‘So,’ he began, once they had both picked at their food without much interest. ‘You are happy with your accommodation, I hope?’
She gave a little tsk at this and her fork clattered down onto her plate with a gesture of irritation she didn’t bother to hide. ‘I’m hardly going to complain about a suite of rooms the size of a football stadium, am I? Or the fact that whenever I so much as cough, a servant comes running to find out whether there’s anything I need.’
He inclined his head. ‘I will take that as an affirmation.’
‘Kadir,’ she said, giving an impatient sigh as she took a sip of water. ‘We can’t sit here pretending that nothing’s happened. I want us to go home. All of us,’ she added pointedly.
He spread his hands out, the palms opening towards her in an expansive gesture. ‘In theory, nothing is preventing you from leaving.’
‘In theory, yes. But you are perfectly aware that I don’t have the means to get myself to the airport. And although most of your servants speak English, every time I ask someone if they can arrange to have a car sent for us in the morning, they act mystified.’ She drew a deep breath. ‘Although I notice they understand perfectly well when I request another jug of water or for Cameron to have a slightly firmer pillow!’
‘Caitlin—’
‘And another thing,’ she continued, barely giving herself time to draw breath. ‘Every time I’ve tried to use my phone, it’s failed to connect. And the Internet isn’t working either.’ She glared at him. ‘Almost as if there was some malevolent blocking device at work!’
‘Nothing malevolent about it, I can assure you,’ he returned smoothly. ‘The signal is notoriously bad here. We’re in the middle of the desert, for heaven’s sake!’
‘My point exactly. So will you please get us out of here?’ she said, from between clenched teeth. ‘ASAP.’
Kadir carefully set down his goblet and leaned back to study her. ‘You know I can’t do that, Caitlin.’
‘Can’t, or won’t?’
Unwillingly Kadir felt another smile tug at his lips, because her feistiness was exhilarating. Uncomfortably so. He could feel the heavy pulse of his blood and his groin had grown so hard that it was impossible to think straight. Difficult to concentrate on anything other than how much he hungered to see the splendour of her naked body again and to feel her in his arms. But he forced himself to put such distracting thoughts aside, because lust would weaken him. Would detract him from his primary purpose.
‘All I’m asking for is time for Cameron to get to know me. I would like to do those things I promised him. To show him the palace stables and take him to the capital of Azraq so that he can see the mighty golden dome for himself. To teach him chess and educate him about his ancestors. There is a whole rich culture here of which he is ignorant. Is it not fair for the child to realise that he is part Xulhabian as well as part Scottish?’
She seemed to give this some consideration. In fact, she picked up a glistening slice of iced white peach and chewed on it thoughtfully, before speaking. It was her first obvious enjoyment of her food she had been given, he noted, and he was surprised at how good that made him feel.
‘And after that you’ll let us go?’ she said.
His benevolence vanished and Kadir sighed, because either she wasn’t getting the point or she was refusing to see it. Or perhaps he had been a little too vague. Surely she must have realised that he wasn’t just going to let them go. To do what? For Caitlin to return to her old life and perhaps seek out a man willing to marry her and for their son to be brought up as an ordinary islander? His mouth twisted. Did she really imagine he would allow his only child to think of another man as a father figure?
Perhaps he needed to demonstrate to her that there could be no other father for Cameron.
And no other man for her.
He lifted a damask napkin to his lips. ‘If that’s what you want, then of course I will allow you to leave. All I’m asking is that you allow a little time for you and Cameron to get to know Xulhabi better.’
‘How much time?’ she demanded.
He studied her with calculating eyes. ‘Shall we say a few weeks?’
‘A few weeks?’
‘That seems reasonable.’
‘To you, maybe.’
‘So you’re agreed?’ he said, his air of finality bringing to an end her objections.
She shunted out a breath, but the faint nod of her head indicated that she had finally seen sense. ‘I suppose so.’
‘Good.’ He was careful to keep any sense of triumph from his voice. ‘And now, let’s talk about something else. We’ve spoken about so many things—’
‘You can say that again,’ she said d
arkly, and he might have smiled, if he weren’t determined to discourage interruption.