Cold and sandy, she thought dolefully. Oh, joy.
CHAPTER SEVEN
THE NIGHT SKY was a great arching black velvet expanse spangled with white glittering stars and it was, indisputably, very beautiful. The fire crackled and burned with blue and orange flames that were almost hypnotic, light leaping and casting shadows over the robed and armed men guarding the encampment. Dinner in the desert with a crown prince demanded a substantial number of people in support and protection roles, Izzy reflected ruefully.
There was the cook and his helpers, who had slaved over a brazier to provide a wholly impractical elaborate meal that ran to several courses. There were also Rafiq’s bodyguards, the maid hovering for Izzy’s benefit, lest she might need some service carried out. There was a black cloth tent behind them for their comfort and given the excuse she would have retreated to it because it looked cosy and she was horribly cold, in spite of the layers she wore. Across the fire, musicians pounded skin drums softly, another man plucking at a stringed instrument that resembled a mandolin while two more wielded flutes. The music was rhythmic and melodic, the muted beat of the drums humming through her bones.
‘My brother will visit us tomorrow. He is eager to meet you,’ Rafiq told her quietly, after they had eaten.
With their backstory, Izzy winced a little at the prospect. ‘What have you told him about us?’
‘Very little. He has no interest in the details. Let me be blunt—you are the answer to Zayn’s every prayer,’ Rafiq declared with amusement. ‘With me married and on track to have an heir, he finally has the freedom to do as he likes. He will join the army, train at Sandhurst, abseil down cliffs, shoot and blow up things. The active life of a professional soldier has always been his dream, but it was deemed too dangerous for the younger son who still had to marry and produce an heir and he was barred from it until now.’
‘It’s good to know that our…er…misfortune will bring someone else a happy result.’
‘Our children are not a misfortune,’ Rafiq sliced in with ruthless bite, grasping her slender fingers in emphasis, and then his ebony brows shot up and knotted into a frown. ‘Your skin is like ice…why didn’t you tell me that you were so cold?’ he demanded, vaulting upright and carrying her up with him in the sudden movement. ‘We’ll use the tent.’
He urged her inside and she blinked rapidly, momentarily blinded by the brilliance of the many intricate jewelled glass lanterns that hung from the poles above them and sprinkled the soft rugs on the floor with slanting shards of rainbow colour. He tugged her down onto an opulent sofa scattered with cushions and rubbed her slender spine as if he could somehow force heat into her chilled bones.
Taking in her luxury surroundings, she laughed. ‘Your people can’t really have carted around all this furniture when they travelled into the desert.’
‘Of course not, but this is what my father taught the staff at Alihreza to do. He never set foot out in the desert without insisting on every possible comfort,’ Rafiq told her wryly, arranging a velvet throw round her shoulders and then laughing as he looked down at her, touching the pink tip of her small nose. ‘You’re bundled up in so much cloth you look like a baby being swaddled!’
Izzy gazed up into stunning dark golden eyes fringed with black curling lashes and her heart skipped an entire beat, her body engulfed by such a wash of heat that she broke out in nervous perspiration and quickly shrugged her shoulders to emerge from the cocoon of cloth she was wrapped in. ‘Just being in here warms me up,’ she muttered awkwardly, ducking her head down to break that visual connection in case he guessed what being that close to him did to her wretched hormones.
Long brown fingers pushed up her chin and their eyes met again, colour warming her cheeks, her lips softly parting. A growl broke free low in his throat as he scanned that pink pouting invitation and his mouth crashed down on hers with a raw hunger that stole her breath away.
‘I’m burning up for you,’ he breathed raggedly as he finally wrenched his mouth from hers to allow her to catch her breath.
Staring at him, Izzy sucked in oxygen like a drowning swimmer until instinct drove her back for more of his mouth, hunger sizzling through her like a forest fire that had only required a spark to blaze. Her hands slid up over his shoulders and locked in the lush depths of his hair, a gasp sounding from her as his tongue tangled with hers and then plunged deep, sending a piercing shard of need arrowing to the very heart of her.
Without warning, she was on her back on the sofa and Rafiq was engaged in impatiently extracting her from her clothes and removing his own. Nothing had ever felt so desperate for her as that overpowering need to feel his skin against her skin.
‘We weren’t going to do this,’ Rafiq growled the reminder as he straddled her in the act of pulling off his T-shirt before jerking down the zip on his jeans.
‘Shut up,’ Izzy said resolutely, running exploring hands appreciatively up over his bare bronzed torso and rejoicing in the sheer heat and masculinity of him.
Rafiq came down to her again like a man compelled by an unseen force, seeking her parted lips again, fiercely exploring and plundering. Izzy moaned low in the back of her throat as his wide chest crushed her throbbing nipples
