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Fear that he might have lost her because of his overarching arrogance and stubbornly black-and-white view of the world.
He felt her relax as the distinctive shape of a huge tent appeared and the horse’s pace slowed to a halt. Jumping down, he lifted her carefully onto the sand, but her expression was belligerent and her eyes unforgiving as she looked at him.
‘Where are we?’ she questioned stonily.
‘In a Bedouin tent. Not far from the palace.’
Her eyes narrowed. ‘Why?’
‘Why don’t you come inside so we can discuss this away from the heat of the rising sun?’
‘Said the spider to the fly!’
‘And where I can offer you some cool refreshment?’
Her eyes lit up at this, but her nod was grudging. ‘Very well.’
She pushed aside the tent-flaps and went inside, but Kulal had to dip his head to follow her. He took his time pouring fire-berry cordial from the stone flask which had kept it cool, telling himself he wanted her to enjoy her first view of this traditional desert homestead, with its sumptuous hangings, fretwork lanterns and silken rugs. But he was also hoping that allowing a little time to elapse might cool her temper. Already he was justifying his behaviour inside his head—and surely if he started being more accommodating towards her from now on, that would be enough to make her contented?
He was quietly hopeful as he handed her the drink, but could instantly see that his assessment had been poor, because after she’d gulped down most of the liquid and thumped the silver goblet down on a low table, she straightened up to glare at him, her eyes flashing in a way he’d never seen before.
‘How did you know where I’d be?’ she demanded.
Kulal winced. So. There was to be no gratitude for his masterful rescue of the lost Queen! She’d gone straight for the jugular. ‘I’ve been camped out here all week,’ he admitted, and saw from the unrelenting look on her face that it was pointless to do anything other than admit the whole truth. ‘I have servants staying in nearby tents who were assigned to keep a watch on you at the beach palace, both day and night. They reported to me on your movements at all times.’
She wrinkled her forehead. ‘Could that explain why I thought I saw a shadow creeping past my window a few hours ago?’
‘Yes.’
‘But I have my own protection officers with me, Kulal.’
‘I know you do.’ He gave a heavy sigh. ‘But these are nomadic men of the desert, who know this territory better than any other. They can see things which the ordinary protection team is capable of missing—even a highly trained security detail.’
Her hands flew to her cheeks and he could see all the colour leeching away from her skin. ‘So you sent people to spy on me? Because you didn’t trust me?’
‘I prefer to think of it as protecting you. And in view of what happened, wasn’t I right to do so?’
‘Protecting your baby, you mean.’
‘And you,’ he said simply. ‘Protecting you is paramount to me, Hannah, because I love you.’
She shook her head and quickly turned away, not answering him immediately, and when she did, her words sounded strained. ‘Don’t try to manipulate me with words you don’t mean.’
‘But I do mean them,’ said Kulal as, for the first time in his life, he began to express emotions he’d never even dared to feel before. He had always associated emotion with pain and loss and he didn’t ever want to have to live through that again. But he could see now that he had no choice. That if he wanted Hannah to stay, he was going to have to get her to believe that what he felt for her was real. Something so big and new that at first he hadn’t even recognised it—and when at last he had, it had scared the hell out of him. ‘I’ve never been so sure about anything. Which is that I love you, Hannah,’ he repeated shakily. ‘I love you so much.’
‘Don’t you dare lie to me!’
Nobody had ever said that to Kulal before and with good reason—a fondness for sometimes brutal candour was the more usual accusation thrown at him, particularly by women. But now wasn’t the time for a proud defence of his reputation; now he needed the kind of persuasive rhetoric which normally came so easily to him. And never had it seemed quite so far away. ‘I’ve never met a woman like you before.’
‘Obviously that’s not true either!’ she said contemptuously. ‘You’ve spent your life surrounded by servants—and that’s all I am.’
He told himself she was lashing out because she was scared, too—because the alternative was too daunting to acknowledge. He swallowed. What if she really did feel contempt for him—the kind of contempt which had wiped away all the love she’d once declared?
‘I’m not talking about your job. I’m talking about your heart—which is a very big heart. You are the most kind and caring woman I’ve ever met, Hannah—as well as the most thoughtful.’
‘Sensible, you mean?’ she questioned witheringly, still with her back to him.
He shook his head. ‘Your qualities go way beyond that. You are loyal—something you demonstrated when you were determined that I should be the first to hear about impending fatherhood when you could have easily sold the story to the press.’ He pulled in a deep breath. ‘And you have other characteristics, too—and I’m not talking about your obvious attraction or the way I can’t seem to keep my hands off you.’
