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She followed his lead and stood up from the table, but when he approached her she couldn’t ignore the sudden racing of her heart. She wanted to back away, give herself space, but his dark gaze held hers, mesmerising her.
‘You shouldn’t hide behind your work.’ His voice was deep and sensuous and that little tremor she’d felt when she’d first seen him slipped down her spine again.
‘I don’t.’ She couldn’t help how defensive her voice sounded. ‘I love my work. It’s more than just work and that’s why I’m here. I came here for your horse, not because my stepmother arranged it or because you demanded it, but to help your horse.’
For a moment she thought she’d gone too far, crossed that invisible line of protocol which she had realised surrounded this man within minutes of her arrival in Kezoban. But what she’d said was true; she was here primarily because he’d implied that she was the stallion’s only hope.
The sound of insects from the darkness of the garden and the heady scents of the exotic flowers wrapped around her, making everything, from the man before her to the setting in which she’d just enjoyed the most delicious meal, even more romantic. She was tired from travelling yet her body fizzed with a new and strange fiery need.
‘For that I am indebted to you. Tomorrow you will begin your work with Majeed and I am sure a spirited yet sympathetic woman such as you can help him.’
He moved towards her, his handsome face set in a firm mask of control, his dark eyes almost piercing hers. Was he teasing her? No, of course not. He was a powerful man, a ruler and used to getting what he wanted at all times.
‘I’m looking forward to seeing the stallion. It will be an honour to work with such a majestic animal.’ She tried to keep the conversation on the job, the reason she was here instead of allowing her mind to imagine he was looking at her with desire in his eyes.
‘It will, no doubt, be a challenge.’
‘I’m ready for a challenge.’
The smile which pulled at the corners of his lips did something to her, making her stomach flip as butterflies took flight. ‘I shall walk you to your suite. This way.’
He gestured a path through the flora of the exquisite garden where small lights twinkled, giving it a magical appearance. She pushed aside her hesitancy and walked side by side with him, aware of his tall and strong body next to hers, just as she had been when they’d stood talking at the stables.
‘Your gardens are so beautiful. I would never have expected it in the desert.’ Again she talked to draw her attention away from the way he made her feel.
‘I have spent many years researching irrigation in desert regions and now own a successful company doing just that.’ The pride in his voice was clear and she looked at his profile, but when he turned to her she blushed, looking quickly away. ‘Bringing water and better lives to my people is my passion.’
‘Very impressive and interesting.’
‘That pleases me.’ His tone was more regal than she’d heard yet, reminding her just who this man was.
He opened a gate set beneath an arch of a white wall inlaid with intricate designs and stepped back to allow her through. ‘These are the public palace gardens. You may walk in them whenever you wish.’
She walked beside him, more aware of him than she had ever been. He unsettled her with his raw masculinity and his overwhelming power, but more unnerving was the fact that she found him incredibly attractive.
She recognised the terraced area outside her suite but before she could say another word he stopped. ‘I will bid you goodnight.’
She looked up at him, the intensity in his eyes sending a tremor of awareness surging through her. ‘Thank you. For this evening.’
‘The pleasure was all mine.’
A heavy silence fell over them, shrouding them in something profoundly powerful until she could hardly breathe. For one bizarre moment she thought he was going to kiss her and her body instinctively swayed towards his. Just in time she caught herself and stepped back. ‘Goodnight.’
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_d4ccae06-cee3-5d8d-bcef-66a9c9ad339c)
DESTINY DIDN’T SLEEP much that night. Her dreams were disturbed by the image of the man she’d spent the evening with. Zafir had infiltrated her mind, filling her thoughts with images of them together. She’d never behaved like this over a man before and, angry at her reaction, she got up early, going to sit on her private terrace, watching the sky turn from a dark orange to a bright and cloudless blue, bringing the warmth of a new day.
All she wanted was to begin her work with the Sheikh’s stallion, but she would have to wait until she was escorted to the stables—or anywhere else within the palace. That much had been made clear to her on her arrival, making her feel more like a prisoner than a guest.
When a young boy knocked on her door and informed her he was to escort her to the stables it only reinforced that thought. She followed him through the bright white corridors of the palace, glimpsing the public part of the garden through the archways as she went, feeling the rising heat of the desert battle with the cool air within the palace.
