by Alice Raine
After giving me a reassuring smile, he whistled once, which was obviously a signal to his horse, because the beautiful animal came trotting over obediently and stood before us. With our height raised by the rocks, the task of climbing onto his back seemed far less daunting.
Khalil steadied me on my feet and smoothly mounted the horse, his movements elegant and effortless as if he’d spent hours in the saddle every day of his life. He probably had.
He held out a hand to me and patted the area just in front of him. ‘I would prefer you to ride in front of me, in case you have a dizzy spell. This way I can support you.’
The idea of being pressed against him made me feel even dizzier than I currently was, and I drew in a desperate breath through my nose and tried to strengthen my wobbly legs. Looking again at the steep path up from the beach I couldn’t really see an alternative, so tentatively took his hands and allowed him to lift me up so I sat astride the horse.
Khalil seemed to emanate some strange vibe that sent my body wild, so once I was settled I closed my eyes and absorbed how good it felt to be this close to him. The insides of his strong thighs were now pressed snugly against the outside of mine, and he had lowered his hands to rest on my hips, but I made the effort to sit tall and leave some space between my back and his chest. It seemed the polite thing to do with a virtual stranger.
Giving a small flick of the reins, he murmured a soft command to the horse, who set off at a slow walk down the beach. Each rolling step of the huge animal caused my head to swim, and I ended up leaning back on Khalil far more than I had intended to, until I was plastered against him and my head was lolling on his shoulder. So much for leaving a polite distance between us.
He slid one of his arms further around my waist to steady me, but it caused ticklish tingles to erupt on my hip, and I giggled, squirming in his grip until I realised that I had effectively just shoved my bottom right back between his legs.
I froze for a second, until I became aware of a burning heat against my rear, and, unless my brain was playing tricks on me, a hardness that I could have sworn wasn’t there a second ago. It might have been as innocent as his belt buckle, or a fold of clothing, but my giggling and squirming became a thing of the past as I tried to shuffle forwards, desperately hoping that he hadn’t thought I had been grinding against him on purpose.
‘Keep still, little one. You’ll have us both falling off if you don’t stop moving.’
Little one? I suppose I was small compared to him, and the horse, but it seemed slightly bizarre to be given a nickname by him already. That thought rapidly disappeared as Khalil took an even firmer grip of me and, with one tug, reinstated the close contact between us. His groin was once again pressed against my bum, his arm wrapped tightly around my middle, and his chest acting as a rest for my back.
There was no getting away from that fact that this was an incredibly intimate position.
We were about as close as two fully dressed people could get, and from the tension in his body, it felt like Khalil had become aware of this, too. The air that had felt perfectly breathable a few seconds ago now seemed to be thick and fizzing as some sort of connection sparked between us.
It was almost as if he had been too concerned about my welfare earlier to properly notice me, but had suddenly realised that he had me pressed against him. Intimately pressed against him. Whatever it was, the space around us was now charged with a tension that hadn’t been there before.
He splayed his hand wider across my stomach, a move that caused two of his fingers to drop far lower and set off a surge of awareness in my body. I tried desperately not to think about it, but if he shifted his grip just a few inches lower he’d be rubbing across the top of my landing strip. Which of course meant it was now all I could think about.
The hardness that I’d felt earlier pressed more insistently into my back, and I bit down on my lower lip to resist the temptation of squirming against him again. Even with our clothes on, and mine soaked through and heavy, I was now almost certain that he was aroused.
He was really attractive, so I couldn’t deny that this felt pretty amazing, but perhaps for him it was just an uncontrollable physical reaction. I had been grinding against him, after all. Most guys would get a hard-on under those circumstances, wouldn’t they?
We continued along in the tense silence, neither of us speaking or moving, until we reached the base of the rocky pathway that wound its way up from the beach.
‘How are you holding up?’ I assumed he was referring to my spinning head, and not the fact that I was finding myself overwhelmingly aroused by his close contact, and so cleared my throat to reply.
