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'You could try,' he said softly 'But perhaps it might be a waste of your time — and time is so precious, is it not?'
Their eyes met, and in that moment Laura understood 'Oh, I see,' she said 'So I was right — you were behind it It's a fait accompli'
'How perfect your French accent it,' he murmured He let his gaze drift over her And how perfect she looked, he thought — that creamy silk providing a gloriously neutral backdrop against which to appreciate her natural beauty
Her dark red hair had been drawn back from the perfect oval of her face and woven into an intricate kind of plait, which began at the top of her head Yet its almost severe style contrasted with the luscious hint of curves beneath the soft silk, and he welcomed the familiar leap of sexual hunger which silenced all the clamouring questions in his mind.
How many men had known that exquisite body? he wondered jealously, remembering Malik's casual questioning in the car. Then have her, mocked a voice in his head Have her and then you can forget all about her
'Do you never wear your hair down?' he questioned softly.
It wasn't what Laura had been expecting She had seen the hungry way his eyes had been devouring her, and she had anticipated some sensual little taunt, steeling herself against the seduction of his words But his sensual question made her feel just that Her fingertips touched the carefully crafted style, skating over the slippery silken surface of the thick dark red locks
'Sometimes I do,' she said .
' In bed?'
Don't Set him get to you Don't give him any inkling that you keep remembering the sweetness of his kiss She saw the hectic glimmer in his black eyes and realised that he was remembering it, too And that the greatest victory would be not to get herself moved from the temptations of an inter joiing room — but to resist temptation altogether
'Of course I let my hair down in bed,' she said briskly 'But you won't ever get to see it, Xavier'
He gave her a hard, swift smile 'Don't you know that a red-blooded man can never resist a challenge?' he murmured, flicking a quick glance at his watch 'And — while you look utterly delectable as you are — you might wish to change before dinner'
He walked into his bedroom and shut the door with an exaggerated sense of care, leaving Laura staring after him with a growing sense of frustration which was more than sexual As if he had just got the better of her and she wasn't quite sure why
Outside, the stars hung bright and brilliant in the indigo velvet of the sky — as big as if a child had painted them on with large brushstrokes And drifting into the room was warm, soft air — heavily scented with the fragrance of roses and jasmine and sandalwood
She walked slowly into her own bedroom and closed the door She should have been bouncing around with satisfaction, feeling good about herself, and yet she was all churned up Was that because Xavier was managing to unsettle her? Or because she was terrified of the way he was making her feel, and even more terrified of the way she suspected he could make her feel?
Laura sighed Just make the most of this opportunity, she told herself Banish the Frenchman from your mind and enjoy the experience of staying as a guest in a real-life palace Not many Western women get this kind of chance. She thought of how her mother would marvel if she could see her little girl now — her sweet mother, who seemed to attract chaos and never had a penny in her purse without wanting to spend .
Within the hour, Laura felt like a different person The palace might have dated back to the fourteenth century, but the bathrooms were most definitely rooted in the twenty-first — with powerful showerheads as big as dinner plates and a stand-alone bath you could practically swim in.
She applied the minimum of make-up and slithered into a fitted dress in deepest jade silk, which skimmed her ankles and brought out the deep green of her eyes Then she pulled her hair back into a chignon to give her finished image a rather defiant look.
Drawing in a deep breath, she opened the interconnecting door to find Xavier standing looking out at a huge crescent moon He turned round when he heard her, and for one immeasurable moment they both stood staring at each other, like two people who had stumbled over each other by mistake.
Xavier stilled, feeling the sudden deep pounding of his heart She had no flesh on show, save for her face, and yet he had never seen anyone look more sexy in his life How did she do that touch/don't-touch thing so beautifully'? he wondered He had been aching when he had gone to take his shower and had been tempted to pleasure himself and now he wished he had
'You look beautiful'
Stupidly, she felt her lips tremble 'Xavier, please don't'
'Don't what?'
'Don't say those things ' Don't look at me that way'
'All men say those things '
'No, they don't'. Not like you do'.
'You want me to lie, is that it? Because I will not And you are Very beautiful'
Laura felt a glow suffusing her skin as his words whispered over her — because when he looked at her in that lazily appreciative way he made her feel beautiful But it wasn't right to conduct a flirtation with him — under any circumstances, and especially under ones such as these
Even though Xavier seemed unconvinced that the Sheikh was his father, Laura was pretty sure he was And very soon he was going to meet him Already their worlds were miles apart — he was a wealthy playboy and Laura was a small-town lawyer from another country — but add a royal connection into the equation and he would be completely out of her reach So keep resisting him, she told herself fiercely Keep yourself safe from his Gallic charm and his dark, sexy looks.
In the distance, a sonorous bell was rung, its chime sweet and low and long, just as someone tapped on the door and an unknown male servant in plain white robes bowed and indicated that they should follow him
