Red-Hot Desert Docs. Carol Marinelli

if I miss a call and it’s about my mother? The first thing I do is check my phone, yet while I’ve been here...’ she shook her head unsure she could explain, ‘...it doesn’t matter.’

      ‘Tell me.’

      ‘Well, I’ve always put off having a holiday. I convinced myself I’d panic all the time in case something happened and I couldn’t get to her.’

      ‘You know, if there was any change then I would get you straight home.’

      ‘I know.’ Adele nodded. ‘But, rather than panicking, I’ve found...’ She didn’t know how best to explain it. ‘I’m ten hours away at best. It’s actually nice to know if something happens I won’t have to deal with it. I now understand why people kept suggesting that I take a proper break.’

      ‘Good for you.’

      ‘Anything could happen,’ Adele said, ‘and we wouldn’t know.’

      And then she met his eyes and they told him that anything could happen and she wouldn’t mind at all.

      She wandered around. There was the royal suite with cascades of crimson silk and on one wall a red velvet curtain. Above the bed was a velvet rope.

      ‘I doubt that summons breakfast,’ Adele said.

      ‘It doesn’t.’

      ‘Does that ring in the harem?’

      ‘It does,’ Zahir said.

      She was tempted to pull it just to see some sultry beauty come through the curtain.

      Adele did so and Zahir smiled and put her out of her misery. ‘The harem was disbanded before my parents married. I believe it was a condition she insisted upon when she attended the selection ceremony.’

      And she remembered Leila tapping at her ruby and telling Adele that she had made demands of her own.

      Now she understood the demands Leila had made had not been about keeping her in splendour.

      ‘Good for her.’ Adele smiled.

      And she thought of Fatiq, who really loved his wife. She just wished she could help there, but knew that there was nothing she could do.

      A maid served them some tea and pastries and they sat on cushions. They were alone, finally alone, and she never wanted it to end. ‘When do we have to go back?’

      ‘When we choose to,’ Zahir said. ‘Would you like to go riding? It will be sunset soon. I can have them prepare a gentle horse.’

      ‘That sounds amazing.’

      It was.

      They went on a slow walk along the dunes and a huge orange sun turned the sands and the sky to molten gold. The colours meant it was like being in the middle of a furnace, yet with the setting sun a soft wind circled them.

      The sky darkened and the first stars started to appear as the air cooled. Adele wanted more of the desert.

      She wanted more of Zahir.

      ‘Will Leila know...’ Adele asked ‘...if we stay here tonight?’

      ‘The staff are discreet. It might eventually filter back but you will be long gone by then. But I think she will understand when I tell her I have feelings for you. Deep ones.’ He was honest. ‘I can barely get my father to agree to an X-ray machine, I very much doubt he would allow you to be my bride.’

      ‘I could never leave my mother.’

      ‘I know,’ Zahir said. ‘So for now all we have is this time.’

      ‘For now?’

      ‘I told you, I have asked the desert for a solution.’

      Which didn’t seem a lot to hang hope on, Adele thought.

      Perhaps she’d sighed because Zahir looked at her and smiled.

      They arrived back at the oasis and when she’d thought there could be no more surprises she watched the steam rise from the hot waters as it hit the cold night air.

      ‘Do you want to go in?’ Zahir asked.

      Often, too often, Adele had wondered how it might happen—a kiss that grew out of hand, as had been the case on the plane, or he might sneak her to join him in the royal suite. Never had she envisaged the absolutely certain, almost calm way he dismounted and held out his hand to help her down.

      And she knew this was it.

      They had withheld and resisted but finally they were alone and there was nothing now that could stop them.

      Though there was one thing perhaps, Adele thought as he lifted her down and for a slow, sensual moment her body slid over his.

      If Adele told him this was her first time, she knew Zahir might well reconsider.

      And she didn’t want that.

      He held her against him and she could feel that muscular body and the roughness of his robe.

      ‘You’re sure?’ he checked.

      ‘Very.’

      He turned her around and undid the zipper of her robe and it slipped to the ground.

      A nearly full moon lit them and Adele could feel his eyes on her as she took off her underwear.

      ‘It’s cold,’ Adele said.

      ‘Then get into the warm water.’

      The water came up to her shoulders and she stood and watched Zahir undress.

      First he removed the scabbard that held his sword and dropped it to the ground, and then he disrobed and removed the leather straps from his feet. And then as he stood and she saw that magnificent body fully naked he strode with purpose to the waterside. She wondered if perhaps she ought to tell him.

      No.

      She lay on her back in the water and gave him full view of her body, and as he stared down she parted her legs and she felt her stomach tighten as he stared.

      It was too late to be shy, she decided, and she would never regret this magical night in the desert.

      He joined her in the water and Adele stood. They faced each other for a moment and then he reached over and she slid through the water to the demand of his hands.

      The air was cold above the water but their kiss was warm and deep and his beard was rough and sexy.

      His hands were over her skin, feeling her breasts, cupping them, and then teasing her nipples. Then down to her waist and then to her buttocks. All this as her arms wrapped around his neck. His mouth was so beautiful and she explored it. The steam had made their faces damp and their mouths slid easily.

      She could feel him nudging at her stomach and one hand moved from his neck just to hold him again.

      He lifted her so that her legs wrapped around his waist and she could feel the nudge of him at her centre and held him there. It made her kiss him harder as his hand slid to her sex and he felt her warm and slick.

      And then they stopped kissing and she stared deep into his eyes, and they were back to their first meeting.

      Somehow they had known even then that they were meant to be.

      Their kiss was deep and her body pliant. Her arms were loose enough around his neck that he could guide her.

      He positioned himself, one hand at the base of her spine and the other around himself so he could take her fast and deep, and she now stared into his eyes.

      No kissing.

      Just watching and waiting for him.

      Yet he did not slide inside her easily, as he had planned to.

      Adele made throaty noise at the bliss of intimate pain.

      And Zahir realised that this was her