‘THERE,’ KHALID SAID, standing back to examine his handiwork. ‘Apart from your striking blue eyes, you look like a real Khalifan.’
She felt unrecognisable: exotic, unusual, and so unlike her usual self.
‘Well?’ he prompted. ‘What do you think?’
‘It feels wonderful,’ she admitted. ‘Cool and comfortable.’
‘I sense a but?’ he queried.
Only that same niggle of doubt that had struck her inside the tent. What was she doing here, living a dream that didn’t belong to her? And never could?
Miss Francine’s voice came into her head. If things appear too good to be true, they generally are.
She had to shake that thought away, and enjoy each new experience to the full otherwise her time here was wasted. There were never any guarantees in life, so why not make the most of this? She was under the protection of the hawk of the desert. What could possibly go wrong? Millie thought as Khalid’s attendants brought up the horses. The air was warm and scented with the tang of the ocean, and adventure in the desert beckoned.
‘I’m ready,’ she confirmed.
Khalid’s snorting, frothing, fearsome-looking animal was definitely not her mount of choice. ‘You don’t seriously expect me to ride on that?’ she said as he beckoned to her to come closer, so he could lift her onto the saddle in front of him. ‘That isn’t a horse, it’s a muscle machine with evil intentions.’
‘Play nice, Burkan,’ he said as the horse flattened its ears.
‘What about me?’ Millie pointed out. ‘I’m prepared for nice, but preferably when it arrives on four wheels.’
‘You’ll be fine,’ Khalid assured her as he held out his hand.
Black as night, and as hard-muscled as his master, his stallion was grandly caparisoned in red and gold as befitted the favourite mount of a mighty ruler. And had the temperament of a snake someone had poked with a stick, Millie concluded. ‘He’s a monster. No way. Don’t you have a mule, or a donkey?’
‘Burkan means volcano in your language,’ the monster’s master explained fondly as he caressed his mount’s suddenly pricked-up ears.
‘I see he responds to flattery like most males,’ Millie commented dryly.
Khalid laughed, the sound muffled behind the howli, making it sound like a deep rumble of thunder, while his big black stallion raked the ground and gave her the dead eye. ‘He’s a pussycat,’ he soothed.
‘Of the big cat variety, with a thorn in its paw,’ Millie agreed.
‘I’m right out of donkeys,’ Khalid told her, ‘so are you coming, or not?’
She gazed around at the desert. This might be his home, but it looked like hostile territory to Millie. Resistant though she was to the idea of riding half a ton of power-packed, mean-eyed horse, she took hold of Khalid’s hand. No stallion with a personality disorder was going to frighten Millie Dillinger.
The next moment they were off. There was no slow build up to a flat-out gallop, so she could get used to the stallion’s gait. Burkan only knew one speed, and that was rocket-propelled. She yelped with fear as he galloped on, and for a few moments she was sure she’d fall off, but as Khalid’s arms tightened around her, her confidence grew.
‘Good?’ he demanded as Burkan’s hooves ate up the desert at a pace she could hardly believe.
‘I’m alive,’ she yelled back. And that was enough. But soon she realised it was fabulous. There could be nothing better than this wild ride through the desert in the arms of a desert king.
Dunes rose on either side of them, and Millie had no idea how anyone could navigate their way around when everything looked so similar. Khalid had no difficulty. He spearheaded the troop of men. Seeing the land he loved like this told her more about a complex man than hours of conversation ever could. Khalid might be hugely civilised on the outside, but in his heart, he was a fierce desert warrior.
* * *
Seeing his land through Millie’s eyes was a wonderful experience, like seeing the desert for the first time. Slowing Burkan, he pointed out the signs he looked for in a landscape, that at first sight appeared confusingly similar, and had the added complication of changing day by day as wind shifted both the shape and position of the dunes. He reined in at the top of one of these sand mountains to give Millie a chance to appreciate the extent of the sea of gold surrounding them. Dismounting, he lifted her down. Kneeling, he showed her the animal tracks in the seemingly sterile environment. He could tell she was fascinated as she knelt down beside him, and they were soon fully engrossed in discussing his plans to turn part of the desert into a fruitful garden, and how he intended to expand his nature reserves in order to protect the most endangered species. When he looked at her to weigh her reaction, and saw how intently she was listening, he felt a swell of emotion akin to love. This was dangerous, he thought as he sprang to his feet.
‘Khalifa is so beautiful,’ she said, standing by his side. ‘You’re a very lucky man.’
