was always a shock when Khalid took her, he was so big, but he was also careful, knowing that his size was a consideration, before it became a pleasure. He’d always taken care of her, she acknowledged as he sank deep. Relaxing, she tightened her inner muscles around him to hold him firmly in place, but he had an answer for that too. Rotating his hips, he buffeted the tiny area that always needed him. ‘Now,’ she begged. ‘Don’t wait. I need this.’
Pulling back, he stared down. ‘Are you ready?’
‘Find out?’ she said.
Bracing himself on his forearms so his weight didn’t crush her, Khalid thrust his hips forward and took her in one, deep plunge to the hilt.
‘Faster! Harder!’ she cried to encourage him, and he rewarded her by doing just that. Maintaining a steady rhythm, he made sure that she extracted every single pleasure pulse, before launching her into an atomic release. Even before she’d quietened, he’d turned her on her stomach. She lifted her buttocks to encourage him. Nudging her legs wider, he pressed his hand into the small of her back to raise them even more. Taking a cheek in each hand, he controlled her steady movements back and forth.
They made love through the night as if each second must be savoured, because very soon it would be their last.
* * *
‘Wake up. It’s time to leave.’
Millie blinked groggily as she slowly came to. At first, it seemed she didn’t know where she was, only that Khalid was beside her. Groaning with contentment as the new day began, she reached for him.
‘Not now,’ he said, starting to get out of bed.
‘Yes, now,’ she argued. He’d made her insatiable. Something had changed in her body that made her need him more than ever.
‘We have to leave soon,’ he explained, but as their eyes met and she smiled into his, he relented. Drawing her into his arms, he kissed her with the utmost tenderness, and when he took her this time he was equally thorough and caring. ‘I’m going to find it hard to be parted from you,’ he admitted when they finally rested back with a contented sigh.
‘But part we must,’ she said, forcing brightness into her tone.
Was she laughing through her tears, or did she not care that much? This was a unique situation for him. He was always so sure of everything, but Millie was an enigma it would take a lifetime he couldn’t give her to unravel.
Dropping a kiss on Khalid’s shoulder, she tried to show that she could handle this. ‘Shall we have one last swim?’ she asked. She shrugged. ‘We need to shower, so...?’
‘There’s no need to leave the tent,’ Khalid explained. ‘There’s a bathing platform behind that curtain.’
‘All mod cons,’ she said lightly, turning to look to hide her tears. ‘You’ve thought of everything,’ she confirmed, turning back to face him as soon as she’d got her emotions under control.
‘I try to,’ he said, making things worse by dragging her close for a fierce, and maybe final kiss.
They linked fingers to walk the short distance across the rugs to the decorative cover he had indicated. Drawing it back revealed the shining lake of water.
‘Wow,’ Millie breathed. ‘I’m never going to get used to this, and I’m going to miss it so much.’ How much he’d never know.
‘You can swim in the shallows without anyone seeing you,’ Khalid said as he led her forward. ‘I hope your private bathing area meets with your approval, Ms Dillinger?’
He swept her a mock bow and now those tears were threatening again. But no way was she going to weaken. They should part as friends, not discontented lovers.
All well and good, she thought as they stood in the pearly light of dawn, staring out over the most incredible panorama of waking desert and limpid oasis. If this was the last time they swam together, she was going to make the most of it and the future would have to wait.
Khalid’s outstretched hand invited her to join him. They linked fingers again and walked to the water’s edge. One last time, she thought as they waded in together. The water was like a warm bath, but they were silent as they swam, as if both of them knew that the time for games and laughter was done. They returned to the tent to be greeted by the delicious scent of cooked food and good coffee. A stack of clean towels and fresh robes were waiting for them. Khalid’s people were discreet, and intuitive too, she thought.
‘The best staff in the world,’ he confirmed when she expressed her gratitude.
Removing the beautiful robe, she hung it up with care, regretting the fact, for the first time in her life, that it was back to oil-smeared overalls, and she would never wear a beautiful Khalifan robe again. She dressed quickly in travel clothes, just jeans and a top, and a sweater because it would be cold when she arrived in England. She took one last look around at the beautiful tent filled with exquisite artefacts. Even the sapphires in the gold bowls didn’t trouble her now. The past was the past, and it was time to face the future.
‘Do you mind if I take a picture?’ she asked.
‘Why?’ Khalid said, frowning.
‘To remember all this,’ she explained.
‘Will you forget so easily?’
There was hurt in his eyes. Goodness knew what he could see in hers. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I won’t forget. But when I’m an old lady, it will be nice to reminisce.’
‘To remind yourself that this actually happened?’
They stared at each other, both wanting to say more, but the sound of rotor blades intruded. Perhaps as well, Millie thought. ‘Is that our lift?’ she said, trying to sound casual.
‘Yes,’ Khalid confirmed.
That single word, and the way he said it, ripped the heart from her chest and made her wonder how much more she could take without breaking down. Everything, Millie thought. She’d take everything. She was strong and would remain so. It was the only way to be.
‘Are you tired of my company?’ Khalid teased.
Never. She would never tire of him, never forget him, never fall out of love with him, she thought as his hawk-like stare burned steadily into hers. But she was aching with tension and needed to leave. Why prolong the agony for either of them? Khalid was as tense as she was. She had never seen him so tightly wound.
‘This is torture,’ she admitted.
There was a moment when they stared at each other, and the next moment she was in his arms. ‘I’m not ready to part with you!’ he ground out in a voice hoarse with passion.
‘Then, you’re not being fair,’ she said. Removing herself from his arms, she stared up. ‘You can’t always have what you want, Your Majesty. A country depends on you.’
Khalid had to be strong for everyone, she thought as his hawk-like stare stabbed into hers. ‘I don’t want to hurt you, Millie. You’ve had too much trouble in your life, and I hold myself responsible for much of that.’
‘Then,
