Heir to a Desert Legacy - By Maisey Yates Page 0,56

him crying.” She swept her robe aside and put the baby to her breast. He was powerless to do anything but watch. To watch the way she cared for him. And he understood then, why she’d given up everything. Because she was Aden’s mother in every way. In the only way that mattered.

A scream tore through his insides, ravaging him. Because he would never be Aden’s father. He would never be Chloe’s husband. Not really.

Desire, sweet, bitter desire, stabbed at his chest. Not for her body, but for something altogether more serious. Something he couldn’t have. Ever. It was a brief moment, but the strength of it, the intensity, shook him deep. It took that moment of watching the woman he loved sent to marry another and made that pain a pale shadow, eclipsed by the longing he felt now.

It was such a painful vision. A strange, melting haze of his past and future. Sura. The baby she hadn’t been allowed to give birth to. His baby.

When he’d found out she was pregnant, he had imagined a scene like this. He had been happy. Overjoyed. And then it had all been stripped from him, piece by piece, until this image was one burned into his brain as something he couldn’t have.

Never.

Tonight could never happen again. His defenses were down and they weren’t going back up easily. His chest throbbed, the desire for something, for more than he had, more than he would ever have, tearing at him.

No. Tonight could never happen again.

* * *

Chloe had spent the night in bed with Sayid, but he hadn’t done what she’d expected. He’d been so warm after they’d made love, so affectionate almost. She’d never been touched so much in her life, not in love, not in anger. She’d simply never been close to anyone.

But after she’d fed Aden and taken him back to the nanny, he’d changed. The wall back up between them. They had slept, and that was all.

She’d ended up putting her foot against his calf in an effort to maintain some of the intimacy that had been created between them.

Now she was wandering around the palace, wearing Aden in a sling, trying not to drown in confusion.

She was a such a typical female. And she’d spent so many years avoiding it! But now she was doing that thing, that thing that women did. She was on the slippery slope.

What had it meant to him? Would they do it again? Had it been as good for him as it had been for her?

Maybe if she hadn’t been a virgin it wouldn’t be such a big deal. She’d never really liked thinking of herself that way. Mainly because it sounded saintly or something and she’d never imagined herself that way. She’d simply elected not to go the route of acquiring physical relationships.

A flash from last night hit her hard. Sayid deep inside of her, his eyes hungry, his hands bound. It sent a shiver through her, a deep longing to have him inside of her again. And again. And again.

Yes, staying away from physical relationships had been her plan. It had probably been the best plan going for her. But she’d ruined it now. Now she’d been with Sayid. Now she knew.

More than that, she’d seen inside of him. Seen the depth of the cavern in his soul. The emptiness. It froze her inside. Terrified her. Made her feel as if she was standing on a ledge, looking down into endless nothing.

Part of her was afraid of falling in. Part of her wanted to jump.

All of her wanted to avoid him for a little longer. And she’d managed to since he’d left her room early that morning. It was afternoon now, the sun low in the sky, casting a burnished orange flame onto the sea, the reflection shining in through the window, painting the white rock walls in the same color.

“Sheikha.”

Chloe looked up and saw Sayid standing in front of her, his broad frame filling the corridor. Her heart lifted into her throat before free-falling into her stomach.

“Sheikh,” she returned, knowing her tone didn’t possess half of the cool sophistication that was inherent in his.

“I trust you are well rested?”

He was going to act as though nothing had happened between them. There was no innuendo in his tone, no knowing look. She deserved a knowing look. She deserved some innuendo, at the very least. “Indeed. I trust that you don’t have any rope burn?”

She could have bitten off her tongue.

He arched