Page 44 of Desert King's Forbidden Temptation

‘Do you want me to let you go?’

Say yes. Tell him to stop.

‘Tariq,’ she groaned, because it feltsogood to be held by him, so good to be this close. Her heart was rabbiting in her chest, threatening to pull her apart. ‘I can’t do this.’

His nostrils flared and his jaw remained clenched. Despite what she’d said, she moved slightly, her body soft against his hardness, needing to feel every inch of him, then shivering when she succeeded. His arousal was unmistakable, and it called to her, so she bit back a sob.

‘I know,’ he said, finally, dropping his head so their foreheads were touching and breath mingling. ‘And that makes me want you all the more.’

She closed her eyes, inhaling his intoxicatingly masculine fragrance, before he dropped his hands and stepped back.

‘Go to bed, little one. I will not disturb you. You have my word.’

It wasn’t just the noise that broke her sleep, but the immediate recollection of Tariq saying that he and his father would come to the mountains to hunt. The question occurred to her far too late: to hunt what?

The sound outside the window of her bedroom was unmistakable though. An animal. Large enough to crack tree limbs.

She sat bolt upright, staring at the window first, and then towards the door, heart in her throat as she threw back the covers. She had no thought for her state of dress—she wore only the tunic Tariq had provided, but it was swimming on her smaller frame, so kept falling down one shoulder, revealing an expanse of creamy skin, her arm and the top of her breast. She rushed to the door and pulled it open.

Tariq was awake, moving towards the window of the kitchen.

‘What is it?’ she whispered, eyes huge in her face.

He cast a glance over his shoulder then turned back to the window. He concentrated on the darkness beyond the cabin and then signalled for her to join him. Belatedly, she recognised the gun at his side, a rifle, and she wondered how the sight of something she actively despised could somehow seem so distractingly erotic when paired with a man like Tariq.

‘Come and see.’

Her fear had evaporated at the sight of the Sheikh. Not because of the gun, because he looked like someone who could tackle a bear, or a tiger, or whatever the heck was outside with his bare hands.

She looked through the window, beyond their reflections. Only one candle was lit, but it was enough to cast a distracting amount of light. ‘Do you mind if I blow this out?’ she asked, leaning closer to him.

He lifted the candle and extinguished it, plunging them into darkness. With that, came a rush of awareness of all of her other senses. She couldfeelhis blood pumping. She could hear it. His breath was like a marching band. She tilted her face towards him, and even though it was now almost pitch-black in the cabin, she couldseehim as clearly as if the sun was right in the middle of the room.

‘Look,’ he said, but his voice had changed, gone lower, deeper, his tone gruff. ‘Out there.’ He moved behind her, lifting a hand to guide her attention, but now all she could focus on was the feeling of his body wrapped around hers. It was mesmerising and perfect.

She tried to control her breathing, but everything was rushing out of her, tumbling with panic and excitement and raw, undeniable need.

‘What am I looking for?’ she whispered.

‘Over there.’ He bent his head down to her level, so it pressed to her shoulder, and now she forced herself to concentrate, to look where he was looking, until she saw something shining in the clearing just beyond the car. Two gemstones, at hip height.

‘Eyes!’ She said, gasping.

‘Tiger’s eyes,’ he said quietly.

‘A real tiger? Here?’

He nodded, the gesture moving his face closer, so their cheeks brushed, and she closed her eyes a moment, savouring the feeling.

‘An Arabian tiger. They’re endangered in these parts. We use these mountains as a sanctuary, a breeding ground for them.’

‘So there are lots here?’

‘Not as many as there should be, but the population is growing year on year.’

‘And you didn’t think to warn me?’

‘What for? You were never in danger.’

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