Page 40 of Desert King's Forbidden Temptation

‘For a moment, I was relieved. Their fighting was so awful, Tariq.’ Her eyes swept closed. ‘So soul-destroying. For a brief moment, when I realised it would stop, that I would no longer have to live with it, I felt...at peace.’ She winced. ‘I know that’s awful.’

He reached over, pressing his hand to hers. It was a gesture of comfort, and it did comfort her. She felt warm, and complete. ‘Life is complicated.’ His voice was deep. ‘Love even more so.’

‘I thought you’d never been in love?’ she prompted, the words catching in her throat.

‘Romantic love,’ he said with a shrug, not removing his hand from hers. ‘But I have parents. I know that things are not always simple.’

‘In what way?’

His features tightened but his eyes were kind. Her heart was mush. ‘Relationship dynamics, expectations. Children have to live with the consequences of their parents’ decisions. It’s not always easy.’

‘Why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?’

His grin was dismissive, but a sixth sense, an innate understanding of this man, told her he was hiding something from her. She hated that. She wanted to peer deep into his soul and see all of his secret recesses as she knew he could hers. ‘Because I am the Sheikh of Savisia: there are a great many state secrets I must take to the grave with me.’

She expelled a soft sigh, letting him get away with it. ‘Is what we’re eating one of those things?’

His smile deepened and now her heart skipped so many beats she wondered if it had stopped working. ‘Be patient; soon, you’ll see.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

SHESLEPTSOUNDLYat his side, so beautifully peaceful that he found his eyes straying to her far more times than was wise, given he was navigating the tight corners of the mountain roads and it was almost pitch black.

He hadn’t intended for them to stay at the cabin so long. Hell, he hadn’tintendedfor any of it to happen. Bringing her here had been a spur of the moment decision, a desire to share something with her that had made no logical sense. Whatever form his marriage took, he wasn’t foreseeing a relationship in which he brought his bride out here. This washisspace. His bolt hole, and haven.

So why Eloise? Why now?

A loud noise demanded his attention and he immediately pressed his foot to the brake, assessing the situation, all senses on alert. Ears heard the rumble, eyes registered the dust first, plumes silhouetted against the night sky, the falling trees next, and then the smell of clay, finally, the rumble of their car. He swore harshly, loud enough to wake her, so she sat bolt upright.

‘What is it?’

‘An earthquake,’ he said with confidence—they were not uncommon in this region, though not usually of this magnitude. ‘And a landslide.’

A tree fell, right in front of them, blocking their path.

Eloise’s breath was loud, but she sat perfectly still, her eyes staring through the windscreen, as though her powers of concentration could somehow supercharge his to ensure their safe departure.

‘It’s blocked the road. We’ll have to go back to the cabin,’ he added, without looking at Eloise.

‘Oh.’ A tiny sound in the void of the car.

He heard it, and he understood.

They’d both been very careful to skirt around their attraction, but the cabin was quicksand. He closed his window, staring straight ahead while waiting for his heart to stop racing so hard.

‘It will be all right,’ he assured her, and the statement was a blanket reassurance, covering their present state of emergency, as well as the future possibility of carelessness. It was also a promise to himself, one he badly needed.

His fingers tightened on the wheel and he undertook a five-point turn, so he could drive forward and reach the cabin as quickly as was possible.

It looked different now. Ridiculous, given they’d only left here an hour or so earlier. But that had been after a quick bite to eat, polite conversation about the state of politics in the region—a conversation in which she’d been pleased to more than hold her own, to show her knowledge of the various issues facing both Ras Sarat and Savisia. After all, she advised Elana on a plethora of subjects. As the evening had progressed, she’d felt his attention narrowing, his questions growing more specific, as though he was testing her. But to what end?

‘Go inside,’ he said. ‘I will just call my guards and inform them of our situation.’

‘Maybe they’ll send someone tonight,’ she said, hopefully.

‘I will make sure they don’t,’ he responded quickly. ‘It would imperil their lives, and I do not subscribe to the ridiculous notion that my life holds more value than any of theirs. First light will have to do.’

She turned back to the cabin, butterflies exploded in her belly.

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