Chapter Four
Liliana expected Rafiq to drop contact, or at least a slight startle as she effectively told him she was a virgin, but he remained still and continued to hold her.
Rafiq was silent. He was aware of his own distaste towards the man who had asked her such a crude question.
Certainly he did not want his response to be upsetting.
And, more to the point, that Liliana was a virgin should be irrelevant. He had not come here with any intention for bed. He had lovers, yes, but there were no one-night stands, no tumbling into bed with someone he’d only just met. There was nothing casual in any area of his life.
Their conversation, the walking, the embrace…all were uncharted territory.
He could feel her tense in his arms, even as she leaned against him, her head buried in his chest as if hiding, and he knew his reaction mattered.
‘Come on,’ Rafiq said. ‘Let’s go inside.’
She frowned. His response, or rather that he didn’t dive in with questions, or make a comment, or even walk away, bemused her a little.
Had Rafiq even heard or understood what she had just shared?
She lifted her head and dared to look at him, her lips parting about to ask just that…
but he looked down at her, and he gave her a small nod.
His thoughts on the subject he did not share, but his direct gaze told her he had both heard and understood.
‘Come on,’ he said and started to walk towards the magnificent mansion.
‘Rafiq,’ she began as she caught up, ‘What I told you, I just thought it important that you know, in case we…’
He looked over then. ‘Did you think I brought you here for sex?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. When put like that it sounded too much, as if a couple of hours after they’d met they might have fallen into a hotel bed was too ridiculous to fathom.
Yet when held in his arms, when lost in his kiss, it had felt obvious and utterly normal that they should extend that bliss ‘No, I don’t think that, but for the first time ever, when you kissed me…
’ She swallowed. ‘I wanted more, but I thought you should know that I’ve never slept with anyone. ’
‘And now I do.’ He gave her the smallest smile, and even though he gave her no answers, that smile calmed.
Nothing she had revealed changed things.
She glanced around as they walked and there seemed no record to the recent seismic shift—and for Liliana it was a seismic shift to have opened up so honestly to another.
Yet the sky was still in place, the air still and cold as she turned and looked back to the swans, just resting.
The world was exactly as it had been before. Better even, for there seemed no awkwardness in regard to her untouched past.
‘Perhaps change your shoes?’
‘Pardon?’ She blinked and then looked down and saw her rather scruffy ballet flats and liked that one of them at least was thinking straight. ‘Oh, yes.’
This time as she changed her shoes she leaned on his arm to steady herself.
Then side by side they walked towards the mansion but he did not take her hand.
As they climbed the stone steps, she saw the doorman’s slight startle as he opened the door, and the concierge too seemed flummoxed as he looked over and saw the new arrivals.
As if they hadn’t expected clients tonight.
Yet she could hear the murmur of conversation and laughter in the sumptuous cocktail lounge, and there were waiters walking with drinks and plates. Perhaps there was a private function taking place?
But no, the concierge was smiling now. ‘Your…’
Oh, the concierge was indeed flummoxed; it was not often royalty dropped in completely unannounced.
Usually, if a VIP was about to suddenly descend then their secretary or security would give brief notice.
As well as that there had been no vehicle to announce their arrival.
He was an excellent concierge though and had recognised Rafiq from a visit a couple of years ago, but was damned if he could recall much more than that.
Just as he had been about to say Your Highness, Rafiq had given him a look.
Rafiq, with that look, could halt an asteroid hurtling towards Earth, even reverse its course if he so chose.
And this look told the concierge that this very important guest did not want his title used and so he did not offer the visiting prince due recognition.
‘Welcome back, sir.’
Yes, an excellent concierge because he let Rafiq know that he remembered him.
‘Thank you,’ Rafiq responded. ‘My guest is a little cold. I’d like a seat by the fire.’
‘I don’t think there are any,’ Liliana said, peering in, but the concierge seemed to think it wouldn’t be an issue.
‘Of course, it will just take a moment.’
He really was the most helpful concierge, because he was sending someone off to clear a seat by the fire for them, and seemed concerned that it might take a moment to accommodate.
‘May I take your coat, madam?’
‘Yes, please,’ Liliana said, ‘and then I might go and freshen up.’
‘Of course.’
And on this unexpected night, in which Rafiq had remained in control and together at each turn of events, it was as if more balls were suddenly thrown in for him to juggle.