‘A little dizzy, but mostly OK.’
‘It might get a little bumpier now. Try to grip the horse with your thighs as much as you can.’ His voice also sounded lower and huskier than before, and I wondered if perhaps he was as affected by all this as I was.
The idea of falling off the horse made me tense up, but I immediately felt Khalil's grip tighten around me, moulding us together until there couldn’t have been even a millimetre of space between us.
‘I’ll keep you safe, Sara.’ He must have lowered his head beside my neck, because his words feathered across my cheek, warming me and simultaneously sending goose pimples cascading across my skin.
A shiver wracked my body, but I absorbed it, loving these unfamiliar feelings that he sparked in me. My responses to him were crazy, unlike anything I’d ever experienced before, which I could only put down as a side effect of my shock and injuries.
I managed a jerky nod in response, and Khalil set the horse off to begin our climb.
Once we reached the top of the path, the ground levelled out, and Khalil guided the horse along a sandy path through several shady groves of palm trees until we came to an enormous set of black metal gates.
The gates were opened by two men in uniform, who nodded at Khalil and me, then closed them behind us again. I glanced to my left and saw what appeared to be a full set of horse stables, complete with outdoor exercise area. As my gaze wandered further I gasped as I saw the sprawling property beyond. I’d seen some examples of tremendous wealth since I’d been here in Somora, but this place was like a palace.
‘Wow. This is your house?’ I stuttered, my eyes wide with awe.
‘No,’ he replied, but before I could ask who owned this place, Khalil turned the horse away from the view and trotted us inside a stable block containing at least five other horses. ‘In case you are concerned, the horse who nearly knocked you down is not one of ours. There are some wild horses that roam the island. They normally keep themselves to themselves, but I think perhaps we just disturbed one at the wrong moment today. Ours are all far better behaved.’
The scent of hay and horse filled my nose, strong, but not unpleasant, and Khalil nimbly slid to the floor before holding his arms aloft in an offer of assistance.
My head was still spinning, so even the idea of trying to drop from this height made me feel queasy, but seeming to sense my concerns, Khalil dragged over a sturdy wooden crate. He jumped onto the top and took hold of me around the waist. ‘I’ve got you, just relax.’
His fingers splayed on my waist, warm and strong and almost seeming to massage me, and he lifted me as if I weighed nothing at all. He took charge completely, leaving me with the simple task of lifting my far leg across. As he helped me from the horse, my body rubbed down the front of his, chest to chest, hip to hip, thigh to thigh.
There was a moment where our faces were level and we paused like that, him supporting my weight and my toes dangling in the air. My hands were resting on his shoulders and our bodies were flush together, faces just a few centimetres apart and eyes locked in some strange silent communication.
The hardness in his trousers was evident again, and my cheeks bloomed with a furious blush as I felt the heat press briefly into my belly as he flexed his hands on my waist. His eyes dropped to my lips, but just as I thought Khalil was going to kiss me, he f
rowned, lowered me to the ground, and stroked my cheek with the back of his knuckles.
‘You’re covered in sand,’ he murmured softly. His fingers drifted across my skin towards my hairline and the dip in his brow deepened. ‘And blood. Let me clean you up.’ With that, the heated moment was broken as he helped me to sit on the crate then disappeared to the side of the room where I briefly heard the sound of running water.
He strode back towards me, his posture perfect and oozing with confidence even though the evidence of his arousal bulged in his trousers. My cheeks heated again, but it obviously didn’t bother Khalil, because he made no attempt to hide it at all.
When he reached my side, he lowered onto his haunches and, after hitting me with yet another of his intense green-eyed stares, set about wiping away some of the sand from my face with a dry towel. Even though he was being exceptionally gentle, it grated over my cuts on several occasions, but I kept quiet, grateful that he was sorting me out.
Once most of the sand was gone, he produced a packet of antiseptic wet wipes from his back pocket and raised one towards my forehead before pausing. ‘This may sting. Would you rather I left it to the hospital?’
