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It was as natural as breathing to want to comfort him. “You and she will get through this, Nasir. I promise you. Things will be better soon.”
With his hand at the small of her back guiding her through the darkness, and the tight corridor they were navigating, their gazes held. “You don’t know that.”
“You’re doing everything you can to fix it. Including kidnapping me, blackmailing me, letting me drool all over your Armani jacket in my sleep. Just to make her happy. Just to give her a sense of security. She’ll realize all the effort you’re putting in soon enough. Zara’s a very clever girl.”
It was what she’d have done for anyone in such a situation. She’d always been a very touchy-feely person. But when her upper body pressed against Nasir in a tight, warm squeeze, she realized too late that she’d gone too far.
Too far with him, that was.
Because even a little was always too far with this man.
Suddenly, it was impossible to ignore her nipples pebbling against the muscled wall of his side. Her breasts aching and heavy. His hard, denim-clad leg nestled between her thighs, against the place where she’d dreamed of him being so many times. Her spine and her curves melting and molding around him to get a better fit, a tighter squeeze, a harder push.
She closed her eyes, and it was a mistake because the sensations multiplied by a million. Her breath came in soft, shallow pants as she searched in the darkness with her fingers. A liquid ache pulsed through her when she found purchase on his face. His soft, warm mouth that could be so hard with anger at her fingertips. The rough, pebbled texture of his scar. His breath on the back of her hand, heating her up even more.
And without her permission, without her knowing, without her will involved, her body bowed toward him. Offering itself up as some kind of ritual sacrifice at the very altar of the beast she should run from.
Forehead pressed against his shoulder, she breathed in long gasps, willing herself to let go. To step back.
His fingers around the nape of her neck were like bands of heat, brands of possession. Lingering at that sensitive place. Playing through the little wisps of hair there.
“Yana,” he said, his own voice a husky whisper, echoing around the walls. “We can’t... I can’t do this. There’s too much at stake.”
She jerked back from him so fast and with such force that the hard stone banged into her head, evoking a pained gasp. Hot tears pooled in her eyes at the impact but he was already there. His fingers gently probing and prodding at the back of her head.
She took a tentative step away, putting herself out of his reach. “I’m okay. Let’s just—”
“Yana, we can’t—”
“No idea what you’re talking about,” she said, focusing her gaze over his shoulder. “All I did was offer comfort. Maybe even that’s not palatable to you when it comes from me.”
He searched her gaze in the dim light and nodded. But the truth of their almost-encounter shimmered in the amber depths, and her own senses, whipped into a frenzy of need, taunted her for her lies.
CHAPTER SIX
“WAKEUP,YANAAUNTIE!Auntie, wake up!”
Yana found herself tickled by small hands, but this time she knew who was wrapped around her like a baby koala. Her eyes opened to shafts of pure golden sunlight sliding in through the high windows, bathing her face in a warm light. For a second she lay with her open gaze focused on the high, vaulted ceilings, and yet another gleaming chandelier that reminded her of the castle and her and Nasir’s almost-encounter.
Nope, not thinking of the thing that he claimed he couldn’t give in to and that had never even happened. Although, the fact that he’d said that he couldn’t take the chance...meant he wanted to do it, whatever it was that hadn’t happened, right?
“Yana Auntie!”
Smiling, Yana trailed her fingers to her stomach where itty-bitty fingers were digging into her ribs, and caught them with her own. “Gotcha, Zuzu!” As she expected, Zara gave a loud squeal and burst into giggles when Yana shouted, “Tickle monster!” and went for the little belly. Like earthworms in mud—another favorite of Zara’s—they rolled together on the bed, giggling for God knew how long.
Her chest burned as if a fire had cleansed away all the loss and grief, leaving fertile ground again. There was nothing like laughing and goofing around with Zara, who gave as good as she got. Eventually, they both ran out of breath.
Sitting up, she pulled Zara into her lap. Tiny arms immediately wound around her neck, with her face buried in Yana’s chest. An almost clawlike hold of those little fingers raised a lump in her throat. Yana buried her face in Zara’s thick curls. The little girl smelled of sunshine and dirt and strawberries, and it tugged at instincts Yana hadn’t known she had.
She’d never given much thought to marriage or children, to stability and putting down roots. Planning her life was Mira’s forte, and believing that it would turn out wonderfully was Nush’s, whereas hers had been drifting from one mess to the other. And yet, ever since she’d been a chubby, charming baby, Zara had sunk her hooks into Yana’s heart and they only seemed to dig in deeper with time.
“You pwomised you’d visit soon.” The complaint came in a small, muffled voice as if Zara wasn’t sure she had a right to even complain.
In response, Yana grabbed Zara’s huge stuffed toy, and spoke to Lila the llama. She told the stuffed toy about how both her grandparents had passed away in the past year, and how much Yana had needed to be around her sisters and why she’d not been able to visit Zara sooner.
Pulling back, Zara stared with a seriousness that belied her tender age. “Your thaata died?”
Yana nodded.
