were still curled around her wrist and he showed no intention of letting her go. “I am not accustomed to being questioned in my actions by a servant.”
The words were dismissive, his tone arrogant, even cold, but the look in his eyes wasn’t. She’d never heard of brown fire before, but it was there in his gaze right now.
Hot enough to burn the air right from her lungs.
Nevertheless, her professional demeanor leaned toward dignified, not subservient. By necessity, she pulled the cool facade she’d perfected early in life around her with comfortable familiarity.
“And I am not used to being manhandled by hotel guests.” She stared pointedly at his hold on her wrist, expecting him to release her immediately.
It wasn’t acceptable in the more conservative culture of Zeena Sahra for him to touch any single woman outside his immediate family—and that did not include cousins—much less one that was a complete stranger to him.
However, his hold remained. “This is hardly manhandling.”
His thumb rubbed over her pulse point and Liyah had no hope of suppressing her shiver of reaction.
His heated gaze reflected confusion, as well. “I don’t understand this.”
He’d spoken in the dialect of his homeland, no doubt believing she wouldn’t know what he was saying. She didn’t disabuse him of the belief.
She couldn’t. Words were totally beyond her.
For the first time in her life, she craved touch worse than dark chocolate during that most inconvenient time of the month.
“You are an addiction,” he accused, his tone easy to interpret even if she hadn’t spoken the Zeena Sahran dialect fluently.
Suddenly embarrassed, wondering if she’d done something to invite his interest and reveal her own, she pulled against his hold. He let go, but his body moved closer, not farther away, the rustle of his traditional robes the only sound besides their breathing in the quiet elevator.
With shock she realized there was no subtle sound of pulleys because he’d pushed the stop button.
She stared up at him, her heart in her throat. “Emir?”
“Sayed. My name is Sayed.”
And she wasn’t about to use it. Only she did, whispering, “Sayed,” in an involuntary expulsion of soft sound.
Satisfaction flared in his dark eyes, a line of color burnishing his cheekbones. For whatever reason, the emir liked hearing his name on her lips.
He touched the name badge attached to her black suit jacket. “Amari is not your name.”
“It is.” Her voice came out husky, her throat too tight for normal speech.
“Not your given name.”
“Aaliyah,” she offered before her self-protection kicked in.
“Lovely.” He brushed the name tag again and, though it was solid plastic, she felt the touch as if it had been over bare skin. “Your parents are traditionalists.”
“Not exactly.” Liyah didn’t consider Hena’s decision to make an independent life for herself and her illegitimate daughter traditional.
Hena had simply wanted to give Liyah as many connections to the country of her mother’s birth as she could. Hena had also said she’d wanted to speak hope for her daughter’s life every time she used her name, which meant high exalted one.
It was another example of the deceased woman’s more romantic nature than that of her pragmatic daughter.
Liyah doubted very much if Gene Chatsfield had anything to do with naming her at all.
“Your accent is American,” Sayed observed.
“So is yours.”
He shrugged. “I was educated in America from the age of thirteen. I did not return to Zeena Sahra to live until I finished graduate school.”
She knew that. His older brother’s tragic death in a bomb meant for the melech had changed the course of Sayed’s life and his country’s future.
Further political unrest in surrounding countries and concerns for their only remaining son’s safety had pushed the melech and his queen to send Sayed to boarding school. It wasn’t exactly a state secret.
Nor was the fact that Sayed had opted to continue his education through a bachelor’s in world politics and a master’s in management, but having him offer the information made something strange flutter in Liyah’s belly.
Or maybe that was just his nearness.
The guest elevators at the Chatsfield were spacious by any definition, but the confined area felt small to Liyah.
“You’re not very western in your outlook,” she said, trying to ignore the unfamiliar desires and emotions roiling through her.
“I am the heart of Zeena Sahra. Should my people and their ways not be the center of mine?”
She didn’t like how much his answer touched her. To cover her reaction she waved her hand between the two of them and said, “This isn’t the way of Zeena Sahra.”
“You are so sure?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“So you have studied my country.” He sounded way too happy about that possibility.
“Don’t take it personally.”
He laughed, the honest sound of genuine amusement more compelling than even the uninterrupted regard of the extremely handsome man. “You are not like other women.”
“You’re the emir.”
“You are saying other women are awed by me.”
She gave him a wry look and said dryly, “You’re not conceited at all, are you?”
“Is it conceit to recognize the truth?”
She shook her head. Even arrogant, she found this man irresistible and had the terrible suspicion he knew it, too.
Unsure how she got there, she felt the wall of the elevator at her back. Sayed’s body was so close his outer robes brushed her. Her breath came out on a shocked gasp.
He brushed her lower lip with his fingertip. “Your mouth is luscious.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“Is it?” he asked, his head dipping toward hers.
“Yes.” Was this how it had begun with her mother and father? “I’m not part of amenities.”
No wonder Hena had spent so much effort warning Liyah against the seductions of men.
“I
