Page 29 of Unknown Royal Baby

‘I knocked, several times.’

She nodded, throat catching on a stifled breath of mingled appreciation and nerves. ‘Please, come in.’

Even though she wanted to tell him to leave. She didn’t feel up to the discussion they had to have. She knew, no matter how reasonable he was, that she’d hate the outcome. The idea of leaving her precious girl for even a short length of time, a couple of days, even weeks, churned nausea through her belly.

He glanced around the large room. ‘Maryam’s sleeping?’

That twist of sensation low in her body changed to something like disappointment.

What sort of woman is jealous of her own daughter?

You should be pleased he’s so interested in Maryam. That’s as it should be, a father wanting to see his girl.

This isn’t about you.

Avril stood straighter. ‘Yes, she’s sleeping. Bethany is with her, while I—’

Isam crossed the room. It was less than twenty-four hours since she’d seen him, yet she was struck anew by the depth of her response. The softening, low in her body. The spark of heat. The humming need.

As if her body had awoken to one man and one alone. A terrifying thought!

‘You...?’

She’d been going to venture out of the palace for an hour, take up the standing offer of a guide to take her into the city. She’d spent too long here, stewing over things she couldn’t change, growing more rather than less nervous by the day despite the extra rest she was getting.

‘It doesn’t matter. Won’t you sit down? I want to talk to you about Maryam.’

‘She’s all right? There’s nothing wrong?’ Concern sharpened his voice.

‘She’s fine. As I said, she’s sleeping.’

Avril perched on the edge of a damask-covered settee and watched him take a seat opposite.

‘Excellent. But if ever you have concerns, at any hour of the day or night, we can summon the palace doctor.’

She frowned, imagining an echo of anxiety in his tone.

She must be mistaken. Maryam had shown no negative effects from the travel. As for Isam anxious... He was one of the most competent, confident men she knew. Surely as Sheikh he had the power to make problems vanish from his life.

Avril wished she could do the same.

Lacing her fingers, she drew a deep breath. She couldn’t put this off any longer. ‘It’s time we talked about Maryam.’

Isam inclined his head. ‘Yes, and I want to know more about us.’

‘Us?’ That hit out of the blue. ‘There isn’t an us.’

Was it imagination or did the proud angles of his face grow more pronounced, more severe? ‘Yet here we are, parents with a child. I want to know more about our relationship. How we came together.’

Avril had assumed that after pregnancy and giving birth, with strangers performing intimate examinations and procedures on her body, nothing could make her blush.

She was wrong. Heat surged up her throat and into her cheeks. She was tempted to blurtin the usual way, but stopped herself in time.

He’s not asking what the sex was like.

‘Does it matter now? The important thing is our daughter.’

He leaned closer, elbows on the arms of his chair and fingers touching. ‘As you say, she’s paramount. But... I feel at a disadvantage. You have full recall of something intimate and significant between us and I have none.’ His mouth tightened and she saw something in his eyes that looked like vulnerability. ‘It’s a terrible thing to have blank spaces in your memory with no understanding of how you behaved.’

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