Page 43 of Dirty Wild Sultan

She nodded tersely, holding the reins and leading the horse while I gently tied the knot of the fabric, making sure her nose and mouth were covered.

Nasrin asked, “Where are we going?”

“To see the sunset,” I said. “But if you want to go back, we can—”

“No, I would like to see the sunset with you, Zain.”

There was gentleness in her voice despite her reaction when she came to know the truth of my sex life. Surely she must have thought of a plan in the Nasrin way. I wanted to ask her what she was thinking about. If my inexperience had embarrassed her or… surprised her.

Or something much worse?

“This is…” Nasrin started, her voice a small whisper when the horse slowed down, stopping on the top of a sand dune.

I jumped down, holding her hand and waist as I lowered her on the sand, careful not to touch her anywhere inappropriate or stare too long at her marvelous breasts. I reined in my arousal and watched how her brown eyes were bright, like molten chocolate, in awe at the view.

I was in awe, too.

How could she look more beautiful than before after riding a horse in the desert? With her ruffled hair framing her face, her wide grin at the scenery ahead of us and laughing when she brushed the horse’s mane, hearing him snort again.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I lowered mykeffiyehand stood beside her. Two hundred years ago, both of our families had joined to fight off the attack from our neighboring country. I could remember my father talking about the Great Sand War held in the desert where his great grandparents had fought. That we should be thankful to have Al Latif blood running in our veins.

But that was the excuse he gave himself when he wanted to teach me and Khalid a lesson, punishing us and beating us when we didn’t follow in his footsteps.

“Hey…” Nasrin stood across from me, “Are you okay?”

“I was thinking about the Great Sand War.”

Holding my hand in hers, she laid her head on my shoulders. I tried not to overthink about the casual gesture, similar to the kiss she had given me earlier in the study. Instead, I focused on the jasmine scent of hers, her soft breaths.

“Why are you thinking about the past, Sultan? All I see is the beautiful scenery of the setting sun, standing beside my husband.”

I flickered my eyes to hers. “To know your future and be a better ruler than our ancestors, it is important to remember the past. I don’t want to be like my father.”

“Salman Al Latif? My father used to gloat about their friendship and looked up to him for any guidance.” She squeezed my hand, noticing the hard lines on my face when she said the name of that man. I never wanted to hear her utter that name again. “Was he not a good person?”

“He was not a good person, husband or a father.”

There was a silence between us that stretched for a few moments.

Nasrin said, “From how I see it, Zain, you are not at all like your father. You are a good person, even though you act cold sometimes. A good husband? Hmm, ask me about it in a week because we got married yesterday. You are a great brother to both Khalid and Zara, trying to understand them, so I can guess that you’d be a brilliant father.”

I looked down at her, and she was gazing up at me with a small smile. “You think so?” I asked.

I had never thought that I was a good person or that I could be a better father than my father was. But hearing Nasrin say that to me with a proud smile made my heart thud loudly in my ears. It meant something special and precious whenshesaid that.

“I know so, Sultan.”

I was aware of her little palm in mine, the soft pads of her fingers caressing my knuckles. The closeness between us. The way I felt when she stood beside me with her hair in loose tendrils and her tanned skin glowing, smiling at me with her pretty lips and brown doe eyes.

I wanted to hold her closer and kiss her.Fuck. I wanted to kiss her badly.

“Nasrin,” I said. “I am going to kiss you.”

Her eyes widened, and she nodded, a whisper of ‘yes’ coming out of her lips before I covered them with mine. I sighed, and she gasped at the tingle of our lips, kissing each other with gentleness and curiosity.

Everything faded but her. Her soft body pressing closer to mine, her hands tangling in my hair. The way she moaned sweetly when I pressed my hand on her lower back, urging her closer.

“Zain,” she gasped.

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