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She snorted and said saucily, “I’m certain I’d enjoy riding something else—someoneelse—a whole lot more.”
His body stiffened as his voice pitched low. “I’m going to hold you to that, little flame.”
She grinned at his promise as much as she did at hearing his endearment. That there was also a feral need clamoring for release within only highlighted how perfectly suited they were to one another. She cleared her throat and conceded, “At least now I understand why you enjoy getting away to the desert, riding your camel and swimming in the oasis in seclusion.”
“You and I aren’t so different. You crave those quiet moments too. Your career reflects that every time you photograph a sunset or sunrise, every time you stay poised with your camera for hours waiting for wildlife.”
He was right. Even when she was in a crowd taking photos of all the diverse people it was nothing short of a relief to return to those quiet moments, kneeling or lying on her stomach in a marsh or sand, sometimes in water or mud, taking shots of whatever Mother Nature delivered.
She adjusted her floppy straw hat, glad she’d also decided to wear a traditional abaya over her leggings and T-shirt. That and her hat would help to keep her skin from burning, and the abaya was about as comfortable as clothes got. Even her ankle boots were perfect for the camel ride.
So different to her last time on a camel.
She grinned. That the abaya was a colorful rainbow of colors meant it wasn’t really traditional—black was the favored color—but it suited her style perfectly.
Pressing closer to him, her breasts mashing against his back, she ran her hands up and down his torso. “I’m impatient to know where you’re taking me.”
“You’ll see very soon,” he said hoarsely.
She pressed the side of her face to his back, careless of the hat’s rim folding over. There was something so right in absorbing Hamid’s body heat and hearing the strong tattoo of his heartbeat.
She sighed. It was going to break her leaving him, but it’d break her even more if she stayed. If there was one lesson she’d learned from her childhood, it was that no man was worth the sacrifice of sticking around. Her future lay elsewhere. She’d had her life mapped out for as long as she could remember. Travel the world taking photos, and make a career out of it.
The desert landscape soon changed, the sand softening under Camille’s hooves, the scattering of rocks that appeared here and there soon becoming a carpet of them with a few boulders standing tall and ancient from out of the sand.
Hamid stopped Camille beside a couple of straggly ghaf trees, which provided a little bit of welcome shade. The camel dropped to her knees, and Holly again swung with the motion.
“Can I ask what’s here?” she asked softly.
“A sand cat lives in a burrow he made in the soft sand over there next to some rocks,” he murmured. “We’ve been keeping an eye on him for six months now. Unlike most nocturnal hunting cats, he seems to prefer hunting mid-afternoon.”
They dismounted and Holly’s mind was already imagining the shots she’d get of the animal. Hamid took hold of the picnic basket in one hand and clasped her hand in his other, leading her toward another shadier tree. Opening the picnic basket, he handed the camera to her, then took out a rug and laid it out onto the ground.
They lay down on their bellies, side-by-side, their gazes locked on the not too distant burrow. But though the merciless sun was past its zenith, nothing with a heartbeat was moving. It was far too hot.
They lay still for what had to be an hour when Hamid rolled toward her and murmured, “Looks like we’re out of luck.”
She sighed and nodded, then turned onto her back and lifted her camera. “How about a selfie of us both?”
He chuckled, and stretched out onto his back next to her, his arms behind his head. “Sure.”
She was laughing with him when she clicked a shot of them, then put her camera aside and climbed onto him. Looking down at him, his smile becoming dark, heated, she said huskily, “I believe I mentioned something about riding a certain someone.”
Chapter Fifteen
Holly popped a juicy date into her mouth and sighed luxuriously. It was wonderful to be naked, and though she couldn’t stay that way for much longer for fear of sunburn—even in the mid-afternoon shade she’d be burned to a crisp—she’d enjoy it while she could. “I can’t eat one more crumb.”
“Youdidnearly eat the entire contents of the picnic bastard, not including the blanket and camera,” he said drily, amusement glinting in his gaze.
He pushed onto his elbow on his side and leaned down to kiss her. They might have made love half-an-hour or so ago, but it didn’t stop her from enjoying the seductive press of his lips on hers, the touch of his satiny, naked skin under her hands, and the power he wielded so effortlessly over her.
He stiffened, his head lifting and his eyes fixed on a point behind her head.
Her heart raced and her adrenaline spiked, while her voice came out shrill. “What is it?”
He smiled. “You might want your camera now.”
It was pure reflex to reach for her Nikon, roll onto her stomach then focus on the desert cat as its head peered above its burrow, its nose twitching and its oversized ears flickering.
