He thanked his luck they were on a boat. That he was blocking her only escape. That she couldn’t get away, at least not yet. He needed her to hear the rest, even if she didn’t want to.
“I’ve been her slave for ten years. I’ve done what she commanded because I was always looking for a way to freedom. But just before I met you, I realized there isn’t one.”
She still didn’t speak, and he still couldn’t look at her. He just needed to get it all out. “I went on a hunger strike. I figured starving myself was the easiest way to end my life and her quest for power. But she manipulated me again. Somehow, she captured both of my brothers, and she brought them to me. She’d beaten them. Threatened their lives. They’d been looking for me. It wasn’t their fault they’d been captured. It was mine.”
He drew a deep breath, let it out. Finally stopped pacing and faced her, because she deserved to see his eyes. “I knew you were different, right from the start, Mira. I knew as soon as I took you to that island that this time I couldn’t go through with my task. I couldn’t corrupt your soul for Zoraida.” He pressed his fingers against his temple. “I know it means nothing to you, but I’ve been racking my brain, trying to come up with a solution. Trying to find a way to break the Firebrand opal’s hold on you. To free you from this nightmare I’ve sucked you into. I want you to know that I’m not giving up. That no matter what, I’ll find a way to make sure Zoraida doesn’t get your soul.”
Holy Allah. He’d made his choice. He hadn’t realized it until the words were out of his mouth, but now he didn’t want to take them back. He chose her. He loved his brothers, but he couldn’t condemn one soul just to save another. And even if Mira hated him for all eternity, that didn’t change anything. She didn’t deserve this any more than he did. Any more than his brothers’ did. She didn’t deserve anything but happiness.
He was so caught up in his thoughts, he didn’t see her push off the couch. Didn’t hear her cross the floor. Didn’t even know she was next to him until her soft voice said, “I love you, Tariq.”
His head came up. His eyes widened. “You…what?”
A gentle smiled curled her kiss-me mouth. “I love you.”
Disbelief rushed all through him. “Mira, I’m a monster. I came here with the intention of—”
“Damning my soul. Yes, I got that.” She stepped closer, rested her palms against his bare chest. Warmth seeped from her hands into his body, easing the chill deep inside. “But you haven’t yet. And you don’t want to. And since you’ve been gone, I’ve had several days to research and think things through, and there’s only one thing I know that really matters.”
“What’s that?” he asked before he could think to stop himself.
She lifted her hand, brushed it against his cheek. And he leaned into her touch without even realizing he was doing so. “I made my own wish. I brought you here. I didn’t have to do that, Tariq, so you shouldn’t feel guilty about anything that happens to me. It was my choice.”
“Mira—”
She rose on her toes. Wrapped her arms around his neck. Brought her body flush against his until the chill was nothing but a memory and her heat was all he felt. “I would do it again too. Even if it was only for a few days. Even knowing everything I know now. I would do it again to spend these hours with you because they’ve been the best of my life. I thought I wanted to know how to be desirable, but I realized…I already am. I just hadn’t met the right man.”
“Mira,” he whispered, unable to stop himself from closing his arms around her. “I am not a man.”
“No, not technically, but it doesn’t mean you deserve what was done to you. I can’t even begin to try to understand your world, but I know what’s in your heart. I know that you care about your brothers. About your father and your kingdom. And I know from spending time with you that you have a gentle soul, regardless of what you think. You tried to stop me from following through with my wish. You protected me from those Ghuls. And when I wouldn’t change my mind about wanting to be with you, you did everything you could to prolong my wish so I wouldn’t be hurt. Even knowing that witch could punish your brothers in the meantime. And then you come back here with these marks on your back, and I…”
Her voice caught with so much emotion, it radiated through his entire body. “That’s not something a monster does, Tariq. That’s something an honorable man does.”
He didn’t know what to think. She loved him. A slave, sent to condemn her. Really loved him.
She looked down at his chest. “I know that in your own way you care about me, because you wouldn’t have done all that if you didn’t. Even if it isn’t—”
“Mira, I care more for you more than I’ve ever cared for anyone else.”
Her eyes lifted to his, brightened at his words. “You do?”
He nodded and brushed his thumb over her cheek. Even as his heart pinched at what that meant. “More than I ever thought I could.”
A slow, sexy smile spread across her lips. Lips that were plump and lush and tempting as they skimmed across his. “Show me,” she whispered. “Forget everything else right now, and just show me.”
CHAPTER NINE
Mira’s skin tingled with excitement and nervousness. Not the same nervousness she’d felt the last time they were together. No, she wasn’t worried about pleasing him; she was worried about what came after. What she and Claire had discussed. What she had to do when it was over.
Don’t think about that now. Think about Tariq. Think about being with him. Think about this last moment together.
He lowered his mouth to hers, and she opened to him without hesitation, tasted the hunger on his tongue—the same hunger she knew was on hers. His hand slid down her spine, pressed gently against her lower back, drawing her body even tighter against his. She moaned into his mouth, tangled her fingers in his hair, and kissed him harder. Wanted to kiss him as no one had ever kissed him before. As she hoped no one would ever kiss him again.
He hadn’t said he loved her, but that was okay. She didn’t need the words. She knew he cared about her. And that was enough.
She took a step forward, forcing him back. When his butt hit the raised bed, she slid her hands down his chest, smiled as his arms closed around her and he lifted her feet off the floor, then laid her out of the mattress just as she wanted.
He was all solid muscle and chiseled angles. She watched in wonder as he shrugged out of his shirt, kicked off his boots, as he climbed over her. Desire darkened his eyes, brought a flush to his cheeks that superheated her blood. She reached for him, was careful not to touch the wounds on his back, then lifted to meet him, pressing her lips against his with a fierceness that stole her breath. He lowered his body to hers, and she loved the beat of his heart against her own, loved the heat radiating from his skin. Loved how they fit together as if they were made for each other.
He kissed her jaw, her earlobe, trailed his lips down her neck, and nibbled at the tender column of flesh. She moaned, arched into him. He slid his hand across her belly, under her shirt, and up to palm her breast. Electricity rippled across her skin as she lowered her back to the mattress again. As she found his mouth and kissed him once more while his fingers teased her nipple into a hard point beneath the satin of her bra.
She broke away from his mouth. Breathed heavily. “Tariq—”
“Lift up, hayaati.” He eased off her so she could sit up, then tugged the shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor. Eyes locked on her satiny bra, he flipped the front clasp and tugged that off as well until her breasts spilled into his large, more than capable hands.