Page 42 of At the Sheikh's Command
She shook her head. “It was the worst thing I could have said to him. A challenge.”
“So…” he prompted, willing her to continue. “So how did he handle his willful teenager?”
“Seems he knew the garden more than I gave him credit for. At least he knew that there was an old smuggler’s cave in the garden. He locked me in it.”
She didn’t look at him, but by the way his hand tightened over hers, she knew he was shocked.
“And he didn’t let me out for what seemed like hours. I’ve no idea how long I was in there. But it was dark when he eventually returned, smelling of whiskey, and unlocked me. It’s a wonder he remembered where I was. That was the first time. He preferred a quiet house and the few times he was at home, he hardly needed an excuse to drag me there and lock me in. He was a tall, powerful man.” She closed her eyes. “I swear I had a breakdown in there. I was broken, and had no one to talk to. My tutor was long gone, scared off by my crazy, controlling father. So I used my brain to figure out that I had to go on. And I had to make sure I didn’t break. It was the only way to get on with my father until I was old enough to leave.”
“Don’t feel anything,” said Darrius quietly.
“Exactly. In those dark moments in the cave, I managed to eventually calm myself and plan my future.” She looked at him. “My plans never included feelings. Plans wouldn’t hurt me. They were safe. And then I met you, and I forgot about my plans.”
“And when we got separated, you remembered them again. Nora, I had no intention of hurting you then, but it happened anyway. But this I swear,Iwill never knowingly hurt you again.”
She touched his dear face. She’d missed it so much. And she believed him. But what he didn’t know was that she had more than a past which had scarred her. She had a secret from him, a secret that would hurt him. A secret she’d decided never to tell him, nor anyone. But now everything was different. Now she knew she couldn’t keep it from him.
She kissed him with a tenderness which he repaid. Something had happened, something had changed in that cave. Before they had raw, unadulterated passion, but now they had something even rarer. Something that he had acknowledged before, but she hadn’t. Love.
“Tell me,habibti, what is it that makes you cry? What is it that makes your touch so tentative?”
She brushed away the tears of which she’d hardly been aware, and then looked up at him again.
“I’ve only ever said this once to you, when you were sleeping, eight years ago,” she whispered hoarsely.
“What?”
“I love you.”
He closed his eyes tight, and she suddenly thought that maybe her declaration of love wasn’t welcome. She felt a surge of panic. Had she really bared her heart to him, only to discover he didn’t feel the same? She couldn’t bear the thought that maybe he’d been teasing her, lying about his feelings for her, just for the hell of it.
She reached out and gripped his arm. “Darrius, please, say something.”
But he shook his head and kept on shaking it. She couldn’t stop the tears from falling now. He was obviously trying to figure out a way to let her down, but couldn’t find the words. She’d left it too late. She’d been wrong all along. But she refused to back out now. Her feelings were too strong, and she’d come too far. Instead, she leaned forward and clasped his face between the palms of her hands. She kissed the sweep of his dark lashes, his cheekbones, and then his lips. She felt breathless with fear that her declaration of love had fallen not on deaf ears, but ears that had heard but didn’t like what they’d heard.
“For the love of God, Darrius, look at me. Tell me what you’re thinking because, at this moment, I don’t have a clue, and Ineedto know.”
CHAPTER20
His eyes blinked open, but still she couldn’t read what was in their dark depths.
“Iloveyou, Darrius,” she said, gripping his arm like she was grabbing a lifeline to stop herself from drowning. “I think I always have, but I could never accept that I loved you before now. Before today. And I’m sorry if that isn’t welcome news to you. I’m sorry if you don’t love me back. But,” she said fiercely, “it doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
His eyes snapped open, and for one moment she felt her life was in the balance. She didn’t know which way things would fall. Then he cupped her head and brought his face close to hers, his eyes fierce.
“I love you more than life itself,” he said. “And I always will. I’ve been waiting for this moment since the first day we met and I knew you instinctively. I knew your heart then as I know it now. It was only you who didn’t.”
And then his mouth was upon hers, and he kissed her. Never in her life had she more welcomed a kiss. It held within it so much promise and potential, and she didn’t want to do anything to ruin that moment. It might never come again. So, when he finally drew away, she didn’t tell him what she’d intended to tell him. She wanted this moment, because who knew how he’d react to the secret which she’d kept close for eight long years? And she’d give herself this moment.
So, when he rose and held out his hand to her, she said nothing, just took it and gripped it, like she never wanted to let it go.
“We will return to the palace,” he said. “Where I can show you how much I love you, so you will never doubt me again.”
As they walked back through the gardens, to their rooms, Leonora was aware of the curves of the walls, of the sensual fragrances of the flowers, in a way she hadn’t been when she’d passed through them only hours earlier. She felt as if she were returning to the ancient palace a different person. She could see things she hadn’t been able to see before. She could smell things she couldn’t smell before. It was as if there were no barrier between her and the world anymore. By the time they arrived at his bedroom, she was in an acute state of receptiveness to his touch.
As soon as they stepped inside the room, which was shadowy and cool after the heat of the day, he pulled the scarf from her head, and tossed it to one side. He thrust his fingers into her hair and kissed her.
“Nora, I have waited so long for this moment,” he said when he finally pulled away.