Finally she reached the stables and the young boy introduced her to the man in charge, but nothing could have prepared her for what she saw as she walked through another archway adorned with intricate metalwork. Beyond it she could see an almost endless row of stables on each side, all so elaborate it was hard to believe horses actually lived in them and a far cry from the stables her mother had started, which were now sadly neglected by her father. She used to think it was because he’d loved her mother so much that he couldn’t face doing anything to them, but then she’d stumbled across her mother’s diary and that myth had been shattered.
‘Sheikh Al Asmari’s stallion is stabled at the end,’ the man said in almost perfect English, dragging her thoughts back from home. His plain white robes flared slightly as he walked towards the end of the long passageway, his feet almost silent on the sandy-coloured mosaic floor. He stopped and turned to her, caution and warning in his voice as he continued. ‘The stallion will not leave the palace walls. Fear is in his eyes and mistrust in his soul. Many have tried to reach him, but none have succeeded.’
‘He has not been outside these walls for almost a year?’ Destiny knew a moment of panic as she realised this was a more serious problem than she’d been led to believe.
‘Not since the Sheikh’s young sister rode him out the night she died.’
‘Then I have much work to do. I will need to spend time with him before I do anything else.’ She was anxious to get started, wanting to see the horse for herself, needing to gain his trust. Only then could she begin to work with him and determine how long it would take, but already she wondered if the two months the Sheikh had stated would be adequate.
‘This way.’
She followed the man to the end stable and couldn’t help a gasp of admiration escape her. The stallion’s black coat gleamed. He was as regal as his owner and easily had as much power and command surrounding him.
‘I will groom him first.’
The man inclined his head in acknowledgement and a few moments later handed her several brushes. ‘The bridle is hanging here.’
‘Thank you.’ She looked at the fine leather bridle adorned with bright coloured tassels, not sure any horse she’d worked with recently would tolerate such things on their bridles. Maybe Majeed wasn’t so bad after all.
As the man walked away she entered the stable and stood, waiting for the stallion to accept her presence. His ears twitched as he inspected her from the corner of his stable, his head high and regal, his eyes wary.
‘You’re very handsome,’ she said softly as she stood and waited for the stallion to relax. ‘Almost as handsome as your master.’
Zafir’s face came to mind in an image so clear it shocked her. She’d only seen him three times and already every last detail of those dark, attractive features was imprinted in her memory. If that wasn’t a warning sign she was letting her imagination run wild, dragging her in too deep, she didn’t know what was. The last thing she needed was the added complication of being attracted to the Sheikh.
* * *
Zafir had wanted to escort Destiny to the stables but had had to bow to protocol. She was here as his guest, a British woman employed to do a job and, as such, it wouldn’t be right to be seen offering her extra favours. Especially now, when he was finally accepting his duty to marry and produce a future generation to rule Kezoban.
He entered the stables just in time to see Destiny go into Majeed’s stable, apparently about to groom him. Not at all how others had approached the task. He frowned, then dismissed his doubts. He’d sought her out because of recommendation and he would have to accept her way of doing things—for now at least.
Silently he walked towards the stable and couldn’t stem the satisfied smile as she spoke to the horse, complimenting both Majeed and him. It pleased him to know she was not as immune to him as she had led him to believe last night. It also notched up the simmering desire just being near her provoked.
As he’d walked her through the garden last night he’d known that if they were anywhere else but his palace he would have taken his attraction for her further. He would have kissed her. For the first time since he’d taken an oath to serve his people he wished such duties didn’t exist, that he was free to explore whatever it was between them. As she’d looked up at him, her lovely face in partial darkness, he’d wanted to take her in his arms and savour her kiss, to hold her against him and become intoxicated by her sweet scent.
Had she known that? Had she wanted it too? Was that why she’d suddenly bolted last night as they’d stood by the terrace of her suite? He watched her now as she put out her hand, allowing Majeed to smell her. She didn’t move, but the curious horse came to her. She touched his muzzle, then gently took hold of his head collar.
‘Do you need any help?’ He decided it would be best to make his presence known before he gave her and the horse a fright.
‘How long have you been there?’ She blushed and he knew she was worrying if he’d heard her earlier compliments to him and the horse.
‘I have just arrived.’
She relaxed a little, then turned her attention to the horse. ‘I will brush him for a while so that I can touch him all over, ensure he isn’t unnerved by me. Then I will begin my work with him.’
