bed was vast, and rumpled from their lovemaking, and there was no place in the world she would rather be.
‘Can we be late?’ she asked, and lifted her face for a kiss.
Kedah was tempted to lift the phone beside the bed and inform the captain there was a change of plan, and yet some things needed to be faced.
‘Get dressed,’ he told her, though it was said with regret. ‘I’ll have your clothes brought through.’
‘Can you at least wait until I’m in the shower?’
He smiled at her modesty, but did as she asked and waited until she had gone through to the bathroom before calling for her overnight bag to be brought to his bedroom.
Felicia washed her hair and dried it, and then she came out.
Kedah lay on the bed with his hands behind his head, clearly deep in thought.
Another buzzer sounded, and now it was Kedah who rose from the bed and headed to the shower as Felicia put on the robe she had chosen to wear. It was a dusky pink with long sleeves and a high neckline. From neck to floor the gown was done up with a row of embroidered buttons, each one individually made. Felicia had bought it while they’d been on their travels and was glad to be able to wear it. Again she chose to wear no make-up.
Kedah soon reappeared, wearing just a towel around his hips. He wished she did not move him so. For the first time in his life he perhaps regretted sex.
She had never looked more beautiful.
Her robe was a light crushed velvet, and it was subtle, yet he had touched each curve that it gracefully concealed, and his fingers itched to undo each button and return her to his bed. Her hair was loose and the air was fragrant with the perfume she had worn on the day they’d met.
Today was not one for distraction, and Felicia was proving a huge one.
He was reeling from coming so close to telling her the secret he had kept for all these years, and—more troublesome for Kedah—he was still dangerously close to revealing it now.
‘Why don’t you go and have some breakfast?’ he suggested. ‘I’ll join you soon.’
Felicia nodded, unsure as to the dynamics between them, but just as she turned to go he caught her and pulled her back into his arms.
‘You know that nothing can happen at the palace?’
‘Of course.’
‘We will leave straight after dinner. You will be taken to the offices to work there.’
‘Kedah,’ Felicia said, ‘I don’t expect us to leave the plane holding hands.’
‘I know...’
She stepped from his embrace and went out to the lounge, where she was served breakfast. She was too consumed by Kedah to be embarrassed by the staff, but she was a little worried that they might gossip.
When Kedah came out of the bedroom she was about to voice her concerns to him.
Then she saw him.
The man who would be King.
Always he was beautiful—he was exquisite now.
The robe he wore was silver, and over that was an embroidered coat. His keffiyeh was black, and a heavy silver rope fell to one side. She had never seen him carry a sword and it unnerved her—for this was not a Kedah she had ever seen before.
Not just exquisite...he was truly out of her reach.
He was regal, imposing, and it was hard to imagine that less than an hour ago she had lain smiling in his arms.
An attendant served him strong coffee and he declined the sweet pastry she offered.
‘They won’t say anything?’ Felicia checked, and he frowned. ‘I mean, what happened won’t get back to the palace?’
‘Felicia, why do you think I use my own plane? You don’t report to my father—none of my staff do. The only exception is Vadia.’
Kedah’s success was not reliant on his title. But it was his hope for the future, and his heart belonged to the people he loved.
His words had come out perhaps more harshly than he’d intended—he had not meant to relegate her straight back to being staff—but he was having trouble with his worlds merging.
He had only ever brought Anu to his home, and there had never been anything between them. Anu was close to his mother’s age and happily married.
Felicia would cause eyebrows to rise, and he wanted to spare her that shame.
Not that she knew that.
As they sat in silence Felicia looked out on Zazinia as the plane banked to the right and she got her first glimpse of his land from the sky. She understood a little more how thwarted Kedah must feel. It was stunningly beautiful, and yet so ancient that it looked almost biblical.
And then she saw the palace.
It was easily the highest point in the land, set on a cliff along a stretch of white beach.
And it was huge.
As the plane lined up for its approach Felicia realised the palace had its own runway, with several private jets that bore the royal coat of arms on their tails.
The landing was a smooth one, and soon they prepared to disembark.
‘Am I to call you Your Highness here?’
‘We have already addressed that—you can still call me Kedah.’
‘And when we get to the palace am I to—?’
‘Enough questions, Felicia,’ Kedah snapped.
It was a stern reminder that they had left the bedroom, and Felicia felt the sting of her cheeks at his reprimand.
They stepped from the plane, with Felicia walking a suitable distance behind him. Kedah was met by his personal aide, Vadia, whom Felicia had spoken to on several occasions.
There were no introductions for her, though.
The heat of the Zazinia air and the hot desert wind that whipped at her cheeks were not so hard for her to acclimatise to as her sudden relegation. An hour or so ago they had been in each other’s arms, with Kedah almost revealing his darkest of secrets; now he didn’t even glance over his shoulder as they stepped into the main entrance of the palace.
He indicated with a flick of his hand that she was to wait there.
A maid came over and she was informed in broken English that soon she would be taken to the offices in the royal wing.
And then Felicia stood, alone and ignored, as she heard a woman call out his name.
‘Kedah!’
The
