Desert King, Pregnant Mistress(27)

'Do you mean take them swimming?'

'It's the best way to clean away all the dust and grit,' he said. 'What are you doing?'

Beth  jumped as Khal turned from checking his horse's legs to stare at  her.  She had just been peering down the front of her shirt to see if  her  underwear would pass muster. Pulling her hand out, she laughed   self-consciously. Khal had been half-naked for some time now. 'It's all   right for a man,' she said. 'But how can I strip off?' The moment she   spoke, Beth wished she hadn't. The look Khal gave her cracked the dust   on his cheek. He was right. Wasn't it a bit late for false modesty?

'Please yourself,' he said, easing his powerful shoulders in a shrug. 'But I'm going swimming.'

And  Beth had to admit the oasis did look tempting. She took a step back  as  Khal reached out. 'Your face looks sore,' he said, lowering his  hand  without touching her. 'The water will clean the dust away. It's  what you  need.'

Beth didn't answer. She only had to watch Khal's muscles  flex as he  checked his stallion over to know what she needed, and it was  more than  a wash.

Having removed the last of the horses' tack,  Khal clicked his tongue  against the roof of his mouth and they followed  him to the lip of the  lagoon. 'I can't manage both of them,' he said.  'You'll have to come  and help me … '

Beth watched transfixed as he unfastened his breeches and took them off. His black finest-cotton pants followed …

'You must have sand everywhere,' he said, turning to face her.

No  wonder he had no inhibitions, Beth thought. Even in the shadowy   moonlight Khal's body was magnificent, a supreme work of nature, only   exceeded by his supreme lack of self-consciousness as he sprang   effortlessly onto his stallion's back. 'What are you waiting for?' he   said, turning to look at her over his shoulder.

For the fire to  die down inside her, maybe? Though hopefully the cool  water should  accomplish that! Beth thought, waiting until the stallion  had swum out a  way. She had no idea why, when they had a child  together, she should  feel so self-conscious about the prospect of  skinny-dipping with Khal.  It was as if they were only now getting to  know each other. She took her  clothes off as quickly as she could, and,  using the slope of the bank  to her advantage, climbed up easily onto  her pony's back. Squeezing her  knees, she urged it into the water.

This was like something out  of a film, Beth thought, as the warm breeze  caressed her and the moon  shone down on them. She rocked gently with  surge of the pony's paddling  motion, heading out towards Khal. He was  right; after a grit bath this  was just what she needed … he was just what  she needed. And, judging by  the angle of their horses' pricked ears,  they thought so too.

She  looked like a moon goddess coming towards him. The light was a  strange  mix of silver and some phosphorescent trickery conjured up by  the light  and the lingering heat. It gave her an aura that shimmered on  her naked  skin as her horse stepped out, and their mounts snickered  companionably  as she smiled at him.                       
       
           



       

He had been standing waiting for her, with  the stallion fetlock-deep  just off the shore beneath the shelter of some  trees, wondering if he  had ever felt so relaxed. When she reached him  their mounts turned  lazily towards a patch of grass that had survived  the blistering heat  of day beneath its canopy of leaves. Sound was  contained by the  mountains, and the swish of water as their horses moved  through it  seemed amplified, as did the hoot and scrabble of creatures  of the  night they couldn't see. The fantasy that they were alone in the  world  expanded and held firm for him. Beth's modesty was protected by  her  long blonde hair, which had curled damply around her nipples,  allowing  him no more than a tantalising glimpse of her breasts. She made  no  attempt to hide them, and as usual her chin was tipped at a  confident  angle. Anything she did she did wholeheartedly, and the way  she had  recovered after the storm had only increased his admiration for  her.

'We can safely leave them to crop the grass,' he said,  dismounting from  his horse. He came to help Beth down, and then the  spell broke when  she looked at him, because they both knew what would  happen if she came  into his arms.

'Why don't we swim?' she said, pulling back.

It  hurt him more to see her innocent enthusiasm change to apprehension.   The depth of her hurt and uncertainty about her future in Q'Adar was   reflected in her face. In all honesty there was nothing he could say to   reassure her-but he had saved her once, and now he wanted to save her   again, and if that meant spending time with her … 'Do you mean you want to   go back in and swim without the horses?'

'That's exactly what I  mean,' she said, staring past him. 'I've dreamed  of swimming in the  moonlight all my life, and I never thought I'd get  the chance.'

'Then  tonight you will.' Desire blazed inside him as he reached up for  her.  He could think of nothing but making her smile and relax again. He  kept a  safe distance between them as he lifted her down. 'Before we  swim I'm  going to stoke the fire, so it will blaze all night and dry  your  clothes.'

'I'll help you collect firewood,' she offered.

'Brushwood, dried grass, twigs, anything you can find … ' The desert wasn't generous with her scraps.

When that was done, she stood with her hand on her hips, watching him. 'You make a mean fire, Sheikh … '

Enjoying  the fact that she was relaxed now, he turned and gave her a  mock bow.  Then he saw her cheeks were blazing. They had been riding and  walking in  shadows, with the darkness concealing their nakedness, but  like Eve she  was aware of it now, and like Eve she wanted to run and  hide and cover  herself. He didn't want that for Beth. He didn't want  her to feel  ashamed, ever. It was important to him that she retained  both her  innocence and her pride. Reaching out, he took her hand to  give her  confidence, and just linking hands with her filled him with an  emotion  he'd never known before. They both knew this couldn't go  anywhere, but  while they had these few hours together why shouldn't  they steal what  pleasure they could?



Swimming with Khal in the moonlight  was amazing. He was a much stronger  swimmer than she was, but each time  he overtook her he lay floating on  his back, waiting for her to catch up  as she thrashed energetically in  the freestyle she'd learned at school.

'That  was absolutely brilliant!' Beth exclaimed, finding her feet in  the  shallow water. But as the stones shifted she lost her balance and,   lurching forward, grabbed on to Khal. He steadied her before letting  go.  'It must be boring for you having to swim with me.'

'Why?' he said, lips curving into his delicious smile.

Beth changed tack rapidly. 'I've never seen a moon so bright, have you?'


'Or  so many stars … ' Raking his hands through his hair to move it from  his  face, Khal leaned back into the water, floating, and Beth thought  she  had never seen him so relaxed. She was relaxed too, lost in the  moment,  thinking about the real man: the man in front of her now, the  man who  had previously been concealed beneath a cloak of power. When he  stood  she absorbed the stillness between them. She was aching for him  to kiss  her, and so she did the right thing and quickly moved away.                       
       
           



       

'Now,  what are we going to do?' she said, adopting a perky voice. What   indeed? How to retire with her self-respect intact when she was naked?   'You'd better get out first, and I won't look,' she suggested.

'Or we could stay here a little longer,' Khal argued.

'And get cold?' Beth countered.

Khal's  smile was so rare and so wicked, it made Beth doubt her  self-control.  'All right, I suppose I could warm you with my wit.' The  ironic  expression on his face suggested not. 'Or you should just turn  your back  and let me get out?'

'I prefer the first option.'

'You do?'

'You offered to warm me,' Khal reminded her, slicking water off his arms.

'I did?'

'Well?' he prompted. 'I'm still waiting.'

The  moment of decision had come; she couldn't keep on ducking and  diving  all night, and the moment she lifted her arms towards him she  was lost.  The hunger inside them both had been suppressed for far too  long, and as  Khal dragged her to him her inhibitions fell away. 'Hold  me close,' she  begged him; it was she who needed warming.