Page 38 of Desert King's Forbidden Temptation

He swore, and she looked at him, pain in her eyes.

‘I’d be too scared to bang on the walls, in case they got angry with me, so I’d sit there and wait.’

He moved closer and it didn’t occur to her to mind.

‘I’ve hated small rooms ever since. Any enclosed spaces, in fact.’

‘Airplanes?’ he prompted gently.

‘I think that’s more about a loss of control,’ she said with a lift of her shoulders. ‘I get...anxious...when I have to rely on others.’

His eyes narrowed perceptively.

‘I saw a therapist for a while, but it didn’t help. I find I just avoid cramped rooms as much as possible, and I’m okay.’

‘How’s this?’ He gestured to the cabin surrounding them.

‘Actually,’ she frowned, ‘it’s not so bad. It’s bigger than the camp dorms,’ she said with a tight smile.

‘I’m glad. I wanted you to see it.’

Her heart tripped over itself. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but she didn’t for one second think he meant he wanted her to see it as Elana’s advisor. This was personal. ‘Why?’

His expression was hard to read. ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted, finally. ‘But it felt important.’

She toyed with her fingers. It felt important to her, too.

‘Are you hungry?’

She looked around the kitchen. ‘Why? Are you hiding some gourmet snacks in here somewhere?’

‘Not quite gourmet.’ He grinned. ‘But the freezer should have something, and the stove works.’

It was, oh, so very tempting, but the idea of staying with him for dinner was fraught with possibilities, and danger.

‘I think we should go back,’ she said, without meeting his eyes.

‘Is that what you want?’

Frustration bubbled over inside her chest. Frustration at the way he was pushing her, tempting her, deliberately showing her a place like this that meant so much to him, even when they knew how close they were moving to an invisible line they couldn’t step over.

‘Damn it, this isn’t about what Iwant, Your Highness.’

A muscle clenched at the base of his jaw. ‘You need to call me Tariq.’

‘You are the Sheikh of Savisia—’

‘I’m aware of that.’ He crossed his arms over his broad chest and a thousand sparks ignited in her bloodstream. ‘But when I am alone with you, I am simply a man.’

She stared at him, angry and frustrated and lost. How could she argue with that? When they were together, that’s exactly how it felt to her, too. There was no longer a question of rank between them, they were simply a man and a woman with the kind of chemistry that was rare and unique.

‘Tariq,’ she said on a soft sigh, lifting a hand and tucking her hair behind her ear. His eyes latched to hers and the world seemed to stop spinning. Everything grew very still, and despite the fact she knew his guards were out there, somewhere, she felt as though they were the last two people on the planet.

‘Let’s stay here for dinner,’ he said gruffly.

Oh, she wanted that. Here, on the edge of the earth, where nothing else seemed to matter. ‘We shouldn’t.’

His eyes sparked. ‘Why not?’

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