“That won’t be necessary, your highness,” she murmured.
Victory flashed in the depths of his eyes.
“I’ll be late. But you’ll be there?”
It was a simple question yes it didn’t feel so completely simple to answer. She nodded, slowly, and it was like she was sealing her fate in some vital way – more so than when they’d said their vows.
The helicopter touched down and the rotor blades began to slow.
He leaned forward, to get a better view through the window. His aids were approaching. Some other urgent matter apparently called him.
He turned to her and lifted off the headset, his palm brushing her cheek for a brief moment, sending goose bumps down her spine. It was an accidental touch. He removed his own headset but then looked at her, his eyes boring directly into hers.
“I didn’t want your help, Sophia. I resented your offer. But your counsel, in the desert, was… it was what I needed to hear.” A muscle jerked in his jaw and he looked away for a moment, giving her stunned heart a moment to recover. “You said exactly what Addan would have said, had he lived.”
She swallowed, her eyes unconsciously reflecting the complexity of that compliment. “We spoke often. I suppose much of my opinion is informed by him.”
Malik’s smile was grim. “Undoubtedly.”
The door was opened and Malik stepped out of the helicopter, waiting with a hand held up for her. She sucked in a fortifying breath, her emotions tumbling all over themselves, and then she moved. She put her hand in his, and a bolt of electricity slammed up her sides. She jerked her eyes to his; had he felt it?
It was impossible to tell.
He was the exalted ruler Sheikh Malik bin Hazari again, the man who’d just thanked her for her advice nowhere in evidence. He waited for her, walking beside her to the palace, but his attention was held by Minister Hereth as he went, and as they swept inside, he paused for the briefest of moments to fix her with an intent look.
“Tonight,” he said, scanning her face, as though she might have changed her mind between the helicopter arrival and now.
She nodded.
He spun on his heel and moved down the corridor, the robes he’d worn in the desert flying behind him, loose and spectacular. Surrounded by other men, she couldn’t help but see how different he was. How much bigger, stronger, how much more regal and masculine.
He was spectacular.
She stood there, staring at him, for several long moments, until he reached the end of the corridor and turned from view.
It was only then that she realized her heart was racing.
She ate alone and picked up a book – one of her favourites. She’d lost count of how many times she’d read it – The Republic, by Plato. She turned to the frontispiece and read the inscription from Addan.
‘The beginning is the most important part of the work.’ And now is our beginning.
Rex.
She ran her finger over his bold, confident writing and swept her eyes shut. He’d given it to her for her seventeenth birthday.
God, she’d been such a child! It had been the night he’d told her of their parents’ wishes, the night he’d asked if she would like to take up her place at his side, as his Sheikha. They’d dined with his family afterwards, and Malik had gone to no effort to hide his disapproval of the betrothal. He’d left almost as soon as dinner was finished, and not come back for months.
Looking back, their betrothal was as unromantic and business-like as it got – and that befit what they were to one another. Dear, dear friends. Their engagement had been sensible. Reasonable. Measured.
Everything about her friendship with Addan had been smooth seas for as far as the eye could see. They’d never argued. Never. There’d been no passion between them. Had she thought it would grow? Or did she not care that it was absent?
It was so hard to know now.
Certainly, she’d loved him. Oh, she’d loved him with all of herself, but not in the way a woman loved her husband.
She swallowed, her mind pulling her toward Malik, her pulse picking up, racing harder, faster. There were a thousand words she could use to describe what she felt for Malik, but not one of them fit perfectly. It wasn’t easy and smooth sailing as it had been with Addan. It was the exact opposite. She lusted after him, absolutely. She desired him, completely. But it was more complex than that.
She… craved him. Not just his body. His presence. When he was with her, looking at her, talking to her, when they were in the same room together, she felt like she was vibrating on a wholly new frequency.