Chapter 422

After that, they drove through the desert in a silence that stretched Kate’s nerves to their breaking point. Eventually, they reached an oasis. A distinctive Bedouin tent loomed out of the darkness, pitched beneath several palm trees and illuminated by flickering oil lamps. Moonlight dappled the inky surface of a large natural pool, and more stars than Kate had ever imagined existed studded the sky like pins in a velvet pincushion.

Some distance away she could see more tents, and, following her gaze, Ahsan explained, "Servants’ quarters." But I don’t have many staff here, and they are under strict orders not to disturb us.

He held out his arms to assist her down from the four-by-four, and despite her misgivings, the brief contact with his body was enough to send heat coursing through Kate’s veins. The feel of his silk shirt beneath her fingertips and the sensual musk of his cologne captivated her senses, and her legs felt weak. When he opened the tent flap, she stared around at the ju