Page 35 of Modern Romance November 2024 5-8

‘How did you know?’ She laughed.

‘I think we were kissing on the dance floor,’ Sahir told her. ‘Not physically, but... I don’t know the word in English.Takhatari...in our minds...’

‘Imagining?’ she asked.

‘Both imagining,’ he said. ‘At the same time.’

‘Ooh,takhatarikisses. I like that.’ Whatever it meant. ‘And you’re right—I was thinking about you, about kissing you, maybe...’

She watched his dark eyes looking up somewhere to the left, as if he was really thinking about things, and then they came back to her, and for the first time she saw their colour, the tint on the edge of his pupils as raven as his hair.

‘You want to “get it out of the way”?’ he accused, using her own words.

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘It doesn’t feel like that with you.’

‘Violet, I’m only here for tonight.’ He was terse, back to holding her at a distance again. ‘And as much as I’d like to kiss you, and maybe more...’ He inhaled sharply. ‘Given you’ve never done anything before, I think you deserve to be wined and dined and...’

‘Stop being polite.’ She stared back at him. ‘If you don’t fancy me, just say so. And if there’s a Mrs Sahir at home, or—’

‘Violet,’ he cut in. ‘I don’t like that word.’

‘What word?’

‘“Fancy”. It is...’

‘What?’

‘Teenage.’

‘Okay, then.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I’ll put it more maturely. If you’re not attracted to me...’

‘I’m intensely attracted to you,’ he said, and he pulled her in, kissed her neck.

She closed her eyes as lust swept like a turning tide low inside her stomach.

‘But I fly back home soon,’ he went on. ‘I don’t do romance—and, believe me, Iama bad choice.’

‘I think you’re the perfect choice.’

‘How so?’

She smiled. ‘Because I’m twenty-five and I have never even come close to being so intensely attracted to anyone. And I don’t care if I never see you again...’ She looked into his eyes and ran a hand through his raven hair. ‘Well, I care. But I think you’ll be rather deliciously missed and very fondly remembered.’

‘Violet,’ he said. ‘That’s a really bad reason to sleep with someone.’

‘Oh, so you only sleep with someone when you have excellent, well-thought-out reasons? Tell me, Sahir, what are they?’

‘I can tell you why we shouldn’t,’ he volunteered. ‘I don’t bed virgins.’

‘“Bed”virgins!’ She laughed. ‘Gosh, that’s old-fashioned. Well, then, for tonight I shall remain un-kissed and un-bedded.’

She knew she’d hit every nerve, and it had him pulling her right in. She slipped her hands beneath his jacket.

‘You are...’ He stopped, as if trying to find a word to describe her. ‘Irresistible.’

‘So are you.’ Violet nodded. ‘And you have no idea how long I’ve waited to feel like this.’

‘Like what?’

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