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*
Excerpt(s)
China
Chapter
One
She
was on a flight from hell!
Time
had no relevance for her. Days, hours, minutes no longer mattered. She was
scared for her life.
Having
her wrists cuffed to the armrests and her ankles to the legs of the seat
didn't help either. Gooseflesh flashed along her skin, the terror of her
situation causing her to feel colder than she was.
Her
breath shuddered from her chest in great gulps of air. She couldn't stop
hyperventilating, and it didn't seem to matter that she was well on her
way to passing out. Every pore in her body was reacting to her fear. She
was shaking uncontrollably. The hood they'd covered her head with shut out
all sense of sight, leaving her fear to feed upon itself. Her lips
quivered pitifully, as her tears gathered strength for another deluge.
Jia
Li was absolutely terrified. Reality slowly settled in, relentlessly
squeezing her chest like a vise. One thing was for sure, this was really
happening to her.
Trying
to catch her breath, she forced herself to think back to how she'd ended
up in this nightmare. Anything to take her mind off what was coming next.
The
day had been a typical Monday afternoon in San Francisco. It was a
beautiful warm summer's day with the usual breeze chilling things down
just enough for a light sweater to be necessary. She'd been running
errands, the last one putting her in the heart of Chinatown during the
busy lunch break. After having fought her way through throngs of tourists,
she'd finished and had started to make her way back to her apartment when
she was grabbed. In a flash she'd been pulled back into a narrow alley.
A
strong arm had wrapped around her waist and a hand pressed against her
mouth, instantly silencing her. Jia faced the street and watched people
passing by without so much as a glance to witness her mounting trouble.
She dropped her bags and clawed at the hand covering her mouth. She tried
to kick back at the man holding her but only managed to trip herself as he
dragged her backwards.
Without
anyone seeing them, they slipped through a door, and she was gone.
*
India
Chapter
One
"What
a beautiful day. I can't believe it's deserted out here on the
Theosophical Society's grounds. It's a national holiday and the city is
bursting at the seams with people, but not out here. I'm happy we have it
all to ourselves. It's so peaceful sitting here beneath this big old
banyan tree."
The
young couple had eyes only for each other as they prepared to take a major
step in their lives together.
"Are
you sure with what we're about to do, Sati?"
"Oh
yes, Bodhi, most definitely. I love you, belong with you and will have you
as my husband."
"My
heart, you know your remaining family, your uncle and his clan, will no
longer claim you as a Chaudhari."
"I
understand. Yes, I'm grateful they took me in when I was young, but there
has never been any love or respect for me as a person. Up to this point my
uncle has dictated my life. It's time for me to take control and make my
own decisions. I'm responsible for choosing where I go for the rest of my
years and it's with you." She reached over and stroked her fingertips
across the masculine stubble decorating his cheek.
He
was a strikingly handsome man, which made her a very lucky woman to
possess his heart.
As
she defied convention by touching him in public, she thought about her
life. She had worked very hard and the result had been her reputation as a
beloved Bollywood starlet. It was only business, she understood that.
Still, she'd been pleasantly surprised when her agent, Vasin told her how
the name Sati Chaudhari on a marquee was sought after. It meant millions
upon millions of rupees earned for those with their fingers in the pot.
There
was often a downside to success and hers was being overworked. A while
back she'd been on a set, filming and the press had started to speculate
about the cause of her apparent exhaustion. Not wanting to have anything
negative associated with her or the film, Vasin had pushed for a break.
Thankfully,
an opening for a spa weekend at the exclusive Raj Lake Palace floating on
Lake Pichola in Udaipur had been found. She'd headed straight there,
looking forward to the peace they offered in the beautiful setting.
Unfortunately, once she stepped into the lobby a guest had recognized her
and the restful weekend looked impossible. After having gained her
autograph, he'd begun to make a nuisance of himself. Then her future
husband had stepped around the corner and into her life.
"Do
you remember when we first met?" Her query was barely heard over the
rustling leaves.
"How
could I forget? You appeared so fragile in the lobby as that fan was
trying to push in on you."
"You
stepped out from around the corner and took my breath away. So very
handsome and, like a knight in shining armor, you escorted me away from
the chaos and handled everything personally. You made me feel so
special."
She
smiled with fond memories over that first weekend. It had been full of
confidential meetings where they'd talked about their likes and dislikes,
dreams of the future and the horrors of reality. By the end her break,
they'd made plans to meet up gain, and then again. Eventually their secret
rendezvous led to even more interludes.
It
would be fair for people to believe he was obnoxious, arrogant and
snobbish, being born into a family of privilege, yet she'd never found him
to be any of those things. In fact he was the direct opposite.
Bodhi
Burke was a confident and open-minded man who worked hard in the family
hotel business and was determined to take the company around the world.
With an Englishman and half-Indian woman for parents, he mainly took after
his Anglo father. Very tall, physically fit and handsome, yet his mother's
genes were definitely in the mix with his silky soft, rich brown hair and
light hazel eyes.
Fixing
her eyes to his, she thought how the surrounding thick, long black lashes
would be the envy of many women. Suddenly, she felt nervous and Sati
looked for assurances.
"Do
you have doubts?"
"None."
There was no change in his direct gaze, nothing in his body language that
showed any hesitation. He was as sure as she that their decision was the
best one for them both. "Sati, my love, have I told you today what a
beautiful bride you make?" |
