Khalil looked up from the news reports he read every morning at breakfast, his sensual lips tilted up at one corner. "I gathered that from the loud squeal of delight and gasp of her name when you first answered the phone."

Amused blue eyes seared her with the intensity of his interest. It was always like that...he had a way of looking at people and making them feel as if in that moment, they were the only other being in the universe besides himself. It made him a very effective diplomat. Few people ever doubted his sincerity, or the genuineness of his interest in them personally or their country's point of view.

She'd been sucked in just as easily as everyone else by his manner. At first, she'd thought she was intensely special to him. Now, she realized he had a knack for making everyone feel that way, but not everyone could be special. And if the others weren't...maybe she wasn't either.

"Is something the matter?" he asked, his expression going from amused indulgence to concern in a heartbeat.

She shook her head, determined not to dwell on such depressing thoughts. She lived with him. That made her unique, which in its own way was special. Stifling a sigh at her campaign to convince herself, she looked out over Athens. The view from their balcony an impressive one. The Acropolis in the distance, the wealthy section of the city up close - it was all too gorgeous for words and she adored it.

She loved living in Greece and reminded herself that Khalil had opted for Athens as home base for her sake. It was easier for her to travel out of Athens than Zohra's smaller airport and here they had friends and acquaintances who acceded to her existence and embraced without question her role in his life.

Unlike his family.

Letting the serenity the view always gave her wash through her, she turned her gaze back to him and smiled. "Wonderful news, actually. Therese has had her baby, or babies rather."

"Babies?" he asked with a sardonic lift of his dark brow, the look of concern not completely dissipated from his eyes.

She ignored it, as she ignored so much anymore. It was the only way to survive. "They had triplets."

"Triplets?"

"Yes. Isn't that amazing?"

"I am sure Claudio is very happy."

"He is. So is Therese. She's in shock...their daughter was born first, which makes her the heir to the throne. Apparently, Therese didn't know the Isole dei Rei throne was an equal opportunity monarchy." Jade laughed at how shocked her friend had sounded.

The diplomat's daughter turned Crown Princess had never considered the possibility the next king would actually be a queen.

Khalil shrugged, the movement fluid and yet revealing the leashed power of his big, muscular body. Tall for his people, he got both his height and blue eyes from his Dutch grandmother. But everything else about him screamed modern day sheikh. His black hair was cut short and worn a little spiky, his clefted chin was free of beard stubble and his clothes suited the Western circles he spent so much time moving in.

They'd been together for more almost two years and she still got shivers just looking at him.

"It is a Western monarchy," he said, following the shrug up with words.

Jade's smile slipped at the reminder of the differences between their two worlds. He came from a long line of sheikhs and his family's attitudes fit better with the previous century than the current one. She'd never met his parents or his siblings because she was his live-in lover, not his wife.

As far as his conservative family was concerned, she did not exist and Khalil had done nothing to change that perception. When she had first moved in with him, she had argued he should. He had responded that he had no choice. He could not change centuries of belief, no matter how much he might want to.

But did he?

If she meant that much to him, why was she still his lover and not his fiancée?

"Therese has invited us both to the christening ceremony."

Her emphasis on the word both was not lost on either of them. Khalil frowned.

Jade clamped her teeth together on an apology she refused to make. She knew her comment had annoyed him and had been unnecessary. He would take for granted that he had been invited. Unlike her.

The only family members she had met, his second cousin Hakim and wife Catherine were also preparing to celebrate the birth of a child, their third. Because the rest of Khalil's family had been invited to the celebration in Kadar, Jade was not expected to attend. Catherine had called to invite her and Khalil to a private dinner at the palace two nights later, but it hurt be excluded from yet another family gathering.

"You know why you cannot attend the other," he said, showing he knew exactly what she was thinking.

It was her turn to shrug. They'd had the argument enough times she knew she would never win it, so she saw no reason to even enter the fray. "Will you be able to work the trip to Isole dei Rei into your schedule?"

"When is it?"

She told him.

He consulted his PDA. "I have a diplomatic dinner in D.C. that night."

She stood up before he could say any more. "I'll call Therese back and tell her to expect me only."

"I would ask Hakim to attend the dinner on my behalf, for I am going as representative to both Zohra and Jawhar..."

"But he is enjoying the flush of new fatherhood."

"Catherine needs him."

"Yes." She turned to go.

"Jade."

She stopped without looking back at him. "Yes?"

"Are you upset about something?"

Her body tensed. Should she tell him the truth and try one more time to get through to him? She turned, hope almost drowned by the weight of past experience. "When am I going to meet your parents?" she asked baldly.

