by Albany, Cara
But, she looked at him nevertheless.
"The only person who's crazy here is me," he whispered.
Chloe frowned at Zayed. "Why?"
Zayed smiled softly, but Chloe could see the fire start to burn in his gaze. "For letting you go. That is how I know I am crazy. Only a madman would let someone as beautiful and precious as you escape."
Chloe felt her entire body start to tingle from head to toe. What was he doing to her? Didn't Zayed know that saying these kinds of things to her was dangerous?
Zayed shifted his body and leaned back slightly. Chloe shifted onto her side, allowing Zayed to support her against his strong torso. He shifted his long legs, laying one firmly against Chloe.
Chloe tried to put some distance between them, but his hold on her was firm and determined. Chloe felt her eyes become heavy. It felt to good to so close to Zayed. Just like it had felt in the tent at the encampment. Only, this time, there was no storm threatening their comfort. They were alone in a cave, miles from anyone.
Was she safe? Could she trust Zayed?
Chloe thought about those questions and knew that Zayed's heart was good, even though, in the past years, Chloe had felt so let down. She could trust Zayed. She knew that.
But, could Chloe trust herself?
Chloe glanced into Zayed's eyes, seeing the battle that was going on behind that supremely confident, yet tender, gaze.
Chloe saw Zayed's mouth open slightly, his full lips moist and tempting.
Zayed must have seen that look in Chloe's eyes because in the next second he took that look as a sign, as permission. His head swooped down and he claimed Chloe's mouth with his tender lips.
In a second her lips became conduits of pleasure for her body. Chloe inhaled deeply as Zayed's tongue probed and tested her lips, seeking entry.
Chloe entire being lit up in flame as Zayed clutched her tight against himself. The strength of his embrace drew the breath out of Chloe, and she gasped.
Zayed pulled back suddenly, concern in his gaze. He said nothing but his eyes were filled with a desperate inquiry. Chloe knew this was no time for words. She reached up her hand and ran her fingers through Zayed's thick, dark hair, drawing his head closer.
And, at that moment, all show of negotiation was set aside. Chloe knew that she needed Zayed; wanted him in every way possible.
Zayed dipped his head and claimed Chloe's lips again, this time with an urgent need.
His hands took her head, holding her carefully, supporting her. She felt his body tighten and then he set her head gently back down onto the small rolled up blanket she had been using as a pillow. The way he guided her head down was as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
Then Zayed twisted and in a second their bodies were entwined, Chloe clutching Zayed fervently against her. Zayed leaned over Chloe, leaning astride over her.
Chloe wrapped an arm around Zayed's shoulders, desperate for closeness, needing his heat. She felt the chords of muscle on his neck tighten as he strained to control his position over Chloe.
Zayed tugged the thin blanket away to one side and Chloe settled back onto the thicker blanket Zayed had stretched out earlier upon the sand-covered floor.
Chloe felt a sudden, intense joy that Zayed had surrendered to her yet again. In spite of all her previous doubts, she rejoiced at having this amazing man next to her, his passion pure and clear.
Chloe's body softened against Zayed's increasingly tight body. Chloe felt she was suddenly walking a tightrope of passion. Her mind kept trying to draw her back to another reality, but every time it did so, the eagerness curling inside Chloe sent those logical thoughts racing away.
Zayed's tongue drew gasps from Chloe, and she realized Zayed had gasped at the sensations.
Chloe felt her nipples harden beneath her thin shirt. Zayed's shirt had drifted open, and she could feel the roughness of his dark chest hair brushing harsh against the protective fabric. But, for how long would it protect her?
Chloe shuddered as Zayed dropped the weight of his body down upon her while taking some of the pressure with his elbows.
Chloe slid her legs apart, aware that such a gesture would only ignite Zayed's craving even more. And indeed it did, because she heard Zayed suck in a huge, deep breath, his ardor growing even more, intense.
Chloe felt her core soften and warm as Zayed ground his hips against her middle. How could something she had missed for so long feel so overpowering? So right.
So welcome.