‘I’d like to try and clean off some of the blood if possible. I feel like such a mess.’ I held my hand out for a wipe, happy to do it myself, but he merely dodged me and began to carefully swipe at my forehead.
‘You’re a little bedraggled, but very beautiful,’ he murmured, almost so quietly that I didn’t hear it.
Bedraggled but beautiful? It was quite possibly the most bizarre and yet lovely compliment I had ever received. I wanted to say something in return, but nothing seemed quite suitable, so I stayed silent and let him tend to me.
The wet wipe had quickly turned a deep red, and as Khalil worked his way through several more of the small cloths I began to wonder just how deep the cut on my forehead was.
‘The one on the back of your head looks the worst, but as it's in your hair I think I’ll leave that one for the professionals.’
Rocking back on his haunches, he added the wipe in his hand to the small pile on the floor and ran his eyes over my face before tapping the tip of my nose with his finger and smiling broadly. ‘Now I can see you properly. Much better.’
The touch to my nose was almost affectionate, and added to his gentle care, compliments, and general air of protectiveness, I started to feel quite overwhelmed by this man. I must have looked like a complete idiot sitting there in silence, but confronted with a thing of his beauty I was struggling to get my spinning head to focus on anything other than his stunning good looks.
‘Th-thank you,’ I finally manged to mumble.
Khalil shifted to his knees, which brought his face closer to mine. Then, as if unable to hold back, he reached out a hand and gently cupped the side of my neck.
His palm was warm on my chilled skin and, combined with his intense stare, sent a shudder of awareness flooding through my body. This was not how you touched a virtual stranger – it was far more intimate than I would normally allow – yet his contact felt so good that I found myself tilting into his hand.
The corners of his lips curved upwards as he noticed my gesture, and his eyes narrowed as his gaze once again dropped to my mouth. The air between us thickened with anticipation, and I licked my lips, a motion he watched in rapt fascination then copied, his tongue darting out and moistening his lower lip.
God, this tension was unbelievable.
Would he kiss me now?
Just as I thought he would, we were interrupted by the clatter of a door as another man entered the stables. Khalil leaped away from me, muttering something under his breath, and ran a hand through his hair as he sent a heated stare my way. The new man gave me a curious glance, then turned his attention to Khalil, who I suddenly realised had stood up and was making an abrupt exit from the room.
‘Excuse me for just a second.’ His dismissal was curt, and his voice hoarse as he strode away, seeming to be adjusting the front of his trousers as he went. He disappeared through a door to my right, leaving me sitting there under the scrutiny of this newcomer, feeling dizzy for more reasons than just my headache.
What was this weird connection between us? I’d never felt anything quite so potent in my life.
I hid my face in my hands, rubbing at my forehead and pretending to be soothing my wounds when, really, I was embarrassed to have been caught in such an intimate position with Khalil. From the way he had jumped away from me, he hadn’t wanted to be seen with me, which shouldn’t have hurt after our short acquaintance, but did sting my ego a little.
I cheered myself up by giggling as I thought about him adjusting his groin again. What a situation.
Whatever this thing between us was, it seemed that Khalil needed some time to cool off, because he didn’t reappear for at least five minutes, leaving me sitting there in awkward silence, and the other man shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
Finally, Khalil came back. As he strode into the stables I couldn’t help but glance at his trousers and notice that everything seemed to have returned to normal.
I still couldn’t keep the smirk off my lips as Khalil dropped into my line of sight and held a glass of water out to me. There was a rueful expression on his face, as if he were also feeling amused, and perhaps even embarrassed by all of this. He stood and turned to the other man, who lowered his head, almost bowing at Khalil.
‘Good afternoon, Sir, shall I take him?’ he asked in a deeply accented voice, indicating to the horse.
‘It's fine, Tahir. I’ll sort him out, thank you. Could you send Aliya out with some dry clothes, please? I called ahead so she should be expecting us.’
