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‘I usually come to cool off here to complete my journey,’ Tahir murmured from behind her.
She startled a little, unaware he’d approached while she’d been lost in the wonder of the little oasis. Then all she could think of was him, his proximity wreaking havoc on her senses.
‘It’s beautiful. It feels like a special place.’ A place for lovers. For a sheikh to relax with his sheikha. To forget about duty and obligations and destiny and simply...be.
And because she knew such a place would never be for her with a man like Tahir, she cast around for a way,anyway to distract herself from the acutely depressing thought.
But then he stepped away, and she saw that they were alone. The bodyguards had left. It was most likely because there was only one entrance to this magical place, and they were confident their sire wouldn’t be in any danger.
‘This is the only place I’m truly alone.’
‘Do you want me here?’ Her gaze went to where the contents of the basket had been spread out on a large picnic blanket. Somehow, the hourglass was still upright, the passage of time relentless. Peering closer, she saw that there was about a quarter of the portion remaining. ‘You can have the rest of the time on your own.’
‘I said twenty-four hours together. Nothing has changed.’
She swallowed her disquiet. ‘What would you do if you were here on your own?’
A glimmer started in his eyes, and she watched, breath held tight in her chest, as it grew to a spark, then a flame. She was half relieved, half disappointed when his lashes dropped but it was only so he could conduct a searing scrutiny of her body, in a way that left little doubt as to the direction of his thoughts. The sensations roiling through her gave way to hot, scalding jealousy. Was he thinking about the last time he’d been here and, specifically, who he’d been with?
‘Never mind. I don’t think I want to know.’
Both eyebrows slowly rose. ‘Oh, but I think you do,’ he drawled.
‘What you do and who you do it with is none of my business.’
‘Then why ask?’
She floundered, then threw in a shrug. ‘I was just making conversation.’
‘You’ve come this far. Don’t be a coward now,habibti.’
Habibti.She knew that word. It was an endearment she hadn’t heard in a dozen years. Last whispered hotly in her ear, right before a hoarse roar signalled his climax swiftly on the heels of hers.
Darling. Sweetheart. Treasured one.
The spark of heat in her blood became a blaze, charged by the memory and his deliberate taunt. Calling her a coward was meant to rile her. She knew that. She shouldn’t have fallen for it.
And yet she let him stoke the fire. Let her nostrils flare in a fruitless exhale of her irritation. ‘Call me a coward again. I dare you.Your Majesty.’ She let her own taunt linger in his title, felt a bolt of satisfaction when his eyes narrowed.
‘Here in this place, I’m Tahir to you. Andyoucan be your true self. No inhibitions.’
Those last two words turned that blaze into an inferno. Something dangerously sultry and seductive that magnified the thumping of her heart; intensified the sweet, heavy scents weaving through the air. The very tangible thrum of lust winding around them.
Without waiting for a response—or because he wasn’t about to be affected one way or the other by whatever she did next—he strolled with sure, lithe strides towards the waterfall.
‘You asked what I normally do here when I’m alone. I would normally swim naked. But so as not to excite your very English sensibilities...’ He deliberately trailed off, absorbing every ounce of his attention as he pulled the strings of his trousers and the linen material dropped to pool at his feet.
Lauren was half ashamed of the dart of disappointment when she saw the boxer shorts he wore beneath. The other half of her was desperately pleading with herself to stop her blatant ogling of his magnificent body.
As was evident from watching him this last half-day, the years had only built on the already perfect specimen that was Tahir Al-Jukrat.
There was no spare flesh on his body, just a physique honed by genes and discipline and a masculinity gifted by an impeccable lineage.
The blazing sun threw every bare inch of him into perfect, bronzed relief and a full-bodied shiver tingled through her, a deep craving to touch seizing her with such power that she needed to yank her gaze away to stop herself from doing the unthinkable. From surging up and closing the distance between them, letting her fingers explore the chiselled planes and muscled valleys. From scenting and tasting and feasting as she never had before.
A loud splash jerked her free of her desperate craving to find Tahir submerged in the crystal-clear water. He dived beneath the surface, causing barely a ripple. She held her breath, watching with rapt attention as half a minute passed before he broke the surface at the far end.
‘Are you just going to sit there?’
