Free The Call of the Desert by Abby Green

that bed and take her again. And again. She’d looked tousled and thoroughly bedded, and far too reminiscent of memories he’d long suppressed. And he was
still
ignoring the voice in his head urging him to walk away, to forget he’d seen her again. He
should
have been able to leave last night as a one-off, an aberration. But he couldn’t do it.
    He was well aware that he’d just acted like some medievalautocrat, but the truth was he hadn’t wanted to give her a chance to argue with him. To have her tell him that she was refusing to see him again, or point out again that this shouldn’t have happened. He might have appreciated the fact that this was the first time a woman was clearly less than eager to share his bed if he’d been able to think past the urgent lust he still felt.
    Standing in front of Julia just now, he’d not been able to think beyond the immediate future. He’d had a vision of being in London for the next few days, and the thought of not seeing her again had been repugnant.
    He tried to rationalise it now. Their desire was clearly far from sated, but he had no doubt a couple of nights would be more than enough to rid himself of this bizarre need to reconnect with an ex-lover.
An ex-lover who almost had you in such thrall that you forgot what your priorities were
.
    Kaden scowled, but didn’t stop. By the time he reached his waiting car his face was as dark as thunder, tension vibrating off him in waves.
    Minutes later Julia was still standing looking at the closed door, clutching the rumpled sheet, her mouth half open. And to her utter chagrin she couldn’t drum up anything other than intense excitement at the thought of seeing Kaden again. Even after he’d so arrogantly informed her that it would suit him to have an affair while he was in London, to fill his time. Pathetic.
    Last night ran through her brain like a bad movie, and all she could remember was the wanton way she’d succumbed to his caresses over and over again. The way she’d sought him out, her hand wrapping around him, eager to seduce him.
    She groaned out loud and finally stumbled towards the bathroom. That was nearly worse. His scent was heavy in the air, steam still evident from his recent shower. She could see that glorious body in her mind’s eye—naked, with water sluicing down over taut, hard muscles and contours.
    She tore off the sheet and turned on the shower, relishing the hot pounding spray, but try as she might she couldn’t stop older memories flooding her brain, superseding the more recent and humiliating ones. Pandora’s Box had been well and truly opened. All she could think of now were the awful last weeks and days in Burquat. Even under the hot spray, Julia shivered.
    A few weeks before she’d been due to return to England to complete her studies, Julia and Kaden had returned from a trip to the desert where they’d celebrated her birthday. She’d been so in love with him, and she’d believed that he’d loved her too. He’d
told
her he loved her. So why wouldn’t she have believed him?
    But, as clear as if it was yesterday, she could remember watching him walk away from her when they got back to Burquat. For some reason she’d superstitiously wished for him to turn around and smile at her, but he hadn’t. That image of his tall, rangy body walking away from her had proved to be an ominous sign. She’d not seen him again until shortly before she was due to leave Burquat.
    That very night it had been announced that the Emir wasn’t well, and so Kaden had in effect become acting ruler. Heartsore for Kaden, because she’d known he was close to his father even though he’d been a somewhat distant figure, she’d made attempts to see him. But she’dbeen turned back time and time again by stern-looking aides.
    It was as if he’d been spirited away. Days had passed, Julia had made preparations to go home and there had still been no sign or word from Kaden. She’d put it down to his father’s frailty