‘Better?’ Tadj soothed when she tumbled noisily off the cliff edge. Moving convulsively to claim the last pulse of pleasure, she was incapable of speech. ‘Is that what you needed?’ he crooned huskily, with a smile of very masculine triumph in his tone.
She could only groan with contentment when he started again. ‘See what happens when you’re a very good girl,’ he murmured.
‘I can’t be good all the time,’ she warned.
‘I noticed,’ he said, seeming pleased.
‘And I’m no pushover,’ she insisted groggily, with a small contented smile.
‘Of course not,’ Tadj confirmed.
‘Did I detect a faint mocking note in your voice?’ she challenged, turning her head to spear a stare into his eyes.
‘Did I detect some residual need here?’ he countered, teasing her in the way she loved.
To hell with it! Thrusting her hips, she claimed him.
* * *
What a wonderful day, Lucy thought, feeling elated as she pulled on her jeans and top after bathing in the lagoon. Her body was still tingling from Tadj’s expert lovemaking. She wanted more. She would always want more, where Tadj was concerned, though she was excited to see what came next when they visited the sapphire mines.
First, there was a short journey by helicopter, which Tadj piloted once again, and when they landed, he announced, ‘We’ll take the SUV from here.’
His excitement was infectious. Gone was the stern and aloof Emir, and in his place at last was the guy she’d met in a café. ‘Are you up for it?’ he asked, nuzzling her neck.
‘For everything,’ she said, sharing a scorching look.
He was so hot, how was she ever going to concentrate? Lucy wondered as they climbed into the vehicle. Tadj’s profile was all the more appealing for being so stern. He made her want his arms around her. With forearms like steel girders, deeply tanned and dusted with just the right amount of jet-black hair, there was no surprise there. Tadj was a stunning sight, in bed or out of it—but more complex than she had ever imagined.
‘Some seams of sapphire are found in rock and call for conventional mining methods,’ he explained in the low, husky tone that made her body thrill with pleasure. He glanced across, the heat in his gaze suggesting Tadj knew that Lucy’s focus wasn’t solely on the precious gems. ‘Others turn up in streams, or even in the silt of a wadi, and need nothing more than a sieve to fish them out. What?’ he asked.
‘You,’ Lucy admitted. ‘I like you better up here in the mountains. You’re a different man.’
‘Than the one who was in bed with you a couple of hours ago?’ His mocking frown teased every part of her as he leaned across to drop a kiss on her neck. ‘I’m the same man with different interests,’ he said, straightening up again.
What did the future hold? she wondered. It was all too easy to think that Tadj, in his banged-up jeans and a simple black top, really was the fun guy she’d met in a café, and it was tough remembering he was the Emir of Qalala, with a different life from hers.
The trip to the mine brightened things up again. It went much better than Lucy had hoped. She was fascinated by the work underground, where the air was warm and still, and on the ground where the mountain breezes whipped at her clothes as she watched the sapphires go through their initial sorting. Tadj had an enthusiastic team in place, and the very latest in equipment, and she couldn’t help but want to be part of it, to the point where she was already working on some ideas for the exhibition.
‘I think we could improve things here at your heritage centre,’ she told Tadj frankly, when he invited comments from the team. ‘You have some of the world’s most spectacular jewels on display in what appears to me to be an uninviting warehouse. Visitors should be taken on a journey—a pictorial tour of all the various mining methods, where they can see examples of rough stones before they’re cut, and then the polished jewels, both before and after they’re set.’
As murmurs of agreement rose from his team, he knew he’d made the right choice in Lucy. Whether that was enough to persuade her to stay in Qalala was the big question, and remained to be seen.
‘There needs to be a lush floor covering that creates a hushed atmosphere of wonder and awe,’ she went on. ‘And, of course, discreet lighting—and music to set the mood.’
‘I can see your enthusiasm is infectious,’ he told her as they left to smiling goodbyes, leaving his team to discuss the latest ideas.
His staff had arranged a picnic by the wadi where he and Lucy could spend time alone. It had rained recently, so the dried-up riverbed now provided a perfect swimming pool, where they could freshen up and cool down after a busy morning touring the mine. As the blistering heat of late afternoon slipped into the cooler lilac light of dusk they settled down to enjoy the feast his chefs had prepared, which was both simple and delicious, made even more so by freshly squeezed juice that his attendants had thoughtfully left cool in bottles they’d tethered in the stream.
Rolling onto his back, he stared up at the bowl of sky overhead, as it turned from a clear, cloudless blue to gold and crimson, as the day moved slowly into night. A chill breeze blew up as the lavender dusk, threaded through with smoky grey, lost its colour completely as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.
‘This is even more beautiful than anything I’ve seen so far,’ Lucy enthused softly at his side. ‘You live in the most ravishing country. I’m not sure you deserve it,’ she added, turning onto her stomach to stare at him with a cheeky sideways frown.
He laughed as he drew her into his arms. He was a man as well as an emir, but when he kissed Lucy Gillingham he felt like the king of the world. Seeing everything through Lucy’s eyes had given him the greatest pleasure imaginable today. And she was right in that Qalala was beautiful. He found it even more so with Lucy at his side. ‘So, you’ll stay?’ he whispered, feeling confident he knew her answer.
‘For a fixed contract,’ she agreed. ‘I think that would be sensible, don’t you?’
What he thought wasn’t printable. Pulling back, he stared at her. That certainly wasn’t the answer he’d expected. ‘The jewellery you’ve seen must tour the world in the New Year, which means that time is at a premium.’
‘It can’t be organised exclusively to your timetable. I have a baby to consider.’
Anger and frustration propelled him up. Why was it that nothing was ever certain with Lucy?
‘I have college to finish,’ she reminded him as she clambered to her feet. ‘I need my qualifications before I have the baby.’
‘I have forgotten nothing,’ he assured her coolly. ‘And, as you have just so eloquently pointed out, the clock is ticking.’
‘I’m going home for Christmas,’ she informed him.
‘Home?’ he queried.
‘Yes. Back to the laundry.’
‘And if that doesn’t suit me?’
‘Look,’ she said, obviously trying to be reasonable. ‘I don’t want to appear ungrateful for the wonderful offer you’ve made me here, or spoil what has been a memorable and very special day. I’m longing to work with your team. In fact, I feel quite passionately about it, as if it were meant to be.’
‘But you’re not passionate about staying with me?’
‘I didn’t say that. And it isn’t true. It’s