Hot Arabian Nights

‘Oh, yes, that,’ she cried out before she could stop herself. ‘I mean—I didn’t mean...’

‘This?’ Azhar said, doing it again. ‘You mean this? Do not be shy Julia, how am I to learn what pleases you, if you don’t share it with me?’

‘Everything you’ve done pleases me.’

‘Then let me please you some more,’ he said. He kissed her and he stroked her, tongue and fingers entering her in unison, arousing her in unison, making her tighten around him, making her moan against him, making her arch her body so that he could thrust higher. She could hear herself pleading and moaning, and she couldn’t stop herself. She clung on, not wanting it to end, afraid that it would not end, but then Azhar urged her to let go, and he did something new and magical and she had no choice but to let go, with a shuddering cry, to cling on to him as her climax ripped through her, hot and wild as the desert just behind them, rippling like the soft sands of that desert, leaving her as alive, as bright and vivid as the desert sky above them, as if all that colour and all that exotic beauty had been infused into her veins.

* * *

‘Goodness.’ Julia blushed. ‘I mean—goodness.’

Her utter delight, and the fact that she made no attempt to disguise it, was refreshing as well as arousing. Not that Azhar needed to be further aroused. ‘Surely you are not at a loss for words?’ he teased.

The hectic flush on her cheeks deepened. ‘I am not in the habit of talking after such events. Or during. Not that such events are—oh, you know what I mean.’

He pushed her hair back from her face. ‘The pleasure of such events, as you call them, can be enhanced by communication.’

‘It was certainly pleasurable for me,’ Julia said. ‘But you...’

‘We have a saying, Julia. Any journey has many destinations. That was merely the first stage along the way. And sufficient for now.’ She looked unconvinced. Truth be told, he would give a great deal for a welcome release, especially looking at her now, hair wild, her tunic in disarray, her nipples still clearly defined through the silk. ‘Part of my pleasure is watching you learn to enjoy yours, Julia. To help you learn, if you wish me to, though I suspect that, freed from constraint, you may help me learn too.’

‘I can’t imagine how that would be possible. I don’t know what you want, and even if I did...’

‘Julia, when the time comes, I promise you will know.’

She smiled uncertainly. ‘I hope the time comes soon. I can’t believe I’ve already been here nearly a week. Only three more, and I will be heading back to England.’

She had not meant it, but her words were as effective as a dousing of icy cold water. In three weeks, he too would be claiming his freedom. Though it was all he longed for, it was a frighteningly small amount of time to achieve all that was required. It also meant that he had only another three weeks to spend with Julia, and oddly, for he was not at all in the habit of spending any significant time with a woman, that also seemed too brief. He liked her. He’d better be careful not to like her too much. ‘You are certain that another three weeks will be sufficient for your purposes?’ Azhar asked.

‘Oh, yes,’ Julia replied blithely. ‘There are more than sufficient plants even within the small part of this lovely kingdom I have already visited to complete Daniel’s book in that time. Besides, in three weeks’ time I am sure you will be more than ready to take your rightful place as the King of Qaryma, and anxious to do so.’

Honesty, he had asked of her, yet he had not been honest with her in return, and looking down into her frank green eyes, Azhar realised that he did not want to lie to her. Though he had known her only a few days, all his instincts told him he could trust her. ‘Julia, I won’t be taking the crown from Kamal in three weeks.’

‘You need more time?’

‘I won’t be taking the crown from Kamal at all,’ Azhar said. ‘My father did us both a great disservice by his refusal to change the line of inheritance. When I left ten years ago, it was for ever. I have not come here to take up my crown, Julia, I have come to hand it over. In three weeks’ time, I intend to abdicate.’

Chapter Six (#ub915ee44-d9cc-576a-82bc-32f661f6b28f)

‘Enter,’ Julia called out brightly in Arabic, in response to the tap on the door of her suite, assuming it was her maid come to clear away the breakfast dishes. She finished rolling the last of the dried plant roots she had collected two days ago in protective cotton before placing them carefully in the replacement specimen trunk. She looked up, smiling. ‘See how perfect a home it is for my growing collection of specimens,’ she said.

But it was not the maid who stood watching her, it was Azhar. ‘Your return visit to the village at the oasis was productive, then?’ he asked.

