"And why should you want to? A slave would not suit you at all."
"You suit me. And I find I'd want you any way I could get you."
"But you have me already."
"Do I?"
"If you don't get yourself killed by Nasim." She raised her head and smiled teasingly down at him. "And if you don't deny me pleasure because you're so vain as to think you have some sort of magical coupling powers."
"Not magic, skill." He smiled. "And I'm tempted to show you that it's not vanity. You've seriously damaged my self-love."
That almost desperate intensity was gone, she realized with relief. She cuddled closer and nestled her head in the hollow of his shoulder. "Later. I need to gather my strength. Besides, I like this too. Don't you?"
His hand gently stroked the hair at her temple. "Oh, yes. I like everything I do with you, my love."
He was asleep.
She wished she could join him in slumber, Selene thought, as she stared into the darkness. She didn't want to lie here, thinking.
If she had imagined she would lie awake this night, she would have thought the cause would lay at Nasim's feet. Surely Kadar's meeting with Nasim should be more worrisome to her than his strange behavior tonight.
Eshe.
Impossible.
Yet Tarik and Layla were intelligent, reasonable people, and they believed it possible. Kadar was not a man to plunge foolishly to any conclusion, but he was beginning to believe it too.
And she could see how Kadar would be lured by the prospects it presented. It was his nature to question and explore.
What if he decided that he could not resist that ultimate challenge?
But he had promised her he'd not take that challenge.
But did she have the right to ask that promise?
Of course she did. She loved him. Dabbling in the unknown could be dangerous. She had to protect him from that risk.
He was not afraid of risk. But she was afraid for him.
Or was she afraid for herself? When Tarik had spoken of her not being ready, he had been talking about Eshe. He had seen what she knew to be true: She wasn't ready to face the possibility of losing what she had to gain an uncertain future. She had grown up with uncertainty. Now she wanted everything secure and predictable.
Secure? Nothing could be less secure than their immediate future, and that danger was by her will and was her responsibility.
"You're frowning." Kadar's eyes were open, but his voice was thick with drowsiness. "Stop worrying about Nasim and go to sleep."
"I will."
"It will be all right. Nothing will happen to me."
"I know." Because she had already made the decision that there was no chance of anything happening to Kadar. She closed her eyes. "Go back to sleep. You need to garner your strength. I intend to wake you in a few hours and have you pleasure me."
"I'm not that sleepy now."
"But I deserve better."
He chuckled and brushed his lips across her cheek. "As you command."
Not when it came to a choice of her will or protecting her from Nasim.
