“So you don’t remember your mother at all?” he asked.
“No.” Which was fine with Kayleen.
“Perhaps you’ll meet again one day,” the king said.
“I would like that very much,” Kayleen lied, knowing it was what the king wanted to hear.
Growing up, she’d been taught that it was her duty to forgive her mother and grandmother for abandoning her. She’d made peace with what had happened, but that didn’t mean she wanted to be close now. Perhaps there were circumstances that, if explained, would help her understand. In truth, she wasn’t interested enough to find out.
“So your past is the reason you were so against the three sisters being split up,” the king said.
“Absolutely. They only have each other. They need to stay together.”
“Because of you, they will.”
She smiled. “Actually As’ad gets all the credit. He’s the one who saved them. I’ll always be grateful to him.”
The king glanced at her. “I heard you rode into the desert and met with some of the villagers who live there.”
“I did. I liked them a lot. It’s an interesting way of life. Carrying one’s roots wherever one goes.”
“Most young women would be more interested in the elegant shops on our boulevards than in the desert.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not much into shopping.” She’d never had the money for it to be serious sport and she doubted the stores the king spoke of had much in the way of bargains.
“Perhaps As’ad will take you one day,” the king said.
“That would be fun, but it’s not necessary. He’s given me so much already.”
“So you like my son?”
“Of course. He’s a wonderful man. Charming and kind and patient.” And a great kisser, but she wasn’t going to mention that to the king.
“I am pleased to hear you are getting along,” King Mukhtar told her. “Very pleased.”
Chapter Six
K ayleen waved at Neil, As’ad’s assistant, and when the man didn’t lunge for her, walked past him and into the prince’s office.
As’ad glanced up from his computer. “You have so intimidated my assistant that he has given up trying to stop you.”
She laughed. “If only that were true. I won’t stay long, I just…” She walked to the desk, started to sit down, then stopped. “I spoke with the king.”
As’ad looked at her as if waiting for her point.
“Your father is a king,” she said.
“Yes, I know.”
“I don’t. I can’t be speaking with a king. That sort of thing doesn’t happen to people like me. It doesn’t happen to anyone. It’s not normal.”
“You live in the royal palace. What did you expect?”
“Not to be living here,” she admitted. “It’s too crazy. You’re a prince.”
“Again, information I have already obtained.”
She sighed and sank into a chair. “You’re not taking me seriously.”
“You have given me no reason to. My father and I are who we have always been.”
She nodded slowly. He’d grown up this way. It was impossible for him to grasp the incredibleness of the situation for her.
“I shouldn’t have made you take the girls,” she told him. “I didn’t think the whole thing through. How they would change things for you.”
He rose and walked around the desk until he was standing in front of her and she had to look way, way up to meet his gaze.
“You did not make me do anything.”
She waved that away. “You know what I mean.”
“Indeed, I do not. I was aware that adopting three American sisters would make things different and still I went forward.”
Which made her wonder why he hadn’t just dismissed her like an annoying gnat. Isn’t that what princes did?
“I don’t belong here,” she told him. “I’m not used to this sort of thing.”
He took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “I say who belongs and who does not.”
“Off with my head?”
“That is not what I had in mind.”
She knew he was going to kiss her even before he bent toward her and brushed his mouth against hers. She couldn’t say how she knew, only that anticipation tightened her stomach and she forgot to breathe. Nothing else mattered but the feel of his lips on hers and the nearness of his body. He put his arms around her and drew her close.
It was like going home. The sense of belonging and safety. She’d never experienced that before and the sensation was so sweet, so perfect, she never wanted to be anywhere else. Then his mouth was moving on hers and she got lost in the kiss, the feel of his hands moving up and down her back. The heat of them. The way they pressed against each other, her body melting into his.
She put her hands on his upper arms and explored his muscled strength. When the pressure on her lips increased, she parted and was rewarded by the sensual sweep of his tongue across hers.
Somewhere along the way she must have remembered to breathe again because she moaned low in her throat. She felt tense and relaxed at the same time. She wanted this to never stop and she wanted more.
Without thinking, she rose on tiptoe, so she could press herself against him more fully. She tilted her head and kissed him back, teasing his tongue with hers.
His hands moved more urgently. One slipped to her rear, where he squeezed her curves. The contact shocked her, but excited her, too. Instinctively she arched forward, bringing her lower body in contact with his. He squeezed again, then moved his other hand to her waist before sliding it higher.