imagine you having any such trouble,’ she riposted instantly. A moment later her expression changed to one of dawning horror, as if she couldn’t believe she’d just uttered the words. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I—’
‘You’d be surprised,’ he murmured as memories crowded in. ‘Wealth is no guarantee of happiness.’
Maggie watched with a pang of regret as the vertical lines reformed at his brow and bracketed his mouth. For a little while there the grimness had lifted from Khalid’s features. Now it was as if a storm cloud loomed, shadowing his face and blocking the hint of light she’d glimpsed.
She knew a crazy impulse to reach out and touch him, soothe away the pain she saw. But that wasn’t an option. Instead she changed the subject.
‘You’re from Shajehar, aren’t you?’
He nodded. ‘I am.’
‘Could you tell me about it? I’ve never travelled and it sounds so exotic.’
Dark eyes seared hers as if searching for an ulterior motive. Maggie shivered and rolled her collar higher against her throat. Perhaps she should go. It didn’t matter if her clothes weren’t dry, she’d been here long enough and that look made her nervous. But the raging storm and the long trip to her cold, empty house held no appeal.
‘It’s a country of contrasts and great beauty. Some parts are not unlike your Hunter Valley, though much is arid. There are wonderful riches if you care to look, and I’m not talking about oil revenue.’ His expression told her he loved his homeland.
‘The people are strong and proud of their traditions. But they’ re struggling now to meld their old ways with the best the modern world has to offer.’ He paused, focused on her. ‘You’ve never travelled overseas?’
‘I’ve never been anywhere much.’ At his curious look she continued. ‘I grew up on a small farm. Making ends meet was always a struggle. Travel was a luxury.’
‘And when you left home?’
She ducked her head, watching her hands fold the thick fabric in her lap.
‘I never left. I had plans to go to the city and study, but there was a drought and my father couldn’t spare me.’ He’d reminded her time and again that it was her duty to stand by him as he’d done his duty and kept her with him all those years. A pity his concept of duty didn’t include even a skerrick of warmth or love.
‘And now?’
‘Now? I work here.’
‘Helping your family?’
Maggie thought of the empty front bedroom in the old house, the echoing loneliness of the place she called home.
‘There was only my father.’ Maggie hadn’t had any contact from her mother or sister since the day they’d left. ‘He died a few months ago.’
‘You must miss him.’
Must she? Miss the stern lectures, the disapproving attitude, the dour temperament?
‘I… He wasn’t an easy man to live with.’ That had to be the understatement of the century. Nothing Maggie ever did had been good enough, even when her extra income had been all that kept the old farm afloat. ‘He should have had a son. A daughter is a disappointment to a man like that.’
‘I’m sorry, Maggie.’ The words were filled with understanding. She darted a glance at Khalid. Was that compassion in his liquid dark eyes? ‘Some of us aren’t blessed with the best of parents.’
‘You too?’
He paused, as if taken aback by the personal question.
‘My father had no time for his family,’ he said eventually. ‘No time for children. He had…other interests.’ Khalid’s tone made it clear those interests weren’t anything he approved of. ‘He was an absentee parent, rarely home. And when he was, let’s just say he had little patience with small boys.’
Reading between the lines, Maggie felt a sharp stab of fellow feeling, a sympathy for the suffering Khalid had skated over. For the stoic endurance not to collapse under the weight of a parent’s cruel neglect.
‘I’m sorry.’ Her voice was husky. ‘Little boys need a dad.’
‘And so do little girls.’
To her horror, his ready sympathy cracked the brittle wall she’d built around her feelings. For years she’d struggled against the belief that she was unlovable, ever since her mum had rejected her, taking Cassie instead. Tonight her fears and pain had coalesced into an aching void of anguish that filled her very being. The force of it clogged her throat and fractured her breathing.
‘Maggie.’ Khalid must have seen the stricken expression on her face. He reached out and pulled her close, tucking her head into his shoulder. He rubbed her back with small, circular, soothing movements.
‘You’ve done this before,’ she murmured, trying to regain her composure and downplay her reaction to his touch. ‘Do you have sisters?’
‘No sisters.’
‘A wife?’
She was dimly aware of his pause before he said, ‘No wife.’
A heartbeat of silence and then he urged, ‘Hold me, Maggie.’
She needed no second urging. Maggie slid her arms around him and burrowed close to his heat. She knew later she’d be horribly embarrased but for now her need for comfort drove her beyond her usual diffidence.
His arms tightened around her and a shiver rippled through Maggie as his warmth seeped into her bones. The rock-solid strength of him, the tangible, living power of muscle and bone and sinew, were more real than anything else in the world. His unique spicy scent invaded her nostrils, making her nerves tingle into an awareness that had nothing to do with solace.
The scent, the feel, even the sound of him, the powerful throb of his heart beneath her ear, were all wondrous. She pressed her face to the fine silk of his shirt. Through the fabric his skin was hot, taut and inviting. She breathed deep, drawing in the heady aroma of warm, healthy male.
That was when she registered his quickening heartbeat, the changed tempo of his breathing. Tentatively she lifted a hand to splay over his chest.
The tiniest of tremors rippled across his skin. The hand palming her back ceased its movement and his other hand clamped down on her arm, as if to drag it away.
Thunder echoed in her ears as her pulse raced. Suddenly this innocent embrace had transformed into something charged with unspoken danger.
With excitement. And longing. It bubbled up inside her like a newfound spring—the need for more. The need for him. This was nothing like what she’d felt with Marcus. This was… elemental, as sudden as a thunderclap and just as unmistakable, even to someone of her limited experience.
Heat blossomed deep within as her breath caught, stilled by the stunning realisation of how much more she wanted from this man.
‘It’s
