Sure, she’d melted at his touch, would have let him take everything he wanted, taken everything he gave. But he had no illusions. That surrender wouldn’t be repeated. For some reason, she was averse to letting him back into her bed. Perhaps the career woman she was wanted her men safe and convenient, when he was anything but. Or she feared indulging her lust would compromise her career. Whatever it was, the element of surprise had been expended. All he had now was post-almost-sex upheaval.
He had to strike again while the iron was white-hot.
He exited the shower cubicle, didn’t bother drying anything but his hands, strode across the hotel suite to his cell phone.
He dialed her number, gritted his teeth as he waited for her to pick up.
She would. Because she wouldn’t recognize his number.
“Hello?”
He squeezed his eyes. Aih. It hadn’t been temporary insanity. If one breathy hello could have him fully hard all over again, she now operated his hormonal controls.
His lips twitched in self-deprecation at his weakness, in satisfaction at intending to give in to it thoroughly.
“Is Cherie gone?”
The silence that greeted his question indicated that it had stopped her breathing. Good. He shouldn’t be the only one having trouble breathing over this thing between them.
“I can come over if she is.” He marveled at the humorous, sensual goading that came so naturally when he talked to her. “Better still, you come to me. I’m at Burj Al Samaa.”
“Your turf is a hotel room?” she finally said. “And what would your terms be? Something from the room-service menu?”
A laugh rumbled from his gut. Ya Ullah, but this was new. He’d never enjoyed her wit this much before. But then, he hadn’t known she was witty. Now that he thought about it, they’d talked last night more than they’d talked in a month back then. Their limited, stolen times together had been consumed mostly by hot and heavy sex. Back then, all the talking she’d done had been with Jalal. He’d felt left out, and he hadn’t even known how much he’d missed.
He wouldn’t miss a thing now. He’d have it all. All the fire and friction and fun of her.
“But I’m proposing a continuation of our first round, not a second one. That will be on my turf and terms.”
“You’re …” He could tell she muffled the phone with her hand. He could still decipher what she said. “I’ll only be a moment. Sure, I’ll take another cup of tea.”
His smile froze. She … sounded totally different. Easygoing and eager. She’d never sounded like that with him. Not even when she’d been claiming to love him.
Then he heard the voice that answered her. Distant and muted. But definitely male.
Something hot and harsh spread like an intravenous shot of lava in his veins. Something he’d only ever felt on her account. Jealousy …
Jealousy? Now, that was idiotic. There was no application for anything like that in their situation. He shouldn’t … didn’t care what she did or who she did it with.
Even if he was stupid enough to care, she was probably at work, and that was a colleague or an assistant and he was again blowing things out of proportion …
“Listen, you exasperating lout. I spent this morning trying to resolve the mess you left behind, and the only thing I’ll do if I come to your temporary turf is kick you where it counts. So it would be potency-preserving for you to get off my case.”
Her threats still tickled him. But he couldn’t laugh this time. Not after he’d heard her talking to that man. Hearing the difference in her voice now doused his enjoyment.
He still attempted a rejoinder. “Tut-tut, is that any way to talk to your probable new king?”
“First, I’m American if you’ve forgotten, so at best, the king of Azmahar would be my boss. Second, cows will skate before you become king. So stop wasting everyone’s time and fly back to whatever vultures’ aerie you swooped down from.”
It was no use. Even with the tightness in his chest, which he wouldn’t even try to analyze, every word that pelted out of her mouth seemed to find a receptor in his humor centers.
His lips spread. “The only time I’ll swoop down will be to carry you away, my luscious lamb.”
“Then too late in midair, you’ll find out I’m no such thing.”
“Aih. Thankfully. But the feline you really are is why you found me irresistible.”
She used to say he was aptly named, a human lion. He’d called her his wildcat, his lioness, among other things.
“Nowadays, the world doesn’t give a fig about your irresistibility, like I don’t. But unlike you, who clearly aren’t here to take part in resolving the crisis but to indulge in obnoxious score-settling, I have work to do. You had your fun last night, so be a good evil mogul and let me get on with it.”
He lay back on the bed, hard as rock again. “How counterproductive can you get? You’ve just said the magic words that will assure that you won’t see the last of me. Not before I make you eat those words, of course. Out of my hand. Again.”
She didn’t answer for a long moment. His breath shortened, his every muscle quivered with arousal and anticipation. What was that unpredictable storm of fire and femininity up to now?
“Satisfied your last-word syndrome? Just like you did your have-your-way disorder last night?”
And he laughed, deep and delighted. “I knew you had to be brilliant to be where you are today. But that’s a truly novel way to have the last word, ya naari. I concede. This round goes to you.”
“Oh, joy. You mean I can go now?”
“You mean you can’t hang up on me?”
She did.
He laughed again, long and loud, as he hadn’t done in … probably ever. Certainly never when he’d been alone.
Then he headed to the shower again.
He came out half an hour later, made a few phone calls.
He got the lay of the land, the schedule of relevant events for the next week. The most important function was next evening at the royal palace. A gathering of all political and economic figures engaging in the dance of trying to figure out how not to end up at the bottom of the food chain.
Roxanne was going to mediate the rituals.
Although she’d known because of her sensitive position, he was sure his candidacy wasn’t public knowledge yet. Sure, he must have invaded the gossip circles and social media with his stunt at her door by now, but people probably thought he was just passing through, that she was the focus of his visit. He could still resume the secrecy of his purpose in Azmahar.
But she wanted him gone. Better. She’d hurled the gauntlet in his face. That settled it.
To hell with flying under the radar.
Time to prove to her he could get cows to skate.
Time to make an official swoop on Azmahar’s vacant court.
The last rays of a blazing sunset were giving way to the dominion of a velvety evening as Haidar arrived at the edifice he’d been recruited to take over.
He pulled his rented Mercedes to a stop in the wide-as-a-four-lane-highway driveway and gazed up at it through the windshield. Twilight conspired with shadow-enhancing, detail-popping lighting to make it look like some colossal creature from a Dungeons & Dragons fantasy.
He exhaled, slammed out of the car. Qusr Al Majd—