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CHAPTER ELEVEN
IGNORINGHISLOOK of disbelief, Abby barged past him and out of the door, mortified, ashamed by her response, but much, much more disturbed by the illicit excitement that remained low in her belly.
‘So you’ve decided to take the lead?’
She flashed him a look of dislike. Her insides were trembling. He looked totally cool and she resented and envied his ability to turn his passion on and off like a tap as if it meant nothing to him.
It meant nothing to me, she added firmly to herself, and repeated it just to emphasise the fact—nothing. ‘Are they going to follow us all the time?’ she asked crankily.
He looked blank; he was actually struggling to focus. ‘They who...?’
‘The two large men with granite faces and...at a guess, automatic weapons over their shoulders, who are ten paces behind us. Is that ringing any bells?’
‘Oh...you tune them out after a while.’ It was that or go mad. ‘Security.’
‘I didn’t think they were the entertainment...do they follow you everywhere?’
You could get used to anything, she supposed, even the low, disturbing electric thrum in the air when Zain was around...so long as she didn’t touch him, she would cope.
‘They try to.’
‘It’s very intrusive...’
‘It’s the art of living in a velvet-lined box.’
The reminder dragged a reluctant smile from Abby. ‘A figure of speech. It’s actually a very beautiful box.’ They were walking under arches of marble embellished with intricate carvings. Beneath their feet was a mosaic made of bright blues and golds, the colours so intense it looked as though it had been freshly laid, but it had to be ancient.
‘If you slow down you might actually get to see some of it.’
With a slight tip of her head she acknowledged his comment.
‘Are you in much pain?’ she asked.
‘I’m on strong painkillers.’
She tilted her head to look up at his strong profile. ‘But are you actually taking them?’
‘I put my comfort ahead of my macho reputation.’
‘Do you have a macho...?’ She caught her breath and rushed across to the archway that had given her a glimpse of the vista that had stopped her in her tracks. ‘Oh, my goodness!’ She put her hands on the wrought-iron rail that came up to hip height and leaned out.
With a sharp admonition of, ‘Careful!’ he tugged her back from the railings embedded in the base of the opening that appeared to be cut into a single rose-coloured stone so massive it looked like a rock face.
It took several moments for Zain’s heart to slide back down from his throat, where it had climbed, and into his chest—the image of her leaning out too far and simply falling out into space was hard to shake.
His chest continued to heave like someone who’d just had to sprint ten kilometres, his breath hissing out in fast, measured gasps, his bruised ribs screaming in protest. As he turned his head to study her profile she appeared utterly oblivious to the fact she had ever been in any danger, and utterly oblivious to him, her enraptured gaze fixed on the panoramic vista.
He’d wanted to surprise her, to see her reaction, but the plan had definitely backfired. He was the one who’d been surprised...and probably taken twelve months off his life in the process.
The original city had been built up around the palace on three sides, and this side faced the desert, the endless sand dunes rising organically from the rock of the building’s foundations.
Nothing broke the undulating miles and miles of red desert until it reached the mountains, blue in the distance against the even more vivid, eye-aching blue of a sky that seemed to go on for ever.
* * *
Abby was so completely enthralled by the dazzling vista that it took her a few moments to register that Zain was standing behind her, his hand on her shoulders. As compelling as the view was, her appreciation was drowned beneath the awareness of his warm proximity.
She felt the shudder start in her toes and begin to rise... She stepped forward to break contact but instead his grip tightened and he swore softly as he turned her around to face him.
