A Secret Birthright

It was like looking out of a plane, with Al Zaaferah and its skyscrapers sprawling below and into the horizon, lighting up the clear night sky like a network of blazing jewels. She dimly realized they must be in the top floors of the steel-and-glass tower that formed the main portion of the center.

She’d barely recovered from the breathtaking elevation when the opulence and austerity of the place hit her. This must be his office.

His hand burned its mark into her arm as he escorted her across a gleaming hardwood floor covered in what felt like acres of Persian silk carpet to a deepest-green leather couch ensemble around a unique worked-wood centerpiece table.

When she remained standing, he gave her the gentlest of tugs. She collapsed where he indicated. He stood before her for a long moment, his gaze storming through her. Then his lips spread.

Her heart tried its best to leap out of her throat.

“Even though I know asking your preference in food is an exercise of futility, it seems I like butting my head against a wall. So, again, any favorite cuisine?”

“Anything…with calories.”

She was stunned she’d produced the words. She was only sure she had when he laughed.

Her hand pressed the painful, thudding lump that had replaced her heart. There should be a law against such hazardous behavior.

He phoned in his order of food before he turned his attention back to her. Beside that watchfulness that made her feel he was listening to her thoughts, and that supreme assurance that was integral to him, she saw satisfaction.

From what she knew of him from years of following his career, this was a man who knew his handiwork, never exaggerated his results. He really believed Ryan’s surgery had been successful beyond even what he’d promised her.

And the floodgates of relief finally burst.

She shook under its enormity, and this time when he reached for her, she surrendered to the potent comfort he offered.

Fareed stroked Gwen’s shining head, absorbed her softness and ebbing fear, inhaled her freshness and dissipating distress and told his burning hands that that was as far as it went—for now.

When he’d come out of the O.R., he’d seen no one but her. She’d looked so lost, those eyes that wreaked havoc with his control pleading for reassurance. He’d forced himself to answer the other families first or he would have crushed her in his arms. As it were, he’d been aware of the curious glances when he’d taken her to his private elevator.

Not that he cared. He did his absolute best for all his patients. If he chose to give his personal time and attention afterward to her, it was no one’s business.

But holding her like that, having her burrow into him like a kitten seeking protection, was wrecking his reason. His body had hardened beyond arousal, and that was with her wrapped in those shapeless clothes and only seeking comfort. What effect would she have if she sought him with hunger in her touch and eyes?

He shuddered with expectation. What he’d give to carry her to bed now and to hell with his professional code.

But he’d already strained that code for her. All he could do now was keep his passion under a tight leash until Ryan was no longer in his care. Afterward…

Afterward, he expected an even fiercer impediment than the dictates of his professional honor. His father.

He knew he’d wage a more ferocious war with him than when he’d chosen to go into medicine and not into politics or business.

Not that it mattered. He wasn’t Hesham, young and vulnerable. He would fight anything and anyone, starting with his father, to have her. He’d face the whole world for her.

And he knew that, beyond a doubt, she wanted him as fiercely. That was what fueled her struggle to keep her distance, what she believed the circumstances dictated. But when her worry for her son and his obligations ended, he would plumb the depth of her answering need.

Feeling he was peeling off a layer of skin, he let her go as soon as her tremors subsided. She pulled away at the same instant.

Embarrassment blazed on her cheeks as she slid to the end of the couch. “You must be so sick of soothing frantic relatives.”

“It’s part of the job description.”

He nearly laughed at his exaggeration. She’d seen how he’d dealt with his patients’ relatives. While he’d been courteous and accommodating, he hadn’t dissolved their fears in his embrace.

A knock on the door roused him. “Our calories are here.” A smile wobbled on her lips. He sighed. “Next time, I’ll manage to make that smile last longer than a nanosecond.”

He went to the door, returned with a trolley laden with food and beverages. Everything smelled mouth-watering. But the hunger that rose inside him was for her. He could almost taste the grace and femininity in her every line. His body tightened even more.

He should be exhausted. He was. It made no difference when she was around. He remained alert, unable to waste one moment when he could…experience her. Even when she’d slept on the plane, he’d stayed awake to check on her. She aroused not only his passion but his protectiveness, too, to unreasoning levels.

Bowled over. That was what he was. And to think that before he’d seen her, he’d sighed in pity at those who used that expression. Reveling in his condition, he sat down beside her, started uncovering hot plates.

He whistled. “Seems they got us everything with calories. Are you up to the challenge?”

Fareed’s question distracted her from drooling at the distressing scent. Not the food’s. His.

She could only murmur, “No promises.”

His fire-tinged eyes turned more enigmatic before he turned to serve the food. Her senses reeled with his closeness, her thoughts tangling at his inconsistencies.

Even though he was known to be most accessible professionally, on a personal level, he was considered inapproachable. Yet from her own experience, he was only too approachable, and she…

She had to stop fantasizing about him. He was the one man she should never want, the one man who was off-limits.

But what if he is the one man you can want?

She crushed the insidious voice as she accepted a steaming plate piled with mouth-watering grilled salmon and vegetables, careful not to touch him again. Touching him had infused a dangerous narcotic into her bloodstream. She should be careful not to end up addicted. Or was she already?

Was this how it happened? Inadvertent exposure, moments of surrender to temptation and suddenly you were irrevocably lost.…

“Eat, Gwen, and I’ll reward you. I’ll discuss Ryan’s postoperative period and rehabilitation.”