by Cara Albany
She was glad they were away from prying eyes now. Out there, amongst all those journalists, she'd felt like she was surrounded by eager predators willing to snap at any moment. In here, with Zariq, at least she felt safe. For the moment. But, he still hadn't told her what his conversation with Elena had been about.
He put the glass down on the table and turned to face her. "You want some?"
She was going to refuse, but decided to share this moment with him. "Sure," she said nodding. There were going to be precious few private moments like this until they got back to the palace.
He poured the water into the glass and brought it to her. As he handed it to her, their fingers touched. The cold of the glass contrasted with the heat of his hand. He glanced into her eyes, and she saw a look there she'd seen plenty of times since their encounter in the palace suite.
Dakota drank the water. Some of it spilled down her chin and onto her neck. She felt a thin rivulet trace a line down to her breasts beneath the fabric of her white shirt. As she handed the glass back to him, she couldn't help but notice that Zariq's attention had been seized by the sight of the water on her shirt. She felt her nipples harden as he gazed at her.
These days it didn't take more than a look from Zariq for her to feel the beginnings of arousal. She masked her reaction behind a blank expression. "You two looked cozy behind that tent," she said defensively.
He frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Just that you both looked pretty wrapped up in the conversation," she continued.
"Dakota," he scoffed. "She was about to spill the beans on something really important. What did you expect me to be doing?" He took a step closer to her. Now he looked really mad, she told herself. "Anyway, what are you suggesting? That Elena and I still have something going on together?"
"I didn't say that," Dakota replied. "But, why did you go there with her?"
His features twisted into an expression of mild disbelief. "I didn't go anywhere with her."
She narrowed her eyes. "You were in the shadows with her. And you were whispering."
"This is ridiculous." He turned away from Dakota and sighed. "The woman is a journalist. She's used to being sneaky. That's her job."
"Is that all she is to you? A journalist?"
He scowled. "I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer," he retorted, angry now. His voice had become suddenly louder. She thought there was a chance it could have been heard outside. Deciding to back down for the moment, she made her way to the sofa and sat.
Zariq watched her for a few moments and then joined her on the sofa. To begin with, they said nothing to each other. The tension in the air had eased slightly. Maybe it had been a long day, she told herself. This wasn't the first time they'd argued. She was sure it wouldn't be the last.
Zariq stretched out. The movement caught her attention, and he noticed the way she looked at him. He'd caught her savoring his physique, enjoying the length of his legs, the breadth of his chest, the power in his muscles. Her cheeks flushed like a young girl who'd been caught doing something forbidden.
She suddenly felt the strangeness of this whole setup. Outside were dozens of strangers. And she was trapped in here with a man she had been resisting for weeks now. Was she supposed to just go to bed in the alcove behind the drape on the other side of the room? Alone? Was she supposed to just pretend that everything was normal, and that the gorgeous man stretching out alongside her could just be ignored for the entire night.
As if reading her mind, Zariq glanced at her. "This feels odd, doesn't it?" His voice was low and steady.
She narrowed her eyes. "What does?"
He flicked his head in the direction of the entrance. "Having all those people out there. I get the feeling they're listening to every sound that comes out of this tent."
"As you said," she replied. "They're journalists."
"We don't want to give them anything to report, do we?" he said. There was a mischievous look in his eyes that she found strangely alluring.
"Like what?" she asked, knowing full well what he was talking about. His mind had drifted to the same things to which hers had gone.
Zariq twisted and leaned in closer to her, resting an arm across the back of the sofa. She caught his scent, a manly mixture with which she was becoming all too familiar. Especially since they'd started sharing the accommodation at the palace.
A question hovered at the back of her mind. How long was she prepared to hold out? How long could she resist the temptation of this gorgeous man? Because that was what she'd been doing ever since she'd arrived in Qazhar. Ever since she'd locked him out on their wedding night. Keeping him at bay. At least, that was what it felt like.
As he gazed at her, the corner of Zariq's mouth curled into a sardonic grin. She liked it whenever he looked at her in that way. With that hungry, appreciative look. It made her feel wanted. Made her feel drawn to him, in spite of all the effort she'd put in to keeping him behind the barrier she'd constructed. His dark gaze seared into her, making butterflies tumble in her middle. She recognized that sensation. It had become a regular occurrence in recent days.
Her gaze flickered downwards, taking in the tempting sight of his open-collared white shirt. She saw a hint of dark chest hair. She dragged her gaze up to his lips which were moist. He ran his tongue along his lower lip, as if he knew what she was thinking. As if he already knew what she wanted.
