Sayid dragged his attention back to the introductions, smiling and making small talk with the group of older women who’d come to greet him.
‘My granddaughter is to be married soon and the girls are practising the dances for the celebration,’ one woman explained.
Just then there was a shout of laughter and another of warning. Sayid turned to see a little girl, who’d been trying to emulate the dancers, twirl too fast and lose her balance, running full tilt into Lina. A second little girl, presumably trying to catch her friend, raced after her but, dizzy from the spinning, toppled against her instead.
There was a flurry of skirts and Lina, with her two small assailants, tumbled to the ground.
The singing stopped, the other dancers whirling to a halt.
Then, breaking the silence, came the husky sound of laughter. It was joyous and uninhibited. Contagious too, especially when Lina’s face emerged from the tumble of bodies, wearing a grin as bright as the sun. Her laughter was like that too, bright and glorious.
It struck Sayid that he’d missed the sound of laughter these last years as he strove full-time to do his duty for his country.
As he watched, Lina reached for one little girl, tickling her. Then the sounds of mirth filled the courtyard as the two little girls squealed in mock dismay, pretending, but not too hard, to escape.
* * *
Lina’s hair was in her eyes and she was gasping as her two small tormentors tickled her, when a low rumbling sound caught her ears. Rich and mellow, warm and inviting, the male laughter tugged at something inside. She lifted her head, intrigued, brushing a swathe of hair back from her face.
One of the children took that as a cue to burrow closer and Lina automatically wrapped an arm around her. This pair was a delight and for some reason had shadowed Lina since she’d arrived.
Struggling up, she propped herself on her other hand and almost fell back to the floor. For standing near the courtyard entrance, at least a head taller than those around him, was the Emir, resplendent in white robes.
Sayid. The name whispered through her brain and she recalled the sound of it on her tongue, the delicious, dangerous taste of it as she’d called him that last night. Had she imagined that flare of desire in his eyes in response?
She didn’t know what to think. Logic said he’d wanted her, yet he’d put her aside easily.
Lina had told herself it was for the best. That kiss had been dangerous. But now cautious Lina was silent. Since last night a needy, yearning woman had taken her place. Her fixation on the man who’d turned her life around had morphed from a crush into full-blown infatuation.
She wanted Sayid. Never so much as now, hearing that lush, glorious laugh, seeing his face crease into a grin of simple amusement.
He’d never looked so devastatingly handsome. So young and approachable. As if she could go over there and speak to him as an equal. Lift her hand to that thick, soft dark hair covering his scalp and pull his head down to hers. She’d stand on tiptoe and lift her mouth to his and—
The laughter stopped as his eyes met hers.
There was a crack of instant, explosive tension she was surprised no one else seemed to hear. Suddenly her heart was racing faster than it had as she’d danced, and a fine film of heat glazed her skin from head to toe. One look, one smile, and she was undone. Even after last night’s rejection. Hot blood flooded her cheeks.
What was he doing here?
Why was he looking at her that way when he’d made it clear he was out of bounds after that kiss? He didn’t just look. His gaze devoured.
A second later the heat blazing in his eyes was banked and he turned to the older group surrounding him, saying something that made them nod.
Of course, he wasn’t here looking for her. What a stupid fantasy! He was here because he’d championed this centre and his staff were trying to convince people to send all their children to the new school nearby. Because the Emir believed it better for his people to want education than to force them.
Sayid was totally unlike his uncle. Parents had scared their children with stories of the previous Emir, a bogeyman who’d come to get them if they didn’t behave.
Sayid was no bogeyman but he drove her crazy, she decided as she got up and righted her two little companions. His position meant she couldn’t pursue her attraction—he’d made that clear as he put her aside last night and the memory stabbed her heart. Yet she couldn’t leave while she was obliged to him. She was caught like a moth, dazzled by flame. All she could do was endure.
For ninety minutes she was on her best behaviour, co-opted into the royal party as he finished his tour then entered the old souk, pausing here and there to talk to stallholders and shoppers alike. There were a couple of discreet guards but they hung back so there was no obvious barrier between Sayid and his people.
Again Lina was fascinated by what she saw. Not a man caught up in his own importance, but one who’d happily sample dates from the clawed hand of an ancient stallholder, who chatted easily with businesspeople and passers-by clustering around.
Nor was it just his ease that impressed her. It was the questions he asked and the way he listened. More than once Lina saw him nod to his secretary to take a note of a matter to be followed up. The walk-through wasn’t for show. His interest was genuine.
Lina admired Sayid, too much. Everything she learned confirmed her first impression, that he was a man worthy of respect. The trouble was, she felt far more than respect, which was why, on entering the citadel, she made to hurry to her room.
‘Not so fast, Lina. We have matters to discuss.’
He didn’t put out a hand to prevent her leaving, but that tone, with its ring of authority, stopped her in her tracks. This was her ruler, not the hungry man she’d clung to last night. The one who’d tasted of dark, sensual secrets she longed to learn.
Her nape prickled and suddenly her chest was too tight, as if her lungs had swollen and there was no room to breathe.
‘This way.’ He led her through grand reception rooms, past the throne room, thank goodness. Standing before him there on her first day back as he sat high on the royal dais had been one of the most daunting things she’d done.
He opened a door and Lina stepped into a book-lined room, splendid yet welcoming. The room where he’d promised to send her to school. Her gaze darted to the shelf of books she’d been unable to read all those years ago.
Pride stirred. She still preferred the spoken word to the written, but she’d worked hard to become literate.
Was he proud of what she’d achieved? He’d never said. Lina told herself it didn’t matter. She’d done it for herself, not him.
‘Take a seat.’
Obediently she sat, only to find Sayid had planted himself in the centre of the room, feet wide and hands clasped behind his back. His stance projected power and authority, yet the line of his jaw and the set of his shoulders gave the impression of tension.
Memory flashed, of his taut body against hers as he kissed her senseless. But she was the one on edge because of that. He’d taken it in his stride.
‘I’ve been thinking about your future, Lina. You can’t stay here indefinitely.’
It was what Lina had wanted—to get on with her life. Yet, rather than rejoicing, pain tore through her. She wasn’t ready to leave him. Especially after last night. It had been like opening a door and stepping into a whole new glorious world. She felt transformed by what she’d experienced in Sayid’s arms.
Pride and sense came to her rescue. ‘Of course not.’
He nodded, yet his dark eyebrows angled down in the centre of his forehead as if he were displeased.