“I know. I was thinking that too.” I smiled. “Even if we missed all those chances before, at least we’ll never miss another one.”
He leaned down and kissed me, a soft, delicious cinnamon Tic Tac kiss that became a sensual, sexy, spicy kiss. We made out for a long time, occasionally whispering either very loving or very dirty things in each other’s ears.
“Are you sure you won’t be too tired to show me a good time tonight?” I teased, smiling and sucking gently on his neck.
“After a week? You must be kidding,” he said biting my earlobe. “Besides, didn’t you look at the pictures of the room? I’m going to play desert sheik and harem girl with you.”
“Let’s save that for our wedding night.” I giggled with anticipation. “I’ve been taking those belly dancing lessons and I bought an outfit to wear so I could dance for you then.”
“Oh my God. That’s better than Princess Leia and the gold bikini.”
It wasn’t all banter, though. We also talked about other things, details about the wedding, plans for the future, even just books and movies. Don’t ever think that Adam and I just argue and have make-up sex. We can talk for hours about mutual interests and issues that matter to us. I just don’t always describe those conversations because I’m not convinced that anyone else cares what we think about Twentieth Century literature, our favorite X-Files episodes or Middle Eastern politics.
We arrived in Las Vegas that afternoon and cars were waiting to take us to the hotel. I could feel Adam’s excitement, and not in the usual way. He was looking out the windows like a puppy dog. I half expected him to race back and forth from one side of the car to the other. When we pulled up to Marrakesh, the expression on his face looked like we had just discovered El Dorado.
There was a huge intricate stone arch that we drove through, and there were exotic-looking fountains just beyond. We circled up the drive and approached the huge entrance. Bellmen, dressed like Arabian palace guards, immediately swarmed. I didn’t point out that Arabia was a bit of a schlep from Morocco.
Adam had Vegas fever. He vaulted out of the car and looked around like he had just spent 40 years in the desert searching for this place. I was very happy to be there too, though. After leaving a bleak January day in Philly, the sun on my skin felt wonderful. Mr. Jonathan came out of the entrance and welcomed us enthusiastically.
“You’re all checked in! I have keys for everyone and the bellman will take your things up. The wedding party will have its own wing. Adam and Lily will have the honeymoon suite on their wedding night and a regular room before that.”
“Let’s get unpacked and check out the hotel,” Gab said, sounding excited.
“Let’s check out our room first,” Braden said, sounding excited in a different way. I had a feeling that all of the guys had an urge to play desert sheik and harem girl.
“After Braden and Gabrielle are done breaking in their bed, I say we hit that famous swimming pool,” Mark suggested.
“Okay, everybody, let’s do this!” Adam said, sounding like an excited kid. He grabbed my hand and practically skipped up the stone steps into the ornate lobby.
Having never been to Morocco, I had no idea what the real Marrakesh looked like, but it looked good to me. Actually, it reminded me of pictures I had seen of Moorish palaces in Spain. There were beautifully carved arches and vivid colors everywhere. The centerpiece of the lobby was a huge fountain painted gold. At least I think was painted. “Opulent” was the word that came to mind. It was quite a change from the place I had been living in just prior to moving in with Adam. “Tenement” was the word that came to mind with that place. I half expected to see Ali Baba come by on a flying carpet and I have to admit that while it might have been a little tacky, it was fun tacky.
Our rooms were well-equipped to support Adam’s role play fantasies. There was an arch leading to a private balcony and a sunken bathtub big enough for the whole harem. The bed was covered in brightly colored pillows and a sheer, dark purple canopy cascaded down from the ceiling, creating our own little harem tent.
“On our wedding night, I’ll dress in my costume and dance for you and feed you grapes and read to you from the 1001 Nights,” I said giving Adam a come-hither look and a hip wiggle.
“I’m so happy.” He sounded like he might cry.
Chapter Seventeen
An hour later, everyone met down by the pool. Because the weather wasn’t all that warm yet, it was enclosed and covered by a glass roof, but it was still breathtaking. There were fountains and exotic plants all over the place. There was even a swim-up bar. We found a group of lounge chairs together and settled in as waiters appeared out of nowhere to take our drink orders. I sat back for a chat with my girls and Bruce while Adam and the other guys headed off for a swim.
“Any word about what the boys have planned, Mata Hari?” Jess asked Gabrielle. Gabrielle was good at getting information out of Braden.
“They’re going to see Fantasy; it’s a burlesque type show at Luxor,” she answered.
“And you, Lily, are going to see the Chippendale’s revue at Rio,” Beth said wiggling her eyebrows. Bruce whooped. Jason had put himself through college as a Chippendale’s dancer.
“Oh my. Well, I guess if Adam can watch sexy women strut around half-naked …”
“That’s the spirit, honey,” Jess said with a smile.
“And then we’ll send you back to your room with Adam and you can strut around half-naked for him,” Gabrielle said.
“We’ll make sure nobody disturbs you two tomorrow morning,” Beth added.
“I may be asleep by the time he gets back.”
“Nope, we’ve got everything time coordinated with the boys,” Jess said.
“Yeah, we’ll be checking in with them periodically,” Gab put in. “We’ll make sure that you and Adam wind up together and awake at the end of the night.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get you laid, sweetie,” Bruce said, sipping his daiquiri.
“Thanks, Pimp Daddy,” I said with a smile.
We joined the guys for a swim and then went back to our rooms to change for dinner and our respective nights out. Adam looked yummy in a royal blue button down shirt, black jacket and pants. I wore my red dress – the one that he had liked so much last summer. He still liked it.
“You’re wearing that dress.” He walked over and pulled me into his arms, squeezing my bottom and leaning down to kiss my neck.