Noticing how the other man had addressed him as Sir, I began to wonder exactly what Khalil's role was here. Once Tahir had left us alone again, I turned my attention back to Khalil, who was now removing the reins from his horse. ‘Are you in charge here?’
He smiled before reaching down to unstrap the saddle. ‘Something like that,’ he murmured, but his expression was hidden behind the sleek belly of the stallion.
He’d said he didn’t own the house, but then Tahir had just called him Sir. Perhaps he ran the stables? But instead of following it up, a more pressing issue popped into my mind. Aliya. When he was speaking to Tahir he’d mentioned a woman. Was he married? Was Aliya his wife? Was that why Tahir had been gazing at me so intently earlier? I suddenly felt very uncomfortable about the intimate staring moment I’d shared with Khalil, but tried to calm my voice as I asked him, ‘So, who's Aliya?’
‘She works here, mostly doing the cookery. She's very good. Her spinach curry is to die for.’
So not his wife, then. Phew. Not that it meant he wasn’t married.
‘I hope you don’t mind, but I think it will be better if Aliya accompanies you to the clinic. There are certain rules in this country about chaperones, so it will be easier for you at the hospital if you have a female with you, rather than me.’
I smiled at yet another show of his thoughtfulness, but shook my head. ‘Thank you, but I’m sure I don’t need to go to hospital. A good night's sleep will sort me out.’
I’d barely even finished the sentence when Khalil appeared from behind the horse with a deep frown on his face and his shoulders back and squared as if going into battle. ‘Absolutely not. You were unconscious for several minutes, and the cut to the back of your head looks like it needs stiches. You’re going, Sara, no arguments.’
He came to stand before me and I had to tilt my head back to watch him as he towered over me. Then, as if emphasising his point, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me as if daring me to disobey him. It was quite a daunting sight, but with his shirt wet and stuck to his chest, and the intensity of his green eyes focused on me, I also found it rather arousing.
Swallowing hard, I gave a limp nod of my head. ‘OK. Thank you so much for organising all of this for me. I feel so stupid for falling over.’
His shoulders
relaxed at my compliance and he returned to the horse, running a brush lovingly through its mane. ‘It's no problem, and don’t worry about it, we all have our clumsy days.’
Clumsy was definitely right for me, I fell over with far more regularity than a twenty-two-year-old should. ‘I’ve seen you riding on the beach before. Do you work with these horses, or own them?’ I asked, wanting to satisfy my curiosity.
He was quiet for several moments before turning to me. ‘I own some of them, but I don’t have suitable accommodation for them at my house, so I tend to them here instead.’ Another cryptic reply that still didn’t explain much to me about who this man was.
Before I could follow up with any more questions, there was a quiet knock on the door, drawing the attention of both Khalil and me. In the doorway was a woman dressed in the traditional Somoran clothing of a long-sleeved tunic dress, and a brightly coloured headscarf. She looked to be in her late fifties, and from her lowered head she seemed to be quite shy, but once again I saw curiosity in her eyes as she risked a glance between Khalil and me.
‘Aliya, this is Sara.’ Khalil indicated with his hand between us. ‘Sara, this is Aliya.’
Aliya turned to me, and suddenly the shy expression from a second ago dropped away as she broke into a broad smile and nodded her head. ‘Good to meet you, Sara. I speak English, but I’m still learning so you might need to speak a little slower for me.’
She stepped forwards and held out a small pile of fresh clothes for me, along with a towel.
‘Thank you. Nice to meet you, too. Thank you so much for agreeing to go to the hospital with me.’
‘It is no problem at all. Do you need help changing?’ Aliya had barely finished speaking, but Khalil was instantly by my side, holding out his arms to me. Aliya gave him a surprised look, but I took his outstretched hands and let him help me stand.
Khalil looped an arm around my waist and led me to a small bathroom to the side of the stables. He placed the clothes and towel on a shelf before giving me an intent look. ‘Will you be OK on your own?’
