From One Night To Desert Queen by Pippa Roscoe
CHAPTER NINE
STARGENTLYPADDEDdown the corridor to the dining room she’d been shown on that first day and never used. She hugged the midnight-blue silk kimono around her, still feeling a little vulnerable from her conversation with Khalif the day before.
‘No, that will take too long,’ she heard Khalif say before she’d entered the room. The smell of cardamom tea made her mouth water and the sweet pastries she was going to have to learn how to make had her stomach grumbling.
‘It will have to be the Jeep... Yes... I don’t care about the expense, it’s worth it,’ he growled. The moment he saw her in the doorway, he ended the call and put his phone on the table.
‘Was that Amin?’ she asked, coming into the room and sitting down where her place had been set. He poured her a cup of tea as she took a few pastries—she couldn’t say which ones because she’d become lost in the way that his powerful hands gripped the thin silver arm of the teapot, and then the tiny porcelain handle of the cup.
She blushed when he actually had to say her name to get her to take the cup he was offering her.
‘Yes,’ he said. When she looked up at him he frowned. ‘It was Amin,’ he clarified.
Oh, good God, she had to get a grip of herself.
‘Why did you ask?’
‘You always get that tone in your voice when you speak to him,’ she replied, inhaling the scent of the aromatic tea that tasted so much better here than it ever had in England.
‘What tone?’
‘Mmm...that I-don’t-care-what-you-think-just-do-it tone.’
The look on his face told her that her impression had hit home.
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ he evaded.
‘Yes, you do. He irritates you,’ she stated easily.
‘Because he judges me,’ Khalif growled.
‘Probably because you’re clearly irritated with him,’ she replied, unable to help the smile pulling at her lips. ‘You should either make peace with him or let him go.’
‘And that is your professional opinion?’
‘Absolutely. If you don’t want it to descend into playground taunts of “He started it”.’
Star could have sworn she heard him say, But he did, under his breath, but by the time she looked up at him he was furiously studying a mark on the table.
‘How do you feel today?’
‘Still not pregnant.’
He smiled, and her heart eased a little.
‘I... I spoke to my sisters last night.’ She hated the way that his body tensed, but she was thankful that he waited to hear what she had to say. ‘I told them only that I might be able to get the necklace.’
‘What did they say?’
‘They are very happy.’ It wasn’t exactly a lie. They had been happy, or at least relieved. Star had intended to wait until she had the necklace in her possession, but she’d felt awkward keeping the news of it a secret. So she had told Summer that she knew where it was and hoped to have it soon. Star would have sworn she’d felt her sister’s sigh against her skin as if it had whooshed through the phone speaker. Summer had mentioned something about making the meeting with the buyer easier and had then asked some bland questions about Burami, clearly forgetting that Star was now in the desert. It was a bit unlike her. Or had been unlike her three months ago...but ever since she’d returned from her mid-term holiday there had been something almost distracted about her, even though she’d denied it every time Skye or Star had asked her about it.
‘And actually, Skye is engaged,’ Star announced, thinking of the later conversation with her older sister.
‘Congratulations. What’s he like?’
‘I have no idea. I’ve never met him,’ she replied as Khalif blinked in surprise. ‘But she’s happy, I can tell.’ And Skye really had been, happier than Star had ever heard her. It had been strange to hear Skye shine with the romance of her thrilling Costa Rican adventure.
It wasn’t that Star wasn’t happy for her, it was just that... She rubbed at her sternum, hoping to ease the tightness there. Was she jealous? Star looked at Khalif. Here she was, in the desert with a gorgeous sheikh, literally on a treasure hunt, and while it could look like the perfect romance for all the world, beneath it all, she was only here because she might be pregnant.
But as the days had worn on, and as Star grew closer and closer to the man she’d first met and merged that with the complexities of the man before her, as she felt her heart slowly spread and stretch, she began to suspect that she wasn’t pregnant and could no longer ignore her fear that she didn’t mean to him what he had come to mean to her.
