Royal Affairs: Desert Princes & Defiant Virgins: The Sheikh's Virgin Princess / The Sheikh and the Virgin Secretary / Desert Prince, Defiant Virgin

‘I have many qualities which the Sultan will appreciate,’ she said lightly, and then saw the glimmer of disdain in the bodyguard’s eyes and realized that she’d actually made the situation worse, not better.

Not those qualities! she wanted to shout. Why were men so basic? Why did they only ever think about one thing—sex? Well, actually, it was two things. Sex and power. Forget everything else—they seemed to be the only two things that motivated the male species.

And normally she didn’t even think about sex. So why was it that, since the Sultan’s bodyguard had removed his fencing mask and revealed his impossibly handsome face, she’d thought about little else?

Or perhaps it was just that this whole situation was turning her slowly loopy. There was so much at stake. And so many things that could still go wrong.

She was a nervous wreck.

Marrying the Sultan was the only way that Rovina would have a future, and if anything happened to prevent that …

Reminding herself that this was not the time to lose her cool, she allowed herself a small sip of wine.

William gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Talking of qualities, most of yours are displayed over the front page of today’s newspapers. I think the headline read something like, “rebel princess hot for the harem?” I mean, really—’ he gave a weary shake of his head ‘—newspapers have no sense of moral restraint. Always digging up the past when it should be forgotten. We just have to hope for your sake that the Sultan isn’t expecting a virgin bride. Perhaps his reputation is way off the mark and he’s one of those rare men who values experience over innocence. I’m so sorry, Alexa.’

So was she.

Under no illusions as to why the papers had chosen to reprint those pictures, anger suddenly burst through her usual cautious restraint. ‘When the time comes, I intend to tell the Sultan the truth about my life. The whole truth, Uncle William. And he will believe me.’ She caught Karim’s astonished glance and saw the deadly gleam light her uncle’s eyes.

The emotion drained out of her, and she started to shake.

Why had she said that?

She’d gained nothing by that remark. Nothing at all. And she could have lost everything.

This was not the time to antagonize a man as dangerous as her uncle, and she knew that. Since when had she allowed anger to incinerate common sense?

‘You’re my niece,’ William said smoothly. ‘I only want what is best for you, and Zangrar is such a terribly long way away. I’m so afraid that something dreadful might happen to you on your journey. You know how accident prone you are.’

Alexa felt her heart stumble and her palms grow damp. He was threatening her.

‘Karim will ensure my safety,’ she said in a clear voice, hoping desperately that Karim wouldn’t choose this moment to mention the fact that she’d tried to dispense with his services.

William gently dabbed his mouth with his napkin. ‘If anything were to happen to you, I don’t know what I’d do.’

He would have achieved his lifelong ambition.

He would finally have destroyed her family.

Suddenly Alexa felt bitterly cold. ‘Your care and concern is always touching, Uncle William. My father would have become quite emotional, had he been able to see everything you’ve done for me since his death.’ Unable to share his table a moment longer, she rose to her feet. ‘We leave in the morning. I need my passport.’ And this was the moment she’d been dreading.

For sixteen years he’d held her passport.

Would he finally return it to her?

William was silent for a long moment, and then he gave a gentle smile. ‘You are such a featherbrain. I will give it to Karim for safekeeping.’

No, no, no!

Her stomach turned over. She had to have her passport. And the fact that William was prepared to give it to Karim was of no use to her at all, because she knew that he had no intention of allowing her to leave in the morning.

Which was why she had no intention of waiting until morning.

Alexa felt a great weight in her chest. So much depended on the next few hours. If she couldn’t gain possession of her passport, then she couldn’t take the next step and everything would have been for nothing.

Trying to think her way through the dark mists of panic, she tried to look relaxed. ‘That’s fine. Give my passport to Karim.’

One way or another she would just have to find a way of retrieving it.

She just hoped the bodyguard was a heavy sleeper.

The room was dark but she could see the faint outline of his body lying under the covers. He was asleep, thank goodness. She’d been relying on that fact.

Where was he likely to have put her passport?

Seeing his jacket on the back of a chair, she moved towards it with the stealth of a burglar, her bare feet making no sound on the carpet. She reached out a hand, and then gasped with shock as someone caught her from behind, unbalanced her and pushed her down hard onto the bed. Flattened against the mattress and panicking, Alexa fought like an animal in a trap, using all the skills she’d learned to defend herself. She twisted, bit and punched, but as her fist connected with solid muscle she realized desperately that this was a hopelessly uneven contest, and she was going to lose.

No! This wasn’t going to happen to her. Not when she was so close to her final goal. Driven by desperation, she managed to free one leg and kicked hard.

With a grunt of pain, her assailant shifted his body over hers, caught her wrists in a vice-like grip and muttered something in a foreign language.

She recognized the voice. ‘Karim?’

She felt him still, and then he pinned her to the bed with his powerful body and reached out a hand to flick on the light.

Alexa found herself staring into dark pools of anger and went limp with relief. ‘I thought—’

‘You thought what? You were expecting someone else?’ He stared down at her with incredulous disbelief. ‘This is my bedroom.’

‘Yes, I know that.’ The weight of his body made it hard for her to breathe. ‘But I saw the lump in the bed and assumed you were asleep. Then someone grabbed me from behind so I thought it was—’ She broke off, unwilling to betray more than she had to.

‘The lump in the bed was the pillow. I heard you outside the door. I wanted to see who was so keen to enter my bedroom unannounced. What is this, Your Highness—you are now testing me in unarmed combat, or did you have an entirely different reason for visiting me in my bedroom in the middle of the night?’ His meaning was clear enough, and suddenly she was breathlessly aware of the strength in his bare shoulders, of the intimate pressure of his body against hers.

‘I need my passport. That is why I was in your bedroom.’

‘Why would you need your passport at three in the morning? Are you planning a trip?’

She tried to wriggle free, but his weight held her pinned to the mattress. ‘It’s none of your business.’

‘If it involves your passport, then it’s my business.’

Alexa tried a different tack. ‘The Sultan would not want you lying on top of his bride!’

‘Given that I’m apparently just one in a long line of men who have adopted this exact position, I think it’s a little late for that argument to be useful.’ His soft tone was faintly mocking. ‘My job is to escort you safely to him. If you’re intending to vanish in the middle of the night, then your travel plans are of considerable interest to me. Start talking, Your Highness.’

The weight of his body was impossibly distracting, and Alexa suddenly found that she couldn’t say a word. Trapped by his virile strength and the fire in his eyes, she just gazed at him, her body paralyzed by a shockingly powerful explosion of sexual excitement.

And perhaps he detected her feelings, because he shifted slightly above her, his attitude softening from aggressor to seducer.