My Desert Rose (24 page)

Patting her
hand, her father smiled at her, pleased at her acceptance and
affection for his family. Tears filled his eyes. "Are you ready?"
he asked her with emotion in his voice.

"I'm more than
ready, Papa, I'm finally home."

All the heads
of the congregation turned in her direction as they began to slowly
walk. Captain Azab gave her a beaming smile as she passed, as did
his men and their wives. She'd become good friends with a few of
them since the incident. Annabelle blew her a kiss and Tristan was
sitting next to her, pointing a little motorised fan at her flushed
face. Next to him sat Rose, holding Preston's hand. Katie inwardly
smiled, another wedding on the horizon, she thought. Reaching her
aunt and uncle at the front, Katie couldn't resist giving them a
quick hug before turning to hug Selina and Malik.

Miriam and
April were waiting at the top near the imam and the vicar in their
long, white, Audrey Hepburn-style dresses with gold sashes. Miriam
was beaming from ear-to-ear. Wade was also at the front cutting a
dashing figure as he unconsciously drew attention to his James Dean
looks. He winked at her and did an impression of a pregnant woman,
indicating that she'd be next. Blushing, she turned away to meet
two passion-filled eyes that spoke the language of love to
hers.

Tariq wanted to
pinch himself. The ethereal angel walking down the aisle was making
her way towards him and his heart swelled. When she reached him he
took her hand in his and kissed it. Nothing in the world had
prepared him for the feelings that she drew out of him. Sometimes,
the intensity of what they shared amazed him and he couldn't
believe that this beautiful woman was in his life. Not letting go
of her hand, they both turned to the imam and the vicar.

After the
ceremony and dinner in the marquee, fireworks lit up the night sky.
Tariq had his arms around Katie, nuzzling her neck as she watched
them. "I want to take you somewhere."

She half turned
her head to face him. "I'm only interested in going to
paradise."

He laughed and
took her hand, pulling her along the garden, and waving at people
as they went. Sounds of cheers and laughter followed them. Outside
in the courtyard, his little red convertible was waiting.

Thebes gave her
a knowing wink and she grinned back at him in pure happiness.

Not saying a
word, Tariq helped her in with her dress and then they took off
down the road.

Leaning her
head back against the seat, she sighed in bliss. The day had been
perfect, everything had flowed and all the people she loved had
been there. Floating away on the memories of the wedding, she must
have drifted off, as the next thing she knew the car had come to a
stop outside the beach house. But instead of going inside, he led
her to the wide steps which went down to the beach.

Picking her up,
he carried her down the stairs and set her down on the soft white
desert sands. Gazing at her delicate features in the light of the
full moon, he took off his tie and jacket and slipped off his
shoes.

"What are you
doing?" she asked him whilst biting her lip in anticipation.

"I'm finishing
what we started," he replied softly, as he undid the button on her
dress-coat and pushed it over her shoulders to fall to the floor.
The moonlight bounced off her buttery skin as he ran his hands up
her arms, pulling her into him and against him.

All the
tiredness vanished and in its place a ravenous hunger for him took
over. Without waiting, she pulled open his shirt and helped him out
of his pants. As she kissed his chest, she could feel him
impatiently fiddling with the buttons at the back of the dress.
Laughing at him, she turned around and pointed to where she'd had a
concealed zip put in. The dress was off in seconds, as was her
underwear. He then grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the
water.

The heat of the
day and the balmy night meant that the water was warm and she waded
in, following Tariq. The gentle waves rocked her body, and she
sighed as they undid all the knots in her muscles from the past few
weeks of preparing the wedding. Tariq moved away and swam out a
little, before calling her to him.

This was her
husband. Today had confirmed something inside. A part of her had
subtly changed. It was like a letting go, an inner permission of
acceptance - a deep understanding that you don't find love, love
finds you.

Reaching him,
she ran her fingers over his chest and then pulled his head towards
hers, devouring him and kissing him with all of her being. A sound
vibrated against her mouth as she heard him groan and she could
feel his erection rubbing at her belly. Not wanting to wait, she
wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Little moheet,
you're killing me here," he murmured against her skin as he lowered
his head and sought out a nipple which was bobbing just above the
water line.

"It's time to
consummate this marriage, dear husband," she joked into his
ear.

He went still
at her breast and then he lifted his head up to look at her in the
moonlight. "Well, wife, we'll have to continue this on the beach
where I've left my pocket full of condoms."

She shook her
head. "No condoms," she said softly before cutting off any reply
with a kiss. Their touch was fuelled with a deeper passion at
knowing what they were about to do, but she had one more thing to
say. Pulling back to look at him, she felt completely fulfilled, at
peace with herself. "I want to live here, in the beach house with
you and just take each day as it comes."

There was no
point hiding his elation and his teeth shone white through his grin
in the semi-darkness. "What about your photography work?"

"Well," she
nibbled on his neck and rubbed her body against him. "We'll find a
way to work around that."

Earlier, as
he'd watched her walk down the aisle towards him he'd thought that
this day couldn't get any better, but it had just exceeded itself.
"So, I'm going in commando then?" he teased.

Katie laughed
into his neck, his excitement was endearing. "Of course, but if you
don't want to -"

He cut her off
with a searing kiss before positioning her body and entering her in
one swift stroke. "That's how much I don't want to," he groaned.
This was his first time ever without a condom and a tremor of
pleasure ricochetted through him at the feel of her. It was like
nothing he'd ever felt before.

"Oh," Katie
purred in delight as he filled her. There was nowhere else to be,
nowhere else to go other than where Tariq was. He was her home.

The pace was
slow and tender as they moved as one, hugging each other close as
they kissed, whispering words of love until she called out his name
in the warm night air and he shuddered against her.

For some time
afterwards, they floated along in absolute bliss. Still entwined
with their lips fused together, they let go to the support of the
waves and listened to the sounds around them. From out of the night
air, a distant hum could be heard. As it neared, it got louder.

From around the
bend came a single light. It pulled in from the road and stopped
outside the beach house. They watched as someone climbed off the
back of a motorbike, glanced over at their silhouetted forms in the
moonlight, and then made their way down the stairs to the
beach.

"Yoo-hoo,
Tariq, Kat."

"I don't
believe it!" cursed Tariq.

Katie giggled.
"You shouldn't have taught her how to ride a motorbike."

"And you
shouldn't have taught her about Bruce Lee," he laughed.

"It's only me,
Miriam," she called, as she waved her arms about from the beach to
get their attention.

"We know," they
shouted back in unison.

"It's just that
Annabelle went into labour and Tristan is ordering people about
like a bear with a sore head, Mama is beside herself with
excitement, Papa has left for the port with Prince Saud, Wade
knocked over the cake, the midwife is missing, as is Thebes and we
don't have a bassinet for the baby. I just thought you should
know."

Tariq turned
back to Katie and kissed her. "And you want to live here with
me?"

"Oh yes," she
replied, smiling against his lips. "It's a perfect place for a
desert rose."

****