thing to say. Zayed saw that now. He saw it in Olivia’s pale face, in how her hands were not quite steady as she spread her napkin across her lap. He’d been trying to make her feel better and it hadn’t worked.
Hell, he realised, he’d been trying to make himself feel better. Because guilt was an emotion he couldn’t afford to feel. If Olivia could get something out of what had happened, if she could benefit, then he’d feel better about putting her aside.
The fact that he even needed such a sop to his conscience filled him with fury—and shame. For ten years he had let himself think of nothing but duty, fuelled by grief. When he closed his eyes, he saw the tormented face of his mother, dying simply because she had no more wish to live. He saw the helicopter in flames. He heard the anguished cries and shouts of his father and brother, even though he knew that was only in his imagination. It would have been impossible to hear over the sound of the blades and the flames. The headache he’d been trying to suppress for the last forty-eight hours flickered insistently at his temples.
He could not believe how weak and sentimental he was being. Why was he trying to make this woman, who meant so little, feel better? That was why he’d brought her to Rubyhan, Zayed realised with another rush of shame. Why he’d given her the sumptuous suite, the clothes. Why he was wining and dining her tonight.
Although that wasn’t quite true. No, it was worse than that—he was wining and dining her because he wanted to. Because he’d wanted to see her, be with her. Because even now, with so much at stake, he still desired this slip of a woman who should be completely forgettable to him. Why?
‘Zayed...?’ Olivia glanced at him uncertainly. ‘It’s late and I am sure you have many things to do tomorrow. Maybe I should go...’
She started to rise again, but Zayed stayed her with one upturned palm. He took a deep breath, willing the pain in his head to recede. ‘No.’
‘You seem...’ She hesitated. ‘Angry.’
‘I am angry at myself,’ Zayed confessed. Olivia gazed at him in confusion.
‘You mean for marrying me by mistake?’
‘Yes, that.’ His mouth twisted in something like a smile. ‘But also for wanting you even now, when I know I shouldn’t.’
It was as if he’d stolen all the air from the room in a single breath. Olivia froze, her eyes wide and stormy, her pink lips parted.
‘You do?’
‘Can you not feel it, Olivia? Why do you think we fell into bed together so easily?’
Colour touched her cheeks. ‘I thought... I thought it was just me.’
‘I assure you, it is mutual.’ Zayed sat back in his chair. He felt surprisingly glad he’d told her, that he’d acknowledged what throbbed between them. It was a relief, like lancing a wound, relieving the pressure. The trouble was, what was he going to do about it now? Again he felt the flicker of pain at his temples.
‘I’m...sorry,’ Olivia said after a pause, sounding unsure. Zayed let out a laugh, trying not to wince in pain.
‘This is not something you need to apologise for, Olivia.’ He studied her, the colour in her face, the slight upturn of her lips. Had he pleased her by acknowledging what he felt for her? Did she find it so hard to believe? ‘Have I given you another new experience, to have a man desire you so openly, so strongly?’
Her pupils flared. ‘You have given me many new experiences, Prince Zayed.’
‘I think we are past using my royal title.’
‘Are we?’ She gave a little shake of her head. ‘I don’t know where we are.’
And nor did he. But he knew where he wanted to be. He wanted to be in her arms, sinking himself inside her. The need throbbed inside him, obliterating every other consideration, overriding the pain growing inside his head.
She must have seen the heat in his eyes, because she let out a shaky laugh and looked down. ‘Why me? I’m no one special. You must have had many women, Prince Zayed.’
‘Not as many as you think.’ A soldier’s life in the desert had prohibited prolonged affairs. ‘In fact, before you I had not been with a woman for many years.’
‘Many years?’ Her expression of astonishment was almost comical. Zayed smiled wryly.
‘There has not been much opportunity.’
‘That’s why, then. You probably wouldn’t look at me twice otherwise.’
‘Why do you put yourself down?’
‘I’m not.’ She looked surprised. ‘Just stating a truth.’
‘It is not a truth to me.’ Suddenly he felt the urge to show her how beautiful she was to him. How utterly lovely. ‘Trust me on that, Olivia.’ He held her gaze, willing her to see the desire in them. To feel it in herself.
And he knew she did; he heard it in the quickly indrawn breath, the way she touched her lips with her tongue. Neither of them moved.
Distantly, over the roar of his own heated blood, Zayed felt the pulse of pain in his eyes and spots danced before his eyes. Damn it, now was not the time for one of his migraines to torment him. Often he could simply will the pain away, but now Zayed feared it had gone too far. Already his vision was blurring at the edges, the room going cloudy.
‘Zayed...?’ Olivia’s voice was filled with alarm. ‘Are you all right?’
So much for his seduction. Zayed tried for a laugh, but nearly retched instead. The pain came like a tidal wave now, drowning out everything else, waves thundering through his head. ‘I...’ He tried to speak but couldn’t manage it.
‘Are you in pain?’ He felt Olivia’s cool fingers on his cheek and breathed in her lemony scent. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the pain, but it was too late. Far too late.
‘Headache,’ he managed to get out through gritted teeth. Stupid of him to ignore the pain, to be so intent on seducing Olivia. If he’d gone to lie down in a dark room with a cool cloth on his head, he might have been able to avoid the worst of it. Now it would overtake him.
‘A migraine,’ she corrected softly. ‘One of the Princesses gets them sometimes. They’re terrible.’
‘I just need to lie down.’ He forced the words out, his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached, cold sweat prickling on his back. He hated that Olivia was seeing him in such a weak and helpless way.
‘Let me help you,’ she said. ‘Do you want me to call someone?’
‘No.’ He wanted to manage on his own, but he knew he couldn’t. Still, better to keep the knowledge of his condition as closely guarded as possible. No one wanted to see their leader weak and in pain, and there was enough for his staff to worry about already.
‘All right.’ She placed one slender hand under his elbow. ‘I’ll help you to your bedroom.’
He rose unsteadily from his chair, leaning far more than he would have liked on Olivia’s petite frame, yet she held his weight
