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Yet sometimes Caitlin felt as if she were living in a parallel universe. To the outside world they were nothing but polite parents who were coexisting in relative harmony. Given Kadir’s position of absolute power, nobody ever questioned them about their relationship. Nobody, other than the taciturn nocturnal guard, was aware that each night Kadir would slip into her darkened room and Caitlin would be on fire with unbearable desire as he took her in his arms. For two relative novices to sex, they certainly seemed intent on making up for lost time. And didn’t it give her a buzz to think that Kadir had never done this with anyone else before—that each discovered pleasure was unique to them?
If only it were so simple to regulate her mood. To keep at bay the unwanted emotions which came flooding out of nowhere to tug at her heart. Sometimes she would find herself overcome with unrealistic yearnings—partly brought about by his disclosure about Rasim’s death. What a gap his friend’s death must have left in his life. And, knowing his history—who could blame him for associating love with loss or betrayal and never wanting to associate himself with it again?
She had wanted to comfort him, but Kadir didn’t want her comfort. Sexual satisfaction seemed to be his only goal.
She swallowed.
Sometimes she thought...
She bit her lip, reluctant to acknowledge the thought which would never quite leave the edges of her mind. Because what if the once celibate Sheikh was using his newly discovered erotic skills to make her compliant? To subdue her and win her over—to make her fall in with whatever plans he had for Cameron?
Well, she couldn’t ignore the topic for ever, and the longer it went on, the harder it would be for her to break away from him. He had carelessly mentioned ‘a few weeks’ at the beginning of their stay, and that time was fast approaching. Maybe it was time she exerted a little control of her own.
Before she got in too deep to tear herself away.
She moved out from behind the mosaic pillar and wandered down to the edge of the pool and Cameron immediately dived beneath the surface to repeat his underwater width.
‘Did you see me, Mummy?’ he spluttered as he emerged from the water and shook tiny droplets of water from his plastered black head. ‘Was that good?’
‘I did see you and it was brilliant! You swim like a wee eel!’
‘Do I?’
‘Yes!’ She lifted him from the pool and wrapped a towel around him, her fingers wiggling mischievously beneath his arms. ‘And you’re just as slippery!’
He giggled as she tickled him and she wondered how she could ever take him away from all this...this ease and privilege. Would he resent her if she did so? Her introspection was halted by Morag bustling in to supervise the dressing of her young charge before taking him away for lunch, leaving Caitlin alone with Kadir.
She had seen him naked many times, but that had always been within the closeted privacy of the bedroom. Right now it seemed surreal to see the desert King half submerged in the turquoise water, his muscular weight resting on his elbows as he leaned on the side of the pool and studied her. His black hair lay flat against his head and against the olive-skinned wetness of his face, his ebony eyes gleamed like dark jewels. And, oh, did
n’t her heart and her body just clench with hopeless and instinctive longing?
‘Such a pity you can’t come in and join me,’ he murmured. ‘Think what fun we could have together in the water.’
‘You may be trying to propel Xulhabi into a new age of enlightenment, but I really don’t think the palace is ready for mixed bathing at this stage.’
‘I make the laws, Caitlin.’
‘But there are servants everywhere,’ she continued, dismissing his arrogant boast with the ghost of a smile. ‘It wouldn’t be appropriate, even if we were the kind of couple who messed around during daylight hours, which we aren’t. And besides, I need to talk to you.’
Kadir hauled himself out of the pool, noting the way her body instinctively tensed as he moved closer. Her awareness of him was always apparent and he knew if he laid one finger on her, she would start to fall apart in his arms, just as she always did. Yet the expression on her face suggested that sex was the last thing on her mind right now—and the new-found glint of determination he could read in those ice blue eyes made him wary.
‘What do you want to talk to me about?’ he questioned, holding out a hand so that a servant immediately appeared with a white towelling gown, which Kadir shrugged on over his wet shoulders.
She didn’t answer until he had belted up the robe and the servant had scurried away. ‘I’m not sure that now is the ideal time to be having this conversation,’ she prevaricated.
‘Tell me,’ he commanded imperiously.
She met his gaze and drew in a deep breath. ‘You must know we can’t stay here indefinitely like this, Kadir. We still haven’t set out any timeline for our departure and it’s not fair on Morag.’
‘Has Morag expressed any desire to leave?’
‘Well, no. But that’s not the point. She’s probably just being polite.’
‘You don’t think it might have something to do with the friendship she has struck up with my head groom, Ghassan, which is leading her to spend so much time in the stables when she isn’t caring for our son? Either that, or she’s showing a late-onset interest in riding, which I somehow doubt.’
‘The fact that Morag is using her time wisely is irrelevant,’ she shot back. ‘I happen to have some commitments of my own back in Scotland.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘What kind of commitments?’
