Page 16 of Her Vow to Be His Desert Queen

Again, that cool veneer of hers rippled, betraying shock. ‘Me? Why me?’

‘Because you are all of those things,ya hayati.You are kind and compassionate. You are empathic and honest. You understand the value of laughter. In other words, you are exactly what my people need in a queen.’

Her green eyes were dark in the soft glow of the lights around them and she’d gone pale. She was looking at him as if he’d hurt her in some fashion. Then abruptly the expression vanished and she turned away, glancing at the Eiffel Tower once more.

Uncharacteristic impatience gathered inside him. He had no idea why she’d looked hurt, but had the appeal on behalf of his people not been enough?

‘You taught me all of those things, Sidonie.’ He tried to keep the impatience from his voice. ‘You taught me what it was to have a friend and to be a friend in return. You taught me what it meant to be happy. Do you not understand? If you did that for me, you could do that for my people, too.’

Another moment or two passed and she didn’t move.

Then slowly she looked back at him and her gaze was just as sharp as it had been across the table in that pub in England. ‘This dinner is a nice gesture and I appreciate it. But there are many other women who have all the qualities you just listed. You don’t need me in particular.’

‘But I—’

‘I too have people who depend on me,’ she interrupted steadily. ‘People who need me. And I can’t just leave them because you decided I’m your perfect queen.’

‘Sidonie—’

‘No, Khalil.’ There was steel in her green eyes now. ‘I’m sorry. I’m not marrying you and that’s final.’

Sidonie held herself very straight and made sure her voice was very firm. She didn’t care if she interrupted him, even though from the way his dark eyes flared he’d obviously considered it rude. But that was too bad. If she let him take charge again, he’d bulldoze his way over all her objections the way he had back in the pub, and she’d find herself hauled off to Al Da’ira before she knew what was happening.

She couldn’t allow that.

He’d been intense about changing his people’s lives for the better back then, and she could see the same intensity now in the hard planes and angles of his face. In his eyes. And it had made her waver.

This mattered to him. This mattered to him very much.

But she couldn’t say yes to him. She couldn’t give up the life she’d built for herself and all the people who depended on her, all the children who needed the help her charity could give them, just because Khalil had commanded her to marry him.

Who says you need to give up all of that?

No, she didn’t need that thought in her head. There would be no marriage and that was final. Because even apart from the charity and everything she’d built, she couldn’t allow him back into her life, not again. Not when he’d left such devastation behind him the last time.

Khalil stood there so very tall and broad, the lights of the city falling on his compelling face. His gaze was fixed on hers, intensely focused, as if he was trying to see inside her head.

He was so close—too close. The scent of his aftershave and the warmth of his body were doing things to her that she didn’t like, making her want things she shouldn’t. Things she thought she’d put behind her.

She should move away, but with that gaze of his on her, seeing everything, he’d notice and he’d know the reason. She didn’t want to give away how his nearness affected her, so she stayed where she was.

‘No?’ His voice had deepened, become rougher. ‘That is really your answer? I told you it was for my people’s sake.’

‘I realise that.’ She tried to sound calm. She didn’t want to give away the real reason, not given what that would reveal about her own feelings. ‘But I don’t know your people. And I don’t know your country. And I...’ She paused. ‘It’s been years, Khalil. I feel like I barely know you.’

‘You do know me.’

‘Do I? I knew my friend. I knew him very well, but you aren’t him, are you?’

He hesitated a moment then shook his head. ‘No. Not any more.’

Something she didn’t understand glittered in his obsidian gaze just then, a hard edge that she was sure hadn’t been there all those years ago. The hard edge she’d seen at the pub and in the helicopter.

Being King has taken its toll.

There was a strange tightness in her chest, because it was obvious now that yes, it had taken something from him. It had hardened him. Darkened him. He’d always had a darkness to him, even back at university, and she’d thought that maybe he still had some secrets he hadn’t told her. Yet she hadn’t pushed. If he’d wanted to tell her he would have, and she’d respected his choices.

But now...what had happened to her friend?

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