‘Yes, I am,’ he agreed, striding away to remount Burkan before he said something to make things worse. His growing feelings for Millie were not only inappropriate, but unfair to her. His future was fixed. If not this latest contender who had arrived unannounced at the palace, he must find an appropriate bride soon. It was his duty to settle down and have children, to forge the stable dynasty his people longed for. He could offer Millie nothing in the long-term. He had to content them both with this short desert adventure.
‘Come,’ he said, reaching down from the saddle. ‘We have some miles to cover before we reach the oasis.’
‘The oasis?’ she exclaimed. ‘How romantic.’ She stared up with eyes full of wonder, like a child at Christmas, making his decision to follow duty even harder.
‘It’s where we’ll sleep,’ he said crisply, trying not to think about the moment of parting, which must come soon, when they would both return to stark reality.
* * *
She felt better this time, on the horse, more relaxed, and at one with Khalid. She was excited as they cantered on through the desert towards the promise of a cooling oasis. Having seen this other side of her desert lord, a side that was tender and caring, and deeply committed to the welfare of his country, she loved him more than ever. Yes. Love. There was no other way to describe her growing feelings for Khalid. She didn’t want to leave him, or his country, and she was hungry to know more, about him, about Khalifa. Everything that mattered to him mattered to her.
‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ he asked as they rode on through golden dunes with chocolate shadows.
‘It’s fabulous,’ she said as a hawk soared overhead, calling piercingly to its mate.
Everything she’d seen so far was fabulous in Khalifa. The sun, as it dropped lower in the metallic blue sky, was fabulous. The warm scented air was fabulous. This experience of riding a horse that she’d been so scared of and now loved and appreciated was fabulous. Khalid loved Khalifa and she loved him.
So much, so dangerous, Millie thought. Where did she imagine this was leading? She wasn’t stupid. She’d be going home soon. Her dreams of becoming a marine engineer had been put on hold, but she’d pick them up when she went home, while Khalid’s destiny kept him here, wrapped up in a life of duty, which he would never renounce.
He would need a wife to sit beside him on the Sapphire throne.
She actually shuddered at the thought, and couldn’t bring herself to picture the woman who would support him in everything he did; give him children, live with him and love him. His marriage was sure to be reported in the press, and she would have to be happy for him. It wouldn’t be easy, but was the price she had to pay for this...
She stiffened with misery, and that was enough to alert Khalid to a problem. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked. ‘There isn’t far to go now.’
She’d gone far too far already, Millie thought. How would this highly charged expedition end? In tears? Or triumph? In understanding? Or in the same fog in which she had instigated their meeting when the Sapphire returned to King’s Dock? She had never been happier than she was now. Wasn’t that enough? Some people didn’t have this much. Was she being greedy? Weren’t a few days of true happiness better than none?
Khalid had slowed the pace of his stallion, and his arms were gentle as she rested back against his chest. Did he feel the same need she did to stretch every second remaining to them into an hour, a day, until there were no days left?
Perhaps sensing that her thoughts were racing on into the future, he reined in at the top of a dune, and asked, ‘Why don’t you tell me about your ambitions?’
Millie was speechless as she looked at the view. Miles of rolling sand dunes, with what appeared to be a lush, green park right in the middle of them. And in the centre of that, there was a glittering oasis, like a wide, tranquil, crystalline lake, hidden away in the heart of the desert.
‘Your ambitions?’ he prompted.
It seemed mundane to talk about her college course after that, or the complexities of a boiler and the satisfaction of tinkering with an engine and hearing it throb into life. But that was her life, Millie thought. And she loved her life. This was Khalid’s life.
‘Miss Francine’s been kind to you?’
‘Miss Francine is the best woman in the world,’ Millie exclaimed sincerely. ‘More than a surrogate mother, she’s been the grandmother I never knew, as well as my friend and the special person I confide in, and know I can turn to if ever there’s a problem.’
‘I hear she turns to you.’
‘You hear a lot of things,’ she remarked with amusement.
‘And your ambition to be a marine engineer? You could work on my ships.’
‘How many do you have?’
‘Enough to keep you busy.’
Millie smiled. Khalid truly lived in another world. ‘I love to see the way things work,’ she admitted. ‘Making them run more efficiently is my passion. A new engine is like a new friend to me. I can’t rest until I know what makes them tick, and how I can help them.’
