Drawing in air through his nostrils, Ashraf reminded himself that Tori barely knew his homeland except as a place of peril. He hadn’t really helped her acclimatise. He’d deliberately left her alone during the day, believing she needed rest. And their evenings together had tested his determination not to seduce her.
How right he’d been. Sex had resolved nothing.
Tori hadn’t tried to tease him or mislead him, giving him a night of unfettered passion and then withdrawing. She’d simply surrendered to a force too strong to withstand.
‘Say something.’ Her voice sounded stretched as if from tight vocal cords. ‘What are you going to do?’
That was easy. He’d do whatever was necessary to secure Oliver and Tori.
Marshalling control, he smiled and watched her gaze drift to his mouth. ‘I’m going to spend the day with you.’
And the next and the next. However many it took to convince Tori that life in Za’daq, with him, was the right choice. He’d court her till she stopped putting up barriers and surrendered.