Royals Untamed!. Annie West

Kazim had been right. The storm had blown itself out and, like the wind, her heart rate slowly became more normal.

      She shouldn’t have done that, shouldn’t have given into the carnal lust that just one touch from him could spark. How could she leave and go back to her old life after a moment like that?

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      THE JOURNEY BACK to the palace had been strained, the week in the desert abandoned. The tension had pulled them almost to breaking point. Amber still couldn’t understand how they had ended up making love the previous night. Had Kazim been proving a point to her or himself? If so, what was it?

      Did he want her to admit she was unable to resist him? Or was it that he could share such a moment without uttering a single word of love? He’d made it perfectly clear that love wasn’t and never would be on his agenda. It was only ever going to be about duty.

      As she’d argued her point last night she’d been sure she wanted to leave, but now, as the hot sun shone down on the peace of the palace gardens, she didn’t know what she wanted any more. She had fallen more deeply in love with him with each passing day and, whilst she craved love, she couldn’t imagine a future without him.

      ‘I was told I’d find you here.’ Kazim’s deep, sexy voice broke through her tumultuous thoughts and she looked up, shielding her eyes against the sun, watching him approach.

      Her heart hammered in her chest as her stomach turned over. The image he created in his white robes and headdress was overwhelming. His tanned face was so handsome her fingers itched to touch him, to caress his face and feel the slight roughness of his stubble.

      But she couldn’t. In that moment she realised she would be fooling herself if she stayed. She had to leave this place and this marriage, in order to keep her sanity. Her reaction to just seeing him now proved this beyond any doubt. And now was the moment to tell him. The inevitable had been delayed long enough.

      She stood up, not wanting to have him tower over her, reminding her of his power. ‘I must leave Barazbin. I need to go back to Paris.’ She kept her voice hard and determined. The previous night in the desert had proved just how easily he could derail her.

      He looked at her, his eyes searching her face, then he crossed his arms over his chest and took in a deep breath. Those seconds she waited for his response seemed like for ever.

      ‘As you wish.’ His tone was curt and his eyes sharp as he looked into hers.

      Had he just agreed? Just like that, she was free? Relief washed over her and she took in a deep ragged breath, amazed how easy it had been. Then hurt rattled in. He thought so little of her he was willing to let her go, to leave for good.

      ‘I need to be back in Paris for when Annie and Claude arrive home.’ She pressed her palm hard against her collarbone, as if doing so would keep in all the hurt that threatened to escape, to make itself known to him.

      She saw his jaw clench. ‘Will you stay in Paris?’ His voice was a guttural growl, reminding her of the first rumbles of thunder.

      Was he asking if she intended ever to return to Barazbin? Was that why he’d accepted her request so calmly, because he thought it would be a visit? Whatever the reason, she had to make it clear.

      ‘Yes, Kazim,’ she said, hating the slight falter in her voice. ‘I will be staying in Paris—for good.’ She looked into his eyes and again the seconds ticked by, but she couldn’t remain like that and she lowered her gaze, breaking the connection.

      He pressed his lips together and nodded in acceptance of what she’d just said. The sun hurt her eyes and she had trouble seeing his face clearly, unable to read his expression. Why, after all that had happened in the desert, was he allowing her to walk out on him?

      She hadn’t expected this, but it hurt. She loved him—so much it was painful, and he was totally devoid of any emotion, any reaction to the news that she was leaving him. She swallowed down hard as tears threatened her. Quickly, she used the fierceness of the sun as an excuse. ‘That sun is so bright, I can hardly see you.’

      ‘I know,’ he said calmly, his eyes never leaving her face.

      What did he know? That her heart was breaking just to say those words? That she loved him so much she had to leave? Frantically, she searched for something else to say, anything that would take her mind from the pain of saying goodbye.

      ‘What about Annie and Claude? Have you any news from them?’ A little edge of desperation crept into her voice. She hadn’t spoken to Annie and was nervous as to what she would say, especially about her marriage. Shamefaced, she realised that if she’d lied to Kazim by omission she’d also lied to Annie the same way.

      ‘They are due to return from America next week, all being well.’ He walked along the pathway that staked its claim boldly through the garden. He broke the eye contact that had seen every move she’d made, every emotion that had crossed her face.

      After a few paces he stopped, his back to her, pausing as if he wanted to say something else. She waited. Nothing.

      She looked at him, drinking him in as if it was the last time she’d see him, trying to imprint him on her memory, her heart.

      ‘Good, that will give me time to get the flat in order before they return,’ she said brightly—a little too brightly if his sudden glance at her was anything to go by. ‘I’d like to leave as soon as possible.’

      * * *

      Kazim knew what she said made sense. Their marriage should never have been revived. It had been a mistake for him to ever think of getting her back, they were so wrong for one another. Yes, he might desire her with a raging fire more wicked than the desert heat, but that wasn’t a foundation on which to build his marriage and the future of his kingdom. Still, her eagerness to leave hurt.

      ‘I have a plane ready. You will leave at once.’ He couldn’t look at her and instead feigned interest in the plants that flowered in the garden, with little regard for the anguish he felt deep inside. That pain was something he couldn’t yet analyse; all he could do was lock it away, pretend it didn’t exist.

      ‘You have a plane ready?’ The shock was more than evident in her voice and he closed his eyes against the wave of nausea that thrashed his body. He nodded his answer, unable to trust his voice to work, and remained with his back to her. He had to appear in control and right now he wasn’t.

      ‘How? Why?’ she said, stammering slightly over the words.

      ‘Because you are right,’ he said as he whirled round to face her. He could at least say these words to her face—the beautiful face he would never forget. ‘We should never have got married and divorce is, as you suggested, the only option.’

      He watched the soft skin of her throat, skin his lips had caressed, move as she gulped back her shock. Her eyes widened. She took a step towards him, her hand almost reaching out, then she snapped it back against her stomach, as if she too was in pain. She nodded her head slowly, the sun gleaming in her raven-black hair, and stepped back several paces. Back and away from him, he felt her retreat, felt it in the tight band that crushed his chest, threatening to suffocate him.

      ‘Divorce,’ she said firmly. ‘Of course. It is the only option and the one I wanted that very first night you found me in Paris.’

      It was what he now had to do. Recent discussion with his officials, those who helped him rule his country, had made his options clear. He had to let her go. ‘We have no choice in the matter now, Amber.’

      ‘We don’t?’ Her delicate brows drew together in confusion.

      He sighed, wishing she could at least, just once, own up to her lies and deceit.

      ‘Not any more.’ He let the words hang between them, waited as the stillness of the garden captured them. He saw her lips form the word ‘why’, but didn’t hear it.