If only he still had such strength of mind.
He stared across the shadowed bedroom, past billowing curtains drawn aside to let in sweet night air. Moonlight covered the wide bed, gleamed on pale bare arms, caressed the dark fall of long hair across the pillow.
What sort of man was he?
One who couldn’t master himself to keep away from a woman who despised him. Had he no shame? No scruples?
Yielding to temptation was a speciality of his.
Unable to sleep after hours working on official documents, he’d given in to restlessness and prowled the corridors. Only to find himself outside the suite set aside for the woman who was officially his mother’s guest.
Here he was, a voyeur, rooted to the spot by the sight of her, fast asleep. She didn’t wear silk or lace like his usual lovers. Just a white cotton nightshirt. Yet she looked utterly seductive and he was hard with wanting.
Tahir passed his hand over his face again. An honourable man wouldn’t have entered her chamber.
He’d given up being honourable a lifetime ago.
His lips twisted in a savage grimace. What irony he should be named Tahir: ‘pure’. He hadn’t been pure in thought, word or deed since adolescence.
What business had he in this woman’s chamber? A woman who was decent and trusting.
‘Who is it?’ Her voice was a thready whisper.
He stepped forward into silvery light.
‘It’s only me.’ His mouth tightened derisively. That was meant to reassure her?
‘What do you want?’ She curled higher in the bed, drawing the sheet to her chin. Her defensive move amused and annoyed him. He hadn’t yet stooped to attacking unwilling women.
‘To see you.’ It was simply the truth. But the need that had dragged him from the other side of the palace was neither simple nor straightforward.
In the dark he felt her regard, saw her lift her chin belligerently. ‘You shouldn’t be here.’
Once, the knowledge that he broke the rules would have been an incitement, prompting him to outrageous action. But he’d barely given the proprieties a thought, simply yielded to his need to be with her.
‘Your flight has been cancelled,’ he said. ‘The money will be refunded to your account.’
‘You had no right to do that.’ She sat up, propping a pillow behind her, and he caught sight of her lush, round breasts, outlined by fine cotton. His groin tightened.
‘We need to discuss our options. We can’t do that if you’re in Scandinavia.’ He should be grappling with the issue of her pregnancy, not this potent lust.
She folded her arms. ‘You still had no authority.’
He stepped nearer, drawn by her sleep-husky voice. ‘I’ve arranged for you to see an obstetrician.’
‘I can organise that. You have no right to take over my life, forcing me to stay here.’
She sounded huffy. He was relieved to hear the spark of energy in her voice. She’d been so wan earlier. Was it normal for a pregnant woman to look worn to the bone? Or was it shock at discovering his identity that had sapped her strength?
‘As far as the world is concerned, you are my mother’s guest. What could be more pleasant?’ He paused, acknowledging the need to keep Annalisa close was about his own desire as much as necessity. ‘Now it’s done, and you can reassure yourself everything’s all right.’
‘Or is it that you still don’t believe I’m pregnant?’
He shook his head. When he’d heard her news he’d thought the worst, remembering the lengths women had gone to in order to snag his attention and his money. But within minutes he’d realised she wasn’t bluffing. Annalisa was light-years from the sort of women with whom he usually consorted.
That was why the memory of their night together had burned indelibly into his consciousness. His gaze followed her lush curves under the pale sheet.
‘I believe you, Annalisa.’
‘Good.’ Her voice was strained. ‘Now you’d better go.’
‘You wouldn’t like me to stay and soothe you back to sleep?’ One step took him to the bed. If he reached out…
‘No!’ Her voice held a telltale breathlessness that stirred the devil inside him, heating his blood.
‘Perhaps I should persuade you.’ He paused to drag in a surprisingly unsteady breath. ‘I could, you know.’
He’d been taught by the best. Even his first sexual partner, the gorgeous girl he’d yearned for in his gullible teens, hadn’t been the innocent he’d imagined. She’d enthusiastically shown him a myriad of ways to share pleasure before he’d discovered she’d bedded him not for affection but for his father’s money.
And that he’d shared her with the old man.