‘That’s good, right?’ Khalif asked, looking at her as if he were worried about her.
The tea nearly jerked over the rim and she had to place the delicate cup down before she lost even more of it. She knew that he was not speaking about her thoughts of him, but his words had still cut through her.
‘That she’s happy?’ he clarified.
‘Yes. Yes, of course,’ Star replied, forcing a little pastry into her mouth before she could make things worse.
‘Eat up,’ he pressed. ‘We have places to be.’
‘Do we?’ This really was a confusing morning. ‘Where are we going? Don’t we have to be back in Burami tomorrow?’
‘Yes. But, in the meantime, you’re being kidnapped by a handsome prince.’
Her heart soared, loving the way he’d just teased her. ‘Oh, really? Where is he?’ she asked, looking around the room.
‘Funny,’ he groused. ‘Meet me by the stables. And dress comfortably.’
He probably should have asked her whether she knew how to ride before he’d made his plans, but the excitement and determination that had shone in her eyes was worth it. Mavia was so completely under Star’s spell that he’d almost had to stop the mare from lowering to the ground for Star to mount.
If he wasn’t careful, he would not have any subjects left in the country because they’d have all sworn allegiance to her.
Star had dressed as he’d asked. A long-sleeved white top and cream linen trousers were protected by a pale gold pashmina that compared unfavourably to the rich red ropes of hair that curled down her back.
But it was her smile that truly shone.
By the time he had Star on Mavia in front of him, his pulse was ready to burst. His horse didn’t even complain once at the unusual extra weight, instead flicking a gaze at him from her bent head as if to demand what he was waiting for.
In truth, he was waiting to regain control of his body. He’d not counted on the way that having Star in between his legs and against his chest, or the way his arms felt wrapped around her would affect him.
She hadn’t asked him a single question, he thought as he flicked Mavia’s reins. She launched from the stables as if as desperate to show Star the magical wonders of the desert as he. Star’s trust in him was complete. As complete as it had been the night they had spent together. It made him feel like...a king.
As Mavia galloped beneath them he relished the feeling of having Star so close, and he loosened his hold on the reins, his horse knowing their destination, having made this journey more than a thousand times, even if not in the last three years.
He cast his gaze outwards and breathed deep. He felt alive here. The stretches of endless desert a mirage, a trick she played on the weary traveller, to test their mettle, to see their true worth. There were no lies in the desert. She may not have been cruel or loving, but she was most definitely capricious.
In the back of his mind he heard his brother’s laugh, urging him on, faster and faster, and it merged with the laugh from Star. He felt it in his heart, surrounded by adrenaline, excitement and all the things he hadn’t felt for so long. He could feel it. The rightness of coming here. As if he had always been meant to bring her to this place.
They were so nearly there and Mavia knew it too because she found a sudden spurt of energy. They crested a dune, trails of sand billowing in their wake for no one to see, and at the pinnacle Mavia came to a stop of her own volition as if just as awed by the sight as the humans she carried. Khalif might have known every single inch of this view, but it still struck him as something incredible and precious, known only by a rare few.
He cast his eyes deep into the valley, over the large canvas tent nestled close to the trees that lined the small lake in the middle of the basin and in the distance he looked up to see the palms Star’s ancestor had written of.
Star’s mouth had dropped open. Her eyes raced across the image before her, sure that it was a dream. A desert mirage. But it wasn’t. She could feel the heat of Khalif behind her and the pounding of Mavia’s heart beneath her.
At the mouth of the tent, rich, dark red woven rugs stretched out before a large fire pit—one that was already in full flame. Golden glints and bursts of red hinted at sequin-encrusted cushions and rich deep turquoise silks covered the sand. A low-slung table with a dazzling array of drinks and food were kept cool and contained in a glass-fronted fridge. She was sure there must have been a generator somewhere discreet, but she couldn’t see it. Nothing spoiled the fantasy.
