her arms with his hands. âNo, Iâm not. Men who know this area, who have lived here for years, can still get caught out by the desert. Right now it looks calm, wouldnât you agree?â
Sylvie nodded hesitantly.
Arkimâs mouth thinned. âItâs anything but. Thereâs a sandstorm due to hit any day now. Have you ever been in a sandstorm?â
She shook her head.
âImagine a tidal wave coming towards youâexcept in this case itâs made of sand and debris, not water. Youâd be obliterated in seconds. Suffocated.â
Genuine horror and fear finally made her realise just how reckless sheâd been. She seized on the surge of anger. He made her feel as if she was a tiny ship bobbing about in a huge raging sea.
âOkay, fineâI get it. What I did was foolish and reckless and silly. I didnât know. I didnât mean to put everyone to so much trouble...â A very unwelcome sense of vulnerability made her lash out. âBut, in case you donât remember, itâs your fault Iâm even here!â
* * *
Arkim looked down at that beautiful but defiant face and felt such a mix of things that he was dizzy. He shook his head, but nothing rational would come to the surface. All he could see was her .
He gave in to the urgent dictates of his blood and lowered his mouth to the lush contours of hersâand drowned.
His tongue swept into her mouth in a marauding move and he quickly became oblivious to everything except the rough stroke of his tongue against Sylvieâs, demanding a response.
She resisted him for long seconds, but he felt her gradually relax, as if losing a battle with herself. Once again there was an almost unbelievable hesitanceâas if she didnât know what to do. The thought that she could do thisâget under his skin so easily, make him doubt himselfâmade Arkimâs blood boil.
He held the back of her covered head and put his hand to where her neck met her shoulder in an unashamedly possessive move, his thumb reaching for and finding that hectic pulse-beat, which was telling him that no matter how ingrained it was in her to act, she couldnât control everything .
And finally he felt her arms relax and start to climb around his neck, bringing her body into more intimate contact with his. Her mouth softened and she...acquiesced. The triumph was heady. Her tongue stroked his sweetly, sucking him deepâas deep as he imagined the exquisite clasp of her body would be around his in a more intimate caress.
He wanted to throw her down on the ground right here and pull up that robe, yank down her jeans, until he could find his release. The desire was so strong he shook in a bid to rein it in. And that brought him back from the brink of losing it completely.
Reality slammed into him. He was in the middle of the desert, under the merciless sun, about to ravage this woman. Make her his...brand her like some kind of animal.
He wanted to push her away from him and yet never let her go.
He hated her. He wanted her.
He pulled back from the kiss even though everything in his body and his blood protested at the move. He felt the unrelenting beat of the sun on his head. Her eyes opened after a moment, wide and blue...and that intriguing blue-green. Her cheeks were flushed. Lips swollen.
And then suddenly she tensed and scrambled free of his arms. Arkim might almost have laughedâeven now she was intent on playing this game of push and pull. Acting her little heart out.
âHave you forgotten that youâre a civilised man?â
Even her voice sounded suitably shaky. But Arkim barely cast her a glance as he reached for the horseâs reins. âI donât have to be civilised here.â
That was why heâd brought her here in the first placeâbecause he didnât trust himself around her in more civilised surroundings. It was as if heâd known the desert was the only place big enough to contain
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