The Desert King's Captive Bride

‘Of course.’ She smiled. ‘But I’m still getting used to your new look.’

Mina stroked the dark hair feathering her bare neck. ‘When Father died I realised that at last I could do what I wanted. Not pretend to be someone I’m not.’ Her expression grew earnest. ‘I’m not like you, Ghizlan. I can’t be the consummate diplomat, following duty and public expectation. I tried to please Father but never succeeded. As for studying economics...’ She shuddered.

Ghizlan covered Mina’s hand with hers, emotion welling. ‘You’re fine as you are, Mina. You’re bright and enthusiastic and talented.’ It seemed like betrayal to think it but with their father’s death Mina was free to follow her inclinations and build the life she wanted. Their father couldn’t straitjacket her into a life designed to fulfil some political objective as he had Ghizlan.

‘Actually, I rebelled a while ago. Before Father died, though he didn’t know.’ Mina’s eyes glowed. ‘You know I don’t want to go to that stuffy school to study economics.’

‘I know.’ It had been part of their father’s plan to show Jeiruti women could achieve in nontraditional fields. Which was why Ghizlan had a degree in chemical engineering, though at least she’d been interested in science in the first place. ‘So what have you done?’

‘I applied to art school. A fabulous art school in France. You know that’s always been my dream. I secretly sent off an application and offers should be out now but I can’t check my email.’ Her voice rose in distress. ‘If they make an offer and I don’t reply, they won’t wait. They’ll—’

‘Calm down, Mina. They’ll give you time to respond.’

‘Not if we’re in lockdown for weeks. What if Huseyn doesn’t release us for months? What if—?’

‘Don’t fret. He can’t hold us indefinitely. His plan is to get himself declared Sheikh as soon as possible.’

With her as a vital part of his plan. But he’d soon discover she was no gullible pawn. She’d never marry him.

‘You really think so? I’d shrivel up and die if I had to do the course Father picked.’

‘No one’s going to force you to do anything, Mina. Just relax.’

The thought struck Ghizlan with the force of a lightning bolt. It was true. Once a new sheikh was proclaimed they would leave the palace. Huseyn couldn’t force her to marry him. All she had to do was remain steadfast. When he’d given up they could do what they wanted with their lives. Mina could go to art school and she could... Her brow puckered. It had been so long since she’d thought about what she wanted, rather than what was expected, she didn’t immediately know how she wanted to spend her future.

Now freedom beckoned. A whole world of opportunity.

‘Ghizlan? You have the strangest look on your face.’

Ghizlan smiled. Not the polite smile she used for official occasions, but a beam of excitement. ‘That’s because I’ve realised once Huseyn al Rasheed gets what he wants we’ll be free to do what we want. No one can stop us.’

* * *

‘You demanded my presence?’ Ghizlan lifted her chin to meet those misty blue eyes. The sheer size of the man would daunt her if she let it. She focused on that rather than the peculiar flutter of her pulse when his gaze met hers.

Antagonism. Distrust. That’s what she felt.

The strange excitement she experienced when he turned from her father’s desk to face her was due to the realisation she and Mina would soon be free in a way they’d never dreamed possible. It had nothing to do with the memory of Huseyn’s lips on hers or that hollow ache in her middle when he’d crushed her to him. Or that, minus the long cloak, his pale trousers and shirt emphasised the breathtaking strength in that beautifully proportioned body.

Ghizlan preferred character to brawn.

‘Gracious as ever, I see.’ That deep voice was soft, like plush velvet across her skin. He didn’t look annoyed either, merely watchful as she closed the study door and approached the desk.

That all-encompassing survey was incredibly disquieting. Ghizlan fought to repress a shiver.

‘You expect me to pretend you and your thugs haven’t invaded the capital or taken me and my sister hostage?’ Ghizlan took a sustaining breath and was momentarily discomfited when his gaze flicked down as if taking stock of her body.

