Page 31 of Kismet

“That remains to be seen.” He shrugged, and the insouciant gesture infuriated her.

“If you think to induce me to share your bed, then you’re as deluded as Nassar,” she snapped. “I told you once before that I decide who my lovers are.”

“I remember,” he said in a curt tone. “I also remember seeing you with Lord Shaftsbury at the Sultan’s palace.”

The accusation in his words puzzled her. What did Charles have to do with his decision not to return her to Marrakech? Confused, she shook her head.

“What does my relationship with Lord Shaftsbury have to do with anything?”

“Do you deny you were Shaftsbury’s mistress?”

“I fail to see how that’s any of your concern.” Allegra glared at him. What did it matter that she and Charles had been—Newcastle. Charles had come to Morocco to find a Viscount Newcastle. She narrowed her gaze at him. “Charles is looking for you.”

“Très bon, ma belle. And I don’t wish to be found.” The grim look on Shaheen’s dark features emphasized the harshness of his tone.

She flinched. It didn’t matter to her why he wanted to remain hidden in this desolate, half-desert terrain. If he wished to stay lost here, she didn’t care. She simply wanted to return to Marrakech and home to England. Cordelia would be worried about her when she didn’t reply to her letter. Her niece would need support to weather the scandal Lady Bledsoe was certain to instigate.

It was madness on his part to think he could get away with holding her here. People would notice. Millie wouldn’t let her disappearance be overlooked. And when Isabelle returned from her honeymoon, her friend would insist that her husband launch a search. The man clearly hadn’t thought things through.

“You can’t possibly believe that Millie will simply let me disappear.” She shook her head in disbelief. “She’ll have Charles contact the authorities.”

“Your friend is in Sheikh Mahmoud’s camp. I thought it best she go with Laila as a safety precaution. Laila’s father will protect them both. The servants at the Hastings household are under the impression that you and your maid left for England this morning.”

“You bastard,” she whispered as a bitter taste filled her mouth.

“Perhaps, but a thorough one.”

“All of this simply to avoid Charles discovering your whereabouts?” she said with a growing sense of fear as she studied his implacable features. “Did it never occur to you that I didn’t know who you were?”

“I assumed as much, but I believe in planning for every possible contingency, including the most volatile one—Nassar.” He paused for a split second. “If he’d not mentioned my name, you would be in Marrakech right now.”

“If I gave you my word that I wouldn’t tell Charles anything, would you let me go then?”

It wasn’t difficult to make her voice a soft plea of desperation when it was exactly how she felt. He studied her for a long moment, his dark brown gaze searing her skin with a fiery intensity that was alarming. Then with a sharp shake of his head, he turned away from her.

“No. There’s far too much at stake.”

“You cannot keep me here against my will,” she exclaimed with vehemence and skirted his side to confront him face-to-face.

“And who will stop me?” His arrogance took her breath away as he met her angry gaze with supreme confidence. He was right. Who would stop him? His harsh expression softened somewhat as he sighed. “In truth, ma belle, you are free to go, but I’ll not help you return to Marrakech, nor will anyone else in this camp.”

“Then I’ll find my own way.” Furious, she glared at him with outrage.

“I don’t think you’re that foolish.” A somber expression on his face, he shook his head. “Even if you managed to head in the right direction, you would be prey for predators of both the four-legged and two-legged kind.”

The quiet simplicity of his words was far more devastating than any threat he could have made. She turned away from him. For a few brief moments, Allegra had thought she might have regained control of her life, but it had been an illusion. A warm hand touched her shoulder, and with suppressed violence she jerked away from him.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” She enunciated each word with an icy calm she didn’t feel as she sent him a vicious look. “You’re correct about predators, my lord, but I don’t have to leave this camp to find any of the two-legged kind. You emulate Sheikh Nassar’s predatory manner so easily.”

The sharp breath Shaheen drew in told her the insult had struck home. Chiseled stone could not have been harder than his features as he took a step toward her. Although the movement alarmed her, Allegra didn’t flinch. Instead she straightened her shoulders and met his harsh glare with equal intensity. Eyes narrowing, a muscle twitched in his cheek from the tension sharpening the line of his jaw.

“Have care with your words, ma belle.”

“Or what?” she sneered with a sharp laugh.

“Or you might discover that Nassar isn’t half as dangerous as I am.” Ice was warmer than the glacial look in his eyes. But she held her ground as he leaned into her. “He simply toys with his prey. I on the other hand, devour mine.”

His words weren’t a threat. They were a cold, brutal promise. Shaheen’s gaze raked over her with scathing disdain before he spun away from her and stalked out of the tent. It was the raw, menacing power in his gait that made her swallow hard. Had she merely been pulled from a small fire, only to be tossed into an inferno?