That feeling was the most dangerous thing of all.
She shuddered, and with all her strength, she pushed him away.
“I can’t,” she choked out. Above them, she could hear only the waving palm fronds, the sigh of the wind, the plaintive cries of night birds. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” Kareef’s voice was barely more than a growl in the darkness. “I am the one to blame. I wanted you then.” Reaching down, he caressed her cheek and whispered, “I want you now.”
The timbre of his low voice, sharp and deep, caused a seismic shift inside her, breaking her apart in bits like the emeralds hacked from Qusani mines beneath the earth. Gleaming facets and chinks of her soul scattered beneath his touch.
She closed her eyes as she felt his rough fingertips against her cheek. She felt his thumb slide lightly across her sensitive lower lip. Her mouth parted, her body ached, from her nipples down her belly and lower still.
“I will make you a wife, Jasmine,” he whispered, stroking her cheek. “I will make you a mother.”
Her eyes flew open. He was looking down at her with intensity, his face so boyishly handsome it took her breath away. As teenagers, they’d had many innocent trysts in this very garden so long ago, in another life. But here in the warmth of the desert night, with the spice of the air sifting the salt from the sea, anything seemed possible.
“What do you mean?” she said in shock, searching his eyes.
“If Umar Hajjar is the man you want to marry,” he said, “I will not stop you. I will give you away at the wedding myself.”
A lump of pain rose in her throat. Oh. “You will?”
His sensual lips spread into a half smile, his eyes heavy with desire. “But not yet.”
She trembled.
From a distance she heard a servant calling for the king. She tried to pull her hand away. “I have to go.”
The cell phone in his hip pocket started to buzz. Even here in the forbidden garden, they were not completely alone. But he ignored it. As she tried to pull away, he tightened his hand on hers. “Come with me where no one can reach us. Come with me to the desert.”
She shook her head desperately. “I have no reason to go anywhere with you!”
He pulled her close against his chest, looking down at her. His face was inches from her own and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. He looked down at her, brushing tendrils of hair off her face.
“Are you sure?” he said in a low voice. “Absolutely no reason to be alone with me?”
“Yes,” she breathed, hardly able to know what she was saying. “No.”
He suddenly leaned back on his hip. “Surely you’re not afraid?”
Terrified was more like it, but she would never admit that in a million years. “I’m not afraid of you. I’ve never been afraid of you!”
“So there’s no reason to refuse. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
When he touched her, she had a difficult time concentrating. “Why—why would you take me to the desert?”
He gave her a slow-rising smile. “You’re under my…protection. I take you as my duty.”
She stared at that sensual smile. How could he be so cruel? Didn’t he realize how desire tormented her?
No, how could he? His bed was likely filled with a new woman every night.
As he stroked her cheek, she looked up at him with pleading eyes. “No,” she choked out. “I won’t go.”
“I can’t divorce you unless we go to the desert,” he said quietly, looking down at her. “The jewel is there.”
She blinked. The emerald. Of course they needed that for their divorce.
And to think she’d actually imagined he was going to whisk her off to the desert for some kind of seduction. Ridiculous. Even if Kareef wanted her, he wouldn’t take a long journey across the country just to seduce the woman he’d abandoned years ago. Not when half the women of this city were eagerly begging for the new king to sample their charms!
She truly had lost her mind to think she’d be that special to him. But still—the idea of being alone with him frightened her. “You have so many diplomatic duties here for your coming coronation,” she said. “Surely you can send someone to get it?”
“There are some things a man prefers to do himself,” he said evenly. “Even if he is king.” He raised a dark eyebrow. “And I’m taking you with me.”
She licked her lips. “All…all right.”
She couldn’t leave any question mark that might cast doubt on the legality of her new marriage to Umar. What choice did she have?
A slightly hysterical bubble of laughter escaped her. She could just imagine her father’s face if he found out that she was married to the king!