Rubbish. He wasn’t interested in her. That scene he’d played out here a couple of hours earlier had been about power, not attraction. Some men got off on that. Men like Huseyn al Rasheed.

‘You don’t give up, do you?’ He leaned back against her father’s desk as if he owned it. The raw, jagged scratch he’d made in it was half hidden by papers. Ghizlan was incensed at how he’d made himself at home.

‘You expect me to treat you like a welcome guest?’

‘Frankly, my manners are the least of your worries, my lady. You should be more concerned about the threat to Jeirut from Halarq.’

‘Ah, but according to you, I’m merely a waste of space.’ She tilted her head as if thinking. As if she didn’t recall precisely what he’d called her. ‘A pampered princess, wasn’t it? It’s obvious that as far as you’re concerned such weighty issues can only be dealt with by armed men. The sort of men who flout the law and imprison law-abiding citizens.’

Silver flashed in those deep-set eyes and he muttered something under his breath.

She locked her hands together behind her, forcing her shoulders back and her chin up. This was pointless. Much as she enjoyed baiting him, there was nothing to be gained from it except personal satisfaction. She had others in her care to worry about. She couldn’t afford to endanger them.

‘Might I suggest that, while the citadel is under armed guard, you release most of your hostages? I’ll stay, of course, but my sister is just a teenager and the staff could leave while this is sorted out.’

Ghizlan tried and failed to repress the pounding thud of her heart at the thought of Mina at this man’s mercy any longer. Mina was young and impulsive, and Huseyn al Rasheed didn’t look like he had an understanding bone in his body.

‘Sorted out? You speak as if I’m here temporarily. I assure you, my lady, that isn’t the case. This is now my home.’ His wide gesture encompassed not just the room, but the whole palace.

‘Once the Council declares you Sheikh.’

‘I expect that within a couple of days. I’ve already informed them of our impending marriage.’

Ghizlan’s eyes popped. ‘You had no right.’

‘I had every right. I’m trying to save our country. Can’t you see that?’

‘What I see is a man so wrapped up in his bid for personal power he’ll do anything to succeed.’ It was a miracle she kept her voice even. Behind her back her knotted hands shook with the force of her outrage. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised to learn you had an army surrounding the city, ready to start a civil war.’

He stopped lounging against the desk. In the blink of an eye he was standing tall, looming over her, his expression one of hauteur and repressed anger. ‘I’ll forgive that. This time. When you know me better you won’t jump to such insulting assumptions.’

‘I have no intention of knowing you better. You can’t make me marry you.’

He didn’t move, didn’t lift a finger, but that smoky blue gaze grazed her face as surely as if he’d stroked rough fingers across her flesh. Beneath the whiskers his mouth curved in a slow smile that sent quivers of foreboding through her.

‘If you’re so set against it, my lady, so be it.’ He paused. ‘I’ll simply marry your sister instead. Her royal blood is as good as yours. She’s seventeen, is that right?’ He paused, his smile widening. ‘No doubt I’ll find her much more amenable to my needs.’

For a second, then another and another, Ghizlan’s heart stalled. Her stomach dropped sickeningly. She looked at the implacable man before her, read the determination in the set of his shoulders and the proud tilt of his head. The certainty in that complacent smile. And felt the world tremble on its foundations.

It was one thing for their father to try bartering Ghizlan into an arranged marriage to Sheikh Idris of Zahrat. At least Idris was a civilised, cultured, caring man. But to expect Mina, her innocent little sister, to marry this brute...

Ghizlan’s arm swung up and she punched Huseyn al Rasheed full in the face.

CHAPTER FOUR (#u314fc232-426e-5874-8fb9-a98c8bdd1d07)

HUSEYN TURNED JUST in time. The blow glanced across his cheekbone an instant before his hand closed around hers, pulling it away from his face.

Just as well they didn’t teach princesses boxing.

And that his reflexes were fast, honed by years of combat and training. She’d taken him by surprise and could have done some damage if she’d had a decent technique.