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‘Don’t be insulted, honey,’ Clara said in a mocking tone that couldn’t help but be insulting. ‘I’m sure he’s very smart but, more to the point, he’s got a raw charisma which I bet makes the down time between diplomatic engagements very rewarding.’
Liah stiffened, not liking the woman’s tone at all. As if Kamal really were a piece of meat.
‘No wonder you dumped Colin—if you had this hunk waiting in the wings to propose,’ Clara continued, apparently oblivious to Liah’s rising indignation. ‘Or was this an arranged marriage?’ she continued. ‘If so, you lucked out, being forced to marryhim.’ She finished, her openly lascivious gaze devouring Kamal as she made typically ill-informed assumptions about the culture and traditions of Liah’s home region.
‘I’m not being forced to marry anyone.’ Liah glared, the fact she wasn’t actually going to marry Kamal at all not stopping her from wanting to defend their union.
‘Oh my, so it’s a love match?’
Clara’s mocking gaze shocked Liah for a moment. What was going on here? Did Clara have some kind of axe to grind?
‘That was fast. I thought you only broke up with Colin a few months ago?’
‘It was six months ago, actually, and Colin and I were never that serious.’
‘Yes, I know,’ Lara said, her tone becoming laser-sharp as her gaze raked over Liah. ‘You do know he was sleeping with me at uni while waiting for the Crown Princess to finally get off her pedestal?’
‘W-what?’The word came out on a shocked gasp. She’d known Colin was a jerk and had got over his betrayal long ago. He’d used her, and she was pathetically grateful now she had never slept with him. But something about the fact she had been stupid enough to ever consider sleeping with him made her feel ashamed now. And like an idiot.
What a shallow fool she’d been, believing his lies and flattery. Thinking he cared for her when he never had. Had everyone known he was using her, except herself?
‘He always insisted you were frigid, but I guess that was just his pride talking. From the way your new guy looks at you, it’s pretty obvious you’re keeping him well satisfied.’ Clara’s chuckle seemed bitter somehow, but behind it was a sadness that defused Liah’s anger until all that was left was pity...and the humiliating pulse of heat at the thought of exactly how well-satisfied Kamal was keeping her.
Was she using him too? Because she was enjoying pretending to be his fiancée a bit too much. The engagement didn’t feel like a lie any more—at least, not completely—ever since they had arrived in Europe and he had been happy to rely on her, to defer to her whenever his natural brusqueness created waves. And then there were the nights when he had come to her suite or dragged her into his and ravaged her with the same power and passion he had used ever since that first night. As if everything about her fascinated and excited him.
And her response to him was equally as ravenous.
How did he know just how to taste her, to touch her, to caress and cajole her, to make her beg for more? Only last night he had thrust into her from behind as he’d caressed her in the shower, turning her body into a mass of molten sensations.
She had become obsessed with him, that much was obvious. Obsessed not just with what he could do to her body, but how he could make her feel. As if she was being worshipped on the one hand, but in charge of her own pleasure on the other. He challenged her, provoked her at every turn, demanding more than she had ever thought she would be willing or even capable of giving... But he also enjoyed it when she challenged and provoked him too. He wasn’t afraid of her recklessness, wasn’t scared of her demands, because he could be equally as ruthless and demanding.
They were equals in the best sense of the word.
‘Colin was a jerk,’ Liah said softly, knowing how true that was now. Colin hadn’t been a man—he had been a spoilt, entitled boy. Kamal, on the other hand, had been a man from a very young age, too young an age in many ways. But he’d turned all his disadvantages into advantages, his powerlessness into strength, and he wielded it with a dignity and integrity that most people in his position could only dream of.
‘We’re both lucky to be rid of him,’ she added. Although she could barely remember Colin any more. The heartache he’d once caused her felt little more than an irritating ripple now compared to everything she had begun to feel for Kamal.
Clara nodded, toasting her with her champagne glass. ‘Ain’t that the truth?’ she said, then downed the contents in one go. ‘I always wanted to hate you, you know,’ she went on, surprising Liah with her candour. ‘But, FYI, you didn’t miss a thing with Colin. He was as selfish in bed as he was out of it.’ So saying, she melted into the crowd just as a large hand landed on Liah’s waist.
‘Who is that woman? And what did she say to you?’ Kamal stared down at her, his eyes flashing with barely concealed fury.
‘It’s nothing, Kamal, I’m fine,’ she said, stupidly touched he seemed so angry on her behalf and also oddly exhilarated by the protective look in his eyes—and the fact he must have spotted her distress from the other side of the garden and come charging to her rescue. Why didn’t that possessive tone bother her any more?
‘Clara’s someone I knew at Cambridge,’ she added.
He lifted his hand to skim a callused thumb down her cheek. She shivered, as always far too aware of the slightest touch. His hand landed on her collarbone, both intimate and somehow protective, his gaze riveted to hers as that dangerous thumb continued to rub her pulse point. ‘I do not like her. She has made you unhappy.’
‘I’m fine,’ she repeated, aware of the other guests staring.
A camera flashed nearby as the official photographer took their picture. The photos would be in all the papers tomorrow—because, much to her consternation, in the last week she and Kamal and their whirlwind romance had become a favourite subject of the celebrity media all over Europe. For once she didn’t feel like a total fraud, though. ‘Honestly, she just reminded me how glad I am I’m no longer at uni.’
He nodded. ‘Who is Colin?’ he asked, his tone lowering.
Uh-oh, so he’d heard some of their conversation. Liah stiffened, the probing look in his eyes making the shame and humiliation return.
‘He’s nobody,’ she said truthfully. Because Colin meant nothing to her now, and he never really had. To think she had once tried to kid herself she could love a man like that, when what she felt for the man in front of her was so much more intense after only a couple of weeks in his company.
She was drawn to Kamal even though his arrogance was as infuriating as his dominant, taciturn nature. The sexual connection between them was so tangible, so fierce, she could feel herself getting moist—her body already preparing to accept his—while they were at an event crowded with people.