Chloe felt her own restraint start to crumble as Zayed enveloped her in his embrace, seizing her with a raw, primal force. There was a fierceness in his touch that set her body on fire.
She turned her head to one side, and, as she had intended, Zayed took that as a request to find the sensitive spot behind her ear. Sensation flooded every nerve in her body, sending shock waves of torturing rapture all the way to her core.
Grasping at the hair on the back of his head, Chloe tugged, delighting in his appreciative reaction. Zayed lifted his head and gave Chloe a thankful look, combined with a wolf-like grin. His brows rose and his nostrils flared.
Chloe had forgotten just how untamed Zayed could look.
Zayed reached down and opened Chloe's shirt, revealing her breasts and the tender peaks of her nipples. Zayed's head dipped and his mouth claimed one of Chloe's nipples. His ravenous tongue laved her nipple sending shockwaves once again through her torso. Chloe groaned, the sound of her primal moaning so at home in such an ancient place.
Chloe ran her hands down Zayed's arms, savoring the strength of his muscles, relishing the feel of his arms shaking slightly with barely contained desire. She was sure that Zayed was going to explode with passion any minute now.
Zayed shifted his attentions to her other breast, and once again she felt herself shudder with delight as his expert tongue traced circles around her nipple. Chloe's body lit up with the heat. She realized she was almost quivering with pleasure as Zayed rested upon her.
Zayed pressed his hips hard against Chloe's middle and she felt his hardness against her soft belly. Chloe's hips undulated beneath Zayed and his answering movements told her everything she needed to know about the effect she was having on him.
Chloe shifted, uttering a moan of pleasure. Zayed raised his shoulders, his head towering high above Chloe. He looked down at her, his eyes widening with delight at seeing the joy he had wrought in Chloe. Once again there was a silent, wordless communication, a secret assent to what they both knew was inevitable.
Then, Zayed shifted and Chloe felt him loosen himself, freeing his firmness from restraint.
There was a movement of hands, a shifting of fabric and then Zayed's lips crashed down upon Chloe's mouth. With one sweet, tender thrust, Chloe and Zayed were one, yet again, after what had seemed to Chloe like an eternity.
Chloe reached up, stretching her arms away from her, and Zayed descended upon her, his movements urgent, yet loving at the same time.
Chloe had never known such pleasure, such a sense of completion. It had never been like this before. Absence had created a tender fury within Zayed. His every movement drove Chloe higher and higher. Zayed's head dipped down and he suckled at her breasts.
Chloe felt Zayed's breath against her skin and the scent of his passion was intoxicating. With yet more soft, skillful movements Chloe was driven yet higher until she could see the peak ahead of her, feel the impending fall.
Chloe dragged in a deep breath, feeling her body begin to shake, sensing the inevitable melting of her bones. Her mind emptied of all thoughts except how wonderful it was to be one with Zayed again, how whole he made her feel.
And then, with one gentle twisting movement beneath Zayed, she felt herself quiver, a thunderous shifting of the ground beneath her, as if the desert itself had moved and she was falling off a cliff that she had forgotten existed a very long time ago.
In that same instant, she heard Zayed cry out like a lion of the desert, grasping Chloe tight ag
ainst him, muscles shaking, a sudden pulsing movement in his body.
They lay in each others arm, sunk in the glow of the feelings they had summoned up out of the darkness of the past.
But, the darkness did not seem so terrifying now. As she lay in Zayed's arms, gazing at his handsome face, seeing the glow of passion written on his features, Chloe knew that the darkness would never frighten her ever again.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
When Zayed awoke, he reached over expecting to touch Chloe, feel the soft, warmth of her body, but his hand only found the cold blanket.
The interior of the cave was lit by a weak beam of light from the gap in the cave roof.
Zayed jerked upright.
He was alone in the cave, and for a moment he thought Chloe had run off, leaving him to consider the consequences of what had happened mere hours earlier. Images flashed through his mind; Chloe's wide eyes; her beautiful body astride him; the expression on her face as she reached the peak of ecstasy. After their first love-making in a long while, the temptation for more had proved too much. Zayed sighed contentedly as he recalled bringing Chloe to many peaks of pleasure. Then, he dragged himself back to the moment.
