Stolen by the Sheikh Read online

  She couldn’t trust herself to resist it.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but I promise you will be safe. That’s why I came to see you today. I wanted you to hear it from me, to assure you that we are dealing with the problem and that Jebbai will soon be returned to its former peaceful existence.’

  ‘And what of my former peaceful existence?’ she said. ‘When will I be returned to that?’

  She looked so fragile right then, her blue eyes foggy with vulnerability and defeat, and he felt her anguish deep inside, in a place he’d long thought shrivelled and empty.

  She did that to him. Touched him in ways no one ever had. Why else would he have risked his whole plan by revealing the truth so soon? Her constant goads, her insistent demands, they had been bad enough—nobody had ever defied him the way she did. But it was the way she seemed so desperate to return to her deceitful lover that had forced him over the edge of reason.

  So he’d spilled his intention to take her as his bride much earlier than he’d planned and in doing so he’d threatened the entire scheme.

  But maybe this way was better. Maybe now he would secure a far more effective payback.

  Already he’d exacted a measure of revenge upon his former foe. He’d smelt the fear coming down the phone line as clearly as one felt the blast-furnace heat of a Jebbai midsummer day. Half a world away Paolo would know that this was his doing, he would know that he had brought this on with his own precipitous actions so long ago. He would wear the guilt like a heavy burden he could never shrug off. He would bear the pain forever.

  As for Sapphire? Her anguish at her so-called fiancé’s betrayal was palpable. He’d felt her despair like a knife thrust under his ribs; it touched him deep inside and instinctively,bizarrely , he wanted to make it better.

  He had thought it would be easy—to take the woman of the man he hated as easily as stealing one of his possessions. Yet this woman was no cold chattel, no in animate property. She was warm, and human and so responsive.

  And he wanted her.

  Oh, how he wanted her.

  He wanted to feel more of her responsiveness, more of her body curling into his, more of her body melding with his until she was part of him, until they were part of each other.

  And he wanted her now.

  Even now, when she looked so lost and lonely, the urge to possess her, to ease her pain by obliterating any trace of Paolo in her mind and stamping his own claim on her, was almost primal.

  He moved closer to her then, her hands clasped nervously in front of her like a young schoolgirl unsure of her next step in the world or where it would take her. If he had any say in the matter, that next step would take her straight to him, but this time it was up to her.

  This time she would decide.

  He wouldn’t take her. She would give herself to him.

  And then his victory over Paolo would be complete.

  He lifted her chin with his hand and watched her large blue eyes reluctantly rise to meet his, the dampness in them rendering her long lashes heavy and dark.

  ‘I will take you to the airport,’ he said. ‘When it reopens and when it is safe, I will take you there myself.’

  He watched her nervous swallow, followed the movement in her throat, and fought the urge to drop his mouth and cover the pearly skin there with his lips.

  ‘You’ll let me go?’ Her breath was choppy and hesitant; her bottom lip plumped and reddened with the tracks from her teeth.

  ‘If that’s what you want.’

  Her eyes grew wide with hope and expectation and he accepted the challenge. He would make it his duty to change those expectations before it was time for her to leave.

  ‘If that’s what youreally want.’

  ‘Of course it’s what I really want.’

  ‘Then that’s what will happen,’ he asserted. ‘We have a deal.’

  ‘How…’ she started unsuccessfully. She licked her lips as if searching for the courage. ‘How do I know I can trust you?’

  ‘I assure you my word is my honour—’ he smiled when he noticed her sceptical expression ‘—although I understand you may not entirely agree. But perhaps you are right. Perhaps in deference to your concerns we should seal our bargain. We could shake hands—’ his free hand surrounded her own, squeezing it reassuringly on feeling her electric reaction ‘—or we could seal our agreement with something much,much more satisfying…’

  He saw the panic flare in her eyes, felt her instant reaction for flight as she pulled back. ‘Just a kiss,’ he promised. ‘No more than that.’

  He tugged her gently closer with one hand, tilting her towards him while he directed her chin with the other, until his mouth slanted over hers. He felt the shudder move through her as his lips meshed with hers, as if her internal resolve was being rocked and tested. He felt her sigh into the kiss, as if knowing she had no choice.

  And she hadn’t.

  She might as well get used to it.

  His tongue traced the line of her lips, tasting, examining, cajoling, and at the precise moment, at the tiniest hint he felt she was responding, he pulled away, letting go of his hold on her in the same instant.

  Her eyelids batted open, her cheeks were flushed and her lips red and plumped.

  It was enough for now.

  He could have continued, God, but it had taken every shred of control to pull himself away when all he wanted to do was bury himself deep inside her. And he would. He would erase from her mind all thought of Paolo, every last memory of his lovemaking, every last aching pain of his deceit. He would have her. But not yet. Not just yet.

