Page 58 of Thief of Hearts

How did he know there was more? I expelled a shaky breath, fighting off the nerves I felt. “I worry that . . . that this could be more. That at some point I . . . could have real feelings for you.”

He went completely still.

Feelings that I’d told my mother didn’t exist. I couldn’t ever tell her about this. I’d never hear the end of it. “In a few days we’re never going to see each other again, so it’s better to not start something that has to end.”

And for the first time since I’d known him, Zain fell silent.

Which left me feeling awkward as I realized that he hadn’t told me the same—that he thought he might be able to return those feelings someday.

I rushed to fill the quiet. “Don’t forget about the fact that you’re a thief and a liar. It could never work between us.”

I’d been trying to make a joke, but it had somehow come out sounding brokenhearted.

We lay together in that silence and my heart thudded so loudly I was certain he could hear it.

I saw the knot in his throat bob, and then he said in a low voice, “I’m supposed to change your bandage. Will you let me?”

It felt like he was asking for something else. I nodded, my chest feeling tight. He reached over to his right side to get some bandages from a table. When he turned back, I tugged my tunic up so that he could get to the injury just above my hip and undergarment.

He swallowed hard again and then went to work. I was surprised by how quick and efficient he was. His fingers never stayed in one spot for too long, always on the move.

“There.”

He finished and lay back down. I still had my tunic bunched up around my breasts.

“Thank you,” I said. This was dangerous. “I’m going to get back in my cot.”

“Stay,” he said. “It’s more comfortable here. And everyone already thinks we share a bed.”

“So we should share one to make the rumors true?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Then they’d be telling the truth instead of lying, and I know how important it is to you that people be truthful. I’m only thinking of you, illora.”

“Have I spent too much time with you or does that make a strange kind of sense?”

He laughed, but his laughter died down as his gaze followed the outline of my torso, and I clenched my tunic tighter. Perhaps I should have put it back down but I liked him looking at me.

Liked the hunger in his eyes.

Maybe he didn’t think he could love me but he definitely desired me.

“Have you thought about me touching you?” he asked in a husky tone. “What it would feel like?”

My breathing turned irregular, fast and shallow. I had thought of little else since I’d met him.

“Because I’ve thought about it. Thought about running my hands all over every warm and soft part of your body.”

The blood in my veins went molten with anticipation.

He moved closer again and now his legs were pressed against mine. His right hand went on the bed between us. Then he asked, “Would it be all right if I touched you?”

Chapter Eighteen

“Why?” was the first word that came out of my mouth. If I could have kicked myself, I would have. Had I really just asked him why? I knew why.

I knew that he enjoyed being with me and talking to me, and he had been very open about the fact that he wanted to have sex with me, but he hadn’t indicated any feelings beyond that.

Which meant this was all one-sided. I’d never been in this position before and I didn’t like it.