The Desert King / An Affair with the Princess: The Desert King

The Desert King / An Affair with the Princess: The Desert King
Michelle Celmer

Olivia Gates

The Desert King Olivia Gates Their marriage will save his kingdom. And in return for an heir, Kamal Aal Masood will give his new wife Aliyah anything ; except the trust and intimacy she desperately wants. When Kamal abruptly ended their blistering affair years ago, he vowed Aliyah would never ensnare him again!An Affair with the Princess Michelle Celmer Wealthy architect Alexander Rafferty hadn't returned to the kingdom just to build a luxury hotel. He'd come back to take revenge on Princess Sophie, the girl who'd played with his heart years before. He meant to seduce her, then walk away without a backward glance. But the unforgettable heat still flared between them. . .

The Desert Kingby Olivia Gates

What was she doing, coming here? Answering his summons like one of his subjects?

Aliyah made up her mind to leave in a heartbeat, and spun around to face the guards who’d escorted her to Kamal’s mansion. “On second thoughts, tell your boss…or prince…or king…or whatever he is that I won’t see him, since I know what’s good for me.”

They gaped at her as if she’d grown another head and remained standing there like a barricade when she tried to go back through the door.

“OK, if you know what’s good for you, move out of my way.” At her growl, they exchanged anxious glances, then rushed away.

Suddenly that ominous sense of oppression expanded. It seemed to impale her between the shoulder blades just before a deep, rough-velvet caress of a voice did the same.

“It seems you’ve forgotten how things work. You can go only when I tell you to.”

An Affair with the Princessby Michelle Celmer

“You’re every bit as beautiful as you were ten years ago…” Alexander murmured. “I remember…”

She wondered if he was remembering the way they’d stood here on the balcony, talking for hours. The first time he’d drawn her to him and kissed her.

The first time they’d made love.

“I remember this,” he said, gazing around at the palace gardens. “You know what else I remember?”

“What?”

He turned to her, reached out to touch her arm. “This…”

It happened so quickly that she barely had a chance to think. One second she was standing beside Alex. The next, his lips were on hers and she was in his arms, the only place in the world where she’d ever truly felt she belonged…

Available in September 2009from Mills & Boon® Desire™

The Magnate’s Takeover by Mary McBride

&

The Tycoon’s Secret by Kasey Michaels Dante’s Wedding Deception by Day Leclaire & Mistaken Mistress by Tessa Radley The Desert King by Olivia Gates & An Affair with the Princess by Michelle Celmer

THE DESERT KING

BY

OLIVIA GATES

AN AFFAIR WITH THE PRINCESS

BY

MICHELLE CELMER

MILLS & BOON

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk/)

THE DESERT KING

Olivia Gates has always pursued creative passions – painting, singing and many handicrafts. She still does, but only one of her passions grew gratifying enough, consuming enough, to become an ongoing career. Writing.

She is most fulfilled when she is creating worlds and conflicts for her characters, then exploring and untangling them bit by bit, sharing her protagonists’ every heart-wrenching heartache and hope, their every heart-pounding doubt and trial, until she leads them to an indisputably earned and gloriously satisfying happy ending.

When she’s not writing, she is a doctor, a wife to her own alpha male and a mother to one brilliant girl and one demanding angora cat. Visit Olivia at www.oliviagates.com.

Dear Reader,

When the throne of a phenomenally prosperous desert kingdom is at stake, what will its heirs do to secure it? Anything, of course! In The Desert King, Kamal has to secure the throne by marrying the lover he’d scorned years ago – a woman who seems to despise him as much as he does her. But duty soon transforms into intense pleasure, and passion reawakens love and the need to resolve the heartache of the past…

The Desert King wraps up THRONE OF JUDAR, my first mini-series for the Desire™ line, where I feel at home writing what I love best – irresistible heroes who meet their destinies in passionate heroines, experiencing tempestuous journeys of pleasure and heartache until they reach their gloriously satisfying happy ending.

I would love to hear from you, so please visit me at http://www.oliviagates.com.

Olivia

At the end of my first-ever mini-series,

I again dedicate it all to the two ladies

who helped me bring it into existence.

My phenomenal editor Natashya Wilson

and wonderful senior editor, Melissa Jeglinski.

Thanks, ladies, for the incredible experience.

Prologue

Seven years ago

“Did you think I could just let you walk away, Kamal?”

Kamal froze. It was either that or stagger with the impact of that voice, that challenge. That presence.

Aliyah. Here. From the direction of her voice, on his bed.