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She simply stared at him, aware of the fierce pride bristling around him like a force field. Part of her wanted to shout at him. To get it through his thick skull she’d been trying to help him, not hurt him. But she could hear the confusion in his voice, right behind the fierce determination always to be self-sufficient, and recalled the hideous scars on his back.
Kamal’s pride was clearly the only thing that had got him through the abuse he had suffered in childhood and had made him into the man he had become. Thick-headed, for sure, arrogant, autocratic, ruthless and everything in between. But also honourable and honest.
Plus, this man had saved her life with his pig-headedness. So there was that.
She heaved another sigh and tried to dredge up what was left of her flagging patience.
Hello again, newfound diplomacy skills.
‘I’m sorry if I’ve put you in an awkward position,’ she managed. ‘But it really doesn’t have to be that awkward. We certainly don’t have to go through with the whole official engagement thing. I just wanted to get my dad to leave before anything bad happened to you. Or him,’ she added hastily, the admission sounding somehow too intimate, too presumptuous.
His brows lowered still further. ‘You were worried about me?’ He sounded genuinely stunned. And her heart cracked at the thought of that boy who had only ever had himself.
‘Precisely,’ she said, willing to admit that much if it would get Kamal to see she had never meant to insult him or trap him—perish the thought. ‘But we really don’t have to announce anything at all. We could just spend a couple of days together in Zokar, while my dad calms down in Narabia. Then I’ll go home. Tell him we broke it off after all. That it was all just a silly infatuation on my part.’ Which would make her look like even more of a romantic imbecile in her father’s eyes.
But then maybe that was a good thing. Her father had always had far too much faith in her. Perhaps it was high time she began to downgrade his expectations and made him see she wasn’t queen material.
Although, the thought of him losing his faith in her only depressed her more. Because, if this afternoon had taught her one thing, it was that she didn’t have to be such a screw-up all the time. If she could start putting her duty and her responsibilities ahead of her impulsiveness, her recklessness and her own selfish choices, the way she had this afternoon, maybe there would be hope for her after all.
Kamal shook his head. ‘This is not a solution.’
‘Why not?’ Liah asked, confused by the stubborn look on Kamal’s face. She’d just offered him a way out of this mess, why wasn’t he taking it?
‘Our honour requires that we go through with the engagement now.’
Oh, for...
She pursed her lips to stop herself losing her patience again. Because it didn’t help anything, especially not with Kamal, who only became more impossible when confronted. They were both hot heads, so one of them had to figure out how to back down gracefully... And, on this occasion, apparently it was going to have to be her.
‘I don’t think it does,’ she said wearily. ‘But, if you think it’s necessary, I’m happy to go ahead with the announcement. After all, I was the one who suggested it. Then we can figure out a way to break off the engagement without arousing any suspicion at a later date.’
Perhaps this was another penance she deserved. A fair price to pay for the sense of entitlement she had never even realised she had relied upon her whole life. She hadn’t considered Kamal’s pride when he had first proposed marriage. She had far too easily dismissed the importance of his honour to him. Because her pride had never been questioned. Because her status—as the eldest child of the Narabian Sheikh—had never been in any doubt.
And, really, would it be so terrible to spend a few weeks posing as Kamal Zokan’s fiancée, given that there were so many things about him she found fascinating?
Her skin flushed as his gaze gleamed with a purpose she recognised. Because he’d looked at her the same way last night before he’d kissed her so hungrily in the firelight.
He cupped her cheek, his voice becoming huskier as his thumb cruised over her bottom lip. ‘Don’t look so worried,’ he murmured. ‘There will be some very pleasurable benefits to our arrangement.’
She nodded. ‘I know.’
Which was precisely the problem.
She was still drawn to this man, far too much. Even though their association so far—and that explosive chemistry—had caused them both nothing but trouble.
But somehow, as they prepared the horses and packed the rest of their belongings to travel to Zokar and announce their fake engagement, she convinced herself this arrangement would work.
Perhaps it was time she indulged the side of her nature which she had denied for so long, and which Kamal had triggered without even trying. Surely giving in to this chemistry would eventually wear it out? And, when they broke off their engagement in a couple of weeks’ time, a month at the most, her father would have got over his anger with Kamal and she would have established a good working relationship—of a sort—with the ruler of Narabia’s nearest neighbour.
It was all good.
Totally. All. Good.
After the primitive luxury of the camp, Liah couldn’t help gawping as they galloped towards the prince’s palace on the outskirts of the sprawling town of Zultan—Zokar’s main city.
She didn’t know what she’d expected, but certainly nothing this magnificent. Flanked on two sides by the red rocks of Zokar’s mountain range, the palace had been built around a huge oasis. After being ushered inside the walls by an honour guard, they rode through an avenue of palm trees and exotic flowers planted beside an intricate series of fountains and waterways.
Liah’s breath stalled again as the main palace buildings appeared, built into the rock wall of the canyon. Constructed in the Ottoman style, the stunning structure stood five storeys high, an intricate collection of domes, towers, minarets, arches, balconies and covered walkways—with decorative wooden ramparts that hailed the expertise of ancient craftsman and jewelled mosaic tiling that glittered in the sunshine.