Zafir found his thoughts wandering to how it would feel to be touched all over by her and for the first time in his life he was jealous of a horse. This woman seemed to bring out a magnitude of new emotions within him. What would be next?
He watched as she turned her back on him and began to brush Majeed’s shiny black coat. She wore the traditional Western jodhpurs he’d seen her in when he’d called at the stables in England but, unlike then, she now wore a long shirt which covered her arms and the sexy bottom he’d studied briefly as he’d first watched her. She was bowing to his country’s dress codes as much as her job would allow. For that he was grateful, but he couldn’t help wondering what she’d look like in the silks women in his country wore. The thought intrigued him and he decided it would be something he would discover before she returned to England. He would give her a gift of the finest abayas and silks to wear.
‘Very well, I will wait.’
She turned to look at him, her hand resting on Majeed’s shoulder. ‘For what?’
For a moment he couldn’t speak. Nobody ever talked to him in that tone of voice. ‘To see you work?’ His tone was sharp with shock but the challenge in her eyes made him clench his jaw against further words.
‘I don’t work with an audience.’
‘I am hardly an audience. I am the owner of this horse and, as the Sheikh of Kezoban, I expect to get what I want.’ The audacity of the woman! How could she not know he would get just what he wanted and when he wanted it?
‘Then we have a problem.’
‘A problem?’ Briefly he floundered, like a man stumbling down a large sand dune, his balance disrupted. ‘I am not about to allow anyone to work with my horse without my knowledge of what is happening.’
She moved away from the horse, put down the brush and came to the door. ‘Then it seems we have wasted one another’s time.’
Had the world tipped on its axis? Had everything been turned upside down? He gave orders, not took them. He made demands, not met them.
She looked directly into his eyes, the shyness she’d displayed last night gone and in its place fierce determination.
‘Can you help this horse?’ He snapped the question out, his patience tested to the full and not just by her impertinence but by the way his body craved hers.
‘Yes, I can, although it appears his master is in need of some help too.’ Her words were spoken in a low tone with smooth flowing syllables, but the unrelenting strength in them was unmistakable. Was it possible she knew how long he’d tortured himself with the guilt of not being there for Tabinah, of not hearing her pleas or understanding her unhappiness?
‘You are not here to analyse me.’ Maybe his presence here would affect the outcome. Was it possible Majeed sensed his guilt? This was all too deep for him. He didn’t explore emotions—ever.
‘When I work with a horse, I also invariably work with the owner as well.’ The slight rise of her delicate brows gave her a superiority he found strangely attractive. Something else he didn’t want to look too deeply into. It was time to retreat. Time to gather his strength.
‘Very well. I will meet you in my office this afternoon and I expect your verdict on what Majeed needs.’
‘Thank you.’ She didn’t smile and he couldn’t. She had got the better of him, caught him totally off guard, a sensation which both unsettled and excited him.
* * *
Later that afternoon Destiny waited to see Zafir. She’d spent several hours with Majeed, wanting only to gain his trust, because she could see beneath his fear. She needed much more information about what had happened to change him so much. She sensed he was a gentle creature who only wanted to please, which was all the more reason to take things slowly.
The big problem now was how his master would react to having the death of his sister all but investigated by her.
‘The Sheikh will see you now.’ Zafir’s aide approached and she followed him through the tall doors she’d first entered on her arrival. Was that really only yesterday?
As she stood before him, his gaze slid down her in an imperious way that sent a shimmer of awareness all over her as if he’d actually touched her and she was glad of her continued choice of clothes which fitted in with his culture and, more importantly, covered as much of her as possible.
‘You may leave us.’ He spoke to his aide but kept his gaze firmly fixed on her and she blushed, wishing somebody would stay. He gestured to a large chair in front of his desk. ‘Please, sit.’
She did as he bid her and sat on the gilded chair. The room was so large, with arches opening out onto yet more ornate gardens, but she couldn’t focus on any of that now. Zafir took all her attention. She needed to keep her mind focused and to quash the heady feeling that rushed around her just from being in the same room as him. Was that why she’d been so adamant that he couldn’t stay this morning? Because of the way he made her feel? Or was it the need to test his authority, to push his control back and gain some for herself?
‘Now that you have had time with Majeed, what is your professional opinion?’ His voice was deep with a firm edge to it that highlighted his accent. It also did things to her she had never known possible, like a tingle rushing down her spine and a heavy sensation deep within her.