She turned away from him. It was impossible. They weren't alone. With the entourage and the journalists outside, privacy was out of the question.
He lifted a brow and tilted his head. "I have an idea," he said quietly.
"You do?"
He nodded. "Why don't we go somewhere else," he murmured.
She squinted at him. "Where?"
"That encampment I told you about," he replied. "It's close by."
"We can't just leave," she said. "People will notice."
"They won't if we use the old-fashioned means of desert travel," he replied. "I asked for a horse to be made ready at the back of the tent. In the dark, no-one will see us leave. We'll be there in less than an hour." He shifted closer to her. "Then we can really be alone. Like never before."
The prospect of a night-time ride across the desert with the sheikh seemed utterly romantic, and almost unreal. Like something out of her wildest fantasies. But, it also meant spending the night alone with Zariq. In his natural domain. With no-one else around. She wondered if that would be wise. It was a dangerous thing to do. Of that, she was certain.
But, ever since their encounter in the suite, she'd asked herself what could happen if she allowed herself to really be with Zariq. If their marriage was to be anything more than simple convenience, she knew she would have to know for sure whether they were compatible with each other. And there really was only one way to find that out, she told herself.
She peered into his eyes. "Okay," she said abruptly. He seemed to have been surprised by her sudden agreement. However, he quickly regained his composure. He stood and extended a hand to her. She placed her hand in his and stood, watching him carefully as she did so.
Then he led her across the inside of the tent to the bedroom alcove. Instinctively, she slowed, but he led her insistently into the room and past the bed. She watched as he tugged on a loose corner of the tent, revealing a gap through which they both squeezed. Then they were outside, beneath the dark sky. In the semi-darkness she saw a horse. Zariq released her hand and went to the horse. There was no saddle on the animal, but she could see reins and a bit in the animal's mouth. Briefly, she wondered how they were both going to ride together like that.
From beyond the other side of the tent, she could hear the sounds of voices. If only they knew what was going on out of plain sight, she told herself. Suddenly she felt the excitement of this illicit activity. Zariq smiled at her and led her to the horse's side. He grasped her by the waist and quickly hoisted her up onto the animal's bare back. She clutched at the horse's side, trying not to
fall. Then Zariq leaped up and took his place, wrapping his arms around her and grasping the reins. She felt the heat and the power of his body as it pressed against her back.
His breath warmed the side of her face. "Ready?" he asked quietly.
She nodded, saying nothing, not wanting to take alert anyone to their secret departure. Her heart was pounding as she felt his strong arms press against her sides. Then he flicked the reins with an expert movement and the horse moved away from the tent.
Out ahead, she could see the darkness of the desert awaiting. The dunes were silhouetted against the star-filled sky and there was a crescent moon which cast a slight silvery sheen across the landscape. The horse moved slowly at first. She felt herself suddenly unsteady, and she leaned back against Zariq. After a few tense moments, when she was sure she would hear a cry of alarm from back at the camp, she felt Zariq kick his heels into the horse's side and the animal moved into a steady canter. Hooves pounded on soft sand as they rode through the valley between two high dunes.
And then they were out of sight of the camp and she knew their escape had been made without setback. She laughed quietly, enjoying the sense of adventure. Being with Zariq had been so difficult in recent weeks, that it was a genuinely new sensation to feel like this, she told herself.
The horse's pace quickened. Zariq's body moved rhythmically against her, and she could feel the tightness in his arms as he tried to make sure she didn't tumble onto the sand. Tendrils of her hair flew in the wind. She could feel Zariq face pressed against the side of her head. She felt wrapped up in him, enclosed in him. The horse picked up even more speed. She'd been on horseback before, but nothing like this.
He didn't speak to her as they rode, perhaps because he didn't want to lose his concentration. Or maybe it was because he was just savoring the sensation of having her so close to him. She knew by coming with him, she had made a commitment. Knew that she was entering perilous territory. His territory, where he ruled, where he was probably going to be in complete control of everything, including her. And, for some reason, that didn't concern her.
Maybe it had been catching him talking with Elena which had triggered this impulsive act. Or perhaps she'd secretly wanted to do something reckless. Anything to break through the stifling barrier she'd been holding up between herself and Zariq.
Anyway, it was to late to go back now. She was riding across the desert wrapped in the sheikh's arms. Soon, she would be alone with him in the last place she'd ever imagined going to.
