And then she was shaking from holding herself back and his hands moved down her shoulders gently, whispering something in his native language, something tender. Oh, how she wished she could understand the words falling from his lips before he gathered her to him, his palm resting at the base of her back.
Warmth uncoiled in her lower belly.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime of waiting on the edge of a knife, one hand moved to her hip and the other to her abdomen.
His chin dropped to her forehead, her heart thumping so loud in her ears. She hid her face in his chest, felt the beat of his heart under her cheek. A harsh breath fell out of his lips and she felt his powerful frame shudder all around her while his palm moved softly. “This is the most precious thing I’ve ever experienced in my life,” he finally said in a hushed, husky tone that sent shivers down her spine.
At least, that was not a lie, Zafir thought, his heart bursting with emotion.
“Please, Zafir, let me go,” came Lauren’s hoarse whisper. “I can’t... I can’t breathe.”
A muscle jumped in his cheek as he looked down at her, but he leashed the possessive need that flared through him.
She looked tired and sleepy, her wild hair only half-dry. He wanted to burrow deep under her skin and never emerge.
“Dealing with you is like trying to contain a sandstorm.”
“I’ll not say or be sorry for upsetting your life. Not when—”
“Not when the result is this baby, yes?”
His hand moved up her back, traced the line of her shoulders, settled at her nape in a possessive hold.
Now that she was going to be his, he realized he couldn’t contain his excitement. And not because of the languorous desire that hummed through his veins. But for the first time in his life, he felt something different, something tender and yet equally disconcerting.
“You love the baby so much already?”
“Yes.” Her hands tightened around his middle. And he swallowed the tight fist in his throat. “More than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
Stark and beautiful like the desert, the truth of her words resonated around him, filling him with a joy like no other. “I apologize for my harsh words to you.”
He heard her breath catch, and then even out. She knew what he was talking about.
He would give her everything he possibly could, he decided in that instant. For everything he couldn’t, didn’t know, how to give.
Finally, the stiffness in her shoulders eased and he could feel her relaxing against him. The brush of her slight belly against his abdomen sent his breath hurtling through his throat. “I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.”
“Already done.”
“Zafir, whatever the future—”
“Become my wife, Lauren.”
* * *
Shock propelled Lauren out of his arms. “You’re...”
Joking...she’d been about to say but the word disappeared as she looked at him.
Without a hint of shadow, his gaze gleamed golden. Every line of his face said he’d made up his mind.
He wanted to marry her. God, he would be her husband...
The very word felt strangely exciting in her mind, so possessive, and so irrevocably final. For she knew in her very bones that Zafir didn’t make the decision lightly.
Shivers spewed in her muscles. And they were as much out of excitement as they were out of fear.
“I would not joke. My anger from the past clouded my judgment until now.”
“Because you don’t want the same fate as you suffered for our child?” Of course, that’s why.
Clasping her hand with his, he pulled her close. “That’s what made me think of marriage, yes. But it was just the spark that ignited it. It is right for us in so many ways.
“If I had acknowledged my disturbing propensity to forget all rationale and judgment when it comes to you, I’d have realized where this was heading long ago.”
Her heart threatened to shove out of her chest, so hard and loud it thumped. She didn’t need love. She herself barely knew it. But that he would make this commitment to her, it made her blood pound in her veins. “Somehow, I don’t think it’s a compliment to be associated with low judgment.”
“That is all you will get out of me,” he quipped and her mouth went dry.
“What about Behraat? About me being an American and not fitting in your world... What about all that virgin bride stuff and alliances that will bring...”
What about you and me, the question came unbidden to her lips.
But there was no just them, she told herself.
Those two months in New York, that had been stolen time.
Until it had changed both their lives forever.
Clasping her hand tight in his, Zafir said, “You pay too much attention to the palace gossip, Lauren. I thought you above that kind of thing.” Her pulse raced under his thumb. “Have you ever heard any of that from my mouth?” When she shook her head, he nodded. “The Sheikha cannot be susceptible to rumors for there will be many who’ll want to sway you to their side,” he said, arrogant confidence dripping from his pores. “In any case, I will train you in our ways.”