Bella's Disgrace

Which suited her perfectly.

Although she’d hated the Retreat, Bella knew she couldn’t go home.

What was there to go home for?

They didn’t want her there.

She’d made a hideous mess of her life.

Feeling tears prick her eyes, Bella dipped her head under the water, feeling more alone than she’d ever felt.

Feeling the water ripple around her she spluttered to the surface, realising that she wasn’t as alone as she’d thought.

The Sheikh’s stallion stood on the edge of the oasis, drinking from the water.

‘Hi, there.’ Bella grinned at him, admiring the powerful muscles of his neck and legs. ‘Are you really as dangerous as he says you are? You don’t look it.’

At the sound of her voice, the horse reared up, showing the whites of his eyes as he pawed the air.

‘All right, I get the message,’ Bella said drily, ‘you’re dangerous. And moody like your master. Calm down, will you? I’m harmless.’ She swam across from the centre of the pool and swept her dripping hair out of her eyes. ‘What else can you do? Any other tricks?’

The horse flattened his ears to his head and stared at her suspiciously.

Bella was about to reach out her hand to stroke him when a masculine voice stopped her.

‘Don’t touch him—he has a very uncertain temper. He could hurt you.’

Bella froze, but the sudden tremor of her limbs wasn’t caused by fear of the horse. ‘Have you been watching me?’

‘I was watching the pool. As you seem to have the most astonishing propensity for attracting trouble, I thought it might be the simplest way to keep you alive.’

‘I’m not your responsibility.’

‘I know. But if you die out here in the desert I will have to take your body back to the city and that doesn’t fit in with my plans.’

‘Oh, thanks!’ Her tone sarcastic, Bella waded into shallower water, forgetting that she was naked from the waist up.

She heard his sudden indrawn breath and saw his gaze linger on her body in an unmistakably masculine appraisal.

Bella resisted the inexplicable urge to cover herself. ‘Stop staring.’

‘If you didn’t want me to look, you wouldn’t have removed your clothes.’

‘I only have one set,’ she said tartly. ‘It’s either naked in the water, or naked all evening. Take your pick.’

‘You have no modesty.’

‘If you don’t like it, don’t look, Your Highness.’ But she saw the unmistakable gleam of admiration in his eyes as he scanned her curves reluctantly. Reluctant was good, she told herself. Reluctant meant the emotion he was feeling was more powerful than he wanted it to be. And there was no better confidence booster than a man who wanted her despite himself. Starved of affection—deeply wounded by the rejection of her family—Bella couldn’t help enjoying that admiration.

She stepped out of the water and twisted her hair into a thick rope, squeezing out the water, not bothering to cover herself. Although she didn’t look at the Sheikh, she was hyperaware of him as she stretched out her hand to the snorting stallion.

She could feel him looking at her.

‘You need to calm down,’ she cooed. ‘There’s no need to be all macho and dominating. I know you’re stronger than I am.’ She talked to the animal in a low voice and the horse blew through his nostrils, watching her all the time.

His head snaked forward in a rapid movement and in an instant the Sheikh was between her and the horse.

Controlling the stallion with a single, abrupt command, he closed his hand round Bella’s wrist and dragged her towards the tent.

‘You are the most provoking, wilful, obstinate—’

‘Irresponsible, thoughtless, selfish,’ Bella added helpfully, and he growled deep in his throat and hauled her against his hard, powerful body. Without hesitation or warning he brought his mouth down on hers and she felt his strong hands slide down her bare back, holding her captive. Her damp skin burned against the pressure of his fingers and sexual excitement consumed her body like a ravenous beast.

As his mouth plundered hers with raw, unrestrained passion all she was aware of was heat. The heat of his tongue, the heat of the tent and the scorching heat that seared through her body like a flaming lance.

It was like nothing she’d ever felt before.

Like nothing she’d ever imagined—

And then he released her, thrusting her away from him as if she were infectious.

Suddenly unsupported, Bella swayed, dizzy and disorientated from his kiss and wondering why he would want to stop doing something that felt so good.

Up until that point in her life if anyone had asked her if she’d ever been kissed, she would have said yes. Only now did she realise that she would have been lying.

She’d never been kissed.

Not like that.

Everything that had happened to her before this moment had been a pale imitation of the real thing.

Where had he learned to kiss a woman like that?

‘Cover yourself!’ His voice harsh, he kept his back to her and Bella stared blankly at his wide shoulders, wondering why he was so angry. She was feeling a thousand different emotions, but anger certainly wasn’t one of them.

But she didn’t argue. She saw the white robe that he’d spread on the bed, picked it up and slipped it over her head. It fell to the ground and she pulled a face.

‘Great. Right on trend. Do you have a pair of scissors or something? I’m going to break my neck if I wander around in this.’ She was surprised that her voice sounded so normal, because inside she felt anything but normal. That kiss had left her feeling as though she’d been mixed in a cocktail shaker.

He turned swiftly, his dark eyes hooded, his mouth a firm, uncompromising line as he swept her appearance in a single glance. Without saying a word he took the dagger from the folds of his robe and stepped towards her.