Page 91 of Modern Romance November 2024 5-8

She was ready to beg him to keep her. His body was hard and his breathing ragged. The tension of him untamed was bringing her to the edge of honesty.

‘Please let me stay. I’ll be your lover...your concubine. I’ll be—’

‘Shh...’

His hand came over her mouth and she licked his palm. He thrust into her hard, and then he stilled, and it was Sahir who let out a low shout that must startle the skies because it was primal.

Violet was climaxing so deeply that it almost hurt. Even her thighs contracted as he spilled inside her. It was everything she needed, all she desired, and she kissed his mouth.

She felt his firm hands lowering her down and she leant against him, his arms and body the only things that kept her standing.

Somehow she had to forget what she’d discovered today.

How much she loved Sahir.

CHAPTER TWELVE

THEYWENTUPto the observatory.

Her legs were shaky from the sex, and from the endless excitement he brought to her soul.

‘You should first see the stars lying down,’ Sahir told her as they reached the top. ‘Close your eyes.’

She stood, eyes closed, and felt it was oddly silent. The echoes from the stairwell were gone, and the air was very cool. She could feel it on her exposed breasts. He took her hand and she walked on cold stone.

‘When did you work it out?’ he asked.

‘I was reading on the bed...’ She paused, frowning, as beneath her feet she suddenly felt a soft rug.

‘Keep your eyes closed and lower yourself.’

She wanted to feel behind her, but she held his hands and lowered herself down—not to a cold, hard floor, but onto a soft cushion.

‘How...?’

‘No questions,’ Sahir said. ‘Lie back.’

It was disorientating. Her body was braced to be lying on stone, but instead she felt enveloped in silk.

Violet lay waiting as he joined her and took her in his arms. ‘Can I look now?’

‘When you are ready.’

She could never have been ready.

Violet opened her eyes, and nothing could have prepared her for the feast in the sky. There were more stars than she could even begin to count. Everywhere her eyes fell there were more, yet more, and everything she’d thought she knew or believed, or didn’t know and did not believe, vanished—because she was staring at something so impossible, so divine, it was impossible not to lie there in awe. The sight was impossible to fathom...silvers, pinks, blues, gold. Endless beauty.

‘I’ll never forget this,’ Violet said, gazing into the magnificence. ‘How do you even begin to learn about them?’

‘Hakaam is the last of his school. He was one of seven. They learned from ancient almanacs, or calendars, first written in clay. Even as he passes on his knowledge, they still discover more.’

He showed her the stars, some planets...

‘Spica...’ He guided her to the tiny light. ‘That is actually two stars—maybe more—so close together, orbiting each other.’

‘How close?’

‘Eleven million miles apart.’

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