expect nothing less from the lion of the Sha’b Al’najid.”
HE STARTED. “How did you know I am called that?”
“Your name means lion. There’s a lion on your bedspread. It wasn’t much of a leap.” She was a scientist after all, making deductions based on observations was one of the things she did best.
“My grandmother told you, didn’t she?”
She would dearly love to say no, but Genevieve had mentioned it, confirming Iris’s supposition. “She said the mantle of lion had been passed from Hanif to you when you took over the tribe.”
“My grandfather is still strong.”
“But not the primary protector for the Sha’b Al’najid.”
“No. That is now my honor.”
She rubbed their bodies together delightfully. “Just as it is my honor to give you pleasure.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.”
“It will then be my honor to please you, as well.”
She wasn’t going to argue that. Their lovemaking was always explosive and very, very special. At some point, Asad was going to realize what that meant.
They were meant to be together.
He’d gotten sidetracked six years ago, but this time her eyes were fully open, which meant she could help him get the sand out of his when his vision got a little cloudy concerning them.
He made a bed on the ground with their clothing piled under his robe, and still he insisted on her riding him rather than lying beneath him. It wasn’t her favorite position, not because it didn’t feel good, but when she got lost in the pleasure, sometimes she forgot to move. He helped her, guiding her with a strong but tender grip on her hips, his own body thrusting upward and sending her into panting delight.
His own lust grew faster than she would have thought possible as his eyes fixed on the way her breasts jiggled with her movement. “You are so lovely in your passion, little dove.”
Her feminine pride preened under his heated approval, while the bliss inside her body coiled tighter and tighter.
They kissed to muffle their cries when they climaxed, their bodies shuddering in unison. She collapsed on top of him and lay there quietly for several moments of utter contentment.
“This is right,” he said.
“Us?”
“Here in the open, with my land all around us, my people tending their herds in the distance.”
He liked making love outside. Before coming to Kadar, that was one thing she would never have guessed. She thought it endearing how he considered the land his, though really, it belonged to the country.
They cleaned up with Asad’s kuffiya, and then returned to the survey site with him wearing only his shirt and loose trousers. He looked debauched and she found she liked the look on him.
When she told him so, he informed her that she looked sated and that was a look he found pleasing, as well. She grinned in response and took his hand without hesitation when he reached out to her.
When they got back to the survey site, Russell told them that Nawar was still sleeping. Iris felt the need to check on the little girl regardless. When she backed away from the tent after insuring Nawar was still slumbering, Iris bumped into Asad.
He smiled down at her. “You wanted to make sure she had not woken, despite the fact she has not left the tent?”
“She might have realized we were not here—I mean, you weren’t here—and been nervous about coming out.”
“But she is fine.”
“Yes.”
He smiled, his white teeth flashing. “When she was a baby, I would go into her room at night and lay my hand on her chest to confirm she was breathing.”
“I probably would have done the same thing,” Iris admitted with a laugh.
“Yes, I think you would have.” He brushed her cheek. “You will make a wonderful mother.”
She didn’t answer, just kept his gaze for several long seconds filled with profundity she only hoped he felt, as well. Then Russell broke the spell, telling her he needed help with a measurement.
Feeling guilty for neglecting her work, Iris sprang to her feet to do so, but Asad grabbed her wrist.
She looked at him with question.
“I am glad you are here.”
“I am, too.” And she meant it from the very depth of her soul.
She only hoped she’d feel that way in a few weeks when it came time to leave. If he did not ask her to stay, she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t beg him to let her anyway.
What was pride in the face of love and the hope of a family?
Asad’s phone rang and he picked it up from his desk. “Hello.”
He was enjoying a rare day working in his office; Iris and Russell were testing samples in their portable lab.
“Hey, cousin.”
“Hakim.”
“How is Project Iris going?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, come on. You insisted she be the geologist for this study. You don’t think I was blind to your ulterior motives.”
“I wanted to help her move forward in her career.” And maybe he’d wanted her back in his bed, but now … he wanted more.
The certainty had grown with each passing day. They fit in a way he had never done with Badra, and Iris was so good with Nawar. She would be a fantastic stepmother because she understood what it meant to be rejected. Iris would never visit such a thing on a child, but particularly not a child she had shown so much genuine fondness for already.
“And?”
“Maybe more.”
“From the way the air sizzled between you even after six years’ separation, I’d say a lot more.”
Asad had told Hakim about his former relationship with Iris and expressed his guilt for hurting her when he ended it. The king had been one hundred percent behind Asad’s plan for some small restitution. Now he had to wonder if Hakim had not seen something all along that Asad had been blind to.
All he said however was, “Perhaps.”
“Have you convinced her yet?”
Into his bed, assuredly, not that he would say so to his cousin. But for the more?
“I do not know.” He only wished he did, but his aziz seemed to make it her goal in life to confuse him.
Hakim laughed. “Good.”
Asad verbally encouraged his cousin to do something with a camel that was not anatomically possible.
The king’s laughter sounded over the phone again, this time louder. “You deserve a woman who will keep you on your toes. I am glad you found Iris. I cannot even wish you had not screwed up so badly with her in the past—if you hadn’t you would not have Nawar and she is a delight.”
Asad could not argue with any of that. At one time, all he’d felt toward the very existence of Nawar was anger and disgust, though he’d been loath to admit it, even to himself. But the first time he’d held her, he’d known. He would love that child forever.
He thought it was possible