a low husk. The moment spun out between them, the room dim and hushed and expectant. Gracie felt her body respond, long-dormant parts of her coming alive with an insistent, pulsing ache. She took a deep breath, trying desperately to quell the tide of yearning that was now threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t afford to feel this much now.
‘Sometimes I wonder,’ Malik said, his voice still low, ‘what might have been.’
Gracie tried for a shaky laugh and didn’t quite manage it. ‘That’s always dangerous.’
‘I know...but don’t you wonder, too, Gracie? What could have happened between us?’
‘You made it clear that nothing could, Malik, when you sent me from your bed.’ Yet strangely the memory didn’t hurt as much as it once had.
‘I had no choice. But if I had...’ He left the sentence unfinished, unspoken possibilities dangling between them.
Gracie’s breath hitched as she registered the intent look in Malik’s eyes, felt the answering pulse of want in herself. ‘We can’t do this,’ she whispered. ‘For Sam’s sake...’ Unsteadily she rose from the table. ‘I should go check on him.’
‘I’ll come with you.’ Malik rose as well, tossing his napkin aside and striding towards the door. They reached it at the same time, their hands colliding on the knob, sending sparks through Gracie yet again.
How on earth could she keep resisting him, when every single simple touch set off a firework inside her?
The truth was she couldn’t. With his other hand Malik turned her around so she was facing him. Gracie didn’t resist as his mouth came down on hers, but instead of the wild kiss of an hour ago, this was gentle, like a promise.
His mouth moved lingeringly over hers, exploring and tasting her with thorough sensuality. She swayed on her feet as she steadied herself with one hand bunched on his shirt. Malik rested his forehead against hers.
‘Let’s go find Sam,’ he said, and wordlessly Gracie nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
Sam was ensconced in the media room, playing a video game with intense concentration.
‘Hey, buddy.’ Gracie came over to her son, ruffling his hair, grateful for the distraction from the intensity she’d just experienced with Malik. Her lips were buzzing from that shockingly gentle kiss. ‘Having fun?’
‘Yeah.’ Sam looked up from his game for a mere second, his eyes glinting with excitement. ‘This game is one of the best.’
‘Great.’ She glanced at Malik, who was watching the two of them with that intimidatingly impassive look on his face. She didn’t understand how one moment he could be so sexy and gentle, and the next look like a stranger.
‘You want to play?’ Sam asked Malik, holding out the controller. Malik looked taken aback.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever played this kind of game.’
Sam was flummoxed. ‘You’ve never played a video game?’
Malik smiled faintly. ‘No.’
‘You haven’t played that many, Sam,’ Gracie felt compelled to point out. ‘We don’t have a play console at home.’
‘And neither do I. But I might as well try.’ Malik held out his hand and Sam gave him one of the controllers.
Gracie sat back and watched as Sam explained the game, all of which sounded extremely complicated, and Malik began thumbing buttons.
Who ever thought she would see this? Gracie marvelled as she watched father and son, their dark heads bent together. Her heart felt full, too full. What had Malik meant, keeping an open mind to possibilities? What possibilities?
Dared she think he might have meant something between them, some kind of actual relationship? The prospect sent her heart juddering. This man had just about broken her heart after a single night. Could she trust him with her entire future? She liked things as they were. Inviting Malik into her life was like walking into a whirlwind.
Sam let out a belly laugh as Malik’s spaceship dived and crashed on the screen. Malik’s answering smile lit up Gracie’s insides. Starting to care, beginning to hope...it was all so risky. The pain she’d felt when Malik had turned his back on her before had been agonising. Now, if she actually tried for something real or lasting, it would be unbearable...and it would cost both her and Sam. How could she even think of such a thing?
A LEMON-YELLOW SUN shone out of a hard blue sky as they prepared for the descent into Teruk. Even after eight hours of admittedly sporadic sleep, Gracie felt wired, anticipation warring with sheer panic. Malik had generously allowed her and Sam the master bedroom, while he’d taken a pull-out sofa bed in the main cabin.
The bed had been incredibly comfortable and Sam had been out as soon as his head hit the pillow, so she couldn’t blame him for her lack of sleep. No, it had been Malik who had kept her awake most of the night. Malik’s sheer presence, his knowing kiss, his absolute magnetism...and the yearning desire she felt for him after all these years, as strong and powerful as it ever had been.
This morning Malik looked immaculate and refreshed, and disturbingly different in a white linen thobe and turban. The flowing clothing only emphasised his masculinity, and Gracie was conscious that she’d never before seen him in the traditional dress of his country.
‘Look, Mom!’ Sam was wriggling in his seat as he tried to peer out of the window. ‘So many mountains.’
‘Yes, indeed.’ Gracie tore her gaze from Malik’s powerful form to look out of the window. From the sky Alazar looked forbidding, a foreign landscape of barren mountain ranges and even more desolate stretches of desert. The only green was on the coast, a thin crescent of arable farmland and civilisation.
‘We will go directly to the palace from Teruk,’ Malik told them both. He smiled at Sam. ‘I cannot wait to show you.’
‘Your palace?’ Sam’s jaw dropped. ‘You have a palace?’
‘I told him you worked for the government,’ Gracie explained in a murmur, and Malik smiled.
‘And indeed I do. My grandfather is the Sultan of Alazar, Sam, and I will be Sultan after him.’
Sam boggled. ‘Wow.’
Gracie half listened as Malik continued to tell Sam about the palace, its walls and turrets and many swimming pools. My grandfather is the Sultan of Alazar, Sam, and I will be Sultan after him. Just in case she’d forgotten how important he was. How surprising and scary it was for her to be here.
The plane was starting a steep descent to the runway that cut through bleak desert when Gracie refocused on Malik.
‘You’re all right?’ he asked quietly, seeming genuinely concerned, and Gracie nodded.
‘Yes.’ She realised her hands were tightly gripping the armrests, and she forced herself to relax.
Moments
