Page 21 of Her Vow to Be His Desert Queen

It seemed he didn’t believe it now.

He wasn’t going to matter to you, remember?

True. So why she was thinking about all the changes in him, she had no idea.

She leaned her elbows on the parapet and let out a slow breath, conscious once again of the quick beat of her heart and how sensitive her mouth felt. She could still feel the pressure of his lips on hers, the taste of him making her hungry, making her forget what she’d told herself when he’d turned up only hours before. That she wasn’t going to let herself be affected by him the way she had years ago. That she was a different person now, astrongerperson, who didn’t let her emotions run away with her.

Yet you’re still dropping everything to go to Al Da’ira because he demanded it.

No, that wasn’t quite true. Shehadagreed to go, but only after he’d said please and had agreed to be her charity’s patron. And she was only going for two weeks. She hadn’t agreed to his marriage demand, either. Shehadresisted him, and if she wasn’t much mistaken she’d even got under his skin a little too.

Ahead of her the Eiffel Tower loomed, glittering in the night.

She stared unseeingly at it, thinking about the dark fire that had still been burning in his eyes after that kiss.

‘You have been waiting a long time for this, Sidonie. And so have I...’

He’d been waiting, he’d said. Waiting a long time. Which seem to indicate that maybe he hadn’t been as indifferent to her years ago as she’d thought.

A shiver went through her, a tight feeling settling in her chest. She shouldn’t be thinking of that. It didn’t matter what he’d felt for her back then, because he’d never done anything about it. She’d tried to cross that line and he’d rebuffed her, for whatever reason.

Only the present mattered now.

Still. Maybe you’re not so powerless against him after all.

The thought glowed in her head. Whatever he’d felt in the past, he wanted her now and thatwasa power she had, a power she’d never used or even understood, since no one had ever particularly wanted her before, not like that. And, while she wasn’t sure how she could use it quite yet, she still had it.

Thinking about it gave her a little thrill. Because how many times had she ached for him over the years? Dreaming of the day he’d finally see her as not just a friend, but also as a woman he wanted. Yet at the same time knowing that day would never come, because he would never see her that way. Why would he? When no one else ever had?

But that dayhadcome. Now, finally, he saw her as a woman. Finally she could make him burn for her. Make him ache for her, long for her. Make him as desperate for her as she’d been for him. That would be fair, wouldn’t it?

But can you? Or will you end up making yourself his slave once again?

Sidonie focused once more on the Eiffel Tower, all iron, hard metal to withstand the centuries.

Back when she’d been a kid she’d learned how to be quiet and undemanding, moulding herself into the perfect niece for her aunt, a good girl who never caused a fuss and never drew attention to herself.

Then she’d met Khalil, his intensity demanding something from her, something that living with Aunt May had forced her to keep down deep inside. An intensity of her own that she’d kept locked away, a passion and drive she hadn’t known she’d had. He’d encouraged it, made it flourish. Being with him had felt as though she could breathe for the first time in her life. Then had come the mistake she’d made, his painful departure, and that email breaking off all contact. And the part of her that he’d unlocked, she’d had to put away again.

It had been a hard lesson to learn but she’d learned it. She’d never want anything from anyone, never open herself to anyone. She’d found the iron inside her, armour to protect herself. She visited her aunt when it suited her and only because May wasn’t in good health these days, and besides, staying away would have meant May still had the power to hurt her and she didn’t.

As for Khalil, well... He’d soon discover she wasn’t as malleable as she’d once been, if he hadn’t already.

‘Miss Sullivan?’

Sidonie turned to find a woman in a black uniform standing behind her. ‘Yes?’

‘Your car to the airport is here. His Majesty also wishes to inform you that you will not need any luggage. He will see to anything you require personally.’

Behind the woman Sidonie could see other servants busily packing up the carefully set table and blowing out all the candles. Since she’d agreed to come with him, the birthday dinner clearly wasn’t needed any more.

That gave her a slight stab of hurt, but she ignored it. The important thing was she’d got his agreement to help her charity and that mattered more than any silly birthday dinner. Anyway, she’d go to Al Da’ira and enjoy a pleasant two weeks’ holiday, perhaps lose her virginity to him, lay those old ghosts, and then she’d come back to England and she’dneverthink of him again.

The trip from the private mansion to a private airfield just out of Paris, where Khalil’s jet waited, wasn’t long. She’d thought when she got into the car that he would be there too and was surprised when he wasn’t. He wasn’t on the tarmac when she reached the airfield, nor waiting by the sleek black jet with the gleaming gold tail livery.

She wondered if he was already inside, but after she’d climbed the stairs and stepped into the plane the series of small rooms she was led through were empty. The interior was all luxurious cream leather and gleaming dark wood, and the seat she was taken to was more a recliner than an aircraft seat, deep and enveloping her in comfort as soon as she sat down.

There was still no sign of him and she was beginning to wonder what was going on, when she heard his deep voice coming from the jet’s doors, towards the nose of the plane. He was speaking in his beautiful, melodic language, and despite herself her heartbeat sped up.

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