He wanted to be with her, possess her, have her smile at him and let him bask in her warmth.
Annalisa sensed Tahir before she saw him. Her hand trembled as she put the papers on the conference table.
Hard fingers clasped her elbow and she froze. Looking up, she sank into the blue depths of Tahir’s gaze. Strange that a man with his reputation should have eyes that looked like a glimpse of heaven.
‘Come,’ he said, drawing her to a group of comfortable chairs. ‘Sit with me.’
Automatically she looked back, but the doors were shut. She and Tahir were alone. Heat shimmied through her veins and her palms grew clammy as she remembered what had happened the last time they were alone. Did she trust him? Or herself?
‘No one will interrupt,’ he assured her. But, seeing the intensity of his gaze, Annalisa didn’t feel reassured.
She felt…excited.
Desperately she tried to dredge up horror at her reaction. Yet all she could manage was an edgy sense of playing with fire.
Since the night he’d kissed her she’d been on tenterhooks, fearing he’d tempt her into intimacy. Her nerves were raw, waiting for him to act, and when he didn’t she stifled disappointment.
Secretly she’d longed for the marauder who’d entered her bedroom without a by your leave and offered to seduce her. The man who’d only had to kiss her hand to reduce her to trembling need.
He was a puzzle, not easily understood. Yet recently she’d found so much to admire.
Tahir was a born leader who didn’t need to bully people into agreement. He had a quicksilver energy that only added to his charisma. And beneath his occasional air of cynicism, despite his reprobate reputation, she suspected Tahir was a decent man.
A man she feared she cared too much for.
Yet he’d left her room that first night in the palace without a qualm. He hadn’t touched her after that last searing kiss when she’d agreed to marriage. Clearly whatever allure she’d once held for him was now dead. How could she, without an ounce of sophistication, hold his interest?
It scared her that she wanted to.
Annalisa sat on the low divan. To her consternation he sat beside her. Close enough for her to watch his long lashes veil his gaze.
Did he notice her breathing turn shallow? Panic surged at being so close to the man she dreamed of every night, the man she couldn’t stop thinking about.
‘I’ve organised a date for our wedding.’
Our wedding.
She swallowed hard and her pulse tripped as she caught the flash of something unsettling in his eyes. Emotions tumbled through her. Relief that he hadn’t reneged. Excitement she tried to stifle. Anxiety at whether marriage was the right thing.
‘When will it be?’ Her voice emerged husky and she reminded herself this was a paper marriage only.
But the way Tahir leaned close, hands engulfing hers, sent other, contrary signals. Fire shot through her veins, warming her all over.
‘A week tomorrow.’ He paused long enough for her pulse to thud slow and heavy, once, twice. ‘Then we’ll be man and wife.’
Heat shimmered between them. The sort of heat that ignited each time she allowed herself close to Tahir.
Dangerous heat.
Annalisa sat straighter, trying to look away from his intense gaze. She wanted to jerk out of his hold but feared she’d give away the effect he had on her.
His thumb swept an arc across her hand, sending tremors shooting up her arm. His nostrils flared and a pulse throbbed at his temple, matching the urgent beat in her blood. Deep inside desire woke.
Tahir leaned in and her eyelids flickered. She shouldn’t want him to kiss her but she did. So badly.
She struggled for a distraction.
‘You’ve told your mother about the marriage?’ Annalisa forced the words out, making one last effort to resist him. ‘It’s been obvious she doesn’t know your plans.’
Obvious Tahir wasn’t eager to spread the word he was marrying. Because he didn’t really want her. He was stuck with her.
He straightened, looking suddenly more distant.
‘Given your hesitation, I thought you’d prefer keeping the engagement private at first.’
Was he serious? ‘But she’s your mother! She must have wondered what was going on.’ Though the relationship between the women had grown close, Annalisa was uncomfortable with her status as a long-standing guest.
‘I wished you to stay. That’s all she needed to know.’
Annalisa stared. What sort of relationship did he have with Rihana? Nothing like what she’d shared with her father.
‘Why don’t you like her?’ she whispered, then froze, horrified she’d spoken aloud.
His hands clamped round hers and every skerrick of warmth bled from his face.