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He stiffened. ‘What?’
‘I...you probably don’t remember but there were texts...besides the photos?’
His eyes darkened to burnished gold. ‘I remember.’
She gasped softly. ‘You do?’
‘Yes. What about them, Lauren?’ he pressed, a sharp edge in his voice.
‘My phone went missing...after the pictures were leaked. I never found it. But...’ She paused, unable to put her suspicions into words. To do so would be to damn her family definitively.
‘But you think you know who has it? Let me guess, one of your family?’
Anguish mounting, she nodded.
He exhaled slowly, his expression growing livid. ‘Let me get this straight. You thought they may have got their hands on something that would cause a nuisance and you let them hold it over your head?’
Her hand tightened around her cup. ‘It was more than a nuisance. You were already caught in one scandal and—’
‘And the far worse damage was already done, Lauren.’
‘No, it wasn’t. I couldn’t risk it.’
He shook his head. ‘Pictures of a prince doctored to suggest he was involved with a sex and drugs party are a world away from a few racy texts exchanged with his lover, don’t you agree?’
‘Then why do you look so angry?’
He muttered an Arabic imprecation under his breath. Then he was cupping her nape, drawing her close. Hot, demanding lips sealed hers, his tongue breaching her lips to dance sinfully with hers in a kiss that left them both breathless when he pulled away several minutes later.
Senses spinning, every cell in her body hungering for more, she pressed her fingers against his throbbing lips before demanding, ‘What was that for?’
‘It was a choice between that and putting you over my knee and spanking the hell out of you for diminishing yourself in a misguided notion that you were saving me. This king is perfectly able to handle nuisances like that.’
Her mouth gaped, and she wasn’t sure whether his words scandalised her or turned her on. ‘I...you’re unbelievable.’
An enigmatic expression flitted through his eyes. ‘And you’re forgiven,’ he clipped out. Before her heart could leap with joy, he added, ‘For that at least.’
The bubble of hope dying inside, she veiled her gaze.
Until he grasped her chin, nudged her to meet his eyes. ‘Back to our previous discussion. Are you ready to shed those shadows?’ he demanded thickly.
She wasn’t but the temptation tojust feelas he’d urged was irresistible. ‘Does that mean we dispense with the hourglasses?’ she asked eventually.
He shook his head, and she watched the sunlight dance over the gloss of his jet-black hair, watched it create intriguing shadows over his face. ‘Oh, no. Those stay. Far be it from you to level an accusation of inequality on me come morning. Besides, I suspect you’re quite enjoying our little game?’
Heaven help her but she was. With vibrant new clothes, her surroundings and the breathtakingly powerful, charismatic King for company, it was as close to the fairy tales she’d devoured as a child as she imagined she would get.
She didn’t want to think about her present or her life back in London. She wanted to remain locked in this moment with Tahir, when the only thing she needed to concentrate on was when those elegant hands would pluck the next silk covering off the hourglass, and what that might hold in store for them.
‘Fine,’ she said as the last grains of sand signalled the power switch. ‘I’ll do things your way. For now,’ she tagged on weakly.
The gleam in his eyes was far too dangerous to her health. She curled her fingers around her cup, willing the heat to ground her. All it did was call attention to the wave of flames rolling through her when he leaned his strong, bare forearms on the table after turning the hourglass.
‘There’s an event happening tonight. You will join me.’
‘Considering we’re joined at the hip till midnight, I don’t think I have much of a choice, but okay.’
His gaze lowered for a moment, as if seeking the non-metaphorical hips she referred to. When they rose again, the gleam had intensified.
