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Don’t freak out. He’s a mirage—he has to be. This is all in your head, and your guilty conscience.
But then the devastating illusion spoke. The brutal command in his voice was far too familiar as his searing gaze shot her body temperature into the danger zone.
‘Get out of the water, Your Highness,’ he said, the honorific dripping with contempt. ‘We have a long ride ahead of us to get to the safety of the Zokari gorge before the sandstorms hit.’
She pressed her forearms into the yearning flesh of her cleavage to stop it throbbing, and tried to give him herNo way, Joséglare, which she reserved for her younger brothers when they were being particularly annoying.
Unfortunately, her glare lacked the usual searing effect, the shiver of sensation, the aching swelling in her breasts and the tender spot between her thighs all throbbing in time to her erratic pulse.
Am I losing it? I must be.
‘W-what are you doing here?’ she managed, still hoping he wasn’t really here at all and this was all some kind of lurid, erotic nightmare.
‘Saving you from a sandstorm and ensuring you become my wife—not necessarily in that order,’ he barked.
Okay, so either shehadlost the plot, or he had.
‘You have ten minutes to get dressed and pack what you need while I prepare the horses for our journey,’ he continued, as if he were the lord of all he surveyed and she his subordinate.
Her rebellious spirit finally kicked in.Think again, buster.
‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ she declared, still shivering, still aching, the dread starting to engulf her.
‘This is not a negotiation,’ he said, his tone tight with strained patience. ‘If you will not keep yourself and your horse safe, I will do it for you. You now have nine minutes.’ So saying, he turned and marched back through the palm trees, leaving her shivering, shaking and swearing profusely at his departing back.
Fine, she’d get dressed—because being virtually naked while she confronted him was not a good plan—and then she would tell him where he could stick his rescue and his ludicrous notions of marriage.Again.
‘Read my lips—I am not going with you. The data suggests the sandstorm will not hit until tomorrow at the earliest, by which time I intend to be safely back at the palace.’ The flush of colour on Kaliah Khan’s face and her obstinate stance, not to mention the loose robe she had donned to stay cool in the sun, was not doing a damn thing to calm Kamal’s temper. Nor was the image of her exactly eight-point-five minutes ago with her pert nipples visible through the clinging fabric of her soaked T-shirt.
He had found her at the pond all but naked, her slender curves only accentuated by the drenched cotton. And, when she’d turned to him, he had become fixated on the plump flesh beneath. Her large, puckered areolas had been clearly visible and had only become more pronounced as he had stared, imagining them hardening beneath his tongue.
The sight had made his erection painful, which would make the six-hour ride they had ahead of them to get to safety even more fun. The sexual frustration had only added to his fury. How could she take such risks, to bathe as good as naked in the middle of the desert? There were few bandits in the region now, but anyone could have come across her.
‘Get on your horse or I will put you on mine,’ he snarled, clenching his jaw so hard he was amazed he did not crack a tooth.
Modern weather data could be useful, but it often lied. He could already smell the tinge of sulphur on the air, could feel the first tendrils of wind and see the dark red rim around the sun, now fully risen above the horizon. He would always trust his own instincts first and his gut was telling him they needed to leave now. But he would be damned if he would explain any of that to her. She did not respect him, or his instincts, so he refused to pander to her tantrum.
The woman continued to glare at him, stubborn, infuriating and proud.
‘No,’ she hissed.
The single forceful word snapped the last ragged thread on his patience and self-control.
She shrieked as he reached for her and began to kick, gouge and shout angry words he had never before heard come from the mouth of a woman. But he ignored her struggles, her protests, and ducked to avoid the worst of her slaps and punches—he was a trained fighter, forged in the fires of battle, and no mere slip of a woman would be able to best him, however strong her anger.
Clasping her around the waist, he threw her over one shoulder and marched across the corral as she struggled. He dumped her onto the powerful stallion’s back.
Asad’s head jerked sharply. Kaliah’s scream was followed by more swear words as she grasped the horse’s mane to prevent herself from falling. It kept her hands conveniently busy as he unhooked the reins from the post and mounted behind her. His aching groin bumped against her backside as he banded a controlling hand around her waist to draw her securely into his lap.
The horse reared, unfamiliar with the double weight, but Kamal controlled him easily with his knees. He felt the jolt going through her slender body, her teeth clicking as Asad’s front hooves landed back on the parched earth.
‘You...you bastard!’ She gasped, but she sounded less angry now and more stunned.
He doubted anyone had ever sought to tame her before him, and he did not kid himself he had won. But her efforts were feeble now as she tried to prise his arm loose, her whole body shaking with the effort it was costing her to fight his far superior strength.
The scratches on his arm and his cheek stung as he spurred the stallion, who had been bred for endurance, into a gallop, whistling to ensure her mare, who he had already untied and saddled, followed them.
Kaliah shouted more obscenities at him, continuing to struggle and scratch but, as they galloped further from her camp towards the mountainous border region, he could feel the fight draining out of her. The struggle to stay on the powerful horse eventually became too much, even for her prodigious temper.