The richness of what lay in front of her was almost too much to bear, so her eyes drifted to the far side of the crystal-blue water nestled within lush green vegetation to where she saw two palms crossed at the base to form an X.
Her heart missed a beat and she gasped.
She didn’t dare turn around because if she looked at Khalif now, he’d know. He’d know that she’d fallen in love with him. And there, wrapped in his arms, his hands loosely holding the reins, and half convinced that he would be able to feel the beat of her heart, she almost started to shake.
Khalif urged the horse forward and they jostled from side to side with the horse’s uneven but regal gait as Mavia made her way down into the basin where the oasis flourished. When they came to a stop, Khalif dismounted and she hastily swept at the moisture in her eyes, not wanting him to see how much being here meant to her.
He reached for her and took her into his arms, bringing her down from the horse, and stood her barely an inch from him. He searched her eyes in that way of his and she thought, I want you to look at me like that for ever. Finally, she looked away, hiding from his scrutiny, pretending to find the lake fascinating, when all she could think of was him.
‘Do you know where you are?’ he asked, his voice low but strong.
‘This is where Hātem brought Catherine.’ Before she had to leave, Star concluded silently, trying to surf the wave of sadness that swept over her at the thought that she might soon be leaving too. ‘Why did you bring me here?’
He looked over her shoulder, the desert swallowing the sigh that escaped his lips. It was as if he needed a moment to gather himself because when he turned back to her, his eyes were fierce. His hand cupped her cheek, holding her gaze—as if she could or would ever look away from him.
‘I brought you here to remind you of the family who want you. Not just your sisters and your mother. But the family who knew you would come, following in their footsteps. To remind you of the one who trusted in her people, in the women of her blood and the women bound to those she loved. It is they who have kept her secret safe, ready and waiting for you. Not for anyone else. But you.
‘You have been waited upon for over one hundred and fifty years, Star Soames. That is no small thing.’
She felt his words in her soul, as if something ancient had been woken beneath the desert and was reaching for her. So when Khalif delved into the bag on his saddle and retrieved a small velvet pouch her heart didn’t pulse with surprise, it vibrated with an overwhelming feel of rightness. As if something predestined was finally coming to conclusion.
He took a necklace so familiar to Star from the pouch and held it up for her to inspect. She pressed slightly shaking fingers against her lips. This was what they had been looking for. It was the key to so much. To the past, to her mother’s future... So much rested on such a small, beautiful thing. Khalif had been right. There were subtle differences, but it could have easily been mistaken for the one that she was wearing around her neck.
‘May I?’
‘Of course. It is now yours,’ he said with a solemnity that felt ceremonial.
Taking it from him, she made her way blindly to the silks and woven rugs. She folded her legs beneath her, and she looped the gold chain over her head and brought the two pendants together.
She knew that they should fit together—Catherine’s coded message had said as much—but she didn’t quite... She ran her finger over the embossed pattern on the surface of the pendant and felt something shift. Pressing down released an indented piece of silver from the bottom of the pendant. She picked up Hātem’s pendant and did the same. Staring at the two pendants, she didn’t quite know what to do next. They needed to...
Khalif reached over. ‘May I?’ He seemed as lost in the task as she and she was happy to pass him the necklaces if it meant she could spend just a moment looking at the man who had given her more than he could ever know.
He turned the pendants in his hands, twisting and turning one piece while holding the other steady, and then, as if suddenly seeing how it could be, hooked one pendant into the other.
‘Oh,’ Star marvelled. Together the pieces created one key, the thick gold base forming the head and the two thinner silver offshoots forming the blade—the indentations becoming the ridges and notches that would fit into a lock.
Khalif pressed against the head of the key and the silver blade retracted into the body of the pendant. ‘There. You can now wear them together.’
She stared at him, shaking her head in wonder.
‘You don’t like it?’ he asked as if confused.
‘I do! I love it. I just... I don’t think I ever imagined actually finding it.’
I don’t think I ever imagined actually finding you. Finding the man I would love for the rest of my life.
