Her voice shook as she told Rafi the rest. “H-he said she would have to leave the Oasis and they would never be able to see each other again. The only thing he could give her was the medallion. He put it around her neck and told her that every time she looked at it, he would sense it and know she was remembering their time beneath the moon when she’d made him feel immortal.”
Rafi rubbed the back of his neck. A white ring encircled his lips.
“When my grandmother knew she was dying, she took the medallion off her own neck and gave it to me. She said that next to me, it was her most priceless possession. After she passed away, I had this longing to come to the oasis and see where it had all happened.”
She undid the chain. “Thank you for returning this to me, but it isn’t mine to keep. It belongs to the royal family. I would think King Umar would like to have something that belonged to his father. Princess Farah said that King Malik was known as the great sheikh for making the kingdom stronger.
“The more I think about it, the more I want him to have it in payment of his generosity and kindness to me while I’ve been recuperating at the palace.” She went over to the desk and left it on top. “Now am I free to go?”
His eyes were dark slits as he looked at her. “No.”
She struggled for breath. “Do you want me to stay, Rafi? If you do, tell me—”
He gave her a look so tormented, she was shaken by it. Without saying a word, he walked behind his desk and opened the drawer. She saw him take out a ring and put it on. Then he moved toward her and extended his hand, palm down.
When she saw the same medallion in the form of a ring, she got that curious din in her ears again, as she’d felt when the sandstorm had hit without warning. The same presentiment came to her now that she was about to go through another life-changing experience and nothing would ever be the same again.
One by one, every moment with him, every nuance, every warning, every word and gesture fell into place as pure revelation flowed through her. Her eyes searched his and she saw the truth written in them. She remembered him telling her that the kind of marriage she imagined wasn’t written in his stars …
“You’re Prince Rashad,” she whispered.
No-o-o. Oh no—
She felt his hands cup her face and lift it. The eyes staring down at her blazed with fire. In panic, she tried to pull away from him, but he held her fast. “Don’t be frightened of me, Lauren. You know I could never hurt you. Now that everything’s out in the open and there are no secrets between us, all I want to do is love you.”
“No—” She jerked away from him and staggered back. “We can’t!—”
How could she have been so blind? He was the acting sheikh. Of course. Hadn’t he talked and walked like a prince?
His hands slid to her shoulders, kneading them restlessly. “I need you and I know you need me. I have an apartment through that door. We’ll start all over again and be alone for as long as we want. We’ll do what we’ve been wanting to do from the very beginning. You’re all I desire,” he declared passionately, running his hands up and down her arms.
“You’re all I want, too,” she answered honestly. “You have no idea of the depth of my feelings, but we can’t be together because—because it would be wrong!”
“Wrong?” He laughed almost angrily. “How can you say that when we know what we feel for each other is so right no power has been able to stop it?”
She agreed. There’d been something that had come over her before she’d even fully awakened after the sandstorm, bonding her to him. But she possessed a secret he didn’t know anything about yet. Lauren could keep it to herself, but could she live with the guilt of it over a lifetime?
She already knew the answer to that question. No matter how much she wanted to belong to Rafi, she realized the knowledge would eventually destroy them both. She had to tell him the truth.
“Don’t look at me like that, Lauren,” he implored, misunderstanding the pain in her eyes.
“I’ll go to my father tonight. When I explain to him about us, he’ll call off the plans for my wedding. I couldn’t go through with it now.” He started kissing her face, every part of it, thrilling her so completely her body throbbed with need.
“Farah said it would take place at the end of the year.”
He smothered a moan before clasping her hands and kissing her fingertips. “The timeline has changed to a month away. I have to go to him before another day passes.”
Jealousy drove a shaft through Lauren. “Who is she?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Of course it matters. Already she’s planning to be your wife. You can’t undo what’s been done.”
“You think not?” he came back in a voice of command. “Princess Azzah will rejoice when she learns it’s been called off.”
No, she won’t, Lauren lamented. Farah didn’t have to tell Lauren that her brother was desired by other women. There was no other man like him. “She’s already anticipating her marriage to you.”
His eyes, so black and alive, searched hers. “Why are you fighting me on this?”
“Because I’m not going to be the woman responsible for causing a breach with your father. When you and I were together the other night, I thought you were the king’s chief of security. I thought you were emotionally free.
“When you told me you were a pot who still hadn’t found its cover, I interpreted that to mean you were a bachelor who enjoyed the life you were living. But now that I know your identity, everything’s changed.
“Farah has told me things. She says your father isn’t well. One day you’ll be taking his place. You have no choice but to carry on certain traditions for which your life has always been destined.”
Lines marred his handsome features. “Your argument rings hollow. You’re holding back another secret from me. What else did Farah tell you?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not true. Why won’t you look at me?”
“Rafi—I need to leave.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” He grasped her arms. “I want to know what my sister said to you.”
“It was just a passing comment, but it appears to have come true.” In fact Lauren was haunted by it now.
She heard him expel an angry breath. “Is your silence intended to be punishment for me because of the way I dealt with you?”
“No—” she cried, hearing the anguish in his voice. She lifted imploring eyes to him. “While we were all at the pool the other day, she made the passing comment you had been too favored. She said your mother feared that because you’d been given every gift there’d be a price to pay.
“I