As her trench coat slid off, Rafiq found he held his breath in his mouth, for summer had arrived on a winter’s evening.
True summer.
The dress was a heavy cotton or linen, and white, yet dotted with flowers in every colour, poppies, forget-me-nots, buttercups, like a meadow.
The skirt of the dress was flared and the top more fitted, the straps revealing bare, slender arms and scapulas.
It was a dress for summer, yet even in the depths of winter it could never be considered out of place.
Even the concierge smiled. ‘You have brought in the sun.’
‘Thank you,’ Liliana laughed.
Rafiq had known of her beauty, but not its extent.
Or rather, he was so unused to his own reaction, At the lake, what he’d said had been true; he’d brought her here with no intention of bed, yet right now, at this moment, he wanted to pick her up, tell the concierge to forget the fireside chairs and give them, now, this minute, a room.
He forced himself back to practical. ‘What would you like to drink?’
‘Tea,’ she said, but then gave in, because not even three sugars were going to calm her down after that blissful kiss and her revelation. ‘Actually, a brandy would be nice, but not…’ She paused—really she didn’t want to say here to not get anything too expensive. ‘A brandy would be lovely.’
Even the loos were nice, and in a crimson wallpapered room, she stared into a huge mirror and yelped.
Her hair was damp, wavy and wild and she smoothed it and then she took out her make-up bag and was about to do some major repair work on her flaming cheeks.
But then she halted; Rafiq had already seen her.
He had seen her as she was.
Not just without the effect of the dress or the make-up; it went deeper than that. She had told him about her father, about her issues at work. She had told him so many things, even that she was a virgin.
And his reaction?
He had held her for a moment and then brought her in here.
Carried on as before.
It felt as if he knew her, possibly better than anyone in the world.
She settled just for some lip gloss and another quick smooth of her hair and then headed out. A little nervous, a little excited.
A lot of things.
With a smile she walked towards the stranger who somehow knew her.
Rafiq had been shown to a seat by the fire, but shook his head when offered the menu.
Then he glanced over and saw a family. On the father’s knee was a plump baby, smiling and playing with a coaster from the table.
He felt a clutch of fear, or was it more akin to terror? Guilt clawed at his scalp.
The baby looked at him. Smiled.
God, but why had he opened Pandora’s box?
‘Congratulations.’ Rafiq said. He had heard the guards talking earlier and knew Balach had become a father. ‘Did you have a boy or girl?’
Balach had not answered at first, but then he’d relented.
‘A girl.’
‘Lucky man,’ Rafiq had said. ‘Lur da kur jannat da…’—a daughter is the paradise of the home.
Balach had smiled to himself and carried on eating, but rather than clean his bowl with his bread as was usually the case he had brought it to Rafiq. ‘Here,’ he had said. ‘It is not much.’
Rafiq knew that he was in.
Rafiq’s heart had kicked into an uneasy thump as he thought of Balach and his baby, but then an English meadow caught his eye.
Usually heads turned when he entered—he was used to it—yet they turned tonight for the summery breeze she brought to the staid room.
Into his rather staid life.
Most would never consider his life as that; it was in fact spectacular, yet it was as if he viewed everything from a slight distance.
Not tonight.
He was immersed.
Liliana watched him stand as she approached and the flare of approval in his eyes had her stomach tighten in reflex as she walked towards him. He stood at a low table, and she took a seat in the fireside leather chair opposite him and then Rafiq did the same.
‘You look beautiful,’ Rafiq told her.
‘So do you.’
His coat was off. That stunning suit she could examine properly now, but instead she found herself a little nervous to look over to him, let alone meet his eyes.
A waiter came with their drinks and some odd contraption he was ready to light if she preferred her cognac warmed.
‘I’m fine,’ she politely declined, really a little worried about money now, especially when he asked if they would like anything else. ‘No, thank you,’ Liliana rather hurriedly said. ‘We’re not eating.’
Instead of the contraption, Rafiq warmed the cognac in his palm for a couple of moments as Liliana tried to take in her surrounds, wanting to later recall every detail. She could only think of Rafiq though.
There was something deferential in the way the staff treated Rafiq. Despite having no booking they’d sat fireside, with a waiter discreetly hovering but clearly there just for them. For him.