‘Are you trying to tell me that you didn’t believe your search would have a happy ending? And you call yourself a romantic,’ he tsked.
She tried to swallow around the lump in her throat and a smile wobbled on her lips. ‘Of course I do.’
He held up the necklace. ‘Would you like me to—’
‘Actually...’ she said, rising quickly. ‘I’d like to explore,’ she exclaimed brightly, sure that the overly bright response had given her away, but he kindly let her go.
She couldn’t take the necklace. Not yet. Because that would be the end of her search in Duratra. She would be done and wearing the necklace, holding it complete as the key would be the end of her time here. Especially as she was almost sure that she wasn’t pregnant.
Khalif went to see Mavia, made sure that she had extra treats for carrying them both here. It hadn’t been a long journey and she would have all the rest she needed, as he and Star would be driving out of here tomorrow.
He could see that Star had been affected by the necklace. He had been too, not imagining for a moment how it would feel to give away something that had been worn by the women of his family for over one hundred and fifty years. In doing so, it felt as if he’d entrusted part of his family to her.
Something red flashed in his eyeline and he knew that Star had undone the long thick plait of her hair. He clenched his jaw against the need to turn and look. Instead he worked on building a fire, ignoring the way ripples of water lapped against the fertile green border of the pool.
While his imagination painted images of mermaids with flowing red tresses and mystical creatures, he unpacked the food he had brought, placing it in the cool fridges running from the almost silent generator behind the tent.
The staff from Alhafa had worked through the night to make this happen, happy to do a kindness to the woman who had brought life back to the palace. He marvelled at how quickly, readily and easily she had become their Queen. But would it make her happy? Would being royal, being a princess in a foreign land, be right for her? Becoming a spectacle for the world to investigate, judge and find wanting, no matter how perfect she was. Her life would be on display and at risk and he knew that he could not do that to someone as pure and beautiful as her.
The fire took, the crackle and burn mixing with the chirps of the cicadas and the cry of the birds that stopped at the oasis on their journey across the desert. Wind gently rustled the leaves in the trees and water rippled and in his mind’s eye he could see Star in the lake, her hair splayed on the surface and her body hidden from his gaze by the distortion of the liquid, no matter how pure.
His pulse pounded in his ears, blocking out the sounds of the desert. He cursed the wood beneath his hands because it wasn’t smooth, freckled skin, soft as satin. A swift inhale followed a pinprick and he looked down to find a splinter in his thumb. Frowning, he removed the sliver of wood, watching the tiny bloom of blood before pressing it to his lips.
He’d never wanted a woman like this.
And he never would again.
‘What happens if I’m not pregnant?’
Her voice, a little shaky, a lot tentative, came from behind him.
‘You’ve only told me about what happens if I am.’
Because he’d not wanted to let her go.
He cleared his throat from his emotions’ tight hold. ‘You will return to Norfolk. I will return to the throne.’
‘And that’s it?’
‘That’s it.’
‘I’ll never see you again?’
She had posed it as a question that he chose instead to take as a statement, unable to bring himself to answer. Silently he roared his fury. Everything in him wanted to reach for her, just one last time. Not damning the consequences, but fully understanding them and facing them. His mind taunted that it was a gift, this one night, more than either he or she should have ever expected, but his heart berated him. Maybe unconsciously he’d known that coming here wasn’t just for her, but for him—to have this, to have her. He was selfish and she deserved so much more.
‘Thank you for bringing me here.’ The finality of her tone ate at him. It was as if she were saying goodbye.
‘It was the least I could do.’ He paused, knowing that his next words would open up a path neither should take, but both seemed powerless to resist. ‘It may be the only thing I can do.’
‘I understand,’ she said quietly.
He spun around and pierced her with his gaze. ‘Do you?’ he demanded, furious with her, with himself. There wasn’t anything about this that he understood.
‘I do.’
It was then he took her in. Long red tresses soaked into ropes, lying flat against her skin. The long-sleeved white top almost transparent, revealing more than it concealed, pressed against her body the way he wanted to be.
