lived so long without it. Being around her made the emptiness all too sharp.
Though he didn't want to admit it, he needed the connection with her to reassure himself he wasn't cold to the core like everyone assumed he was. To prove the blackness within him hadn't taken over yet.
He'd come face to face with the ugliness inside him and been forced to take a long, hard look at himself. What he'd seen had scared him enough that for a long time he'd truly believed he was dead inside. Until Neveah.
Now that she'd awakened the yearning, he couldn't shut it off. Like it or not, he wanted someone to sit with like this and let his overactive brain take a rest. He wanted someone to smile at him with genuine warmth because they liked and even admired who he was, despite the darkness he struggled to keep at bay. He wanted someone to hold when the night was too long and the memories were too much. Wanted to feel those accepting arms around him in return and the press of a warm, scented body against his. Neveah held the power to give him all of that and more. She could banish the unseen monster he fought every single day.
With her cuddled into him, Rhys fought not to react to her nearness. If only she'd see him as a man instead of a medical specimen she was particularly proud of and intrigued by. He thought he'd caught flashes of feminine interest on her part throughout the afternoon, but not enough to dispel the lingering doubt.
Maybe it was best she thought of him as a pet project. The real him would probably terrify her. Hell, it scared him enough. He didn't need to turn her away too.
Another shiver rippled through her and his arm cramped with the need to wrap her up close. “We should go,” he said gruffly, the startled glance she gave him making him feel like a brusque asshole. “It's only gonna get colder,” he added to soften the abrupt words. “I'll take you back to your hotel so you can warm up and meet Mike for dinner.”
He didn't like the thought of her having dinner alone with the doctor, but he had no right to feel territorial or jealous. She could have dinner with, go out with, and sleep with whoever she wanted. It was none of his business, despite the thought of her with another man being enough to make him feel like growling.
Chapter Three
Ahmed shut the master bathroom door behind him with a sigh and began unbuckling his belt, eyeing the newspaper laid on the counter beside the toilet. Lily had placed it there for him as she always did, knowing he would come up here to unwind and read when he got home. She was downstairs, engrossed as usual in one of the many reality TV shows she was addicted to.
She barely noticed when he came home anymore, though he had to shoulder some of the blame. Besides taking on extra shifts at work that had him away some nights and the regular meetings he attended with some men from his mosque taking up others, he hadn't made much of an effort to reconnect with her.
The thought saddened him. Not so long ago, Lily would have met him at the door with a hug and a kiss, telling him how much she'd missed him. Now, she acknowledged his presence with a mumbled hello and didn't even glance up from her show. How had they grown so far apart in three years of marriage that had begun so happily?
While he went about his business in the bathroom, Ahmed thought of the last meeting he'd attended. The group he belonged to had grown increasingly radical in their ideology, but he strongly believed in their cause. The very existence of Islam was in jeopardy if America and the western world succeeded in their tyrannical wars in the Middle East. Too many innocent Muslims had died defending their faith. Ahmed and his friends felt they had to do something to help their suffering brothers and sisters.
There'd been recent talk that something big was about to happen, and that it involved Farouk Tehrazzi. It was said he might contact Ahmed's group for help with a specific operation, so he and the other
Though he didn't want to admit it, he needed the connection with her to reassure himself he wasn't cold to the core like everyone assumed he was. To prove the blackness within him hadn't taken over yet.
He'd come face to face with the ugliness inside him and been forced to take a long, hard look at himself. What he'd seen had scared him enough that for a long time he'd truly believed he was dead inside. Until Neveah.
Now that she'd awakened the yearning, he couldn't shut it off. Like it or not, he wanted someone to sit with like this and let his overactive brain take a rest. He wanted someone to smile at him with genuine warmth because they liked and even admired who he was, despite the darkness he struggled to keep at bay. He wanted someone to hold when the night was too long and the memories were too much. Wanted to feel those accepting arms around him in return and the press of a warm, scented body against his. Neveah held the power to give him all of that and more. She could banish the unseen monster he fought every single day.
With her cuddled into him, Rhys fought not to react to her nearness. If only she'd see him as a man instead of a medical specimen she was particularly proud of and intrigued by. He thought he'd caught flashes of feminine interest on her part throughout the afternoon, but not enough to dispel the lingering doubt.
Maybe it was best she thought of him as a pet project. The real him would probably terrify her. Hell, it scared him enough. He didn't need to turn her away too.
Another shiver rippled through her and his arm cramped with the need to wrap her up close. “We should go,” he said gruffly, the startled glance she gave him making him feel like a brusque asshole. “It's only gonna get colder,” he added to soften the abrupt words. “I'll take you back to your hotel so you can warm up and meet Mike for dinner.”
He didn't like the thought of her having dinner alone with the doctor, but he had no right to feel territorial or jealous. She could have dinner with, go out with, and sleep with whoever she wanted. It was none of his business, despite the thought of her with another man being enough to make him feel like growling.
Chapter Three
Ahmed shut the master bathroom door behind him with a sigh and began unbuckling his belt, eyeing the newspaper laid on the counter beside the toilet. Lily had placed it there for him as she always did, knowing he would come up here to unwind and read when he got home. She was downstairs, engrossed as usual in one of the many reality TV shows she was addicted to.
She barely noticed when he came home anymore, though he had to shoulder some of the blame. Besides taking on extra shifts at work that had him away some nights and the regular meetings he attended with some men from his mosque taking up others, he hadn't made much of an effort to reconnect with her.
The thought saddened him. Not so long ago, Lily would have met him at the door with a hug and a kiss, telling him how much she'd missed him. Now, she acknowledged his presence with a mumbled hello and didn't even glance up from her show. How had they grown so far apart in three years of marriage that had begun so happily?
While he went about his business in the bathroom, Ahmed thought of the last meeting he'd attended. The group he belonged to had grown increasingly radical in their ideology, but he strongly believed in their cause. The very existence of Islam was in jeopardy if America and the western world succeeded in their tyrannical wars in the Middle East. Too many innocent Muslims had died defending their faith. Ahmed and his friends felt they had to do something to help their suffering brothers and sisters.
There'd been recent talk that something big was about to happen, and that it involved Farouk Tehrazzi. It was said he might contact Ahmed's group for help with a specific operation, so he and the other
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