CHAPTER TWELVE
They arrived at the encampment within the hour, as Zariq had promised. He halted the horse on the crest of a dune. She gazed down at the dream-like scene below. She saw the large bulky shape of a tent in the obscured darkness. There was a small cluster of trees, palm trees no less, she told herself. Just like in the children's stories. There was no pool of water, which kind of disappointed her. It made the fantasy setting somehow incomplete.
A thought flickered into her mind. "How do you know there won't be someone down there already?" she asked.
He drew in a deep breath. She felt the hardness of his chest at her back. "This belongs to me. It's one of my private places."
She twisted and peered at him. "You've got more than one of these?"
He nodded. "There're a few, dotted around the country. I use them whenever I want to get away from palace life. And for when I meet with some of the desert chieftains."
"I thought all of that died out with the changes to Qazhar life," she asked.
"Some people just prefer the old ways. Traditions die hard in my country," he announced with a note of pride in his voice.
She thought for a few moments and then nodded. "I can respect that. Even understand it. Can't be easy giving up this kind of life."
"Let's go down there, shall we?" he said, and then kicked the horse into life. Moments later they were riding into the camp. He halted in front of the tent and slid down onto the flat sand. He helped her down and she almost fell into his arms. If she was being really suspicious, she might even have been sure he had deliberately let her fall into his arm like that, she told herself.
For a moment, he just held her and gazed into her eyes. In the semi-darkness, his dark eyes seemed impossibly bright. She felt as if he was drinking in the sight of her, now that she was here. There was a sudden tension in the air between them now. She felt her heartbeat quicken. His arms held her tightly. He lifted his head and gazed down at her. Any moment now, she was sure he was going to try and kiss her. There was an urgency about his expression. Maybe he was telling himself they didn't have much time. Dakota moved a step away from him, forcing Zariq to release her.
She saw him frown as she folded her arms and turned to gaze around the camp. "This is really something," she said, instantly ashamed of the stupidity of the comment. But she'd had to say something. Anything that would defuse the tension of the moment which had just passed.
Preempting what he would do, she went to the tent and opened up the entrance. The only light to see by was that cast by the crescent moon. A thin, silvery line cut across the luxurious carpet. In the darkness of the interior, she saw, unlike back at the camp, no table, no sofa. Nothing had been prepared. There was no sign that anyone had been here in a long time.
What she did see made her heart beat faster. A huge bed was set in the center of the room. On it were strewn numerous cushions and pillows. This tent was used for one thing only, she told herself. Sleeping. Well, maybe something else, she admitted to herself, hardly able to think about that, right now.
She felt Zariq at her side and turned to gaze up at him. He looked serious now. He wasn't wasting any time, she told herself. There was only one reason he'd brought her here. There wasn't going to be any preamble. They only had a few hours. She knew that. Understood what it meant. For both of them.
Zariq cupped her face in his hands and she lifted her mouth to him. His lips crashed down hungrily upon hers. She gasped, feeling the sensations sweep through her body. She could feel the ravenous hunger in his kiss.
She realized that they'd been playing an elaborate game with each other for the last hour. They hadn't spoken the words out loud, but they'd both understood what this dangerous adventure had been really about. From the moment he'd murmured the words to her back at the camp, she'd known why she'd wanted to come here with him.
Zariq crushed his body against hers, taking complete possession of her. Just like he'd done on the ride across the desert. And now, enclosed in his embrace, she allowed herself to soften into his powerful arms. She felt wrapped up in him.
His tongue probed her, seeking pleasure for himself and triggering wild sensation in her. She felt her breasts pressing against the brutal hardness of his chest.
Their lips parted, suddenly and they gazed at each other, as if checking one last time that they both wanted the same thing. His gaze was primal and intense, full of promise. His hands drifted down her side, taking hold of her hips, holding her as if nothing would persuade him to let her go. She was his now. She had always been his, even though she'd spent too long fighting the truth.
He leaned in, walking her backwards into the tent. Toward the bed. The entrance remained open, letting in the soft moonlight, bright enough to see him by. Their eyes were locked in a combat she didn't want to stop.
Dakota ran her gaze down the length of his body, clothed in white shirt and dark pants. She could see evidence of his arousal. The sight of it triggered a tightness in herself, a need which strengthened with sudden urgency.
She felt as if she was his prey and he was the hunter. He lifted a hand up and casually, slowly began to unbutton his shirt. She halted, standing her ground, just watching him. She knew he was teasing her, but she didn't care. The madness of desire had taken hold of her and she couldn't think straight. All she wanted to do, for the moment, was savor the sight of him undressing.