‘A noble career,’ he commented. ‘Lucky friends, lucky engines.’
She laughed. They both laughed. He nuzzled her face in a way that felt so intimate, and then he turned Burkan and rode on.
* * *
Millie was quite open about her hopes and dreams when it came to her career, but what did she do for entertainment? he wondered, having discovered that he cared more than he should.
‘I’m a bluestocking,’ she said when he asked the question. ‘I read, study, read some more.’
‘But you must go out?’
‘Are you jealous?’ she asked, turning in the saddle to stare at him.
Yes, he was, he discovered. ‘Would you prefer me not to be?’
‘I don’t think that’s in your nature. You’re a warrior through and through.’
She was correct. The thought of another man touching Millie roused him to a passion he wouldn’t have believed.
‘I love Miss Francine,’ she volunteered, perhaps wanting to bring the tension level down. ‘So I rarely go out during my holidays.’
‘You made an exception for me?’
‘Of course I did,’ she said easily. ‘Don’t pretend you’re surprised.’
‘I’m not surprised. Being as devastatingly irresistible as I am—’
‘You are,’ she said, turning to give him a frank look. ‘At least, to me.’
She was so open it twisted the knife in a heart that must turn cold towards her, to protect Millie from the reality of their respective destinies. They rode in silence for a while after that.
‘During term time,’ she said eventually, ‘I’m far too busy studying to have time to socialise.’
He was relieved in one way, but not in another. ‘You need a life, Millie.’
‘I have a very good life, thank you,’ she returned briskly. ‘And my private life is—’
‘Yours to know and mine to imagine?’ he suggested in a relaxed tone.
‘Exactly,’ she agreed.
* * *
There was only one certainty, and that was that she was in over her head, Millie concluded. It was impossible to be this close to Khalid and not care about him, and her caring ran deep. She was falling a little more in love with him with every passing minute. It was no use pretending. She was his, and she was devoted to him. Maybe she couldn’t have him long-term, but her heart didn’t care about that.
‘Look,’ he said, distracting her.
She turned her head quickly, maybe too quickly as she followed his pointing finger, and just for a moment she felt dizzy and disoriented. It was a strange feeling...something she’d never felt before, but her head quickly cleared in time for her to agree with him that no photographic images could ever have prepared her for the reality of an oasis. They had rounded the base of a dune, and now she could see it spread out in front of her, like a sapphire set in gold. She couldn’t even see the far side, and hadn’t imagined it was so big. The water was so clear she could see the dark rocks underneath. And another Bedouin tent had been erected on the sugar-sand shore. The pavilion might have come straight from her dreams with its billowing blindingly white sides set against the blue of the water and the lush of the green shrubbery.
‘Swim?’ Khalid suggested as Burkan began to toss his head at the scent of water. ‘We all deserve it, don’t you think?’
He didn’t expect an answer, Millie thought as Burkan took off down the dune. She screamed, but with excitement as the big horse almost lost his footing. How they stayed on board, she had no idea. Somehow Khalid managed to control the powerful stallion as it slithered and then righted, before slithering down again, and not for one moment did she feel in any danger. Between Khalid and his big horse, which was almost like an extension of himself, she knew she was safe.
‘Okay?’ he asked when they finally arrived panting and snorting—she was panting, horse was snorting—on level ground.
Laughing with shock, fright, happiness and excitement, she exclaimed, ‘I’m fine. That was amazing.’ This adventure might be reckless, and very dangerous to her heart, but every second was blissful, and she would remember it all her life. ‘I’m better than fine,’ she exulted as Khalid set her safely on the ground.
‘But stiff, I imagine,’ he said with a keen look as she took her first staggering step.
That feeling was back, and with it an overwhelming tiredness. It had been a long ride, she reasoned. What she needed was a dip in that oasis. ‘So long as I don’t stay like this,’ she said, laughing as she added a theatrical groan, ‘I’ll be okay.’
‘You need that swim,’ he said.
‘I truly do,’ she agreed as they linked fingers.
‘Now, take off your clothes while I untack the horse,’ he instructed, yanking her close.
‘Yes, Your Majesty.’ She stared up into Khalid’s dark, mesmerising eyes. ‘Do you have any more instructions for me?’
‘I will have. You can depend on it.’
She had no doubt.
* * *
When she joined him and he gazed down at Millie’s naked perfection, he thought himself the luckiest man on earth. Showing no fear of Burkan, she scratched the stallion beneath his chin, while the one-man horse, fierce and unsociable, nickered with approval.