  He would not take her.

  He would make her come to him.

  ‘So, do we have a deal?’

  She reeled, knowing that once again he’d taken her to that place where she forgot herself, forgot who he was and even forget that she wanted to get away from there. How did he do that? And why did she feel so cheated that he’d stopped?

  ‘Sure.’ Her voice came too soft and sultry for her liking, so she tried again, searching for more resolve.‘Definitely,’ she said, adding a nod of her head for emphasis. ‘You’ll take me to the airport when it reopens.’

  He looked down at her, half smiling. ‘If that’s what you really want.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘I want.’

  I think.

  She dropped her eyes so there was no chance he’d catch even a glimmer of her inner turmoil, and moved to collect her case, doing her best to distract herself from wherever her thoughts were about to take her. She’d return to her room. Think about practicalities. Focus on doing her packing a little more thoroughly.

  And forget all about uncertainty.

  ‘One more thing,’ he said as she reached the door. ‘I must attend a meeting with the desert tribes this evening. It will mean an overnight trip. I’ll be leaving later today.’

  Surprise mingled with relief mingled with disappointment. She wouldn’t see him again before he returned to take her to the airport. Their time together before she left would be limited to a short ride in his limousine, if that. She should be happier about that, given the experience he’d put her through, surely?

  ‘Is it safe for you to travel away from Hebra, under the circumstances?’

  One of his eyebrows arched. ‘Now you are concerned for my safety? You do surprise me. A moment ago I think you would quite happily have thrown my body out for carrion.’

  She blinked, her lips tightening. ‘If I show concern it’s for the poor people you will no doubt drag along with you on this desert sojourn. It’s their safety that concerns me.’

  His lips turned up in the barest smile. ‘Of course. But it’s perfectly safe. I’m headed to the opposite end of the country.’

  ‘Yet you thought it was safe when you brought me here. That doesn’t say much for your risk-assessment analysis.’

  ‘I assure you, I’ve assessed the risks,’ he said, his eyes narrowing to a dark gleam, ‘and I’m willing to take them on.’
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  Heat flooded her senses. She’d experienced enough of his double meanings to realise there was little doubt his words were aimed squarely at her.

  But he had no chance. In one day, no more than two at the outside, she’d be gone. There was no way now that she could fall any further under his spell. Her own risk assessment told her she was just about home free.

  ‘In that case,’ she said, lifting her chin and finally feeling as if she was turning today’s events around, ‘I only hope you’re not disappointed.’

  ‘How could I be disappointed,’ he asked, ‘when you’re coming with me?’

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  ‘NO,’SHEsaid without a moment’s hesitation. ‘I don’t think that’s such a good idea.’

  Whatever her see-sawing emotions were telling her, her brain was still screaming that she should get out of Jebbai as fast as possible and, failing that, to stay right away from Khaled. On that basis, going into the desert with him overnight was simply not an option.

  ‘Why not,’ he asked, ‘when you have seen little or nothing of my country? You’ve buried yourself in that workroom. This would be the perfect chance to explore wider afield, before you return home.’

  ‘Go with you, into the desert, when only minutes ago you were telling me I was to be your bride? You must think I’m mad or stupid to wander off into the desert with you when all I want to do is go home.’

  ‘You will go home, if you wish. I gave you my word.’

  ‘You got me here under false pretences. You lied to me all the way. You even let me believe in a bride that was an entire fabrication. I have to wonder what your word is really worth.’

  He looked up, surprised. ‘I’d hardly describe you as an entire fabrication. Besides, I thought we’d sealed that particular deal.’

  ‘That was your concept of sealing a deal, not mine,’ she threw at him.

  ‘I see,’ he said. ‘You think we should seal the deal with something more…’ his eyes took on a predatorial gleam‘…comprehensive?’

  Heat suffused her skin in an instant, a heavy, longing pooling low down in her belly.‘More comprehensive.’ The images his words conjured up sprang ready formed into her mind. A shock of tangled limbs; his smooth, sweat-slickened skin slipping over hers; his mouth, hot and hungry at her breast…

  She forced the pictures back down, all of them, back to where they couldn’t betray her any more than the hardened peaks of her nipples already did. It was bad enough he was so painfully arrogant without her body responding to his taunts.

  ‘Don’t expect me to sleep with you, simply to get out of the country.’

  ‘I don’t,’ he said, swooping down to pick up her case. ‘When you sleep with me I expect it to be for much more basic reasons.’ He caught the look of shock on her face and smiled. ‘Of course, I meantif you sleep with me.’

  His instant correction did nothing to reassure her.

  ‘I…I’ll stay in the palace.’

  ‘No. You’re my responsibility. I won’t know you’re safe unless I take you with me.’

  ‘I’ll be safer here, surely. There are rebels, you said, insurgents out there somewhere. Why wouldn’t I be better off here?’

