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‘I don’t, but...’ She paused, tried to reframe the jumble of words scrambled further by her wildly insane heartbeat and the intensity of the surreal feelings tumbling through her. ‘Isn’t it against some sort of protocol? I’m...nobody.’
This time the light arrived, burned brighter. And stayed, laser beams tearing beneath her skin, burrowing where she wasn’t sure she could prevent him from landing. ‘You’re not nobody,’ he rasped, his voice low. Intense. ‘You never have been.’
Something deep, visceral, moved within her. ‘Tahir.’
His nostrils flared at her uttering his name as if it moved something within him too.
Connection.
The craving throbbed hard and insistent inside her as his hand extended further, imploring and impatient at once. ‘We’re keeping my guests waiting. Will you join me or not?’
Any objection she had, feeble as it was, evaporated. She told herself it was because he’d couched his invitation as a question this time, that their situation demanded she stay by his side, but she knew she would’ve gone regardless. That unstoppable pull was binding her stronger and, try as she might, Lauren couldn’t fight it. In truth, shedidn’twant to fight it any longer.
She slid her hand into his, surrendering to the wild tingles that raced up her arm as he led her to the wide doors into another courtyard and then outside where the revelling crowd cheered at the sight of their Sheikh.
Where she attempted to hide her self-consciousness as unabashed gazes swung to her and stayed, her presence by Tahir’s side attracting the attention she knew it would.
Since Jukrat was a bilingual country, many of the performers responded to Tahir’s introduction of her in English. She tried not to be touched by the consideration, tried...and failed not to be moved by the festive atmosphere.
An hour later, after sampling more food and being treated to more jaw-dropping performances, she retreated to the terrace, clutching a silver goblet of wine someone had thrust into her hand at some point.
As it’d done for the better part of the evening, her gaze didn’t have to roam far to land on Tahir, his words echoing in her mind.
You’re not nobody. You never have been.
She knew she was a fool to personalise words she should be keeping at a distance. But then wasn’t she a fool when it came to Tahir? Wasn’t she, somewhere in her deepest, most secret place where her wishes wouldn’t die, hoping that this pseudo fairy tale she’d found herself in would have the same ending as the one told in books?
She pressed her lips together, frantically reaching for common sense. For something solid and pragmatic to hang onto. But the combination of music, laughter and revelry,and Tahir, made that impossible.
‘Lauren.’
She jumped, unaware he’d approached, was peering intently at her, those eyes burrowing into her secrets again.
‘There’s something on your mind. Tell me,’ he commanded, his voice a meld of deep sensuality and concerned demand.
It was almost as if he cared.
She tried to shrug away the emotion settling on her shoulders. But the evening had been far too special to insult it with trivial dismissiveness. ‘It’s foolish, I know, but I don’t want this—’ she turned and waved her hand at the spectacle of music and dancing and exotic scents and laughter ‘—to end. I want to live in this moment for...’ever. The last word stuck in her throat because she knew even as she uttered it that her wish was as ethereal as the breeze whispering over her skin.
‘There’s a reason you don’t want to return to your old life. Say it, Lauren,’ he pressed again.
Her gaze flew to his, and locked. ‘Because I don’t want to go back to feeling...lost.’ Whispered words that seemed to spill from deep within her soul without any prompting. But once they were said, she felt something crack within her, something she’d once thought sacred but now knew was perhaps not as treasured.
Tahir nodded, the look in his eyes reflecting deep comprehension that scared her a little. It was almost as if he’d anticipated this, as if he’d known every secret buried in her heart. ‘And you won’t. Because it’s time to face up to it. You only felt lost because you didn’t want to accept the way to your freedom. Change is hard. But it’s also freeing. You’ve hidden yourself away for too long. Isn’t it time to reach for what you truly want?’
When had he drawn so close? She could reach out, press her hand against that hard, muscled chest, feel his heartbeat...
Without conscious thought, she did just that.
His heart slammed hard against her palm, the strong, steady echo mesmeric in its rhythm. Beneath her touch, his chest expanded as he inhaled deeply. As he stood still and she touched him, the unattainable King who seemed to be in her grasp. Whose eyes swirled with the same arousal eddying through her.
‘Lauren.’
There were a thousand questions in her name. But there were only a handful she wanted to answer. ‘Freedom, at least for tonight, sounds good,’ she said.
His heart seemed to trip, then beat just that little bit faster. Had she not placed her hand right there, she wouldn’t have known her response affected him that much. But she did. And its effect was...powerful. Metaphysical. Vastly moving.
In another instinctive movement, her fingers curled, grasping a handful of his tunic to stop him from stepping away, from leaving her. They were in public, and she was all but pawing the Sheikh of Jukrat. But like everything else when it came to Tahir, it unravelled wild and untamed outside her control. As if her very soul dictated and directed her wishes before her brain could argue the toss.
