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Where had that insistent throb come from that had made her so brutally aware of this man? Even though he had been silent, bordering on rude, all evening. He’d barely spoken to any of the people she had introduced him to. He’d made no real effort to enter into the sort of polite conversations that were a requisite of these events.
She had wondered more than once what he was thinking behind those fathomless eyes. Was he judging her—judging all of them? It was clear he thought the whole event frivolous and—even though she would normally have agreed with him—she had found herself wanting to defend her way of life.
She should have left him to his own devices hours ago because almost as soon as they had arrived at the reception it had been clear that, although Prince Kamal knew virtually no one here, he didn’t need her help to smooth his path because he had no desire to fit in.
But his apparent disdain had done nothing to dispel the deep pulsing need that she now realised had been tormenting her ever since he had plucked her off Ashreen and draped her over his lap without even breaking a sweat.
Since when had she been attracted to overbearing, arrogant men? All her previous boyfriends had been intellectual, bordering on nerdy. Was that why they had never excited her the way this hard, unknowable man did?
She gathered her breath as they finally reached his suite. He released her hand to open the door, then stood on the threshold, his large frame even more imposing in the moonlight.
She should make her excuses and leave.
She’d always been impulsive, but what was she doing, allowing Kamal Zokan to drag her to his room like a possession?
What are you doing, Liah? However exciting he is, even you can’t be this reckless!
But, as she tried to think of a diplomatic way out, the silence pressed in upon her, trapping the words in her throat behind the great big ball of reckless lust and intoxicating energy.
Her body didn’t feel like her own any more. She felt enthralled, spellbound, driven to do dangerous things. And it was intoxicating. He hadn’t said a word ever since they had left the reception. But then, she hadn’t really expected him to. Even from their brief acquaintance, she already knew he was a man who preferred action to words.
‘If you have changed your mind, I will escort you back to the reception,’ he said at last.
She should be relieved. But something about the fact he had sensed her indecision—when she would never have suspected he had a sensitive bone in his body—called to the reckless gene that had made her do stupid things her entire life.
Especially when his expression, so full of hunger moments before, became shuttered and a cynical smile tilted his lips.
‘After all, I cannot offer you more than one night,’ he added.
The words—so arrogant, so full of amused indifference—called to that rebellious streak like a red rag waved before a charging bull.
He was expecting her to chicken out.
The bastard.
The hot, fluid throb of arousal was joined by the fierce pulse of adrenaline.
‘What makes you think Iwantmore than one night?’ she shot back.
Why was she fighting this need, this hunger?
Something about this man made her want him more than she had ever wanted any other man. But surely this was just chemistry, pheromones? Maybe it didn’t even have that much to do with him. Maybe it was merely the frustration of Colin’s cruel betrayal finally coming home to roost. She wasn’t frigid, and now she would prove it.
One night would suit her just fine. She wanted to know what it felt like to have wild, untamed, no-holds-barred sex with a man who wanted the same thing. And nothing more. There could never be more between them. Their pasts, their futures, their goals, desires and ambitions could not be more different.
A man like Prince Kamal would never touch her heart.
‘Because you are a woman, and sometimes a woman cannot tell the difference between sex and emotion,’ he supplied, clearly not realising her question had been rhetorical.
Liah gasped, momentarily speechless.
Of all the chauvinistic...!
The adrenaline surged. She grabbed his lapels and yanked his face down to hers, determined to show him who was boss.
‘It’s lucky I’m not your average woman, then,’ she snapped.
The fierce, unfettered need in his gaze turned the deep amber to a fiery gold. ‘Good,’ he replied.
