KARIM WOKE DISORIENTED in the darkness of a tent. He was quickly distracted by his wife’s exploring touch over his body. She was staking a claim here in the dark, taking her time, teasing him with the swish of her hair across his skin, kissing and arousing him.
His hands sought her breasts and he remembered at the last moment to be extra gentle, letting her press into his touch as much as she could bear.
“I thought you were too tired for this,” he whispered in the dark, longing to suck on her nipples, but he could only tongue them or she cried, they were so sensitive.
“I was.” She sighed. “Then I woke up and I didn’t want to sleep. I want you.”
She straddled him so he felt her nest against his shaft. It had been a long day of travel finding this particular tribe. They’d been welcomed warmly and given the royal treatment, but Galila was in a delicate condition and had turned in early.
She was proving very resilient now, though. He held himself in position as he felt her seeking to take him inside her heat.
They both sighed as she seated herself on him, her heat snug around his pulsing shaft. She began an undulation that made him bite back a groan of supreme pleasure. They didn’t have wind and the pepper of whipped sand to disguise their carnal noises this time.
Catching back her own moans of pleasure, she gave herself to him without reserve. He did the same, lifting his hips to meet the return of hers. Her fingernails dug into his chest where she braced herself and hit her peak quickly, the power of it so acute, she pulled him over with her.
He was sorry for it to be over so quickly, but they were practically in public. It was close to dawn and the arrival of other royal guests could happen any time. Today, tomorrow. It might be in a few days, they had been told, but eventually Adir would show up with his wife.
As their personal storm receded, Galila lay sleepily upon him, still joined with him. Her lips grazed his damp skin as she spoke.
“What do you think he will say?”
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. That was what he was here to find out.
* * *
Galila was watching a new mother demonstrate the proper way to swaddle an infant when excited voices drew her attention to the arriving party.
“Amira!” She leaped to her feet with excitement. Her friend was considerably further along than she was, showing well into her second trimester.
Amira hugged her warmly, but it was the beaming smile on her face that put Galila most at ease. She hadn’t seen Adir since the shocking morning of Zufar’s wedding. He still had the dangerous air about him and watched her closely as she reunited with Amira, but when he gazed on his wife, he revealed a glimpse of tenderness that warmed Galila’s heart.
That softness disappeared between one blink and the next as he flicked his gaze from her to Karim. His stance shifted imperceptibly, almost as if he felt Karim was an enemy he had to watch for sudden moves.
Karim wore the same air of armed caution, unabashed in the way he took Adir’s measure.
“Meet my husband,” Galila invited Amira, stepping back to Karim’s side as she made the introductions.
The resemblance between Karim and Adir wasn’t obvious, but she was looking for it and saw the way Karim noted their similar height and scanned a brow and a jaw that matched his own. Seeing their profiles reflected like that, the similarity was undeniable to her. Strange and endearing, especially because she saw a hint of her brothers in Adir as well.
“What business do you have with me?” Adir asked Karim.
“My wife wanted to see her friend, to assure herself she was well.” He nodded at Amira.
“Very,” Adir said flatly. “As you can see.”
Amira patted her baby bump. “All three of us are very happy.”
“I’m glad,” Galila said. “But we also wanted to speak with you, Adir. About...” She looked to Karim. This was such a delicate matter. “It’s a private matter. We have something for you. But I think...” She looked between Adir and Amira, able to see the obvious connection between husband and wife. “Amira, you should come, too.”
They entered the tent that Galila and Karim occupied. Amira accompanied them, a confused look on her face. Galila gave her hand a small squeeze and offered a smile of reassurance as she lowered to the cushions with her.
Adir waited while Karim brought the parcel they’d carried into the desert with them, then sat as Karim did.
The bookends were both wrapped carefully in linen. Galila helped Karim unravel them until the lion and lioness were both revealed.
Karim set the lion on the mat before Adir. Then he took the heavy lioness from Galila and braced the two upright walls back to back.
Now it looked as though the male lion gazed on his mate with a casual check-in. Stay close, sweetheart. She peered over at him. I’m right here, darling.
“A wedding gift?” Adir said, voice somewhere between dry sarcasm and suspicion. But it was clear he saw the value in the pieces and found it odd they were offering such a treasure to him.
Galila licked her lips. “This one belonged to my mother.”
Karim’s cheeks went hollow before he nodded at the lion. “The other was my father’s. We think you should have them.”
Adir’s brows slammed together.
Amira gasped. “Are you saying...?”
Karim nodded once, curt. He was wary, she could tell, because she knew her husband well these days. She wanted to take his hand, but there were still times where he needed his walls. This was one of them.
Adir looked between them, astonished. He picked up both pieces and turned them over.
“There’s nothing to prove it,” Karim said. “Except that I know it to be true.”
“That your father is—”
“Was. He passed away when I was six. A few months before you were born.”
Adir drew a harsh breath. “You’re saying we’re brothers?” He was clearly astounded, but studied Karim with more interest.
Karim was doing the same to him. “I didn’t know there was a child. Not until the night of Zufar’s wedding, when Galila told me.”
“These are so beautiful,” Amira murmured, taking up the lioness.
“Are you sure you want to give them up?” Adir looked between them.
“It’s best if questions aren’t asked in my palace about how we found the mate,” Karim said. “And it seems right that you should have something of them.”
Adir nodded and set aside the lion, thoughtful. “Volatile information, indeed. Thank you for entrusting me with it.” He shot a look at Galila and the corner of his mouth quirked. “Good thing I never intend to talk about this, since I would have to tell people that my brother and sister are married.”
She gave his knee a nudge. “Exactly the sort of misplaced remark I expect from a brother.”
His mouth quirked and he looked to Karim again. “I’ve always wondered who my father might be. What was he like?”
* * *
“That was a wonderful trip, but it’s good to be home,” Galila said as they entered their apartment. The doors between their rooms were rarely closed these days.
“What are you most excited for? A proper bath? Or Wi-Fi?”
“Privacy with my husband,” she said, pinching at his stomach as she walked past him toward the bathroom. “Join me in the bath?”
“Love to. I’ll be in as soon as I check—” He cut himself off with a sharp curse.
Galila swung back, instantly concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know if it’s wrong, but your brother has abdicated.”
“Zufar? Why?”
“To rule Rumadah, Niesha’s home country.”
“What?” Her ears rang under the news. “Then who is king of Khalia?”
His head came up. “Your brother Malak.”
She blinked in shock. “God help us all.”
* * * * *