Desert King, Pregnant Mistress(28)

'Closer than this isn't possible.'

'Yes, it is. You know it is,' Beth argued.

He  did know that. Swinging her into his arms, he carried her into the   deeper water where he could stand and she could not. It hardly mattered,   since her legs were already locked around his waist. 'You've got me,'   he murmured against her mouth.

'You'd better believe it,' she told him.

With  Beth safe in one arm, he cupped her face with his hand and kissed  her.  She tasted like the missing part of him, and felt like it too. He  hadn't  realised how much he'd missed her, and he knew she must feel the  same,  because her feelings came pouring out in tears that he kissed  away.

How  could they ever get enough of each other? Even the chill of the  water  couldn't cool them now. She opened for him like a flower, leaning  back  as he eased into her, calling his name as her fingers bit into  him,  exhaling raggedly, eyes closed, giving herself up to pleasure.

Beth  had blossomed into a woman since having the baby. She even tasted   different, sweet and ripe and wonderful; everything about her was   wonderful. She was hot for him, hot and wet, and her muscles gripped him   with remorseless intent as he thrust deeper, taking her again and   again, timing each thrust to the ebb of her sighs. He wanted nothing   more than to give her pleasure. It was all that mattered to him. He   wanted to watch her face and hear her moans of ecstasy, he wanted to   serve her and see her dissolve into sensation; he wanted to make love to   her until nothing existed for them outside of this …

'Oh, Khal, I can't hold back.'

'You  don't have to.' The words had barely left his mouth before she  bucked  beneath him, and the sounds pouring from her lips became  unfocused,  unthinking and free. Free, as he longed to be.

When the storm of their love-making subsided, Khal carried her safely to the shore. 'Do you feel warm now?' Beth teased him.

'Do you?'

'I do now,' she purred as he joined her on their makeshift bed of grass.

'Then my job's done.'

As  he made to pull away she drew him back. 'I see you still have the  bad  habit of teasing me.' She stopped, not wanting to refer back to any  time  that hadn't been as happy as this. It was as if they had ventured  into a  magic kingdom, and she wasn't ready for reality yet. 'Your  Majesty,'  she said, lying back to tempt him on.

'Khal,' he said, pausing for a kiss.

And  even that wasn't something she could joke about. Khal's title and  his  position in the world carried too much weight. And that weight was  all  on his shoulders. 'Khal,' she amended softly, tracing the line of  his  hard, scarred mouth with her fingertip.

'That's better,' he said, capturing her finger and warming it in his mouth.

He  drew her into his arms and made love to her slowly this time,  drawing  out the pleasure until it couldn't be contained. In the water  they had  come together like two elemental beings who knew only a  primitive urge  to mate, but he wanted this to be different for Beth,  and for him. Maybe  he wanted something to remember her by, Khal  reflected, something to  keep him warm, and remind him what innocence  could taste like after his  inevitable return to the real world. He  soothed her down, and then  kissed her until she told him that she  couldn't wait and that her whole  body ached for him again. He refused  to rush and kissed his way down her  body until he reached her feet, and  then he massaged them until she was  purring like a kitten. He turned  her then to drop kisses on the backs  of her knees, which made her  squirm and laugh.                       
       
           



       

'I had no idea … ' Her words disintegrated.

'No idea?' He was moving on to feather kisses on her pale, silky thighs.

'That my legs could be so sensitive.'

'You have so much to learn.'

'And will you teach me?'

'For  as long as you are here in Q'Adar.' He felt her tense. It broke  the  mood. The length of time they'd have together was something neither  one  of them could predict.

'I want you so much.' And not just  sexually, though she must never tell  Khal that. 'I can't believe this  night must end … ' They lay together  side by side, gazing at the stars.

'The night doesn't end until the fire goes out,' Khal murmured.

'And  as you've just put wood on it … ' Turning on her stomach, Beth found  her  cheeky smile. 'It's so special out here in the desert, isn't it?'

'I think so.'

'I thought I'd hate it. I thought it would be barren, and cruel and hard.'

'It is barren and cruel and hard.'

'But it's beautiful too.' She turned to him after a few more stolen minutes. 'We should be getting back for Hana.'

'I  won't break my promise,' Khal said. Reaching for her hand, he  pressed  the palm to his lips. 'You'll be back before Hana wakes … '

She tried not to say anything, but as they stared at each other she couldn't hold the words back. 'And then?'

'And then life carries on as before.'

Beth's  heart sank, and Khal telling her not to look so sad didn't help.  She  shouldn't be greedy; they'd had this night, this one magical  night …

'Let's  go and get the horses saddled up,' Khal suggested, springing to  his  feet. 'Our clothes are dry,' he confirmed, checking them out.

Reality  had intruded, Beth realised, and now the dream was fading fast.  There  would be no more kisses and no more lingering looks as they  tacked up  the horses, ready to go. This was it.

Khal gave her a leg up and asked her if she felt safe before springing onto the back of his stallion.

Safe …

'Let's  enjoy the ride back,' he said, sensing her dejection. They  should make  the most of it, because he had nothing else to offer  her-and though that  left him feeling deeply unsatisfied it didn't mean  they couldn't enjoy  every moment they had left.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN




HE  STOOD outside Hana's room the next morning, watching Beth nurse  their  baby. They had spent the night apart, and coming here to see them  both  had filled him with emotion. And yet he felt shut out too. It was  the  loss of all the months when he hadn't been there for them. But  there was  a better understanding between them now, and no reason why he  shouldn't  raise the subject of Beth staying on as his mistress. She  had mellowed  since having Hana, and he was more sensitive to her needs.  His timing  had been clumsy before, but this time, when he showed Beth  the benefits  of remaining in Q'Adar under his protection, he felt sure  that she would  see sense.

In spite of all the uncertainty, Beth was touched by  the expression in  Khal's eyes when she tiptoed out of Hana's room. There  was such longing  in them, as well as a softness she hadn't seen before.  'Were you  spying on me?'

'I was admiring your parenting skills,'  Khal admitted, falling into  step with her. 'Hana's so contented, and  that's all thanks to you,  Beth. You're a wonderful mother.'

'Thank  you … ' Beth felt a little glow of pride and love for him, and,  without  suspecting anything, accepted Khal's suggestion that they have a   refreshing drink together.


'I've been thinking about our future,' he said, showing her into a shaded courtyard.

A  fountain was tossing cooling plumes of rainbow spray into the air,  and  all around her there was something beautiful for Beth's glance to  light  on. She wondered if she had ever felt happier.

'It needn't be like this.' Khal's look burned into her eyes.

But  it was inevitable that it would be like this, Beth thought  dreamily.  When you loved as much as she did, how else could it be? The  world  glittered with a new light; it was a better place, and everything  in it  jumped into clear focus when you were in love.                       
       
           



       

'I don't like to  see you upset,' Khal said, drawing her out of the sun.  'I don't like to  hear you talking about lawyers-and most of all,' he  confessed, 'I don't  like to hear myself laying down the law where  you're concerned.'

'Are  you telling me you're a reformed character?' Beth teased, feeling  the  glow of love she felt for Khal burst into flame. She felt like  laughing  for joy, and racing round the courtyard, spinning as she went  in an  effort to express the excitement and happiness inside her. She  managed  somehow to restrain herself and continue teasing him instead.  'So you  came round to my way of thinking in the end?'

'I can't say,' Khal  admitted, 'As I don't know what you were thinking.'  He held Beth's gaze  until she blushed and looked away. 'I'd like to  think you were hoping  we could spend more time together.'