My Desert Rose (9 page)

There was no
mistaking the heat in his voice and that alone nearly made her
clothes frog-march off her body, waving a little white flag in
surrender, but logic also had its grip on her. Feeling for the door
handle behind her, she knew that she just needed a moment to get
her head around everything and make a decision. Glancing quickly at
his eyes, her breath stalled. There was an unquestionable gleam of
intention in his half-hooded gaze and suddenly everything happened
at once. It was the tiny movement of his hand which had her
speedily opening the door behind her. Just as she was swinging it
shut she caught him lunging forward. With her heart pounding in her
chest, she managed to slam it closed and turn the lock. She didn't
know whether to squeal with laughter or slide down the door in
relief.

He banged on
the door. "You have to come out some time."

There was
humour in his voice and she let out a little nervous giggle. "You
said tonight, right?"

"Right," he
chuckled against the door.

"But it's now
only late afternoon."

"Then take this
time to oil those limbs, little moheet, as now it's my turn to take
the lead."

A shiver of
anticipation trickled pleasantly down her spine. That alone made
the decision for her. Why not? Why not just have some fun? The
future will take care of itself.

Chapter
Six

What do you
wear to meet your new in-laws whom you've never met? Several
discarded outfits were already scattered around the room. Pants
were a no go and either the dress was too short, the colour was
wrong or it was too tight. Finally, she settled on a pale lilac
silk dress. It came to her ankles and fitted her snugly around the
bodice. The neck line was beaded with tiny silver stones and she
complemented it with a matching long-sleeved bolero jacket and
silver sandals. Pulling her hair into a chignon bun, she held it in
place with tiny silver daisies before applying a dash of mascara
and pink blush lipstick, giving the whole ensemble a polished
effect.

Physically, she
felt as ready as she could ever be. Emotionally, she was nervous
about seeing Tariq again. For the rest of the afternoon she'd
remained locked in her dressing room. Occasionally, she could hear
him moving about outside. At one point he'd called through the
door. "It's now officially tonight time," and she'd felt goose
pimples all over just thinking about the implication of those
words. That had been an hour ago.

Leaving her
zone of temporary safety, she made her way through the bedroom.
Tariq's dressing room opposite was empty. Opening the door to the
lounge, she entered and found him standing with his hands in the
pockets of his suit pants, looking out of the patio doors into the
inky blackness of the night. There was a wistful look on his face
and somehow she felt as though she were intruding. She coughed
slightly to get his attention.

Without turning
he spoke. "I think I have the perfect plan."

Evidently, he'd
forgotten about it being 'officially tonight time' and she'd just
walked into the middle of his ponderings. "A plan of what?" she
queried.

"To catch my
brother and his wife," he replied.

"Ah," she
nodded and walked to stand beside him at the window, looking at his
reflection. "And what is your plan?" Her eyes roved all over his
striking features. Kicking herself, she wished she'd taken him up
on his offer now.

"We need a red
herring, big enough to lure them in." Through the glass he appeared
to be looking far away, focused on his mental plan.

"As in, you
make it known that there's going to be a big shipment of oil, he
gets the pirates to steal the ship, but they find ninjas hidden in
the barrels instead of oil?"

A rumble could
be heard in his chest as he chuckled. "Yeah, something like that,
but I need my brother on that ship to prove his involvement."

His eyes
flicked to hers in the window before he lowered them and took in
what she was wearing. When he lifted them back up they were blazing
with a primal fire. The room suddenly fizzed with that sexual
awareness that seemed to follow them about and then he spun around
to face her.

"You look so
very beautiful," he stated in a deep velvet tone. This woman was
doing things to him that no other woman had ever done. The urge to
drag her into the bedroom was virtually overpowering him. Now he
could understand why the primordial apeman dragged his woman into a
cave.

Blushing, she
reached out and fiddled with his lapels. "And you look
dashing."

