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‘It depends how desperate she was, don’t you think?’
‘You didn’t know her, I did,’ she insisted stubbornly.
‘She was your mother, and you loved her no matter what. I get that. And I won’t go on, if you can’t take it.’
‘Don’t patroni
se me,’ she warned. ‘Tell me what you know. You can’t stop now.’
He stared at her for a long time before saying anything, as if he had to be sure she wouldn’t break down. She nodded once, briskly, inviting him to explain.
Another long pause, and then he said, ‘Did you know your mother was a drug addict?’
She battled to suck air into lungs that had inexplicably closed. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ she blurted at last. ‘Don’t you think I’d have known, if that were the case?’
But she did know. At least, she had suspected. And had needed to hear it from someone else, someone who was deeply involved. Miss Francine had always protected Millie from the truth, and she loved her for it. Khalid had done her another type of kindness by not dressing up the truth, and perhaps his was the greater gift, because he’d given her closure at last.
‘How did you know?’ she asked, feeling the tension seep away as the last piece of the jigsaw settled into place. Her fury at Khalid had been instantly replaced by deep sorrow for her mother.
Taking hold of her hands, he brought them down from her face. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly. ‘I think everyone must have known about your mother’s habit apart from you.’
‘I think I knew,’ she whispered. ‘I’d read rumours in the press, but I didn’t want to believe them. She was always careful around me, so I never saw any proof. Thank you for telling me. I needed to hear it. Then...’ She braced herself to voice the unspeakable. ‘If my mother was the freak show, was I the support act? Did your brother ever speak to you of that?’
* * *
His intention was not to destroy Millie, but to try and lay her ghosts to rest. His late brother would accept no restraint on his perversions. Whatever Millie asked of him now, he had to edit the truth, or cause her endless pain. ‘I didn’t know there was a party on board the Sapphire that night, until I arrived,’ he explained. ‘And as for your mother taking drugs? She would hardly be the first great artist to fall foul of ruthless and unscrupulous drug dealers.’
‘But that doesn’t explain her death,’ Millie said, frowning.
He wasn’t about to explain that he’d chased her mother’s drug dealer into the arms of the police, and had been dockside when Roxy’s body was fished out of the harbour. He’d checked to see if there was a pulse, and had seen the sapphires spilling over the top of her dress. He’d retrieved them before he was asked to stand back, so at least she could never be branded a thief.
‘Did she fall or was she pushed?’
Millie’s voice was hoarse, and her face was pale and strained. She deserved an honest answer, and at least he could give her this. ‘The dealer pushed her into the water.’
Over her gasp, he told her the rest of it—or his interpretation of what must have happened on that terrible night. He guessed Roxy had tried to pay the man for her fix in sapphires, which the dealer would assume were fake. Khalid guessed that was when he lost his temper. He’d seen little more than the end of the fight. The Sapphire was a huge vessel, so by the time he reached the shore, calling the authorities as he ran, he was too late to save Millie’s mother.
‘You saw this happen,’ she stated tensely, ‘so you were watching her all along.’
‘I witnessed something,’ he said honestly. ‘I was too far away to see clearly, and when I arrived at the scene it was dark and the water was black.’
‘But you called the authorities, so you must have known something was badly wrong.’
‘I heard a scream. That was what attracted my attention. It could have been kids acting up. It was only a few seconds later when I realised it wasn’t a game, and by then it was too late.’
‘I asked you to go back to save her,’ Millie said quietly. All her frustration and grief collided. ‘You bastard!’ she exclaimed, launching herself at him. ‘You let her down. And I know there’s something you’re not telling me. I know it—I know it!’
Catching hold of her, he held her still. ‘It’s over, Millie. It’s over now.’
As she fought him and railed against him, he wished he could do more, say more, but with a bride looming in his very near future he would not make any false promises to Millie. He could only wait until her anger burned out, and when it did, and she slumped against him, completely spent, he let her sob.
He waited until she was quiet again, and then tipped up her chin. ‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked as he took hold of her hand.
‘To bed—’
‘Are you mad?’ she exclaimed. ‘Let go of me!’
Ignoring her request, Khalid steered her on through the ship. The elevator was closer than the companionway and he stopped in front of it. Within seconds he’d backed her into the small, plush space. It did no good raging. He stood in her way, blocking her only escape route as the doors slid slowly to.
‘My intention is not to make you forget the past,’ he said quietly as she stood stiff as a board, pressed up hard against the corner, ‘but to help you face the facts and deal with them.’
