up. It if wasn’t for the shyness of the sand viper she was trying to photograph she would be back at her aunt’s mansion lounging around the cool, wet swimming pool and sipping on a nice cold glass of iced tea. The viper stuck his head out of the sand, allowing her to capture its likeness in mid-strike as it lunged toward her. She moved away from the angry snake and continued snapping its picture until it retreated back into the sand. Someone cleared their throat behind her. Turning, she stared up at the flanks of a mocha-colored camel. Upon its back rode a hooded and partially masked black man with intense dark brown eyes. Behind him and the camel sat a caravan of desert vehicles and other camel riders.

“What are you doing?” His voice was deep, melodic and heavily accented.

“Photographing nature in its rarest form.”

“No, I mean what are you doing out here in the desert alone? The
Sahara
is a dangerous place even for a man.”

Charisma tore her gaze away from his mesmerizing eyes. “I’m trying to get an award winning shot for a magazine if it’s any of your business. I can’t concentrate with a bodyguard shackled to my ankles.”

“A very unwise decision. You are much too fine to be unchaperoned.”

“Thanks for the complement but I’m properly covered.” She pointed to the veil on her face. “Nothing’s showing.”

“Apparently you’ve never seen what you look like from behind.”

Charisma looked up in a huff. “It’s rude of you to point out that I have a big butt.”

A few of the others chuckled.

“Not big, shapely and formidable.”

“Don’t you have anything better to do than harass me? I’m about to leave anyway. It’s too darn hot here and water is not quenching my thirst.”

“Good. I would hate to read tomorrow’s headlines in the newspaper and discover that something has happened to you. I can just see it now…young Hispanic woman with a gigantic butt succumbs to the hot
Sahara
heat.”

Charisma tried to ignore him as she bent over and put her camera back into the case.

“Formidable.”

She looked back to give him another piece of her mind but he was leaving. The rest of the riders and the cars followed him. Her heartbeat quieted moments later. He had the most gorgeous eyes she had ever looked in to. And that voice…deep and sexy. She fanned herself. It was the type of baritone that made a woman’s knees shake. “I wonder what the rest of him looks like.” She folded the tripod and tossed it into the back of her Jeep along with the rest of her things. “Too bad he’s so damn arrogant.”

* * * *

“Where have you been, Chrissy?” her aunt Carmen asked as she stepped inside the house.

“Out taking pictures.”

“Girl, I swear. I don’t remember you being born with a camera slung around your neck.”

“No, but stop me if I’m wrong— weren’t you the one who gave me my first camera when I was ten?”

Carmen hugged her niece. “Yes, it was me but that’s only because you refused to play with dolls.”

“Dolls are the devil’s henchmen and they misrepresent what a woman’s body should look like. No one has a perfect body like Barbie.”

“She has no ass,” her aunt teased. “Not even the Latina Barbie.” She slapped her ample butt. “See
Latina
booty.”

Carmen Fuentez was a tall, striking redhead with a nice body for a woman in her late forties.

Her uncle cleared his throat as he entered the kitchen. “You’re corrupting the girl. She is not all about her booty.”

He wasn’t bad either in the looks department, Charisma noted. He was taller than Carmen and worked out regularly at the gym. She kissed him on his cheek. “No, but tell the truth Mr. Ambassador, isn’t that what drew you to Aunt Carmen in the first place?”

Julio Fuentez chuckled. “It was the first part of her that I saw.”

“You two are horrible. Chrissy, your dress has arrived. You need to try it on to make sure it fits.”

“You mean I have to make sure that I’m appropriately covered so that I won’t offend the natives.”

“Se. We are in
Africa
and most of our guests are from Muslim countries.”

“Do I have to cover my hair and my face?”

“No, not while you’re here on this property,” her uncle answered. “So you can let all that radiant beauty show.”

Charisma blushed. “I think you’re biased.”

“Yes, I’m kind of stuck on you kid. Now go to your room, and try on that dress before my wife has a fit. You know she likes everything perfect when she entertains.”