‘You’ve won him over,’ he said. ‘I’ll make a Bedouin of you yet.’
‘Burkan won me over,’ Millie argued, with an approving look at his horse. ‘Maybe I’ll make an engineer out of you,’ she added with a sideways look.
‘I mine sapphires,’ he reminded her, ‘and so I always have need of top-notch engineers.’
‘So I can tinker with your boats and with your engines in the mine.’
‘Why not?’ They both knew this was a game, and would never happen, but why not play it out? ‘You can tinker with anything you want to,’ he said as he brought his robe over his head and tossed it aside. Taking hold of her hand, he drew her close as he led her towards the water.
‘Is this a dream?’ Millie asked him of the oasis. She dipped her toes as he sprang onto Burkan’s back. Swinging Millie into his arms, he rode full tilt into the chill of deep water. Millie shrieked with the shock of it, and he laughed and held her close as Burkan lunged forward and began to swim. Steering the big horse towards the shade of the overhanging palm fronds, he urged him up the bank and dismounted. Lifting Millie down, he left the stallion to crop grass and rest.
‘This is heaven,’ Millie exclaimed softly as she rested briefly against Burkan’s side to stroke him appreciatively. ‘And if it is a dream, I never want it to end.’
And neither did he, but it must, he thought.
* * *
How could she not respond to a man as brutally masculine as Khalid? And so gloriously naked. Primal instinct would always triumph over common sense, Millie concluded as Khalid looped his powerful arms around her waist. He was holding her in a tantalisingly loose grip that she could have walked away from at any time, but he knew she had no intention of going anywhere. His seduction techniques were many and various, as she had learned, and she hadn’t encountered one yet that wasn’t fiendishly effective.
They stood in silence for a while, but that silence was so deep and intense, she could hear both their hearts beating as one.
‘I want to make love to you,’ he said at last. ‘I mean, really make love to you.’
‘What are you saying, Khalid?’ Hope filled her.
‘Don’t you know?’
‘Not unless you say it.’
‘I love being with you, Millie Dillinger,’ he murmured as he nuzzled her cheek and neck.
That wasn’t what she’d hoped to hear. Get over it. Get real, as her friends at the laundry would say. Urgent pulses of sweet pleasure were teasing her body beyond endurance. Why did she have to think further than that? Of course he wanted to make love—have sex—it was all just terminology; a choice of words. She did too. Their bodies were tuned to each other’s needs, and the urge to mate wouldn’t leave them alone, until they were sated.
And that dose of reality helped her emotions how?
‘I want you,’ she whispered as Khalid backed her towards the shade. ‘So much,’ she added truthfully, feeling tears sting her eyes as he lowered her to the ground.
The grass was firm and warm beneath her back after the chill of the water. Their faces were close, so close their lips were almost touching. Her mouth was kiss-bruised and tingling as her arousal grew. Knowing this, he smiled and kissed her. She was his to do with as he wished.
Lowering himself carefully, he brushed his body against hers. Anticipating his weight, his heat, his strength, was almost the best part.
‘No,’ he warned as she positioned herself for pleasure. ‘I must protect you first—’
‘I can’t wait!’ she protested.
‘You must—’
‘No!’ It wouldn’t be the first time with Khalid that she’d pushed the boundaries. Passion as fierce as theirs could accept no boundaries or restrictions. Drawing up her legs, she arced her hips and drew him deep. Holding him secure with her inner muscles, she worked him mercilessly. Digging her fingers into his arms, she bit his neck and shoulder, growling to express all the frustration inside her. The end came quickly in a cataclysmic release. Khalid swore viciously as he fell back on the grass, but when she turned to look at him, he was smiling.
‘Animal,’ he said, making it sound like the greatest compliment possible. ‘What are you? A sorceress? A siren? A witch?’
‘A laundress,’ she said.
He laughed as he pulled her across to lie on top of him. ‘A very special, and very dangerous laundress,’ he observed, ‘and one whose talents must never be allowed to go to waste.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘We need teachers in Khalifa, experts in their field who can inspire our young people. I can think of no one better than you to fill that role.’
‘I’m not an expert yet,’ Millie pointed out.
‘But you will be,’ he enthused, ‘and we need you in Khalifa. We have an excellent engineering college—’
‘What are you saying, Khalid?’ she interrupted sharply. Couldn’t he see the truth? Her future didn’t lie in Khalifa. ‘I have a course to finish in the UK.’