* * *
‘How very kind,’ she said tensely. Her emotions were shot. She should have realised what a trauma it would be coming back. If she’d stayed on board eight years ago and shadowed her mother, this wouldn’t be happening, and her mother would still be alive.
‘No,’ Khalid instructed in a low tone as she covered her face with her hands. ‘No,’ he repeated. ‘This is not your fault.’
This was all her fault. Snapping around so she didn’t have to look at him, she slammed her forearm against the padded wall and buried her face in her arm. But reality had a way of intruding. What chance would she have stood against the toad-like Sheikh Saif and his guards?
Maybe none, but she should have tried.
‘No,’ Khalid said again, this time in a sharper tone when she reached for the controls to try and open the doors of the elevator before it moved off. ‘It’s too late for that.’
Too late for everything, she thought as he kept her boxed in the corner as the car began to rise. When she tried to push him away, he caught hold of her wrists and pinned them above her head. Frustration grabbed her by the throat. The need to learn secrets he refused to tell her exploded in fury and she snarled like a wild animal caught in a trap. He had an answer for that too. Dipping his head, Khalid enforced silence with a kiss. And not just any kiss, but one that melted her from the inside out. She only had to taste him, feel him, scent him, touch him, and she was lost. He was everything missing from her life. His touch seared her senses. His kisses rocked her world. Being lost in his arms always blotted out the past. He offered oblivion, and that was exactly what she craved right now. If she thought any more about the past, she’d go mad.
The elevator slowed to a halt, but he sent it down again. He pressed another light on the panel and it stopped between floors. ‘What are you doing?’ she asked tensely.
‘Taming you,’ he said, shocking her to her core. ‘Helping you to forget...’
What did that mean? Her wrists were still captive in his one massive fist, and with his free hand he began to map her breasts. Stunned, excited, angry, eager; she was all of those things. Her knees actually shook when he kissed her this time. Her body felt as if it had been plugged into a power source. She gasped when he grazed her nipples with his thumbnail. And vocalised her need for more when he weighed her breasts appreciatively before stroking them with the most seductive touch. She was incapable of speech, not that it mattered. Khalid was so intuitive he didn’t need any instruction, and telling him to stop was the last thing she wanted to do. Pulses of pleasure streamed straight to her core, leaving her with only one possible destination.
‘Need is blazing in your eyes,’ he observed, sounding pleased. ‘But if you’d like me to stop—’
Her excited laugh gave him the only answer he needed. She was a willing prisoner in Khalid’s erotic net, and her reward was the brush of his sharp b
lack stubble against her neck, and then the lightest brush of his lips as he kissed her. When he took possession of her mouth with his tongue, she found it too arousing, too tempting, and as he deepened the kiss she rubbed against him. She needed that big, hard body pressing into hers. Desperate for more contact, she writhed shamelessly against him. He tasted of everything good, and she was putty in his hands. Animal sounds of pleasure escaped her throat as his hand slid slowly up her leg.
Done with begging, she commanded, ‘I need you.’
‘Open your legs. Wider,’ he instructed.
* * *
He had never felt such an urge to pleasure a woman. Thrusting his thigh between hers, he spread her wide. Her excited cries greeted his first touch. The change in her was instantaneous. From being her avowed enemy, he was her lifeblood and she would do anything he asked. Sinking onto his palm, she ground her body against the heel of his hand.
‘Not so fast,’ he cautioned.
Releasing her wrists, he held her securely in place while he traced the hot swell of her sex. Removing her thong, he found the tip that craved his attention and circled it. Teasing Millie was torture for him, but it was also its own reward, and with so many days at sea ahead of them, he could afford to take his time.
‘Please!’ Millie begged in a voice that was trembling with need. Clinging to him, she worked her hips in a desperate hunt for more contact.
‘Do you expect me to obey you?’ he asked with amusement.
‘You can’t leave me like this.’
‘Can’t I?’
‘Please don’t.’
He smiled against her mouth as she threatened to make him pay for his cruel neglect.
‘I’m counting on it,’ he said as he began the slow and deliberate circling as she frantically worked her hips.
‘Don’t tease me,’ she begged in a strangled tone as she tried every which way to bring her body into contact with his hand.
Adjusting the position of his fingertip by millimetres was all it took for him to change the outcome. Increasing both pressure and speed by the smallest degree quickly brought Millie the release she so desperately needed. Her screams of relief were deafening and prolonged. She had waited a long time, he guessed, and would need a lot more before she was sated.
