and a plate of shop-bought biscuits on a tray. She was thinking and picturing. Remembering.
‘Here we are.’ She kept her voice brisk and her smile sunny as she set the tray on the coffee table. Khaled sat up, murmuring his thanks, his left leg stretched out stiffly.
Lucy handed him his coffee. ‘Have you taken your medication today?’
‘I don’t need it,’ Khaled replied shortly.
‘Is your knee still flaring up?’
‘A bit, but I can handle it.’ His dark eyes clashed with hers, filled with warning. ‘Don’t talk to me as a therapist, Lucy.’
‘Then as what?’ She’d meant the question lightly, but it came out as more of a demand.
‘How about as a woman?’ Khaled said. His eyes had suddenly turned heavy-lidded, his smile languorous, and Lucy knew what that meant.
Come here, Lucy. Come here to me.
And she’d come. God help her, she’d always trotted to him with the pathetic obedience of a little lapdog.
‘Although it’s a difficult question, isn’t it, Lucy?’ Khaled continued lazily. ‘How are we to relate to one another? What can we be to one another?’
‘Nothing,’ Lucy replied, and was glad her voice didn’t waver. She was already feeling the tug of sensual hunger deep in her belly, sending a wave of need crashing through her.
‘Nothing?’ Khaled repeated musingly. He reached out and threaded his fingers through Lucy’s hair. The slight, simple touch nearly had her shuddering. How had she ever forgotten the kind of effect he had on her? It was more powerful than any drug or medication that could be prescribed.
She’d been a slave to it, to him, helplessly bound by her own attraction, her own need. And it was happening again; she was still, unmoving, letting him touch her.
Wanting it…
Khaled rubbed her hair between his fingers, his expression almost harsh with desire. ‘I’ve wanted this for a long time,’ he murmured. ‘I’ve dreamed of it, of touching you…’
Had he? Lucy wondered fuzzily. How was that possible, when she was so certain he’d completely forgotten her?
He had to have forgotten her, for nothing else made sense.
‘Khaled…’
‘Say my name,’ Khaled commanded, his voice ragged. ‘Say it again. I love it when you say my name.’
‘Khaled…’ she said again, desperately, for they had to stop this madness before it got too far.
Then his fingers slipped from her hair to her face, cradling her cheek, using the motion to draw her towards him. And Lucy went, drawn by her own need and desire, until she was half on her knees next to him on the sofa, every nerve, sense and sinew straining towards him.
‘Lucy.’ He spoke with a needy desperation that surprised her, for she’d never thought of him needing anything. Needing her. Yet at that moment, seeing his eyes clenched shut as he drew her to him, she felt as if he needed her very much.
And she needed him.
His other hand came up to cradle her face and draw her towards him, her hands braced against his shoulders as his lips hovered over hers. ‘Lucy.’
Her lips parted, waiting, wanting—and then he kissed her.
It was softly at first, little more than a brush, a kiss that said, ‘hello, do you remember me?’
And she did. Her lips parted under his, her mouth opening in invitation and acceptance.
Khaled deepened the kiss until the sensation of his touching her, tasting her, flooded her whole body; she melted towards him, his arms coming round to draw her in closer, fitting her so neatly, so perfectly, against him. Her head fell back and he kissed her lips, her cheek, her throat, behind her ear, as she moaned, remembering how he’d known that place turned her helpless.
Her hands drove into his hair, caressed the nape of his neck, the curve of his shoulder, before resting against the hard plane of his chest. Her hands remembered how he felt, all the hidden places, the way she’d touched him with such pleasurable abandon.
Somehow they’d both moved and were now stretched out along the sofa, Khaled half on top of her, his body braced on one forearm. It was a position that allowed Lucy to feel his whole body against hers, and one leg almost of its own accord twined around his.
Khaled groaned against her lips and captured her mouth once more in a kiss as his hands drifted down, leaving fire wherever they touched.
Stop. They had to stop. Her mind kept repeating this litany even as the rest of her resolutely ignored it. She wanted this. She wanted it more than she’d ever realised. So now that it was happening she wondered how she’d existed for so long without Khaled, without his touch, his love.
But he doesn’t love you.
And suddenly her body was recalling another memory, the pain and shame she’d felt wash through her when the doorman at his building had told her he’d left.
Is he coming back?
No, miss. He has left the flat. There’s no forwarding address.
There must be a letter…
No, miss. I’m sorry.
Lucy flattened her hands against Khaled’s chest and pushed. ‘We can’t do this.’
He stilled above her, and she was afraid that he would try to seduce her—afraid because she didn’t think she could resist.
A long, taut moment passed and then Khaled rolled off her into a sitting position. His hair was mussed, and a faint flush stained his cheekbones. Both of their breathing was ragged.
‘You’re right.’
Disappointment and, worse, rejection sliced through her, mingling with the unfulfilled desire coursing through her. She pushed the feelings away. ‘We can’t have a physical relationship, Khaled,’ she said, and was amazed at how strong and sure her voice sounded. Inside she felt a mess. Her lips were swollen, and her body tingled where he’d touched her. ‘For Sam’s sake we need to stay…professional.’
‘Professional?’ Khaled arched one eyebrow. He looked remarkably recovered from their kiss, and Lucy saw a new hardness in his eyes that she didn’t like. ‘Is that really possible, Lucy?’
‘Friends, then,’ she said with an edge of sharpness. ‘Acquaintances, colleagues—use whatever term you prefer, Khaled. But I can’t have a physical relationship with you again. I won’t.’
‘Just for Sam’s sake?’ Khaled asked softly. ‘Or for your own?’
‘Both,’ Lucy replied flatly. She could be honest, even if it humiliated her. ‘You hurt me four years ago, Khaled. I thought I loved you, and when you
