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‘Is there anything you haven’t seen? That you wanted to?’
‘Well, I’ve spent all my time here, so—’
‘Wait, you’ve not seen anything of Burami?’ he demanded, full of notcompletelymock outrage that distracted her heart just a little. Perhaps for the evening, rather than being a daughter hoping to save her mother, she could just be a tourist on her last evening in Duratra?
‘Not unless it was between the hotel and the exhibition at the palace,’ she replied.
‘We can’t have that.’
She couldn’t help but laugh at his conviction. ‘My flight is tomorrow—how much can you show me before then?’
‘I can show you it all.’
He held out his hand and while she couldn’t explain it, was helpless even to resist, Star felt as if she were Alice about to fall down the rabbit hole.
CHAPTER THREE
HAVINGBEENPROMISEDthe opportunity to see Burami, Star was surprised when, instead of turning out towards the main road, Kal led her back to the palace. The surprise lasted only a moment. She was distracted by the way sparks flew from where his palm pressed against hers, encompassing it, making her feel comforted in a way just seconds ago she’d not thought possible.
They came to a corner and Kal pulled up short before turning back to her, holding a finger to his lips.
Star folded her own lips between her teeth, but still a smile pulled at the edges of her mouth. ‘Are we sneaking into the palace?’ she whispered to him.
‘Yes,’ he replied, peering around the corner to see if the coast was clear.
‘You do this often?’ She couldn’t keep the laugh from her voice this time.
He looked at her, eyes blazing with something a little more than humour. ‘More than you’d think,’ he replied cryptically and drew her back into the hallway.
They’d made it about four feet towards the staircase Kal seemed to be heading for when they heard the hushed voices of two guards. Eyes wide and heart pounding in her chest, Star didn’t know whether to laugh or scream in fright. Either way she was pretty sure that she’d squeaked when Kal spun her round, pressing her back against a wall, arms braced either side of her head, and covered her with his body.
Star wasn’t laughing now. They were staring at each other as if that alone would keep them invisible from the palace guards. This close, she could see that there were flecks of gold in the rich espresso depths of his eyes, she could almost taste the smoky sweetness of the breath that fanned gently against her skin. She dared herself to inhale the scent of him, woodsy, masculine, brought to her from the heat of his body. In her peripheral vision she could see the flicker of his pulse just beneath his jaw, and shockingly she wanted to place her palm there, to feel it beat in time with her own.
His head dipped ever so slightly towards her, his nostrils flaring ever so slightly, his inhale expanding to close the space between their chests from inches to millimetres. Beneath the voices, she could hear footsteps coming closer and closer. She pressed into the wall as if that would make her and Kal invisible, adrenaline reaching deeper and deeper into her bloodstream. What would happen if they got caught? Her eyes flew to his, her mouth opening just slightly as if ready to ask the question when she felt the pad of his thumb against her lower lip, just as she’d once imagined doing to him. The gesture she was sure was intended to stop her words, not her heart, but that was the effect.
She wanted to bite down on his thumb, to anchor it there before he could remove it and in an instant any fear was completely consumed by exhilaration. She’d never felt like it before. She could just hear the sound of footsteps over the pounding of her pulse in her ears, and she couldn’t resist courting danger.
‘Are we going to get into trouble?’ she whispered against the pad of his thumb, instantly gratified when she saw his pupils flare.
‘No,’ he whispered back with an arrogance that was utterly devastating.
The footsteps receded, and Khalif waited until there was complete silence in the corridor. Not because he couldn’t move, he sternly assured himself, but because he was waiting until the coast was clear.
He walked on into the hallway, leading Star by the hand, his heart racing, half hoping someone would stop him, half hoping they wouldn’t. This was ridiculous. And certainly the first time he’d sneaked a womanintothe palace rather than out of it.
Four feet to the staircase. He could still change his mind. Could still turn back.
Three feet. Her fingers tightened within his hold ever so slightly.
Two feet and he cast one last look up and down the long hallway.
One...
They raced up the stairs as if the guards were still behind them, falling through the door and collapsing on the other side in half relief, half surprise as if they’d not actually expected to get that far.
He watched as Star straightened and turned to look around at the room, wondering what she’d make of the large living space, lined with bookshelves on one side and a large television on the other. The sunken seating area was actually an illusion, the rest of the floor having been built up to allow for the cables and security measures fitted retrospectively to the ancient palace.
‘Are we in someone’s home?’ she asked as she looked between the open-plan kitchenette that he couldn’t remember using ever and the glass-fronted sliding doors that led to the balcony.
