Desert King, Pregnant Mistress(16)

'Finished?' he teased against her lips.

'It has to be enough, I've got work to do.'

'Work?' His voice changed. He pulled away. 'Work will have to wait.'

'It can't wait.'

'I haven't come all this way to stand in line. You've got the rest of the day off.'

It was a stark reminder of who he was, but she wasn't up for being steamrollered. 'I can't. I've got a duty.'

'To me,' Khal cut across her flatly.

'No.'  Beth shook her head as she stepped out of the shower and took the  towel  he handed her. 'I won't just disappear, Khal, and let people  down. I'm  expected.'

'Don't worry about it. Everyone knows you won't be available for the rest of the day.'

'You told them that?' Beth pressed her lips together angrily. 'I can't believe you just arrived and took over my life.'

Rather than rise to her anger, Khal's lips tugged wryly. 'I know no other way. You'll have to teach me … '

She  was stopped in her tracks. Khal had taken the wind right out of her   sails. But was he serious? And then his hard face softened even more.   'Won't you show me round your city, Beth?'

He never got the  chance to do anything ordinary, she realised.  'Really?' she said, still  suspicious of his motives. 'The guided tour?'

'If you'll take me.'                       
       
           



       

As he smiled, she softened. 'Just you and me?'

'Absolutely.'

'No outriders?'

'No limousine, no outriders, no Sheikh. Just Beth Tracey Torrance and Khal from Q'Adar.'

'Like normal people?' Beth made a small huff of disbelief.

'It's not impossible, is it?'

Impossible?  No. It was sad, Beth realised. She showed nothing on her  face, but she  was thinking-one of the most powerful men in the world  was asking her to  show him what 'normal' was, and what ordinary people  did on an ordinary  day out. There would be no yachts or helicopters,  and no armed guards,  just an open-top bus and the two of them. She  could fight Khal all she  liked, but the idea he'd put forward was  irresistible to someone who  cared about him as much as she did. 'If  you're sure you really want to … '


'I  really do,' he said, and the look he gave her made her heart melt.   Having made her decision, she tipped her chin and looked him over. 'In   that case, I'd better find you something comfortable to wear … '



'So what does his Majesty think of the open-top bus ride?'

'Khal.'

As  he prompted her, Beth tried to ignore the feelings in her heart.  This  was going nowhere-except to the bus terminal-and it was time she  faced  up to that fact. But finding a way to stop her heart hammering  with love  for him was another thing.

She was so lovely it almost blinded  him to look at her. He had wanted  this time alone with her. He counted  it as precious, private time away  from other people, and valued it more  than Beth would ever know.  However hard he'd tried, he couldn't let her  go. He wouldn't let her  go. She wasn't interested in his wealth or his  position, or even the  fact that he was one of the most powerful men in  the Arab world and  beyond. She was tender and true, and quirky. She was  also the hottest  thing on two spectacular legs. Bottom line-if he wanted  Beth Tracey  Torrance, he had to play at least part of the game by her  rules.

She grinned at him, and then the rain hit them both in the face.

'Okay,  so maybe we'll get off here,' he said, tugging off the jacket  she'd  found for him in the store to drape it round her shoulders. The  jeans  and shirt she'd picked out for him wouldn't come to harm, but he  didn't  want Beth getting wet.

He ushered her off the bus when it reached  Albert Dock. He knew she  wanted to look round the Tate. She stood  entranced in the gallery in  front of some stunning, contemporary Chinese  art. The trip was a great  success, and she was relaxed by the time he  took her for lunch in the  café. She had a hearty appetite in all  departments, but it was her  enthusiasm for life that attracted him the  most. As she dabbed her lips  with the napkin, she drew his attention to  how deliciously full they  were, and how much he wanted to kiss her  again.

'That was delicious, and I'm stuffed,' she claimed happily, without a care in the world.

'Wonderful,' he said. 'I only want to see you happy.'

