Page 2 of Hiding in the Sheik's Arms

“Senator, I’m going to have to insist that you leave as well.”

“I’m going,” he replied in that smooth, fake voice that made Tasha’s skin crawl. “I just wanted to check on my fiancée.” He paused, squeezing her fingers once more, leaving Tasha wondering if he’d broken one or two of them.

“Goodbye for now, dear. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He bent and kissed her forehead, ignoring Tasha’s pathetic attempts to avoid his “affection”.

Thankfully, he merely chuckled and stepped away from the hospital bed. A moment later, he was gone.

Tasha wanted to sob, but this damn tube wouldn’t let her!

“There, there,” the kind voice soothed. “How about if I get that tube out now?”

Tasha blinked, praying that the woman understood the silent plea. It was uncomfortable, but it only took seconds to remove the breathing tube.

“Better?” the nurse asked, smiling at Tasha, who nodded, licking her chapped lips. She tried to speak, but her mouth was too dry and her throat ached. Interesting that she could still feel the minor irritation from the breathing tube when it seemed like every inch of her body seemed to be in pain.

The nurse patted Tasha’s forearm comfortingly. “Don’t try and talk just yet. It’s going to take a bit for your throat to recover.”

Tasha wanted to smile, but she knew that her face was too bruised to try.

“The doctor ordered pain medication. Just press this button anytime you need it,” the nurse explained, pressing something into Tasha’s numb fingers. Tasha considered pressing the button, needing relief from the pain. But she was terrified of losing consciousness. She had to get out of here. She had to escape.

“Mirror?” she croaked.

The nurse shook her head. “Trust me, Ms. O’Connor, you don’t want to see yourself just yet,” she said with a chuckle as she adjusted the tubes.

That meant that her face was badly damaged, Tasha thought in horror. Nathan had hurt her before, but Tasha had always brushed off those incidents as silly, unavoidable “accidents”. Nathan had effectively convinced her that he hadn’t been trying to hit her, that she’d been standing closer than he’d realized. Tasha had always believed Nathan when he’d said he was sorry, that he’d have to be “more aware” of where she was when his temper boiled over.

Five years ago, Tasha had become a naïve, enthusiastic aide to the charismatic senator. Four years ago, she’d convinced herself that Nathan was going to change the world for the better. Three years ago, she’d tried to find a new job, her disillusionment growing about Nathan’s darker, less savory side. But as soon as he’d discovered her job search, Nathan had convinced her to stay, to “make him a better man”.

She’dneveragreed to marry the bastard. Nathan had praised her one moment, then lambasted her the next. She’d figured out by now that Nathan King was not a good person.Tasha thought back to her initial idealism and energetic eagerness to fight corruption in politics.

She hadn’t realized that Nathan was the axis upon which all of the corruption and influence peddling revolved. Nathan King was, quite literally, the king maker in the country.

And now, he’d taken away her power.

Chapter 1

Her fingers trembled as she watched him walking towards her office. His long, powerful legs and muscular shoulders took up too much space, she thought, not for the first time. And those big, muscular arms could crush a person. If she got too close.

As his eyes locked onto hers, Tasha felt a shiver run down her spine. But the sensation was somehow different from what she’d felt for her previous boss. However, Tasha wasn’t exactly sure how her feelings were different. One man had instilled pain and fear, but these sensations…they were similar to fear.

Tasha forced herself to maintain eye contact, struggling to hide the turmoil brewing within her. With sheer determination, she ruthlessly suppressed her rising…feelings. Was this panic? It felt very different from what Nathan had made her feel.

Dramatically different! Sheik Khal, her employer for the past year, was a good man—she reminded herself of this fact like a mantra, trying to convince herself of his benevolence. He wasnothinglike Nathan, she reassured herself mentally.

“Were you able to finish the report on the…?” he stopped speaking as Tasha extended the report. He seemed stumped, but Tasha wasn’t sure if his perplexed expression was good or bad. Her confidence in judging people had been severely challenged after…well, after Nathan’s betrayal.

However, in the past year, Tasha had learned that Sheik Khal Al-Sintra was a gloriously large man with a genuine concern for his people. There didn’t seem to be a fake bone in his body. He was honest, sometimes brutally so, and that seemed…nice. Well, maybe “nice” was the wrong word, but Sheik Khal was more trustworthy, she told herself.

After working here in his country for a year as his personal assistant, Tasha had come to know him. He might have the hard, square jawline and penetrating eyes of a movie star, but there was no charm in this man’s personality. Sheik Al-Sintra was sinfully handsome, but instead of charming those he came into contact with, or manipulating the facts, changing his opinions to better match the person he was talking with…Tasha had learned that Sheik Khal was more like a grizzly bear, growling to anyone who crossed his path, but he did it with a brutal streak of integrity. He wasn’t the sleek, black panther that would sneak up on someone, offering a slimy smile while getting ready to pounce with evil intentions as soon as the person was bamboozled. He was the strong, powerful grizzly bear that would look at you, snort, then turn away and go about his business.

Even now, those dark, enigmatic eyes examining the report skimmed over the information, then looked back at her. “This is it? This is the whole report that took six months to create?”

Tasha resisted the urge to fidget under his scrutinizing gaze. She met his eyes with an unwavering stare, her pulse quickening as a charged silence lingered in the room. The air felt thick with unspoken tension, and she could practically sense the storm brewing beneath the surface of his handsome features.

“No, Your Highness.” She carefully laid her hand down on top of a massive binder that rested on the edge of her desk. “This is the seven hundred page report. This binder includes all of the raw data, the analysis, the contradictions, and the resolutions, as well as the potential actions that could solve the problems.” She paused, wanting her words to linger in his mind before she continued. “I asked each of the report writers to summarize the information for me, then I compiled theirfindings into that report.” She nodded towards the ten page synopsis in his hands. Because she was in a snarky mood, she shifted the binder closer to him and said, “If you’d like the raw data, I can bring this to your private suite for some titillating, late night reading.”

For some reason, Tasha almost laughed out loud when his dark eyes scowled at her offer. His irritated expression seemed almost…cute.

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