‘Oh! I was expecting Aisha. Yes, very productive. Johara and I managed to communicate passably well, between my limited vocabulary and a lot of gesticulating.’

Azhar was clad in bottle-green today, his trousers and tunic both made of silk. ‘I am sorry that I could not stay to act as your translator.’

‘You had your own business to attend to at the diamond mine. I hope your day was equally as productive.’

‘Not particularly. The mine itself is apparently not as productive as it once was but I was unable to get a clear explanation as to why.’

‘Perhaps the reserves are simply running out.’

‘Perhaps, but it is a source of concern none the less.’ Azhar rubbed his eyes wearily. ‘The trade in diamonds provides Qaryma with one of its main sources of wealth. The impact of the decrease in output is starkly reflected in the Treasury accounts which I spent yesterday reviewing—much to my brother’s chagrin, needless to say.’

‘You surely don’t suspect him of fraud?’ Julia exclaimed.

Azhar shrugged. ‘I have no reason to suspect him of anything. I wish merely to ensure that everything is in order.’

‘Before you hand full control over to him, you mean.’ Julia closed the lid of her new specimen trunk and pushed it to one side. ‘We have barely had a chance to talk since you told me of your intention to abdicate power.’

‘Were you shocked?’

‘Very at first, and then I recalled what you said to me that day, when we were approaching the city for the first time. That you were here at the behest of a dead man to claim your freedom.’ Julia smiled faintly. ‘I didn’t understand what you meant at the time but I can now see you meant to be free of the crown. If that is the case, Azhar, if you are truly resolved to leave here, I can’t understand what you need me for?’

‘That has not changed. It is extremely important to me to leave in the firm knowledge that Qaryma is in safe hands. There is a real danger that I may see only what I want to see. A fresh perspective is what I need, and you are the ideal person to provide it. Someone dispassionate, with no emotional attachment to Qaryma.’

Exactly as he had described himself, Julia thought but did not say. ‘Why haven’t you told Kamal of your plans? You intend to trust him with your kingdom, yet you don’t trust him with the knowledge that it will be his. Unless—is this some sort of test period? To allow you to assess him—but then, if he fails...’

‘He won’t fail. He cannot be allowed to fail. It is impossible for me to remain here, Julia. My freedom has been very hard won.’

‘Until you actually abdicate, your freedom has not been won at all,’ she replied tartly.

Azhar’s laugh was bitter. ‘You are quite correct. For the last ten years, the freedom I thought I had claimed was a mirage.’

‘You really did think your father had disinherited you?’

‘I had every reason to.’

‘It must have been a terrible shock to discover he had not. You said you received a summons to tell you your father was dead, I think?’

‘The summons was from my father, though he instructed that it be sent only on the occasion of his death. He clearly had no desire to be reconciled with me, our estrangement was every bit as final as I believed it to be. Unlike your husband, my father could not control my actions while he was alive, but—’

‘By refusing to disinherit you, he was forcing you to return against your will. He was trying to control you from beyond the grave,’ Julia interrupted, her eyes wide. ‘Just exactly like Daniel!’

‘Precisely. I knew you of all people would understand.’

‘I do. I must say, though, that you must be in a tiny minority of men who would willingly renounce such a powerful and privileged position.’

‘Most men do not understand all that being in a position of power entails. Power comes with great responsibility attached. As a king, I would be constrained by my duty to my kingdom, bound to it by my crown. That is not freedom.’

Julia shuddered. ‘No, indeed, but as the eldest son you must have grown up knowing Qaryma would one day be yours.’

‘And railing against that fate, though I never believed I could avoid it. I never wanted to rule, whereas Kamal—it is one of the things that made him so angry the other day in the garden. He has always desperately wanted to rule. Even when we were children, it was a bone of contention. He wanted it but could not have it. I had no interest in it but was burdened with it. The irony has always eaten away at him.’

Julia rolled her eyes. ‘I can imagine. Were you never close? I know almost nothing of your past.’

‘That is because I have put it behind me,’ Azhar said. Julia drew him a sceptical look, forcing him to throw his hands up. ‘By the time I leave here, it will be behind me for ever.’