Page 9 of Her Vow to Be His Desert Queen

What are you doing? You weren’t supposed to be going anywhere with him, remember?

She stared at the seat in front of her, trying to get some oxygen into her suddenly starving lungs, and her brain, which had somehow disengaged the moment he’d taken her elbow, into gear again.

What was wrong with her? Shehadn’twanted to go with him. What she’d been going to do was give him a piece of her mind then go to find Derek and continue with the date, not follow Khalil obediently. Yet...the moment he’d grasped her elbow she’d been like a kitten taken by the scruff of the neck, relaxing into his grip as if there was nowhere else she’d wanted to be.

And now it was too late to get away from him. They were in the air.

A bolt of something that wasn’t quite fear shot through her, and not because she was afraid of where he was taking her, or even of him. No, she was afraid of what being close to him after all this time might do to her.

You can’t let him hurt you...not again.

No, she couldn’t. That email he’d sent her, cutting her off and dismissing their friendship as if it had never been, had devastated her, reminding her of the day she’d lost her parents with the sheer abruptness of it.

Of course, she knew why he’d sent it. She’d ruined their friendship by telling him she loved him. Her own fault, naturally. She’d always been too emotionally demanding, as her aunt had always said.

Except she’d thought he was different. He’d never made her feel emotionally needy or too demanding. Even when she’d forgotten herself at times and got angry with him, he’d simply let her say her piece and then discuss it with her. He’d never told her she was being ridiculous or threatened her with being left at an orphanage the way her aunt had.

Apparently, though, he hadn’t been different that night, and now he was back as if he hadn’t broken her heart, telling her things had changed, and he wanted to marry her, and she was just expected to accept it?

Was he actually out of his mind?

Anger simmered inside her once again, edging out that not-quite-fear, but she tried to ignore it. She didn’t want him to know that he’d hurt her, because she didn’t want him still to matter.

He does matter, though. You can’t deny it. You wouldn’t be so angry otherwise.

No. Her anger was just a reflex because she didn’t like being ordered around. Once, he’d mattered to her more than anyone or anything in the entire world, but not now. She might still be attracted to him admittedly, but nothing more.

‘I thought I said Ididn’twant to go anywhere with you,’ she said coolly.

‘You did say that.’ His voice was calm, his posture relaxed as he leaned back in his seat. ‘Yet you seemed to have no problem getting into the helicopter.’

The sun was going down, long streams of fading light glossing his black hair. She was conscious of his nearness, one powerful thigh almost touching hers, and she could smell his warm, spicy, familiar scent. Sandalwood and cloves, and the musky, masculine scent that was all his own.

He was so very beautiful...

She couldn’t stop yet another shiver. No matter what she told herself about how he didn’t matter any more, she was still as mesmerised by him now as she had been the first moment in the library when she’d heard that deep, dark voice of his behind her, asking a question. And she’d turned around to answer it...

As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, his hard mouth curved.

He looked exceptionally pleased with himself.

‘Smugness doesn’t suit you, Khalil,’ she said, ignoring her simmering anger. ‘Didn’t you listen to me when I said no?’

He raised one winged brow. ‘Were you forced at gunpoint? I do not think so.’

Well, even five years ago he hadn’t been quitethisconfident.

Being a king did not suit him either, she decided.

‘You should have asked me if I wanted to come,’ she said. ‘And you didn’t.’

‘You could have walked away at any time.’ His gaze settled on her. ‘And you didn’t.’

She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that of course she could have walked away, but the words suddenly felt slippery and hard to grasp. Her whole world seemed to be consumed by that look in his eyes. It was so familiar, as if she was the only thing worth looking at in the entire universe. God, how she’d loved that. Loved it with her whole heart.

Those five years she’d spent as his friend had been the happiest of her life. She’d become someone new when she met him, someone brighter and more vivid, someone interesting, someone...extraordinary.

And you remember how it was when he left.

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