Spice of Love - Completed

Chapter 12

It did not take Sadiq long to pick up on her vibes. Cat was back to being angry. Scared, but angry. And with a determined raise to her chin, she turned her back on Sadiq and bit her tongue, refusing to give him the time of the day. This time though, he took offence. It helped somewhat being naturally oblivious to the males of her species. But that had only been true until Cat met Sadiq.

Still, it gave her a foundation to work with. An idea to explore and possibilities to contemplate, all while enjoying her success in turning his initial smirk of smug satisfaction to one of anger and then intense irritation. All without the use of actual words.

They were both terribly silent. The entire way. It was downright amazing that they could communicate so much with so few words. Cat ran a hand through her blond curls, not caring if she ruffled her hair even more out of sorts than it already was. And she remained oblivious to his avid interest as his green gaze narrowed in on the movements of her hand.

"The silent treatment? I thought you were above such pettiness."

He thought wrong.

"Cat?"

His eyes tightened in anger at her insolence.

"Cat!"

Cat jolted at the sharpness to his tone, her gaze snapped around to clash with his and her hand shifted to flatten against the baby bump not completely visible but easily discerned with touch. Cat compressed her lips into a firm line. Sadiq stared at her, his gaze bright with emotions he no longer wanted to hide. Cat met his stare, refusing to give in, even when she saw the softening to forest greens.

"It doesn't have to be this way..." began Sadiq, his voice soothing, as if talking to a startled child. "This is going to be a new beginning for both of us."

Cat narrowed her blue eyes. Her stare glacial. "There is no us, Sadiq. There never was."

Sadiq compressed his lips and lifted his brow. "You don't believe that any more than I do." He reached out for her hand and she shied away, but he was not having it. His hand clasped about hers. Warm against the chill of her fingers, frozen even in this hot climate. But then fear had its own way of chilling a person to the bone.

"What I believe is that you are bent on making not one but both of us miserable... for life."

"If you believed that you would never have shared my bed," pointed out Sadiq, reasonably.

"There is no accounting for good sense... or the lack of it," muttered Cat, with a clumsy shrug.

Sadiq sighed, his hand tightening over hers, but otherwise he fell silent. Lifting their clasped hands between them, Sadiq bent over to brush his warm lips against her chilled skin. Meeting her insolent gaze with one of his own, he deliberately let his gaze fall in a slow, leisurely descent to rest on her suddenly trembling lips. The taunting smirk she wore there hesitated than fell away completely. Her teeth came out of their own volition and sank into the petal softness of her bottom lip, only just stopping before she broke the skin. But the deed was done. In one smooth move of imperceptible cunning on Sadiq's part, the tables were turned. Gone was the animosity she had been working so hard to contrive between them.

In its place was the smouldering tension that got her into this mess in the first place. The sexual tension that never failed to raise its ugly head between them. She loathed it. She loathed him... but she was beginning to suspect... she loved him more.

The four-wheel drive pulled up to an abrupt halt, snatching her attention away from Sadiq's drowning gaze as awareness of their surroundings came flooding back. Cat drew in a deep, shaky breath and she found herself looking anxiously about. In the vast desert space was an oasis and in its midst was an Aladdin-like palace with turrets and domed roofs.