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‘To the south is the Rub’ al Khali...the Empty Quarter. Nothing for hundreds of miles but sand dunes, scorpions and the occasional Bedouin tribe. It’s beautiful, but one of the harshest places on earth.’
She barely heard the words, conscious of his breath ruffling the top of her hair, of the heat of his body so close to her own. She fought to hide the way he was affecting her.
As he turned her again his hands slid down her arms in a light caress. She kept her own hands curled tightly by her sides. At least they had their backs to his family now.
He bent his head, his mouth level with her ear. ‘Do you see that line of shadow on the horizon?’
Citrus and spice and that certain indefinable something that was just him swirled around her. She closed her eyes and breathed him in.
‘Yes,’ she whispered, in truth seeing nothing at all.
Every sensitive nerve-ending along her cheek and neck tingled with awareness. As if some elemental charge pulsed back and forth between them. She turned her head, her eyes flickering open, and Khaled met her gaze. The soft light had turned his grey eyes black, picked out all the haunting curves and lines of his face.
He was breathtaking.
Her lips parted and his gaze went unerringly there. His head dipped, angled as if he meant to kiss her. She tilted her face upwards.
From one of the groups behind them came a flurry of laughter. Abruptly Khaled released her. With a sharp intake of breath he stepped back.
‘That dark line on the western horizon is the foothills of the Sakhr mountain range.’ His voice had hardened. ‘A ridge of almost impassable granite and schist that separates us from Qaydar, our nearest neighbour.’
Why had his expression become so desolate?
‘I can see why your father makes his claim,’ she said, smiling up at him, wanting to bring back his earlier teasing.
But there was no answering warmth. The shutters had slammed down.
He was staring at the mountains. The moonlight picked out forbidding summits and deep, fathomless wadis.
‘I actually came over to talk to you about something else,’ he said, his expression as distant as those far-off peaks. ‘What you told me this morning has deeply concerned me. I had no idea you had so few resources to fall back on. I’d like to help you, if you’d permit me?’
‘Thank you, but I’ll manage by myself. I always have. I actually prefer it that way,’ she said. Their stilted politeness felt so weird after what he’d done to her in the car this afternoon.
‘Of course. I remember you look after yourself. You were adamant about that once.’ There was that ghost of a smile again. ‘But perhaps on this occasion you might accept the assistance of a friend who is concerned for you? If it helps, consider it a favour returned.’
Oh, how tempting to accept, to lean on him, to have all his strength in her corner...
‘But I think you’ve already repaid that particular debt,’ she said. ‘You helped me once, too, remember?’
He inclined his head in agreement.
One of the staff approached with a tray of coffee and dates. For two.
Khaled glanced at his family, who all appeared to be deliberately looking anywhere but in his direction. With a sigh, he indicated the cushions nearby. The servant left the tray on a low table beside them and he waited for Lily to sink down, folding her feet beneath her, before pouring and offering her a cup.
Her fingers trembled as she took it. The acerbic Khaled, she realised, wasn’t anywhere near as intimidating as the stern, quiet man opposite her now. Tonight, the male diners were all in traditional Nabhani dress, so perhaps it was the fault of the greydishdashahe wore, the twist of the snowy whiteghutrahabout his head.
But he looked only slightly more stunning in traditional robes than in formal black tie. It was the man, and not the clothes that was so arresting.
‘I presume you have so little money because you worked for your stepfather?’ he asked. ‘He couldn’t pay you?’
Wrestling with the emotions unleashed by the last few minutes, Lily didn’t reply at once, keeping her eyes fixed on the expanse of rug between them.
‘Forgive me,’ he added, ‘perhaps I’m being impertinent?’
She shook her head. ‘No, you’re not. It’s a valid question. The answer is no, not for the last few months. And it was never that much when he did pay me.’
‘Then it puzzles me...what was it that kept you in that house once you were old enough to leave?’