Before  he had chance to say any more, she interrupted him. 'I can't  believe I  managed three courses. I never do that. But deep-fried  potatoes with  chilli sauce are my absolute favourites.'

'Along with tuna Niçoise, and chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce, I assume?'

'Absolutely,' she agreed. 'Sorry, I interrupted you. What were you about to say?' She gazed at him intently.

'I've got something to show you,' he said. 'Not that,' he murmured when she gave him a look full of mischief.

'What is it? Will I like it?'

'You'll  just have to come with me, if you want to find out … ' And this  time when  he held out his hand to her she took hold of it trustingly.





CHAPTER EIGHT




'WHAT  are you doing?' Beth said when Khal flipped out his mobile and  started  punching in numbers. They had stopped outside the entrance to  the Tate.

'Calling the cavalry … '

'You promised me no outriders.' She felt her stomach sink. 'I thought this was going to be a normal day?'                       
       
           



       

'And so it is,' he assured her.

'For you or for me?'

'Don't get mad, or you won't get your surprise.'

'Okay.' Beth bit back on her disappointment. 'I'll give you a chance, but only one, mind.'

With a grin that made her stomach lurch, Khal silenced her before speaking in Arabic to his driver.

'So, where are we going?' she asked him as the limousine pulled up at the kerb.

'To my penthouse in the city.'

'You are full of surprises.'

'You don't have to come with me,' he said, reaching for the door handle.

'But  you're sure I will,' she commented dryly as Khal waved his  chauffeur  aside and helped her into the car. 'I suppose it won't hurt  me to see  where you hang out.'

'And maybe linger a while?' he suggested, climbing in beside her.

'You  always have the best ideas,' Beth agreed, wondering if it would  always  be like this between them, the sexual tension reaching  danger-levels  constantly-but with a man driving them that wasn't good.  She noticed  both she and Khal were making sure they kept a good space  between them  on the spacious back seat.

Khal's penthouse was fabulous. A  massive, high-ceilinged, oak-floored  entrance hall complete with  life-sized sculptures led through to a  modern and sophisticated  open-plan living area. There were panoramic  views across the city and  the estuary to the Welsh hills beyond,  through the floor-to-ceiling  window. As far as Beth was concerned every  superlative she had in her  head was totally inadequate to describe it,  and so she settled for,  'Wow!'

'So you like it?'

'And I thought I'd seen everything in Q'Adar!' she exclaimed, turning full-circle. 'What's not to like? How big is this place?'

'Around five thousand.'

'Square  feet?' Beth demanded in astonishment. 'And you keep this just  for when  you visit Liverpool?' When Khal didn't answer her right away,  alarms  bells started ringing in her head. She noticed now that there  was none  of the usual personal stuff around. She decided to probe a  little. 'I  love it, but it's not exactly what I'd call a home,' she  said  innocently.

'Not yet,' Khal agreed, 'But you could soon change that.'

'I  could change it? Go on!' Beth gave a short laugh. 'You're kidding  me.'  The idea of her putting her stamp on a place like this was beyond  even  her wildest flights of imagination.

'No. I'm absolutely serious,' Khal assured her. 'Would you care to tour the master suite?'

Her  body was still throbbing from his love-making, and it didn't take  much  to turn her thoughts in the direction of the master suite. Time to  put  her suspicions to one side. The time they'd spent apart had made  her  greedy for Khal. As if sensing this, he touched her, running the   knuckles of one hand lightly down her arm, and then he reached for her   so that now she was operating on a purely sensual plane with no thought   of where this was leading. Burrowing her face in his strong, warm neck   felt so good and so right, and the next thing she knew Khal had swung   her into his arms. Shouldering his way through one of the doors, he took   her into the most amazing bedroom-though she hardly had time to notice   all the blonde wood, glass and mirrors before he laid her gently on  the  bed and stripped off her clothes. Joining her without a suggestion  of  embarrassment, he stretched out next to her. 'You have an incredible   body,' she said, running her fingertips over his smooth, bronze skin.