He sighed. "I have explained. They do not understand our living together. In their world there are two kinds of women."

"Sluts and virgins."

His mouth set in a grim line. "That is a crude way of putting it."

"But accurate."

He sighed. "I am very happy living with you. You are very happy living with me. My parents have no bearing on that."

"They are part of your life...the part I'm not allowed into."

"I cannot help that."

"So you say."

"Because it is the truth. Must we continue to have this same discussion over and over again?"

"No. As far as I am concerned, we don't ever need to have it again."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Quite sure."

"Good."

She nodded and turned to leave again.

"Do not forget we have an official dinner at the US Embassy tonight. Perhaps you will see some old friends."

She supposed that was his olive branch...the reminder that he included her in as many areas of his life as he could.

"I won't forget." She had a full day planned, but intended to be back at the apartment in plenty of time to get ready for the dinner.

She didn't hear him move, but suddenly his hand landed on her shoulder. "Wait."

She looked up at him. "For what?"

"For this."

And she knew he meant to kiss her, but he didn't do it right away. He spent several seconds looking into her eyes, his gaze probing and claiming at the same time. "You are my woman, Jade."

She said nothing. There was nothing to say. She could not deny his words, but being his woman wasn't enough anymore. She wanted to be part of his family. She wanted to have his babies. The envy she felt toward Therese and Catherine made her ashamed, but Jade wanted more from Khalil than a consuming affair.

She wanted to matter to him...she wanted to truly belong to him. In every way, not just sexually. And she wanted him to belong to her.

The realization had been there at the edges of her consciousness for a very long time, but she'd never given definition to the nebulous feelings inside her before this. It had been enough to love him and pray one day he would learn to love her. It was only as she began to suspect that would never happen that she realized all the other things she wanted and would never have from this man.

"You are very important to me, aziz."

Aziz meant beloved, but she knew she was not his beloved. She'd used to think that him using the endearment meant he had feelings he was reticent about putting into words. She now saw it the same way she saw her mother's use of the word, darling. Jade wasn't her mother's darling. She was her mother's daughter. The two were not always mutually inclusive.

Neither was being a man's lover the same as being his beloved.

She knew Khalil was happy with her right now, that he still wanted her, but how long would that last if she told him she wanted more? Probably about five seconds...if that long. The knowledge sliced at the moorings of her heart and she didn't know how long she could stand loving where there was no return on her emotion.

But she didn't know how she would ever walk away either.

"Are you going to kiss me?"

He smiled, predatory certainty radiating off of him. "Do you want me to?"

"Maybe." Of course she wanted his kiss.

Because when he kissed her, when he touched her, she felt so connected to him that it was inconceivable they could ever be torn apart. Only deep in her battered heart, she knew the inconceivable was all too close at hand.

Unaware of her dark thoughts, he laughed and covered her mouth with his own.

She was expecting a quick kiss goodbye. What she got was a total onslaught to her senses. His hands slid slowly down her arms, leaving a rush of goosebumps in their wake and his body pressed close, surrounding her with heat that burned hotter than the Greek sun. He teased at her lips, molding them, slanting his own against them with enticing pressure until her own parted and he took full possession of her mouth.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, unashamed of the response he could draw from her so easily. This was not just sex...it was love and the most perfect expression of it that she knew. Every time Khalil gave her his body, wracking her own with pleasure, she gave him her heart.

Since the death of her grandparents, he was the only one in the world who wanted it. Her parents gave lip service to affection, but Khalil valued her emotional generosity in ways that could be measured. Only lately, she'd come to understand that was not the same as ever planning to return it.

Refusing to let the painful idea rob the moment of its pleasure, she deepened their kiss, aggressively seeking oblivion from her troubled thoughts.

He groaned, the sound both sexy and frustrated, as he pulled his mouth from hers. "I should not have started this."

"You have places you need to be. So do I."

"The Children's Hope office?" he asked, referring to the relief agency she volunteered with pretty much fulltime.

"Yes. We are planning another major gala to raise funds for efforts focused on children affected by natural disasters worldwide. It's going to be huge."

"You can count on my support."

The tension inside Khalil ebbed as his beautiful lover smiled.

She brushed one hand down his chest. "I know."

He loved her affectionate nature. He had been raised in a culture that gave a kiss of greeting and for departure. Physical affection was very natural...though not between the sexes. Even married couples kept their affectionate touching behind closed doors.

Jade took it to a level that tantalized and sometimes tormented him. She was so open with her physical appreciation of him. He did not want that to change. He wanted the relationship they had to remain inviolate. If he were to introduce her to his family, they would expect her to change...to be more circumspect with him.