So, where was she?
Zayed stood quickly and strode over to the cave entrance, panic gripping him. What if Chloe had taken a horse and was now racing across the desert, alone, vulnerable? Maybe she would get lost, and he knew if that happened he might never find her.
Near the entrance, Zayed tripped and staggered over a pile of rocks, cursing out loud. Picking himself up, he emerged from the entrance. What he saw calmed his spirit immediately.
Chloe.
She was standing with her back to him, and she was gazing out across the desert. The sun had risen a short time before, and now the sky was a clear blue with soft, shimmering rose color tinting the distant horizon. It was a sight Zayed had grown accustomed to over the years, but he realized that, to Chloe, this must seem like a very special sight to behold.
Chloe didn't turn to Zayed. There was only a slight move of her head while she remained with her back to him. Then he heard her voice, which contained more than a hint of teasing. "Finding it difficult to stay on your feet this morning?" she asked with a quiver of good humor.
Zayed paused and smiled. Chloe must have heard his clumsy stumbling inside the cave.
"I wondered where you were," he said.
Chloe turned, and Zayed was momentarily shocked, even stunned, by how beautiful she looked in the early morning sun. Her eyes seemed to shimmer with a glorious inner glow. She looked truly happy. Zayed was pleased to see that the feelings he had pulsing inside himself were more than matched by Chloe.
Zayed went up to Chloe and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her against his body and claimed her mouth with a firm, demanding early morning kiss. He felt Chloe soften in his grasp.
Reaching up behind her head, Zayed ran his fingers through her hair, drawing her mouth even harder against his own. Chloe's lips tasted sweet, and Zayed knew he could have stood there all day kissing her, but after a few moments he felt Chloe's head pull away.
Her gaze locked on him and she smiled. "Whoa, there," she gasped. "That's some good morning kiss you've got there," she said with a grin.
He loved the way that her eyes had lit up. There was such a powerful light in those eyes. Up close now, he could almost feel the emotion in that look. It started a fire inside him that he wasn't sure he could contain.
"That's just how I feel," he said.
Chloe smiled again and reached up a hand, stroking the side of Zayed's chin. "I can see that."
Zayed felt the back of her fingers playing along his rough stubble. He saw Chloe's gaze follow the movement of her fingers, as if she were fascinated by the roughness she felt on his skin.
"You need a shave," she teased.
Zayed squinted at her. "And I thought you liked the rough look."
Chloe's eyes peered deep into Zayed's. "I do," she admitted. "But, if we're heading back to the palace, I don't want everyone thinking we got lost in the desert, and you turned into some kind of animal."
Zayed tightened his hold on Chloe, and he saw her eyes widen. "I thought you liked the animal in me," he growled.
He leaned in once again and claimed her lips, savoring the softness of her kiss. Zayed felt the firmness of his desire rise. He heard Chloe moan quietly, her hips pressing hard against his middle. Zayed drew Chloe's precious frame hard against him. The sound of his own breathing had become surprisingly loud, the pace insistent and urgent.
Chloe's tongue teased and probed Zayed's willing mouth, and he felt the desire rush through his veins. Chloe wrapped her arms around Zayed's back. He felt her grip tighten around him. He wanted Chloe so badly, needed her with an intensity that overwhelmed his mind and his being.
Zayed felt the soft breeze drifting in from the desert. To be in this place, with this precious woman in his arms, beneath the smoldering sun, was like a dream come true.
Then suddenly he sensed a change in Chloe. She drew in a sharp breath and stiffened. Her lips started to drift away from his tender attention. Her hands slid away from his back. One of her hands came up and settled firmly on his chest. It felt like a barrier had just been rebuilt. Zayed's heart stopped for a second.
When their lips parted, he saw that her cheeks were flushed, heard the pace of her breathing begin to slow.
