Though they’d kissed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times since, tonight’s kiss felt more like the first kiss, the kiss before all of the others, the sweetest one.
Once again, under the dark, starry sky with the moon shining down on the water in the bay behind the palace, they stared deep into each other’s eyes, neither one wanting to look away first, neither one wanting to let go.
“This couldn’t have all been just a dream,” he said to her.
“No, it wasn’t,” she echoed.
“The only way to find out is if one of us lets go, and it doesn’t end,” he suggested.
“Then, let go,” she challenged.
Zaid smiled. “Rebecca, I am never going to let go of you again.”
“That works for me.”
And they kissed again, their lips pressing together in a long, loving embrace. They didn’t let go, but not because they were afraid it was a dream. They didn’t let go because they wanted the night to last forever this time.
End of The Sheikh’s Secret Son