He was in a Catch 22 and saw no way out. His parents would never accept his live-in lover as a guest in their home, or anywhere else they planned to be. But he wasn't willing to give up the comfort and joy of his relationship with her to gain their approval of her. If that were even possible, and he doubted it was.

They were very conservative and she had two strikes against her. She was not of their people and she was obviously no longer a virgin.

He didn't care, but they would.

He buried his fingers in her silky, straight blond hair and pressed his forehead against hers. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know that too." To emphasize her point, she rotated her hips against his hardness.

He groaned again. "You are a tease."

"A tease never follows through. I plan to. Just later."

Images of later made his knees weak. She was so perfect for him. A physical match in every way. At five-foot-seven, she was taller than average, certainly taller than most of his countrywomen, but shorter than him. Yet they fit together perfectly, both in bed and when they were out of it like this.

Her cat's eyes were dark and mysterious and her lips were full and kissable. Her curves were neither too large nor small and she matched his passion with her own so beautifully, it left him breathless sometimes.

"Maybe I want you to follow through now."

"And miss your morning meeting?" she asked, but made no move to step away.

He gritted his teeth, but forced himself to let her go. He kissed her forehead, then her temple, but he didn't risk taking her lips again, and then stepped back himself. "No. I can't."

She smiled wistfully. "I can't either, but I wish we could."

"So do I."

She moved into the house, but continued to face him. He knew that look. She hated leaving him as much as he hated watching her go.

"We need a vacation. Time alone." With Hakim staying close to home because of Catherine's pregnancy, it had been too long since Khalil and Jade had time to be together uninterrupted by his duties as diplomat.

"Apart?" she asked, her face going blank and he realized she wasn't teasing.

Where had that insecurity come from? "Together. I want to be with you with no interruptions."

"Oh." She smiled softly. "That sounds nice."

"Yes it does. How about after the christening? I could fly down to meet you in Isole dei Re and we could stay on for a few days, bask in the sun and make love until we are fully sated."

"Can we get there?"

"Maybe not."

A slight frown marred her oval features. "It sounds wonderful, but we'll have to settle for the Greek sun right now because I've got to get back the day after the christening."

"Why?"

"The gala."

"I thought the idea of you volunteering rather than getting another position with a diplomat was so that you would be free to travel with me."

"I am free to travel with you, but this is a vacation you're talking about and I can't take one right now. Especially after the trip to Kadar and christening being so close together."

"Get someone else to take care of your duties."

"No."

"If you were working for me, this would not be a problem."

"I don't want to work for you."

"Why, damn it?" He ground his teeth. He rarely swore and hated cursing at her. She deserved better, but this was one bone of contention he had a hard time letting go.

"I need to be independent."

"But you are not independent. You are dependent. On me. Your job volunteering for Children's Hope does not change that."

"I don't want a job because I'm your lover. I want to earn my own place, even if I'm not paid for it."

"You were exceptionally good in your position as diplomat's aid when we met. Your former employer was very unhappy to see you go and I have no doubts you would be equally beneficial to me on my staff."

"But others would not see it that way. They would think I had the job because I am your lover."

"Who cares?"

"I care. And I like my job with Children's Hope." She looked down at her watch and back at him. "I have to go. So do you."

"I am not finished with this discussion."

"I am." She took a step backward as if emphasizing her point.

He followed her into the room, frustration riding him like a poorly made saddle. "And I am supposed to simply accept this?"

"Yes. My mind is made up. Whether you accept it gracefully or not though, is up to you."

"You sound very much like my father when you say that."

"Not your mother?"

"No. She would never have argued the point to begin with."

She frowned and continued toward the door as she spoke. "I guess that's just one more way in which I'm not perfect Zohra princess material, isn't it?"

He opened his mouth to respond but she'd turned smartly and was already out the door on the other side of the room. He wasn't about to make a spectacle for the housekeeper by yelling after Jade. He wanted to hit something though. He grabbed his briefcase instead.

She'd been right, he could not afford to be late to this morning's meeting, but she'd been wrong about something else. They were going to revisit this idea of her working for him. It was foolish of her to be so worried about what others thought. It wouldn't take long for everyone to see that she did her job exceptionally well.

He'd accepted her need for independence for almost two years, but he wanted to spend more time with her and the only way to make that happen was to put her on his staff. Who knew...if she was a member of his staff, his family might even tolerate her presence at certain functions in that capacity.

She wanted to meet his family so badly, she could bend her stubborn will and make that happen. But something deep inside told him that it would not be quite that easy.