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And it was funny that when she thought about her future, what she thought was in terms of what she might have to give up. Her career. Her freedom. Her travel. But what she could not think of was being married to Riyaz. Not only because she could not imagine the man—she hadn’t seen him since he was sixteen years old. But also because... Cairo would be her brother-in-law. And Cairo might elicit inside of her a mix of reactions, but many of them were not appropriate for a man who would hold that position and title.
Had she ever been running from Cairo?
Had it only ever been Riyaz? Was that why she was here now, feeling all of these things?
“Let us go back to the house,” he said.
She was soaked through to the bone now. Tired. Exhausted.
“Let go of me,” she said.
“Only if you promise not to run.”
And she wanted...she wanted to kiss him. Or maybe more accurately, she wanted to live a life where shecouldkiss him.
Hadn’t that always been what she’d wanted?
Hadn’t it always been what she was denied?
No matter whether she was fourteen and promised to his brother, a free woman in Paris promised to no one, or an escaped prisoner in the desert...
In none of those lives had kissing him ever been possible.
“I can’t promise that,” she whispered.
“I promise you your freedom when we get to the palace,” he said, his voice rough. He moved his face even closer to hers, his lips so close, so very close. “Now promise me you will not run.”
There was a heartbeat, a space, a breath, where she thought to defy him.
Or herself.
She didn’t not know which.
“I won’t run,” she said instead.
And when he let go of her, she could swear that she saw relief in his dark gaze, and she wondered why. She would not try to run again. Not tonight. Because he was right. Because there was death out there waiting in the desert, and she did not wish to court that level of danger. Her running had not been about that. It had been about being willing. Willing to risk everything for freedom. And perhaps she would not be able to gain all of her freedom, but she would not live as a prisoner. That would be her rallying cry. That would be her declaration.
It was clear to her, however, that whatever it was she felt burning in her now... He felt the same.
The realization made her stomach hollow itself out. And she decided there was a limit to the wildness that she would chase in the desert. She might be willing to tempt death by running out into nothingness, but she would not tempt him.
The idea made her shiver.
“Cold? Imagine how cold you would’ve been if you were out sleeping on the desert floor. You would not have fared well in a flash flood.”
“I wouldn’t have slept for long according to you. There are jackals out there. Though I suspect that there might be jackals where I’m headed too.”
He grinned then, his white teeth gleaming. “If I intended to eat you, Ariel, you would know.”
The hardness in his voice called to something feminine in her. The dangerous edge to his tone like a blade slicing against her tender skin. And she shivered. This time, definitely not from the cold.
“When you say that Riyaz is not well...”
“We will not discuss him tonight.” They arrived back at the house, and he allowed her entry. There was a mirror just at the entry, and she looked at it and saw herself. Her hair askew, her makeup having run down her face. She looked a misery. And she had imagined that there had been something like heat between them back there. The idea was laughable. If the clothing had felt like her armor only an hour ago, it felt like a costume now. Not fitting of the bedraggled, ruined creature that stood there looking in the mirror now.
“I need to sleep,” she said.
“I’m glad that you finally think so. You had a long day.”
