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Once again she had touched a raw nerve. She could tell by the passion which had crept momentarily into his voice.
It seemed that it didn't take much scratching of his surface to reveal the hidden layers, the secret beliefs he harbored. So, she had been right. All of this, as simple as it seemed on the surface, represented so much more to him than just a desert retreat.
"I understand," was all she could say in response to that.
"Do you?" he asked. His gaze was penetrating, just as direct as it had been when she had touched on similar, sensitive subjects earlier.
She nodded. "Yes," she said simply.
That seemed to calm him a little, because she saw his shoulders drop slightly, the tension draining out of the powerful muscles.
Seeing him aroused like that had reminded her just who it was she had agreed to spend some time with. She'd witnessed the sudden change from courtesy to passion. Had she just glimpsed what Rashid had warned her about? That dangerous tendency Rashid had hinted at?
"I'm keeping you from your rest," he admitted. He turned away from her, and she briefly considered telling him she wasn't really tired, after all. That she'd love to stay up a while and talk, but everything had been so crazy and so surprising, she knew she needed a short while to adjust.
Maybe he needed time as well, to adjust to having her in his encampment. She must seem like an intruder, almost like an unwanted guest.
When he reached the entrance, she called out his name. "Sheikh Ahmed," she said.
He turned, his eyes wide with expectation.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"It is my pleasure," he replied. "And, please, call me Ahmed." He smiled. "Sheikh just seems too formal."
She smiled at him and he turned and left the tent, letting the flap close down behind him.
CHAPTER TEN
This wasn't going to be as easy as he'd originally hoped, Ahmed told himself when he began to walk from her tent to the entrance of the other one.
No.
He drew in a deep breath and lifted his head to the heavens. The enormity of the black sky was scattered with shimmering stars. This should have been a moment for them both to gaze in wonder upon this awesome sight. He'd hoped she would accompany him a while before settling in for the night.Perhaps they could have shared some of the basic food which was stored in the other tent.
But, hopes of an immediate intimacy had been dashed by the look in her eyes.
Suspicion.
She did not trust him. He could tell by the way she had looked at him in that tent. Hadn't he been courteous and respectful?
Of course, this was a situation he wasn't used to at all. She was the first woman to have come here. He'd never even considered bringing any of his many conquests here. This had always been his private space, a place never to be entered by the women in his life.
But, for some reason, none of that applied to the woman who was now taking up temporary residence in his tent. The woman who would soon be falling asleep on his bed.
That thought made his body tighten, muscles hardening with frustration.
He walked across to the pool of dark water and leaned against one of the trees. He felt the cool air as he gazed down into the water, his thoughts drifting to temptation.
Ahmed thought about Gemma. He could imagine what she would look like lying on his bed, beneath the covers. Probably she would be almost naked. He expected she'd probably brought something she could wear at night, although she hadn't had a chance to use it while sleeping in the car, of course.
But here, she might be tempted to relax slightly. She might slip beneath the covers and stretch out her beautiful, long body.
How he wanted to be beside her!
He would have given anything, right now, to lie alongside her and caress her smooth skin, to kiss her neck, to begin to take her to places she'd never known. To draw ecstasy from her with everything he knew, with his experienced touch.
And then he reminded himself. Of course. Was she not a virgin?
