скачать книгу бесплатно
Demanding His Desert Queen
Annie West
Duty-bound at the altar… Passionately reunited in his bed! Desert Prince Karim needs a bride to ensure his smooth ascension to the throne. Intelligent, captivating, Queen Safiyah is the perfect choice, yet the pain of their broken engagement years ago remains. This time Karim’s demands are simple: a convenient marriage, nothing more, for their country’s sake. Except when Safiyah still fires his blood, their union looks set to be anything but convenient…
Duty-bound at the altar…
Passionately reunited in his bed!
Desert prince Karim needs a bride to ensure his smooth ascension to the throne. Intelligent, captivating Queen Safiyah is the perfect choice, yet the pain of their broken engagement remains.
This time Karim’s demands are simple: a diplomatic agreement, nothing more, for their country’s sake. But Safiyah’s reunion with Karim, the man she was forbidden from loving, is anything but convenient! Duty may have brought them back together, but it’s their undeniable bond that will force them to confront a still-burning desire…
Growing up near the beach, ANNIE WEST spent lots of time observing tall, burnished lifeguards—early research! Now she spends her days fantasising about gorgeous men and their love-lives. Annie has been a reader all her life. She also loves travel, long walks, good company and great food. You can contact her at annie@annie-west.com (http://www.annie@annie-west.com) or via PO Box 1041, Warners Bay, NSW 2282, Australia.
Also by Annie West (#u7fa3491a-ff67-5a8f-a31e-020c0e68a435)
Seducing His Enemy’s Daughter
A Vow to Secure His Legacy
The Flaw in Raffaele’s Revenge
The Desert King’s Secret Heir
The Desert King’s Captive Bride
Contracted for the Petrakis Heir
Inherited for the Royal Bed
Her Forgotten Lover’s Heir
The Greek’s Forbidden Innocent
Passion in Paradise collection
Wedding Night Reunion in Greece
Royal Brides for Desert Brothers miniseries
Sheikh’s Royal Baby Revelation
The Princess Seductions miniseries
His Majesty’s Temporary Bride
The Greek’s Forbidden Princess
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk).
Demanding His Desert Queen
Annie West
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-08830-5
DEMANDING HIS DESERT QUEEN
© 2019 Annie West
Published in Great Britain 2019
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Note to Readers (#u7fa3491a-ff67-5a8f-a31e-020c0e68a435)
This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:
Change of font size and line height
Change of background and font colours
Change of font
Change justification
Text to speech
For Marianne Knip,
the first of my German readers I was lucky enough to meet.
Marianne, thank you for your continuing friendship.
Your warmth and your enthusiasm for my stories
are precious to me.
Ich hoffe, wir begleiten weiterhin gemeinsam viele
Liebespaare auf ihren Weg ins Glück.
Contents
Cover (#u43dba699-c4a7-5782-9f27-04e5b35e08fa)
Back Cover Text (#u48de0ae2-ca8f-5fc6-8053-351cc8993fdb)
About the Author (#u80db0c14-f741-51bc-a62d-708784b2ba0e)
Booklist (#ubbb9a4c0-2023-5d9f-a322-48a0a5ee4d45)
Title Page (#ub4ab5b1a-ad58-557d-b758-cba269ee622c)
Copyright (#u81ae198c-8cd0-521c-9dbe-a6263d54b1aa)
Note to Readers
Dedication (#uae829777-dc45-5957-b1ac-c1edd74d8ff3)
CHAPTER ONE (#u791fed11-ab2b-5f85-bca2-93cdfc24d6f3)
CHAPTER TWO (#ue367ba8e-da5b-54d8-ba64-54a322da62c0)
CHAPTER THREE (#u547475f8-099c-5720-92c1-8f039f974f43)
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)
EPILOGUE (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
CHAPTER ONE (#u7fa3491a-ff67-5a8f-a31e-020c0e68a435)
‘THE ANSWER IS NO.’
Karim’s voice was harsher than usual, sharp rather than simply firm. The Assaran envoy’s suggestion had stunned him. It seemed, despite his actions five years ago, he was still a part of Middle Eastern politics.
Karim stared through the window at the panorama of sapphire lake, verdant foothills and Swiss mountains, yet felt none of the calm the view was supposed to inspire. He spun around, ignoring the quickened beat of his pulse and the clench of his gut.
‘But, Your Highness…’
Karim stiffened at the words. ‘I no longer use a royal title.’
He watched the envoy absorb that.
‘Sir, at least take time to consider. You haven’t yet heard the Royal Council’s reasoning.’
It was an enormous honour to be asked to take the Assaran throne. Especially since Karim wasn’t Assaran. He came from the neighbouring kingdom of Za’daq, where his brother now ruled.
Karim wouldn’t accept the Assaran crown. Yet he wondered why the Council was looking beyond its borders for a new sheikh. What about the heir? He knew the recently deceased ruler of Assara had left behind a wife and son.
When Karim realised the direction of his thoughts he sliced them off. But not quickly enough to dispel the sour tang on his tongue.
‘Please, sir.’
The man looked distressed. Karim knew his visitor would be blamed for failing in his mission. If it was discovered he’d been ejected by Karim in mere minutes…
Stifling a sigh, he gestured to the lounge. ‘Take a seat. You might as well be comfortable.’
The presidential suite of this exclusive hotel might be comfortable, but sadly it hadn’t proved exclusive enough to prevent this unwanted diplomatic delegation. As the hotel’s new owner, Karim would change that.
‘Thank you, sir.’
Even so, he waited till Karim had taken a seat facing him. Deference towards royalty was ingrained in the man. Even royals who’d renounced their regal claim.
For a mad moment Karim considered revealing the truth and ending this farce. But he’d vowed not to. His brother Ashraf had enough to deal with, imprinting his own stamp on Za’daq. He didn’t need full-blown family scandal as well.
Their father had believed Ashraf, the younger brother, was the result of an affair between their mother and the man she’d later run off with. It had only been as the old Sheikh lay dying that they’d discovered Ashraf was legitimate.
Instead Karim, the firstborn, the one groomed from infancy to take the throne, was the cuckoo in the nest.
When, soon after, the old Sheikh had died, Karim had renounced the Za’daqi throne in favour of his brother. No one but the brothers knew the scandalous reason for his decision.
‘The Council has given this its deepest consideration since the tragic death of our Sheikh.’
Karim nodded. The Assaran King’s death had come out of the blue. ‘But surely there’s an heir?’