‘Majeed needs time and he needs to build his confidence by facing his fears. As he has not left the palace walls since the accident I suggest I work towards that ultimate goal.’
Zafir nodded as he sat in his large and very regal chair. She had to keep her nerve, keep her mind from thinking of his dark skin, the trimmed beard that made him so incredibly attractive. But it was his eyes which unsettled her most. Their dark intensity reached within her, bringing out a woman she’d never wanted to be, one who desired a man, wanted him in a way that was as impossible as her being in his kingdom in the first place.
‘I had anticipated that you would say that. Tomorrow morning we will ride out. I will take you to where Tabinah was found and endeavour to impart as much of the events as possible.’ His tone was courteous, his words firm and distinct and she wondered if she’d just imagined the last few moments when something like attraction had sparked between them.
‘That will be good. I understand it must be painful for you, but it is something...’
‘Painful?’ He cut her words off before she could finish the remainder of the sentence. ‘Why would it be painful?’
‘It must be hard after losing your sister because of the need to follow tradition.’
He stood up abruptly, his eyes eagle-sharp, almost pinning her to the spot. ‘I had thought because of the way you have been dressing that you were acquainted with my culture.’
Destiny frowned, unsure what she’d said to have changed things so drastically, but she wouldn’t allow him to intimidate her. She was here of her own free will and would leave if necessary. She stood up as quickly as he had, her chin defiantly lifted even though inside she was trembling. ‘I’m sorry if my sympathy offends.’
‘It does not offend. It is misplaced.’ He tempered his tone and walked around the desk towards her slowly as if he feared she might bolt through the archway at any moment and into the gardens.
‘Misplaced?’ The question came out as a cracked whisper and she could hardly stand, her limbs were so weak. Still he moved towards her, coming so close she could smell the desert on him and the heady, raw masculine scent of power.
‘It was to have been a marriage of convenience. Love was not involved. Just as it will not be when I take a wife.’ He looked down at her and she refused to break eye contact, watching him even though just being this close weakened her knees and made her pulse leap wildly. ‘Marriage is a contract, nothing more.’
‘But what about love?’ She couldn’t help the question slipping from her lips and as she spoke his gaze flicked lower, as if watching her lips move, and she had to fight hard against the urge to bite down on her bottom lip. What was this man doing to her?
‘Love is a concept I have not allowed in my life. Desire, however, is.’ She could see it in his eyes, feel it with every pore of her skin. At that moment he desired her. Light-headed and shocked, she backed away from him, bumping into the chair she’d just leapt from.
‘That is not something I know.’ Why did her voice sound so husky?
‘You have not desired something?’ He was playing with her; she was sure of that. Was it punishment for speaking out of turn?
‘Yes, of course I’ve desired things.’ She let out a long breath. For a moment she’d thought he meant a man.
‘Someone?’
She looked at him, knowing that right now she desired him. What had he done to her? He was a powerful Sheikh, a man used to getting what he wanted and probably had a harem of women tucked away in his palace somewhere. She had to stop this. She was getting in way too deep. If she wasn’t careful, she would go down the same sorry road as her mother, falling for a man who could never love her.
‘No. I have never desired anyone and neither do I intend to.’
‘So if I touched your face with my fingertips you wouldn’t tremble with desire and need for me.’
He reached out his hand and before he could touch her she knocked his arm away, glaring angrily at him. ‘I am not here to become one of your harem. I am here to work with your stallion. Nothing more.’
He narrowed his eyes and she knew she’d insulted him. Was it because she’d touched him or because she hadn’t fallen into a heap at his feet, begging him to make love to her?
‘I do not have a harem of any size and I will be faithful to my wife from the day we are married. No woman has come close to threatening that ideal before today.’ He turned on his heel, his robes flowing out wildly, and went to stand by the archway, the sunlight of the afternoon framing him.
He looked vulnerable and she swallowed down hard, finally able to breathe properly now that he’d stepped away. Last night she’d believed she’d been mistaken when she’d thought he’d been about to kiss her; now she wasn’t sure. Was she doing something wrong? Giving him the wrong message? She was a naive virgin who’d barely shared a kiss with a man and this particular man was so overwhelmingly powerful she couldn’t understand, let alone control, the way he made her feel.
‘You should leave.’ He didn’t look at her and the rigid set of his back made his disapproval all too evident but she wasn’t about to argue with him again.
