One More Night with Her Desert Prince.... Jennifer Taylor
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to stop you, Sam? Unless you’re afraid, of course?’
‘Afraid? Of you?’ Sam shook her head, refusing to admit that he was right. She was afraid—afraid of being with him, afraid of getting too close to him; afraid of becoming attracted to him all over again.
‘In that case, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t come, is there?’ He bent down and offered her his hand. ‘Come.’
Sam took a deep breath as she placed her hand in his. She knew she was making a mistake but how could she refuse? Did she really want him to know that he still had a hold over her? Of course not.
Placing her foot in the stirrup as he instructed, she let him help her onto the horse. He settled her in front of him, putting his arm around her waist when the horse began to prance. ‘Shh, Omar. There is nothing to fear.’
Drawing her back against him, he wrapped a fold of the burnoose around her, shaking his head when she opened her mouth to protest. ‘It’s still very cold. You’ll be glad of the extra layer once we’re out in the desert.’
Sam bit her lip as he turned the horse around. If she made a fuss then it would appear that she was overreacting and that was the last thing she wanted, for Khalid to suspect that his nearness troubled her. She forced herself to relax as they rode towards the gates. The guard saw them approaching and opened them, then they were outside, the lush green vegetation closing in around them. Khalid kept the horse to a walk as they made their way along the path and then all of a sudden they came to the perimeter of the oasis and before them lay the desert, shimmering like pewter in the pre-dawn light.
‘All right?’ Khalid asked, his voice rumbling softly in her ear.
Sam nodded mutely. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t seem to find her voice even. Between the raw beauty of the desert landscape and Khalid’s nearness, she was awash with sensations and could barely deal with them. When he urged the horse into a canter, she clung to the pommel of the saddle. The wind rushed past, ruffling her hair and bringing with it the strangely elusive scent of the desert, yet all she could smell was Khalid’s skin, a scent she would have recognised anywhere.
Closing her eyes, she gave herself up to the moment, uncaring if she was making a mistake. Maybe it was madness but being with him was what she wanted.
Desperately.
KHALID SLOWED THE horse to a walk as they neared an outcrop of rock rising out of the desert floor. He always came to this place whenever he wanted to watch the sun rise. His parents had brought him here as soon as he had been old enough to sit astride a horse and he valued the connection it gave him to his childhood. Life had been so perfect before his parents had divorced.
Sadness filled him as he reined Omar to a halt. He’d been thirteen when his mother had left Azad and although now he understood her reasons for leaving, it had affected him deeply. She had returned to England afterwards while his father had remained in Azad, so Khalid had travelled between both countries, spending time with each of them. His older brother, Shahzad, the son of his father’s first wife who had died in childbirth, had tried to make it easier for him, but the constant to-ing and fro-ing had been unsettling. In the end, Khalid had realised that he had to make a choice and had chosen to live in England.
He had won a place at Cambridge to study medicine and had thrown all his energy into making a success of his studies. Whilst he didn’t regret the path he had chosen, there were times—like now—when he found himself wondering if he had made the wrong decision. If he had opted to live in Azad then he would never have met Sam and his life would be far less complicated now.
Khalid drove the thought from his mind as he dismounted. Having Sam here could only affect him if he allowed it to do so. Reaching up, he offered her his hand, determined that he wasn’t going to let her know how ambivalent he felt. Sam had agreed to come on this mission for one reason and one reason alone: to help the desert women. If she could handle the situation then so could he.
‘Take my hand,’ he instructed, then sucked in his breath when she did as he’d asked. Her hand felt so small compared to his that he was struck by an unexpected rush of tenderness. He wanted to hold on to her hand, to hold on to her, he realised in dismay. And it was the last thought he should have been harbouring.
He quickly released her as she slid safely down to the ground. There were bound to be glitches, he told himself as he tethered Omar to a rock. Moments when his mind and his body were in conflict, but he would deal with them. He simply had to remember that being with Sam wasn’t an option any more now than it had been six years ago. He had no intention of going down the same route his parents had taken, certainly didn’t intend to put any children he might have through the kind of heartache he had suffered. If he kept that at the forefront of his mind, it shouldn’t be a problem.
‘Come. There’s a path along here. It’s not too steep and you shouldn’t have any difficulty climbing it.’ He gave her a cool smile, the sort of smile he utilised on a daily basis. Nobody looking at him would suspect that he felt far from cool inside. ‘The view from the top is worth it, believe me.’
‘I hope so.’
There was an edge to her voice that made him wonder if she had guessed he had mixed feelings about bringing her here. However, as it was too late to reconsider his invitation, he would have to make the best of it. He led the way, slowing his pace so she could keep up. They reached the top and stopped. Below them lay the desert, red-gold along the horizon where the sun’s rays touched it, dark and mysterious closer to where they were standing. It was a sight he had seen many times before and it never failed to move him. However, it seemed to affect him even more that day, with Sam standing there beside him.
Khalid took a deep breath, trying to calm the panic that was twisting his guts as he watched the sun sail majestically over the horizon. A new day had begun and he, a man who was used to controlling his own destiny, had no idea what it would bring.
‘It’s amazing—’
Sam broke off, unable to put into words how the sight affected her. Wrapping her arms around herself, she shivered though not from cold. Although the temperature was still low, this shiver stemmed from the mixture of emotions she was experiencing. Sadness at what had happened in the past was mingled with joy at what she was experiencing right now; anger at the way Khalid had treated her was tempered by an unexpected acceptance. It was little wonder that she found it impossible to describe the scene so she didn’t try. Anyway, it was doubtful if Khalid would be interested in her views.
She glanced at him, feeling pain tug at her heart. His heritage had never been more apparent than it was out here in the desert. It wasn’t just the clothes he was wearing but his attitude. He looked every inch the desert prince, so completely at home in this bleak yet beautiful landscape that it simply highlighted the differences between them. Khalid’s world wasn’t her world. It never could be her world either. How could she, a Westerner with her background, become a desert princess?
‘So, was I right?’
He turned to her and Sam struggled to clear her mind of everything except the need to convince him that she was over him. She had honestly thought she was, had truly believed that she had put her feelings for Khalid behind her years ago, but she was no longer sure when her heart was aching at the thought that they were such poles apart.
‘Right?’
‘About it being worth the climb.’ He swept a hand towards the desert. ‘The view from up here is magnificent, isn’t it?’
‘It is,’ she replied coolly. ‘I certainly can’t fault it.’
‘Did you want to?’
There was an edge to his voice that brought a rush of heat to her face. Had she been hoping to find fault with the view, to nitpick and discover flaws because it would have made it easier to find fault with him too? She sensed it was true and she hated the fact that she