“Jack?” She laughed. He didn’t. So she sobered. “Sorry, it’s just… kind of gross to think about. No. We’re not like that. We’re just… great friends.”
He nodded, but a small shred of doubt lingered inside his chest. “I am glad you are here.” His tone was lighter, his words affable.
“Me too.” She looked up at him shyly. “How was your lunch with the vice president?”
Tamir had barely been able to concentrate, for thinking of Olivia. “Fine.”
“How do you know him?” She turned his own question back on the powerful Sultan.
“My father and he were at Notre Dame together.”
“Your father went to Notre Dame?”
“Why does this surprise you?”
“Oh. I just… I mean… I would have thought America was persona non gratae back then.”
His smile was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen. The way it spread across his face, etching pleasure into his carved features made her stomach flip over. “No. We’ve always had a good relationship with the West. My country’s wealth does not come from oil. We are not war torn. We have diamonds and gold rich beneath the surface, and my forefathers ensured the harvesting of these was regulated by the royal family.”
“A monopoly?” She asked seriously, allowing him to place his hand in the small of her back and guide her through the foyer.
“Perhaps.” He was unapologetic. “We do not have conflict diamonds in Talidar. There is no exploitation of children, forced to work twenty-hour days to dig the earth for its riches. Ours is an industry that ensures the safe production of first-rate gems.”
“I know that,” she said with a nod. “I mean, I know that gems from Talidar are beyond reproach. They significantly increase an object’s value by their inclusion. I just wonder at the justification of controlling an entire industry.”
He stopped walking, his eyes scanning her face. “Do you know how much of the revenue raised from this industry is fed back into the country?”
Olivia bit down on her lip, and shook her head. She felt her long blonde ponytail move from side to side.
“Almost all of it. My country is my passion, Olivia. I was raised to rule, but the love I feel for it is my own. I want my people to prosper. That means the best schools, universities and libraries in the world. It means a police force that keeps drugs away from impressionable teenage brains. It means research grants from an interested government. It means educating everyone – men and women – and children, to realise that with a clever mind and good education, you can achieve anything. I am in the business of building opportunities from the soil of our land.” His dark eyes seemed to glow with intensity. “I am not a wealthy oligarch, getting rich and fat off the labour of a destitute people.”
Olivia’s stomach churned at his impassioned speech, for it spoke of a nobility that had nothing to do with noble birth. “I can see that,” she said finally, lowering her eyes to his taut frame. There was nothing fat about him. He was purely honed strength. He was… perfect. She closed her eyes on the thought.
Her open inspection made Tamir’s gut tighten. He’d been with many women. For decades, they had fallen at his feet, begging to climb into his bed, for however long they could interest him. Even as a teenager, he’d been no stranger to the ways of beautiful women. Enjoying a woman’s body was nothing new. But the wave of attraction he felt for Olivia was like a tsunami, pulling him under and overwhelming him at the same time. There was nothing for him to grab onto that could stop him from being dragged beneath the surface.
All he could hope was that he would be able to control the force eventually.
As they approached a set of large, timber doors, two servants opened them inwards. A carpeted corridor opened before them, with floor to ceiling windows running down one side, and carpets and tapestries the other. Olivia paused, unable to walk past the ancient hangings without stopping.
“Tamir, these are…” She moved closer, her lips parted, her eyes huge, as she took in the elaborate detail of the carpet before her. The colors spoke of an ancient time – faded ochre, black and cream. The patterns were influenced by Egyptian characters, and the craftsmanship was superb.
Tamir stopped walking and turned. Olivia was so captivated by the art that she wasn’t even aware he was there. He took advantage of her distraction to study her properly. Her clothes were all wrong for her. So conservative and staid. Oh, she looked good. But in a Talidarian robe, draped in jewels, she would be exquisite. What was it about her that drove him so wild? Her figure was lovely – tall and slender with generous breasts. Her fair skin and hair moreso. All of these were pleasing qualities, but each on their own was not enough to torment him the way she had since they’d first met, the night before.
Her head turned suddenly, her eyes locking with his, and he felt that instant spark of awareness hit him like an electrical current.
“Tamir, how old are these?”
He tamped down on his desire, carefully keeping his expression neutral. “You tell me. You’re the expert, aren’t you?”
She compressed her lips and looked back at the tapestry. “They can’t be… as old as they look.”
“No?”
She stepped closer to the wall hanging, completely oblivious to the way he was staring at her. “The depiction of a pastoral scene – the harvest and measuring of grains – is in keeping with works done somewhere around fifteen hundred BC.” She scanned the top of the hanging. “The colors suggest this, too. That particular shade is Madder; it was widely used in ancient art works because the plant that creates the pigment grew freely throughout the continent. And this,” she pointed towards a large Eagle depicted in flight, with a snake clasped in its talons, “is a reference to the first Talidarian ruler. The first Desert King who overthrew the Egyptian rule and established the protection of the Sultan for those who had been sold as slaves to the empire.” She gulped. “Without proper laboratory tests, I’d say this tapestry was completed by one person. The style is identical throughout. Yes. Definitely around fifteen hundred BC.”
He ran a hand over his stubbled jaw. “You’re right.”
“I know.” She gave the picture one last glance then moved to catch up with Tamir. “Why were you testing me?”