Page 32 of Desert King's Forbidden Temptation

It was a stolen moment of illicit pleasure, innocent but still wrong.

He didn’t fight it.

Something had shifted inside of Eloise. On the flight, she’d been breaking apart, and he’d held her together. They’d shared something, and for Eloise, it had been meaningful. It had also forced her to stop pretending.

There was a force at work between them, something she couldn’t keep fighting. It was inconvenient and wrong, and she knew she couldn’t act on it how she wanted to, but wasn’t she entitled to experience these feelings, just a little? It wasn’t a betrayal of Elana to spend time with Tariq, was it? To talk to him and share things with him, to explain a little about her life, including her phobia of flying?

After all, Elana had sent her here to get to know the man. Wasn’t that what she was doing?

The city passed in a blur, ancient buildings mingling with modern high-rises, designer shops showing the affluence of the area, giving way to wide boulevards lined with restaurants. Another time, she’d have liked to stop and enjoy it more fully, to immerse herself in the area and discover little laneways and avenues all on her own.

‘Do you come out here often?’ she asked, turning to face him in the back of yet another limousine, this one accompanied on either side by shiny black motorbikes. He’d served as her protector during the flight. The way he’d held her so tightly, pushing fear from her body, had made it impossible not to be grateful, not to appreciate his size and strength anew.

‘Every couple of weeks.’

She lifted her brows. ‘But you’re based in the capital.’

‘I learned as a young boy the importance of remaining visible and informed of each province. In the past, there have been sheikhs who were deemed to be out of touch. I do not want this to be said of me.’

‘You are hero-worshipped by your people.’

His eyes found hers and she blushed to the roots of her hair.

‘I am fortunately respected,’ he agreed after a slight pause.

‘As your father was.’

He dipped his head. ‘He was an excellent ruler.’

‘You’ve known all your life that this would be your responsibility one day. Have you always welcomed that?’

There was a hesitation in his features, a look of consternation she didn’t understand and then his trademark arrogance was back. ‘I was raised for it.’

She frowned. It wasn’t quite an answer. She tried again. ‘Was there ever a time when you found yourself wishing you had a sibling? Someone who could share the burden with you?’

‘My parents couldn’t have other children. They tried,’ he said, looking towards his window a moment. His Adam’s apple bobbed, though, and she knew he was grappling with the confession. She could understand why.

‘They tried for years before conceiving me, and then,’ he hesitated a moment, ‘my mother kept me out of the public eye for the first couple of years of my life. She told me, as a boy, that she hadn’t wanted to tempt fate.’

‘That’s a very natural way to feel,’ Eloise sympathised.

‘My father was not the heir to the throne and his life then was simply not of much interest to the media or people of Savisia. He lived, more or less, freely.’

She considered that. Much was revealed by his description of his parents’ lives. ‘And then the Sheikh died in that fire?’

‘Yes. My uncle and his wife died before they could have children and the throne passed to my father overnight. We returned to Savisia at once.’

‘And ever since, you’ve known this would be your life.’

‘Yes.’

‘Did it change things for your father?’

His smile was laced with nostalgia. ‘Of course. We went from living as a family to being royal, to having servants and an enormous palace. I could no longer attend school, but rather had long lessons with tutors. I hated being indoors so much. While I enjoyed learning, I always wished to be running, or climbing trees—’

‘Or riding a horse,’ she posited.

His eyes bore into hers. ‘Exactly. Or sleeping under the stars.’

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