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Distantly, over the roar of his own heated blood, Zayed felt the pulse of pain in his eyes and spots danced before his eyes. Damn it, now was not the time for one of his migraines to torment him. Often he could simply will the pain away, but now Zayed feared it had gone too far. Already his vision was blurring at the edges, the room going cloudy.
‘Zayed...?’ Olivia’s voice was filled with alarm. ‘Are you all right?’
So much for his seduction. Zayed tried for a laugh, but nearly retched instead. The pain came like a tidal wave now, drowning out everything else, waves thundering through his head. ‘I...’ He tried to speak but couldn’t manage it.
‘Are you in pain?’ He felt Olivia’s cool fingers on his cheek and breathed in her lemony scent. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain, but it was too late. Far too late.
‘Headache,’ he managed to get out through gritted teeth. Stupid of him to ignore the pain, to be so intent on seducing Olivia. If he’d gone to lie down in a dark room with a cool cloth on his head, he might have been able to avoid the worst of it. Now it would overtake him.
‘A migraine,’ she corrected softly. ‘One of the Princesses gets them sometimes. They’re terrible.’
‘I just need to lie down.’ He forced the words out, his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached, cold sweat prickling on his back. He hated that Olivia was seeing him in such a weak and helpless way.
‘Let me help you,’ she said. ‘Do you want me to call someone?’
‘No.’ He wanted to manage on his own, but he knew he couldn’t. Still, better to keep the knowledge of his condition as closely guarded as possible. No one wanted to see their leader weak and in pain, and there was enough for his staff to worry about already.
‘All right.’ She placed one slender hand under his elbow. ‘I’ll help you to your bedroom.’
He rose unsteadily from his chair, leaning far more than he would have liked on Olivia’s petite frame, yet she held his weight with surprising strength. She was slender and small, but she was not fragile. He felt the tensile strength running through her like a wire.
‘It’s not far,’ he managed, and then stopped, because the spots dancing in his vision had coalesced into unending blackness. Standing there, Olivia’s hand on his arm, her body bracing his, Zayed realised he could not see a thing. He was blind.
CHAPTER NINE
ZAYED STILLED AND Olivia sensed the shock in him, although at what she didn’t know. Everything had spiralled out of control so rapidly—his admission of desire, the blatant invitation she’d seen in his eyes. If he hadn’t developed a migraine, who knew what would have happened? Although Olivia could imagine it all too easily—and evocatively.
‘What is it?’ she asked because Zayed still hadn’t moved.
‘I...’ His jaw bunched. ‘I can’t see.’
‘Can’t see? At all?’
‘No.’ The single word was a gasp of pain. A light sheen of sweat coated his pale face and his eyes were glazed.
‘Let me get someone—’
‘No.’ The single word was like the snick of a blade. ‘I don’t want anyone else to see me like...this.’
‘All right.’ Olivia absorbed that, along with his sudden blindness. Here, at least, she could be as useful as she knew how to be. As needed. ‘Then we’d better get you to your bed.’
Slowly they walked from the room, Zayed gripping her hand tightly as she put her arm around him and guided him with halting steps.
‘I don’t actually know where your bedroom is,’ she said in a low voice when they’d reached the thankfully empty hall outside the room where they’d been dining. ‘Can you direct me?’
‘Yes.’ Zayed drew a quick breath. ‘To the right, up the stairs, and then along the hallway.’
‘All right.’
Each step felt painstakingly slow, as Zayed felt his way and battled his pain. Olivia could tell from his tightly clenched jaw just how much pain he was in, and her heart ached for him.
On the upstairs hallway Zayed suddenly went still, then shrugged away from her, even though Olivia could see that it cost him.
‘What...?’ she began in a whisper, but Zayed shook his head, a flinch of pain crossing his face.
Then his aide, Jahmal, came down the hallway. Zayed straightened.
‘My Prince,’ Jahmal said. He gave Olivia a cursory, curious glance and then looked away, dismissing her. ‘Is everything well? I thought you were dining downstairs.’