  ‘This palace is my home. I have doubts they could get this far, but if someone is after me then this is the first place they’ll look. I won’t leave you here alone.’

  ‘I have Azizah.’

  ‘And Saleem…’

  Mention of his cousin stilled her protests. Saleem would hardly accept the role of her protector. He didn’t like her, no matter how much she tried to stay out of his way and not upset him. The resentment was there, the mistrust clear in his eyes. He gave every impression that he hated her, but why? What had she ever done to him? And did she really want to endure his cold glares for two days alone?

  ‘Wouldn’t Saleem go with you?’

  He shook his head. ‘He has other matters to attend to. He must stay here.’

  ‘Oh.’ Saleem was staying in the palace. That put a completely different slant on things.

  ‘You still don’t like him?’

  ‘I don’t know—he just makes me feel uncomfortable, unsettled.’

  ‘Saleem is my cousin. You should not feel that way.’

  ‘I know. I just don’t feel that I can trust him.’

  ‘Like you don’t trust me?’

  Not like that at all.Khaled’s simple question came with a simple answer that only complicated her thoughts. Her mistrust of Saleem was whole and entire and every cell in her body reacted in the same adverse way to his presence. He made her cringe, he made her flesh creep. She just didn’t want to be anywhere around him.

  Her mistrust of Khaled was completely different. She doubted his motives, she resented his arrogance and his duplicity in getting her here for reasons still not clear to her, but it was her body that she mistrusted the most. It was her body that reached out for him at the very same time her brain repelled him. It was her body that wanted him.

  And she couldn’t trust herself to deny him. Maybe staying in the palace with Saleem was the lesser of two evils after all, even though the thought chilled her to the bone.

  Khaled didn’t wait for her answer.

  ‘Then I will not let you stay. You will come with me.’

  Panic welled up inside her. ‘But—’

  ‘Sapphire,’ he said, the sound of his voice strangely soothing, like a parent convincing a child, ‘it’s only for one night after all. What can possibly happen in one night?’

  In less than two hours they were on their way out of the city and heading into the desert, the narrow strip of bitumen their only link to modern life. Sapphy travelled in the first Range Rover with Khaled choosing to drive. Half a dozen staff followed in the second.

  The terrain at first was much like it had been driving into Hebra, stark, sandy flats broken by the occasional thorny plant, the air dry and clear, but gradually the landscape changed and the sand formed dunes, low and barely distinguishable at first, growing higher as they headed deeper and deeper into the desert.

  Sculpted by the incessant winds, the red sand-dunes billowed all around them, creeping over the road in places and making the going tough. She sat quietly alongside Khaled as he drove, avoiding talk as far as possible and letting the landscape speak to her.

  She couldn’t regret coming here. Even after all that had happened, she’d learned so much visiting Jebbai, experiencing palace life in Hebra, cool and insulated and heady with the ever-present scent of incense; visiting the city souks with Azizah and the colourful market stalls with their wares both simple and exquisite. Even his mother’s garden at the palace had been an experience that had fed into her psyche, enriching her experience of this country.

  And Khaled? She looked over to him, his profile as majestic as the country he ruled, his strong features sculpted in his face like the lines carved by the wind in the dunes. With the white sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, his lean forearms worked at the wheel over the uneven territory and the occasional sand drift with strength and skill. Even some part of Khaled, whether it was his power, his arrogance or his dark and dangerous eyes, would feed into her work, she was sure. There was no way she would be able to divorce him from the experience.

  He looked over, snaring her gaze.

  ‘You’re very quiet,’ he said. ‘Are you finding the journey too tiring?’

  ‘Not at all,’ she answered truthfully. Khaled had been right. She’d concentrated so much on completing the wedding dress that she’d barely been out of the workroom. In many ways it was exciting to be out of the palace and away from the city. ‘Jebbai is much bigger than it looks on the map.’

  He smiled, showing his even white teeth. ‘We are one of the smaller independent states, it is true, though the desert certainly makes the country seem much larger. There is more to see in terms of civilisation to the south, where the oil fields are situated. Here it is very empty, apart from the occasional tribe.’

  ‘Well,
at least you have four-wheel drives to get around these days. Beats the heck out of doing it all by camel.’

  ‘Is that experience talking, or supposition?’

  ‘Of course I’ve ridden on camels, lots of times.’ She brushed her fringe out of her eyes. ‘Nothing to it.’

  He looked quickly over at her again but this time as if he didn’t believe a word she said.

  ‘Really. There are loads of camels in Australia, out in the outback. Leftovers gone wild from the eighteen-hundreds when they used them for transport. Now they catch them and the handlers bring them into the cities and use them to take kids for rides at the beach or at the annual shows. It makes a change from pony rides.