His hands itched to reach for her, to take her, to pull her to him.
He was shaking his head as she took a step forward and stopped, but he caught the way she masked her hurt in an instant and he cursed. She turned to walk away, but he was up and reaching for her before she could take a second step, turning her in his arms before she could take another breath, and punishing her with a kiss—punishing them both—before he could think again. She gasped into his mouth and he took it within him, locked it away because that was how she made him feel. Shocked, awed, thrilled... He wanted her to remember this moment for the rest of her life, because he already knew he would.
Her arms came up to his shirt, her hands fisted the cotton, pulling him to her, their passion frantic, needy and desperate.
His hands flew over her wet T-shirt, lifting and pulling to reach her skin, as if only that would soothe the burning need within him. Hand flat against the base of her spine, he pressed her into him, her taut nipples pebbling into his chest, her neck beneath his tongue and teeth, all the while her nails scratched trails of fire into his skin.
This was madness, utter madness, but neither seemed able or willing to stop.
He pulled back, long enough to let her lust filled gaze clear, having never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life. ‘Star,’ he warned as he took her in, pupils wide with desire, breath heaving. She looked utterly gorgeous.
Her name felt like an apology on his lips and she wanted to shout at him, yell and scream that she didn’t want apologies, she wanted this. She wanted him. Needed him almost as much as her next breath. Before he could say another word, she pulled him to her, kissed him with all the passion she was capable of. All the surety she felt that, no matter the reality, no matter what happened tomorrow, he was the man she was supposed to love for the rest of her life.
His hands came around her waist, pressing against her hip and ass, and she lifted herself into them, wrapping her legs around his waist, glorying when she felt his erection at her core.
‘Please,’ she begged against his lips. ‘Please, just tonight. Just this.’
He raised a hand to sweep her hair from her face, holding her there, looking into her heart and soul. ‘Of course.’
That night, Star was lost in a sea of pleasure. Fingers tangled, tongues danced, her skin was alive beneath his touch. She felt a fire building deep within her, expanding and filling her until the point where she couldn’t contain it any more and an explosion of the most intangible beauty scattered her being across the star-covered desert.
Again and again he broke her into pieces, only to put her back together as something new, something different, and in that moment she knew she would never be the same again.
By the time the sun’s rays cut a path through the tent’s awning to rest against her skin, Star was aware that Khalif was no longer there. She dressed, her clothes feeling as if they didn’t quite fit, and a sense that the morning—and the day—wouldn’t quite be right fell against her soul.
She found him looking out across the desert.
‘What are you...?’ Her voice broke a little, her throat raw from screaming her pleasure through the night-time hours.
‘I was making a wish. I—’
‘Don’t tell me,’ she rushed out. ‘It won’t come true,’ she warned.
‘I was wishing not to be a prince.’
She swallowed the emotions begging to be released. It was a wish they knew couldn’t and shouldn’t come true.
‘You are a wonderful prince. Conscientious, careful about others and what they think, thoughtful about doing the best thing possible for the greatest number of people. You will make a good ruler. Fair, strong, determined.’
Still looking out into the desert, he quirked his lip into a wry smile. ‘Why do I hear a “but”?’
Star hurt for him, shook her head, but determined to say this to him. For him. ‘You are not being you. You are being the Prince you think they want.’
‘I am not my own any more. I am theirs,’ he said, as if trying to explain himself to someone who refused to see his truth. When in reality he was simply refusing to see hers.
‘You could be the ruler you want to be, if you are willing to stand by the consequences.’
She knew how that sounded, but Star really wasn’t thinking of herself. She was thinking of the man who had already begun to lose himself under the weight of the crown. ‘I wish I could have seen you before.’
‘What,’ he scoffed, ‘as the disreputable playboy?’
‘No. Just the boy.’
Khalif reared back as if she had struck him. He was about to reply when the roar of a Jeep’s engine cut through the desert.
They were out of time.