The Desert King's Secret Heir

Dark-Hearted Tycoons

Undone by His Touch

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This book is dedicated to the wonderful men in my family

across three generations:

all heroic in their own way.

What excellent role models for my heroes!

Contents

Cover (#u9478691f-d9fc-5975-a820-5227766e1455)

Back Cover Text (#u216a8c76-3538-590d-a5e6-242a885e9cc3)

Introduction (#u5a7c7cf7-f419-5a17-b370-dd2479109523)

Secret Heirs of Billionaires (#uaa456e6f-e171-5621-aea5-8bcdf1a41dda)

Title Page (#uf4494dae-a6b8-5074-8896-25472e24eda3)

About the Author (#u275516bb-0274-566f-93a2-8e1d8d97ac48)

Dedication (#ufd76a64b-1567-54ea-8337-695225b6ac46)

CHAPTER ONE (#ufcdd334b-1dd6-5f74-8c85-5c5ba4807267)

CHAPTER TWO (#ud8f53fdf-cfb4-52ec-b7b0-693aae18f31d)

CHAPTER THREE (#u5b0cc286-77f3-5255-b416-335af4e3a291)

CHAPTER FOUR (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER FIVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SIX (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER SEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER EIGHT (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER NINE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ELEVEN (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER TWELVE (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN (#litres_trial_promo)

Extract (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

CHAPTER ONE (#u2ed8ac33-6a06-56c1-abe1-6fd5e06b8a96)

‘LET ME BE the first to congratulate you, Cousin. May you and your Princess be happy all your days.’

Hamid beamed with such goodwill Idris felt his own mouth kick up in a rare smile. They might not be close but Idris had missed his older cousin as they’d carved separate lives for themselves, Idris in Zahrat and Hamid as a UK-based academic.

‘Not my Princess yet, Hamid.’ He kept his voice soft, aware that, despite the chatter of a few hundred VIPs, there were plenty of ears eager for news of his impending nuptials.

Hamid’s eyes widened behind rimless glasses. ‘Have I put my foot in it? I’d heard—’

‘You heard correctly.’ Idris paused, tugging in a breath before it lengthened into a sigh. He had to conquer this sense of constraint whenever he thought of his upcoming marriage.

No one forced his hand. He was Sheikh Idris Baddour, supreme ruler of Zahrat, protector of the weak, defender of his nation. His word was law in his own country and, for that matter, here in his opulent London embassy.

Yet he hadn’t chosen marriage. It had chosen him—a necessary arrangement. To cement stability in his region. To ensure the line of succession. To prove that, despite his modern reformist ways, he respected the traditions of his people. So much rode on his wedding.

Change had been hard won in Zahrat. A willingness to conform in the matter of a suitable, dynastically necessary marriage would win over the last of the old guard who’d fretted over his reforms. They’d viewed him as an unseasoned pup when he’d taken over at just twenty-six. After four years they knew better. But there was no escaping the fact this wedding would achieve what strong leadership and diplomacy hadn’t.

‘It’s not official yet,’ he murmured to Hamid. ‘You know how slowly such negotiations proceed.’

‘You’re a lucky man. Princess Ghizlan is beautiful and intelligent. She’ll make you a perfect wife.’

Idris glanced to the woman holding court nearby. Resplendent in a blood-red evening gown that clung to a perfect hourglass figure, she was the stuff of male fantasy. Add her bred-in-the-bone understanding of Middle Eastern politics and her charming yet assured manner and he knew he was a lucky man.

Pity he didn’t feel like one.

Even the thought of acquainting himself with that lush body didn’t excite him.

What did that say about his libido?

Too many hours brokering peace negotiations with not one but two difficult neighbouring countries. Too many evenings strategising to push reform in a nation still catching up with the twenty-first century.

And before that too many shallow sexual encounters with women who were accommodating but unimportant.

‘Thank you, Hamid. I’m sure she will.’ As the daughter of a neighbouring ruler and a means to ensure long-term peace, Ghizlan would be invaluable. As the prospective mother of a brood of children she’d be priceless. Those children would ensure his sheikhdom wasn’t racked by the disruption it had faced when his uncle died without a son.

Idris told himself his lack of enthusiasm would evaporate once he and Ghizlan shared a bed. He tried to picture her there, her ebony hair spread on the pillow. But to his chagrin his mind inserted an image of hair the colour of a sunburst. Of curling locks soft as down.