‘We only need one.’
He said, ‘We should probably check them all, then, to make sure we pick the best one.’
Joy bubbled up and spilled out of Liyah’s mouth in a spontaneous laugh as Sharif led her into the building. He turned to her and she could see the fragility of this moment written on his face.
He stopped and cuppe
d her face. ‘Is this real? Are you real? Or have I dreamt you up since that night at the oasis?’
If Liyah had had any lingering doubt it was eradicated in that instant. And, just as Sharif had put her hand over his heart that night, to prove he was real, she took his hand now and put it over her heart. ‘I’m real. This is real. I love you, Sharif.’
He lowered his head and kissed her with a tenderness and a passion that left her trembling.
When he broke away, Liyah said breathlessly, ‘I don’t know if I can wait until the first bedroom.’
Sharif smiled and it was full of wickedness, his trademark arrogance returning. ‘We’re in no rush, are we?’
Liyah smiled. ‘No rush at all.’
It was a month before they left the fortress...except for a couple of visits to a very special oasis.
EPILOGUE
Seven years later
Sharif and Liyah’s desert fortress on the borders of Taraq and Al-Murja
‘DANIEL, PLEASE DON’T do rabbit ears behind Luna’s head this time. Can we just get one photo where we all look relatively normal, please?’ Zoe made final adjustments to the camera, which was on a tripod. She pressed a button. ‘Okay, everyone—ten seconds. Assume your positions and smile!’
She darted out from behind the camera and went over to where everyone was dutifully gathered in front of a wall of flowers. Maks tucked her into his chest. He stood beside Maggie and Nikos, who were beside Sharif and Liyah.
Nikos was holding a sleepy three-year-old Tessy in his arms—the latest addition to their family—and in front of them were Daniel and Luna, first cousins and as thick as thieves. Then there was Olympia, Daniel’s sister, who was holding her four-year-old cousin Ben, Luna’s brother, with one hand and four-year-old Stella, Sharif and Liyah’s daughter, with the other hand.
Serenity reigned for about seven seconds—until the shutter clicked and children scattered with shrieks and yells, resuming whatever game they’d been playing before Zoe had gathered them all together.
Zoe went over and looked at the camera. She rolled her eyes to heaven even as she couldn’t help but smile. ‘That’s it—I give up. You lot are impossible!’
When Sharif and Liyah looked at the photo later, they laughed. All the kids were making faces, and Daniel was, indeed, making rabbit ears again—this time behind his sister Olympia’s head.
Maks was looking down at Zoe indulgently, and she was the only one smiling at the camera. Nikos was kissing Maggie. Sharif was looking at Liyah, who was smiling enigmatically. The fact that he had his hand placed over her abdomen was the first hint of the secret they’d just shared over dinner.
In seven months’ time, the Marchetti/Al Nazar/Spiros clan was going to grow by two more little people.
After much congratulations, and tears and hugs and exclamations, Zoe had groaned theatrically. ‘Twins? I’m definitely not signing up to take any more family photos. You can find someone else!’
But the next day Sharif and Liyah were due to welcome Sasha, Maks’s sister, with her husband and their children. So inevitably another photo would be taken.
The sounds of the happy family gathering had faded into the night by now, and after putting Stella to bed Sharif found his wife standing at the wall of the terrace that wrapped around their bedroom suite—the one they’d spent a very enjoyable month choosing—which looked out over the desert beyond. The night sky was huge, lit up with a crescent moon and bright stars.
Sharif moved behind Liyah, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head. ‘What are you thinking?’
Liyah wrapped her arms around his. Having a family hadn’t happened straight away for them. It had taken a couple of years for Liyah to fall pregnant. They’d been about to make investigations when she’d become pregnant with Stella. So they didn’t take this latest good news for granted for a second.
Liyah turned in his arms and looped hers around his neck. She wore a short silk nightdress and nothing else, and Sharif could feel every provocative curve. His blood simmered.
‘You mean you can’t read my mind?’ she teased.
Sharif smiled. ‘I would never presume to know what’s going on in your head. From the moment I first saw you, you were a mystery, and you still are. You have the power to fell me—as you well know.’