Page 24 of Queen of Barrakesch
“I have less pressure than you.”
“Has your aunt given up?”
“I believe so. I hope so.” He held up crossed fingers, and she giggled.
Imani yawned and set her glass of wine on the table. “I should go. It’s late.”
“You should.” Wasim looked across the table at her, his gaze steady and unflinching. “Or you could stay.”
She didn’t respond, but she looked at him, and he saw movement in her throat as she swallowed.
“I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know where this conversation is going.”
“I believe you know exactly where this conversation is going. You’re not naïve, Imani. There has been something between us, almost since the first day we met. Unacknowledged during all this time, but sitting here with you and talking makes it hard to ignore.”
Nervously, she licked her lips, but neither of their gazes wavered. “What you’re suggesting is outside the parameters of our friendship. If this is some kind of joke…”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” When she didn’t reply, he continued. “All night I’ve thought about kissing you, and it’s not the first time.”
“You can’t talk to me like that.” Her voice shook.
“Why not?”
“Because you can’t. Because we’re friends, and…friends don’t talk like that.”
“Then maybe we should end our friendship, because every time I’m near you, my thoughts are not friendly at all.” He didn’t know what possessed him to be so up-front, except the stress of his attraction to her had started to wear on him. Spending this time together created an opportunity for him to be frank and test the waters. So far she hadn’t run out of the room, so he considered that a good thing.
“I should go.” Imani scraped back her chair and stood.
“I didn’t mean to chase you off.” Wasim stood, too.
“You didn’t. I’m just not sure this is the right conversation for us to be having.”
“Why not?”
“Because it makes me uncomfortable, all right? I-I…it makes me uneasy.”
“Why?” He walked closer. “We know each other.”
“Yes, we know each other. But I also know you’re not interested in a serious relationship.”
“Yet. And neither are you. Your parents want you to move toward marriage, and you’ve been fighting it tooth and nail. We are exactly alike, you and I.”
He reached up and touched her soft hair, smoothing strands back from her face. Her eyes shuttered closed, and that encouraged him to move closer—so close he smelled the sweetness of the grapes on her breath.
“Wasim…”
“I’ve ached to kiss you all night.” He brushed his thumb across her full bottom lip. “One kiss, and I’ll let you go.” At least he’d try to let her go.
She gazed up at him, and her heavy breathing mingled with his slower breaths. “It won’t be one kiss,” she said, calling him out for the liar he was.
“Just a taste, Imani. To put me out of my misery.” As the night wore on, he’d become consumed with one objective—to satisfy a need for her that had long been denied.
Their eyes locked for a moment, and then he lowered his lips to hers.
When their mouths met, the breath stalled in his lungs and his body stiffened under the weight of shock and awareness. He’d known the kiss would be pleasurable, but that small sample was alreadyexquisite. Unexpected bliss swept away every sound and scent in the vicinity and had his senses focused on the sensation of her soft body pressed against his and the sweetness of her filling his nostrils.
He found himself cupping her face with his other hand and sucking on her bottom lip, for the first time tasting wine as he dipped his tongue along the inside of her mouth. But the flavor paled in comparison to the taste of Imani.