‘And when you have finished, come and work for me.’ The fire of desire and bold intention blazed fiercely in his eyes. Khalid was used to conquering problems, and couldn’t envisage a situation that wouldn’t bend to his will, Millie thought. ‘We’re always looking for new ideas, and ambassadors to spread the word.’
‘No,’ she said quietly. How could she be close to him and not part of his life? ‘But thanks for the offer. I really appreciate it.’ She tried her best to sound sincere, and untouched emotionally by Khalid’s suggestion that she could live in his beautiful country, perhaps within a stone’s throw of the palace, and not have her heart break in pieces. She didn’t want to hurt him, or seem ungrateful, but neither could she face the heartache that would bring.
‘My loss,’ he said thoughtfully.
And mine, Millie mused.
Khalid’s stroking touch was more gentle than usual as he brought her to rest on his chest, as if his thoughts were plaguing him, and he was still on the hunt for a solution. She couldn’t bear it, and had to tell herself not to cry. You can’t have everything you want, and nor can he, she told herself firmly. But she only wanted this, and it seemed so unfair that she couldn’t have it, Millie thought as Khalid stroked her hair, reassuring her, as if he sensed her distress.
It was as if they were already saying goodbye, she realised. A great surge of distress accompanied this thought, and threatened to overwhelm her. She had to be strong. She would be.
They swam again, and it was lovely and cleansing, and the tiredness she’d experienced after the long ride had fallen away. But there was sadness too. After a lifetime of carefully guarding her emotions, she was finding it harder and harder to hide them, and this was beginning to feel like the final act in a play. Being alone in the desert with Khalid had undoubtedly strengthened the bond between them. Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen. Feeling like this after making love was wonderful—so why was she crying again? Millie wondered as she floated on her back in the cooling water, gazing at the sky. She had to pull herself together and fast. She’d always known they would have to go their separate ways to live their very different lives. And she would always feel different, as if part of Khalid would never leave her. A sense of rightness and completeness filled her, taking over from the tears. It was a feeling she would have to try and remember for always and ever, she accepted as she tried her best not to think about returning home.
‘Come on,’ Khalid prompted when she shivered involuntarily. ‘You’ve had enough swimming for today. You must eat something now.’
‘To keep up my strength?’ she teased, wondering why just the mention of food should make her stomach churn.
Khalid soon made her forget. Drawing her into his arms where she felt safe, he made sure that the only hunger she felt was for him.
Don’t play with fire.
Why not? Brushing away the shadows that briefly darkened her elation, she put on the fresh robe that, miraculously, or so it seemed to Millie, had been laid out on the bank for her, together with a robe for Khalid, as well as towels for both of them, and simple sandals to slip on. Millie’s robe was so pretty. Diaphanous rose-coloured silk, it was a perfect foil for Khalid’s stark black. What else would a hawk of the desert wear? she thought as he turned to look at her. Then it occurred to her that there must be invisible helpers, and she glanced around red-faced with embarrassment at the thought that they might have been watched. ‘I thought we were alone,’ she exclaimed.
‘We are.’ Khalid shrugged, unconcerned.
‘And the gold table covered in a crisp white linen cloth?’ She’d just noticed it now. ‘Did Burkan set the table for us?’
‘He’s a horse of many talents,’ Khalid told her straight-faced.
And the line of tents and portable buildings that had been erected in the shade behind the dune? How had she missed those? She’d been too preoccupied with Khalid, Millie realised. Of course the ruling sheikh of Khalifa would have staff and security wherever he went, and she was naïve for not knowing this from the start. A little more discretion would be required in future, not to mention muffling her screams of pleasure, she thought as Khalid took her by the hand.
‘No one will disturb us,’ he promised with a long stare into her eyes. He confirmed this with a lingering kiss, but the shadows were back. What was the point of trying to pretend they were lovers on the bank of an oasis, with nothing to stand between them and their passion, when there was an entire tented city at Khalid’s beck and call, just a few yards away?
Duty first, duty always, Millie thought as he excused himself to check with his people if there were any outstanding issues to be dealt with in Khalifa before they settled down to eat.
I love you, she thought as he strode away.
Turning, she entered the royal pavilion on her own. She’d better get used to that feeling of being alone. She loved him madly, deeply, passionately, but must keep that to herself. Khalid had always made it clear where his duty lay, and, wonderful though this trip to the desert had been, their time together was almost over.