Chloe cleared her throat and nodded. Something seemed to have suddenly shifted inside Chloe, and Zayed felt a tug of concern.
"What's wrong, Chloe?" he asked, trying to contain the urgency that burned inside him.
Chloe said nothing in reply, merely shaking her head. She ran a hand through her blonde hair and pulled some stray locks behind her ear. Her lips tightened into a thin line and her gaze shifted so that he could no longer read the expression in her eyes.
Chloe took a step back and turned away from Zayed, releasing herself from his grasp. For a moment, he felt as if she had wrenched herself from him with an unwelcome violence.
Chloe sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, her shoulders suddenly tight and raised.
When Zayed tried to move closer to Chloe, she took one small step away from him, and that was all that was needed to stop Zayed in his tracks.
"When are we starting back?" Chloe said in a flat, quiet voice.
Zayed sighed and nodded. "As soon as you wish," he replied.
He was starting to understand it all now. Chloe regretted what had happened between them last night. Like a fool he had believed that everything had changed; that somehow the mere act of making passionate love to Chloe would change everything for the better.
Well, it had changed things. But, not for the better. The way Chloe was behaving, it looked like she couldn't wait to put as much distance as possible between herself and Zayed. He felt a surge of panic, the same panic he'd experienced in the cave when he'd thought she'd ran from him.
Zayed took a step forward, intent on saying something, anything that would draw the truth out of Chloe, convince her of his feelings, the strength of them.
However, Chloe did not even react to his movement. She fixed her gaze even more intently on the far horizon.
For a long while, they stood silently together. Zayed's mind became a blank, empty of all thought. All he could feel was a blind panic at the thought that Chloe was forcing him away.
Eventually, he knew he had to say something. "Have I done something wrong, Chloe?" he asked.
"No, you haven't Zayed. On the contrary, we did what was inevitable. You might say it was destined to happen."
Zayed took Chloe's arm and turned her to face him. He was shocked when he saw the blank expression on her face. She had closed herself off from him completely. Had he misjudged her so badly?
"If it is destiny, then aren't we destined to be together?" he asked.
Chloe frowned slightly, and he could see that his question had touched something in her. She seemed about to respond. But the
n, almost as quickly, he saw her lips tighten, and she turned away from him, shaking her head with a vehemence that astonished him.
"I think we should leave, soon," she said, her back to him.
Anything he could have said simply stopped in his throat. Zayed nodded and sighed, feeling the reluctant acceptance force itself upon him.
Right now, he couldn't figure Chloe out; couldn't understand what had driven her to reject him like this, especially after what had happened hours before. Being so close to her, feeling her a part of him, connected, at last, had made him believe that he achieved what he had set out to do.
Win Chloe back.
Now, as he turned away from her, all he could think of was how the pain of failure burned at his soul.
*****
Hours later they paused atop a final dune and looked down at the encampment. From her own horse, Chloe glanced across at Zayed. They had ridden back to the camp seated upon their individual mounts. The contrast between the ride back and her time sharing Zayed's mount could not have been more stark.
Chloe sighed as she looked at Zayed. He looked so regal upon his own mount. Chloe felt a jolt of feeling in her middle, seeing the darkness written across Zayed's features as he gazed down at the camp.
"Here, at last," Chloe said.
Zayed merely nodded. He had said virtually nothing to Chloe during the entire journey back from the cave. And, if truth be told, she had been grateful for that silence.
Chloe had needed time to reflect on how she was feeling; how the events of the previous night affected her.
The memories of Zayed's love-making made her tingle inside. The sensations he had brought out in her had been almost overwhelming. She had seen something in Zayed, which she had tried to deny. It was something that had troubled her ever since he had left her all those years ago. His obvious passion for Chloe seemed to be like an unstoppable force, driving onwards, determined to overcome any resistance she could summon.
Chloe had stood outside the cave entrance, gazing across the dunes, stunned by what had happened a few hours previously. She had tried to understand why there was a burning ache of anxiety in her middle. Then she suddenly understood what was causing it.