"Dashing?" A
slight smile appeared on his face. The vision of him standing in
animal skins, thumping his chest over his woman, didn't really go
with the word 'dashing'.

"Well, okay
then, hot, you look hot." Her cheeks were now on fire, she'd never
told a guy he looked hot before.

Tariq laughed.
"You really are something, do you know that?" Taking her by the
waist with one arm, he pulled her into him.

She looked up
at his smouldering eyes, yeah, definitely hot, she thought.

Lowering his
head, he whispered, "I'm going to kiss you now."

"Mmmm...Please
do," she whispered back.

When his lips
landed on hers she thought she might just faint. At first the kiss
started off gentle until he put his hand on her nape, giving him
control of the angle and depth, pressing open her mouth until she
accepted the dance of his tongue. Fervent passion quickly ignited
between them and if they hadn't been dressed to meet the family,
she may have just tugged him into the bedroom by his tie.

Tariq pulled
away first and put his forehead to hers. Their breathing had
quickened. Pulling back his desire was almost choking him.
Normally, he never had a problem with control, but with her, he
felt as though he was doing a balancing act on the edge of a
knife.

Katie looked
into his eyes to find that they had turned an exotic shade of black
cocoa. She didn't know how to label what was going on between them,
but it was definitely growing in intensity as they spent more time
together. Wiping away a residue of pink blush from his mouth, she
spoke with a smile. "I'd best go and retouch my lipstick. I don't
want anyone to think we've been kissing."

Tariq grinned.
"No, we definitely don't want anyone to think we've been doing the
prelude to funny business."

Chuckling, she
moved away and headed for her dressing room.

****

Tariq had led
her downstairs and into the drawing room, where they were all to
meet before dinner. The heat from his hand print on her back was a
reminder of how much she was now longing to return to their room
and be alone with him. They were the first to arrive and she wasn't
given much time to take in her surroundings amongst the gold and
pale blue furnishings before Miriam bounced through the door.
Dressed in a long pale green chiffon dress with delicate deeper
green embroidery at the waist and neckline, she looked as fresh as
a mint.

Squealing, she
grabbed Katie's hands. "You look amazing, much better than that
lacy bikini number."

Katie inwardly
groaned. Did the girl have any censorship levels?

A woman walked
in behind Miriam, followed by an older version of Tariq. The woman
was a little taller than Katie and classically beautiful with
prominent cheek bones, almond eyes and a long graceful neck. All
complemented by a sleek black-haired bob.

Tariq was
nervous. Not about how Katie would hold herself, as she was
stunningly beautiful, but about his mother's knack of being able to
see through him and the probability that she would work out that
the marriage had been forced. If she found out it wasn't mutual and
that he'd used his power and position to make Katie bend to his
will, well, his life wouldn't be worth living. He took in a deep
breath. "Mother, Father, I would like to introduce you to Katarina
Turan el-Tayeb."

Katie's stomach
did a little somersault as Miriam moved out of the way for her
mother to get a good look at her.

"Welcome to our
family, Katarina," she said warmly in a slight accent, as she gave
her a little hug. Katie felt relieved at her kind greeting. There
was a quiet strength about the woman that she instantly liked.

His father
playfully shooed his wife out of the way and then enveloped Katie
in a big bear hug, virtually squeezing the life out of her. "Looks
like our son has found a rare jewel," he said in a similar deep
tone to Tariq.

Katie smiled in
appreciation. "Thank you both, but please, my family and friends
call me Katie," she gushed nervously.

"Then we insist
you call us Mother and Father," they replied in unison.

Katie paled as
a spasm of pain hit her in the chest.

Picking up on
her reaction, Tariq's mother looked up at him questioningly. He
shook his head slightly in answer.

Katie felt that
she had to offer an explanation rather than look ungrateful for
their welcome. "I'm sorry, it's just that my parents died when I
was six and I haven't called anyone Mother and Father since." This
was not what she'd expected. Their immediate acceptance of her had
completely thrown her off balance. Not to mention her rising guilt
in deceiving them into thinking that they had a daughter-in-law who
was in love with their son.

