This book is a sequel to Khalifa and cannot be read as a standalone. To avoid spoilers, description and excerpt are added inside the book.
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Started: May 2, 2022.
Completed: December 3, 2022.
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cover by @xniftykayx
When they ask you what your favorite moment is, you will say her. You will always say her.
— Caitlyn Siehl
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Her
Some moments are like magic. Beyond perception. Beyond comprehension. Unable to be fitted into the boundaries of reality. Ephemeral. Like a dream. Mesmeric. Like a fairytale. But vanishing. Like time. Disappearing. In a blink.
He sits on on the prayer mat making his supplication. He's taking his time. He always does. As if searching for something lost. As if lost himself. Unaware of her presence behind him. Unmoving as she gets up from her prayer mat. Unmoving as she walks away.
The maids have cleared the dinner table. She blows out the candles lying on it. Then she goes to pull the curtains together, hindering the moonlight from illuminating the chamber. She then turns to look at him. He's still busy praying. She watches him silently.
He has tied his hair. He has changed from his thobe into a night dress. The flames from the fireplace dance across his face-- amplify his features. He might have always been handsome, but this love of her for him makes her fall for him anew every time. She has come to love Adam so much. Very much. Noura smiles to herself.
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Him
She takes off her jewelry one by one. The headchain. The arm cuffs. The pendent. Only the anklets remain to tinkle around her ankles. Her eyes meet his briefly. His stare on her can barely portray his ache for her. She's swift to move her gaze away.
He stands up from the prayer mat on the floor. She has been done long before him. The chamber feels to be growing warmer. She blows out the candles on the vanity. The flames in the fireplace are simmering down. The light remains little as darkness takes over. He moves to where she sits before the vanity. His hand flicks to blow out another candle.
He stops behind her. Her eyes lift to the mirror and find his. His hands come to rest on her arms, then move up to her shoulders, all the while holding her gaze. Noura swallows. Adam brings his fingers to her neck and curls them around it gently. Then nudges back her head so she looks up at him. The contact through the mirror breaks. He gazes down at her and finds her wide-eyed. Her breath hitches. He smirks.
"Something bothers you, habibti?" he teases, his voice coming out husky and strained. He notices the flushing of her skin.
"Adam..."
He chuckles darkly, something in his chest twisting, constricting. The ache for her in his heart intensifying. He leans down over her, supporting his weight with one hand on the seat she's sitting on while the other keeps clutching her neck. He brings his lips to her ear.
"As Adam shall bother you, Noura. In every way desirable."
She nestles back against him and he releases her neck, burying his face in the crook of it.