No, she really didn’t. She had only been there for two weeks and no one had come to visit except a couple of employees from the Embassy. Charisma opened the door to her room. The dress in question hung in a bag on the closet door. There was also a big box on the bed. She partially unzipped it. “Yeah, it’s black.” For a moment she thought her aunt was going to order the pink one which wasn’t her favorite color. “I can’t try this on. I’m covered in sand.” She made a mad dash for the shower and exited a little while later. She pulled the dress out of the garment bag. “Good, it’s tea length.” She didn’t like long formals because they called attention to her height. Besides it was too damn hot. Charisma unzipped the zipper, stepped into the dress and then struggled to get it over her behind. Charisma spun around and looked at herself in the mirror. “Formidable.” She practiced a curtsey and her boobs jiggled. “Oh, oh, maybe Aunt Carmen should be a little more worried about the front of the dress.” The neckline hung low and showed off a considerable amount of cleavage. Charisma opened the box on the bed. Inside was a matching light-weight jacket, a strapless bra and hose. The jacket barely covered her ample breasts. She sighed. “Well, it’s too late to get anything else. The party is only a couple hours away.”

* * * *

Shakir stepped inside the study. His cousin Amon followed him in and sat down in a chair. “I’m tired. Do we really have to go to that party?”

Shakir removed his keffiyek and mask. “Yes, the Ambassador and his wife are expecting us.”

“Whose brilliant idea was it to ride the camels?”

“Haji.”

“Your brother is trying to kill me. I can’t help it if he’s too tall to fit comfortably in the car.”

Shakir sat down on the other seat. He nodded. “I barely fit and I’m shorter than both he and Aton.”

“And you’re six-foot-three. I’m glad that I didn’t inherit my height from my father.”

Amon was barely five-foot-ten but he still posed a threatening figure as one of the king’s leader of the guards. “Women love tall men.”

Amon sat up. “Speaking of women, what do you think of that desert flower we saw earlier?”

“Hard to say. I couldn’t really see her face.”

Amon laughed. “But you did see other things.”

“Darn fool woman, alone in the desert taking pictures.”

“What do you expect? She is an American.”

“For her to show some common sense. She was out at the hottest time of the day and she could have died from heat stroke.” He paused. “And yes, the body was amazing.”

Amon chuckled. “I knew you were checking her out.”

“Checking who out?” Haji asked as he and Aton walked into the room.

Shakir looked toward the door and at his two older brothers. “Don’t you have your own rooms?” His family had come to town for a couple of days and they were staying with him.

“The wives are with us and they have taken over the rooms with clothes and frilly stuff,” Aton answered.

“Who is Shakir checking out?” Haji asked again. He was first in line for the throne and a natural born leader. He was also natural born nosey.

“The woman in the desert.”

“The one with the sizeable behind?”

Amon shook his head. “That’s the one.”

Shakir hated the way they discussed him like he wasn’t there. “Give me a break. Didn’t either of you notice how she was aggravating that snake? It could have bit her.”

Haji tossed a pillow at him as he sat down. “Since when have you developed concern for others?”

“Since never,” Aton answered for him. “There’s no Fruit Loops in the kitchen cupboard and he knew I was coming.”

“You’ve been here five minutes. When did you have a chance to search the cupboards?”

Aton smiled sheepishly. “I looked on my way to your room.”

Shakir sighed. Aton was a bottomless pit and he was always hungry. “I’ll pick some up later in town, you big baby. Anyway, just think if she had been Zahara or Thema?”

“I don’t have to think about it,” Haji replied. “Our sisters are smart when it comes to the desert and besides, their husbands would never allow it.” He paused. “Maybe her husband doesn’t care.”

“I don’t think she’s married. I didn’t see a ring.”

Amon waved his hand in front of Shakir’s face annoyingly. “When did you have time to look for a ring? You only had a five minute conversation or should I say argument with her.”

“That is why he is not married,” Haji replied. “He likes to argue.”

Shakir ignored his brother. “It was enough time. Anyway, she doesn’t seem like the marrying type. She has a career. I think she is a photographer.”

Amon shrugged. “You’re making an awful lot of this. You’ll never see her again.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He rose. “I’m going to take a shower and when I get out I better find all of you gone.”

Amon rose. “We can take a hint. We’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

Chapter Two

Charisma’s stomach led her out of her room and down the stairs. The house smelled of freshly baked bread and cakes. Her aunt slapped her fingers just before she touched an appetizer.