Tariq's
mother's eyes softened and she reached out and patted Katie's arm
in comfort. "We understand, so you can call us Selina and Malik
until you feel ready to call us Mother and Father."

Katie's throat
clogged up. Old emotions of yearning for her parents threatened to
surface and spill out. Within a few minutes these people had openly
offered themselves up as family. The saddest thing of all was that
she was in a fake marriage. Warm fingers suddenly entwined with
hers. She looked down at the hand giving her strength and support.
It was Tariq's.

A young woman
entered carrying a tray of drinks, which she offered to each person
in turn. Katie took one, grateful of the reprieve. It smelled of
lemons.

"What is it?"
she asked Tariq quietly.

"It's a type of
aperitif made from the lemons in our grove."

Its sharpness
as it made its way down her throat made her cough a little.

Tariq laughed.
"It requires a certain palate, but Mother likes it before
dinner."

Katie noted
that he didn't touch his.

He saw her look
at his glass. Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, "You'll
learn."

Selina smiled.
"My son and husband don't understand my Italian heritage and love
for fine wines, but they do humour me."

Malik put an
arm around his wife. "Let's just say I've spent thirty-seven years
being educated on everything Italian!"

Katie had an
immediate affection for this man. He exuded power, yet he was a
large gentle lion at the same time. She smiled at the obvious
fondness between Malik and Selina. "Tariq never mentioned that you
were Italian." Looking at Selina more closely, she could see the
Romanesque qualities of her features.

"Yes, it's
where Malik found me." A small smile appeared upon her lips.

"And where you
dug your heels in and refused ten of my proposals," replied Malik
reprovingly with a touch of humour.

Selina nudged
him. "Well, if you'd asked me instead of ordering me to marry you I
might have said yes sooner!"

Katie blushed.
This sounded all too familiar. "I can see where you get it from
Tariq," she said to him demurely, enjoying the banter.

Tariq grinned.
"Yes, I guess I found my very own wildcat wife, who knows how to
dig her heels in too." Declaring her as his 'wife' out loud to
others somehow made him feel good.

Just then
Thebes appeared in the doorway "Dinner is ready."

Miriam sighed.
"Looks like Hassan and Amira will be late again."

Selina linked
arms with both Katie and Miriam. "Come, let's not wait. I want to
find out more about this beautiful daughter-in-law of mine."

The dining room
was elegantly decorated. Heavy red brocade curtains framed the sets
of patio doors along two of the walls where the lights of the pool
outside could be seen. The marble floor was adorned with a large
cream and red silk rug and upon this sat a highly polished mahogany
table. The seven place settings gleamed with crystal touches to
match the two overhead chandeliers.

Tariq held out
a red velour chair that positioned her next to him and with her
back to the door. Selina and Malik were seated at each end and
Miriam chose to sit opposite Tariq.

Relaxed banter
was bouncing across the table when suddenly a breeze drifted down
Katie’s neck and her hairs stood up in warning. When she'd found
her parents that day there had been a presence in the house that
she’d never forgotten. It was the closest thing to evil she’d ever
encountered. It had climbed all over her skin, stuck to her hair
and assailed her nostrils. It had taken her months to get rid of
the effect of that feeling.

That evil had
just wafted into the room. Without turning, she knew Hassan and
Amira had walked in. It was Selina who spoke first.

"So glad you
decided to make it, Hassan," she said sweetly.

Katie noted how
she missed off Amira's name.

It was a
woman’s voice that answered her. "We apologise for the delay, we
were otherwise engaged."

A little shrill
laugh followed and Katie cringed. The room fell silent and she
could feel eyes boring into her back.

It was Tariq
who spoke, "Well, don’t just stand at the door. Come and take a
seat so that I can introduce you to my new bride."

Tariq's words
sent a warm thrill through her body and under the table Katie could
feel his hand land on her knee, giving it a gentle squeeze.