Desert Prince, Defiant Virgin. Kim Lawrence
Tair witnessed the embrace and heard Molly’s parting warning. He could feel the anger burning inside him like a solid physical presence.
He stayed where he stood concealed in the shadows until the echoes of Tariq’s footsteps on the marble floor died away. Then he began to walk towards the door that had just closed, his long stride filled with purpose.
A muscle clenched in his firm jaw as he imagined her in the room feeling pleased with herself because nobody suspected her game. Her mask was good, he conceded, but he had seen through her disguise.
There was no effort involved in recreating in his head the image of her standing in the doorway.
He had barely recognised the mouse minus the glasses and with her hair hanging loose to her narrow waist like a silken screen. The light streaming from the bedroom had acted like a spotlight shining through the fine fabric of her demure nightclothes, revealing every dip and curve of a slender but undeniably female form. Female enough to cause a lustful surge of his own undiscriminating hormones.
Who would have guessed, other than Tariq, that under the baggy top there was that body?
He stopped a few feet from the door and forced himself to think past both the memory of those small plump breasts and his anger—the two seemed inextricably linked in his head—and took a deep breath, forcing the fury boiling in his veins to a gentle simmer.
To confront her would give him pleasure of a sort, but what would it achieve? Other than to watch her struggle as she tried to explain away what he had seen. She would have her work cut out, Tair thought. He was not a man to jump to conclusions, but in this instance he felt he was fully justified to assume the worst.
However, what he had witnessed showed how deeply she had her unvarnished claws into Tariq, and threats from him were not going to make her back off. Him barging in might even have the opposite effect and actually make the situation worse. Right now the situation was retrievable, but if the affair became public knowledge…?
He needed to think. He needed to think about this like any other problem. He needed to analyse the problem, decide what he wanted to happen and then choose how he was going to make it happen.
Tair inhaled deeply, then released the breath slowly. With one last look at the door he turned and strode away in the opposite direction to the one his cousin had taken.
Tariq, who had been walking across the courtyard, stopped when he saw his cousin. ‘Tair!’
Tair stepped towards him thinking, You idiot, as he smiled. Tariq looked exhausted. Perhaps guilt made him lie awake at night?
He too had lain awake the previous night, but he was not feeling any effects from the lack of sleep; he was actually feeling quite pleased with himself.
Some might consider his plan reckless, but Tair preferred to think of it as inspired.
‘I’m glad I bumped into you.’
The relief he saw on the other man’s face struck Tair as darkly ironic.
‘Actually—’ Tariq, his brow furrowed, glanced down at the watch on his wrist ‘—you could do me a favour. I don’t suppose you would take a message to Molly for me?’
Tair inclined his head to indicate his willingness to help out and thought that this was working out much better than he’d anticipated.
It wasn’t very often the victim of a scam actively helped facilitate the scheme. Not that he had a lot of personal experience with scams, and this was one being perpetuated with the most altruistic of motives. He didn’t expect that Tariq would immediately he able to make the differentiation, though obviously when he had come to his senses he would appreciate his good fortune.
‘You’ll find her in the glasshouses,’ he explained, glancing down at his watch in a manner that seemed uncharacteristically distracted to Tair. ‘She’s interested in that sort of thing. Well, she would be, wouldn’t she?’
‘She would?’ Tair, who was mentally bringing forward his plan by an hour, pretended an interest he did not feel.
‘Well, yes, she’s head of the science department but her first degree was in botany. When I told her about the glasshouses built by great-grandfather and his collection she was fascinated. I was looking for Khalid to do the honours for me, but I can’t track him down.’
‘She is a teacher?’ he said, unable to hide his doubt. Surely in order to command the respect of pupils a teacher needed to project an air of authority?
Tariq looked amused. ‘Have you spoken to her at all? She teaches at a girls’ school.’ He named a prestigious establishment that even Tair had heard of and added, ‘Molly is really very bright.’ He said this with an obvious pride that set Tair’s teeth on edge.
‘I know she seems quiet, but once you start talking to her…she’s actually got a great sense of humour and—’
‘She seems to have a most articulate advocate in you,’ Tair cut in before his cousin waxed even more lyrical and was unable to keep a guard on his tongue. ‘I will,’ he promised, ‘certainly make the effort to know her better.’ He knew all he needed to know about Miss Mouse.
‘So we have you for a few more days?’
‘My travel plans are not certain yet,’ Tair lied, thinking of his refuelled plane and freshly charted flightplan.
‘Tell Molly I’m sorry, but I’ll have to take a rain check. Bea had a bad night. They think it’s a good idea if she checks into the hospital.’ He glanced down at his watch again. ‘I’ve been banished while she packs a bag. She says I’m driving her mad fussing.’ Despite his joking tone the lines of strain around his mouth made it clear that Tariq was worried.
‘You should have said something!’ Tair exclaimed. ‘Is she—?’
‘It’s just a precaution,’ Tariq cut in quickly. ‘Her blood pressure is up a little and, well, the fact is she’s been doing too much. It’s my fault—I shouldn’t have left her alone.’
Tair thought it was a little late for the other man to realise this, but given his obvious agitation it seemed unnecessarily cruel to labour the point so he contented himself with an abrupt, ‘Your place is with your wife.’
‘So you’ll explain the situation to Molly?’
Could he not forget the woman even now? ‘I will make sure she understands.’
Tariq laid a hand on his arm. ‘Thanks, Tair, and try not to scare her. Poor Molly has the impression you can’t stand the sight of her.’
The girl was highly perceptive, Tair thought, while lifting his brows in an attitude of amazement.
‘I know, crazy,’ Tariq remarked with an indulgent smile that made Tair’s teeth grate, ‘but I think you make her nervous… I know you can be charming, Tair, and I’d be grateful if you’d make the effort for me. This is her first visit here and I want her to come back.’
Not if I have anything to say about it. ‘For you, yes, cousin, I will make the effort.’
‘Thanks for this, Tair.’
‘It is my pleasure.’ And if not his pleasure, it was certainly his duty to remove temptation from Tariq’s way.
The perfectly preserved glasshouses built in the Victorian era covered acres of ground and they contained not only historical and rare fruit and vegetable varieties, but a unique and priceless collection of orchids.
Tair was familiar with the glasshouses as when he was a boy visiting his cousins they had played there. It took him a short time to locate Molly, though he almost walked past her, only catching sight of the shiny top of her head at the last minute.
He backtracked and saw she was sitting on the floor with her knees drawn up, her attention divided between the sketch-book balanced on her knee and an orchid in full fragrant bloom. Its heady scent filled the air around them.