Page 11 of Her Irresistible Sheik
“No,” she whispered, recoiling instinctively.Her eyes locked on his, and she couldn’t look away.Heat radiated from him like a furnace.Her instincts screamed to run.
But then he took a slow step forward—and stopped.
He didn’t reach for her.Didn’t speak again.He just watched her.The faintest challenge curled in his lip, and something glinted in his eyes.He knew exactly what she was thinking—and he dared her to say it out loud.
“Yes,” he whispered back, his voice deep and steady, like a promise wrapped in steel.
Then his gaze lifted past her, to the circle of her family.
“My plane is ready,” he said.“I’ll take her now.”
Saif moved in beside her, one protective hand resting on her shoulder.He looked from Nahla’s pale face to Mikail’s imposing frame.His lips parted, hesitating.“Maybe this isn’t the best idea…”
“I owe you my life,” Mikail said, his voice quiet but absolute.“I’ll protect her with everything I have until the threat is eliminated.”
Nahla turned on Saif and her voice cracked.“Wait!You’re not actually sending me away withhim, are you?”
Tasha stepped in again, wrapping an arm around Nahla’s waist.“He’s the best option,” she said softly, though her grip was unyielding.
“But he’s—he’s our enemy!”Nahla snapped, wrenching herself out of her mother’s grasp.“We don’t even have diplomatic ties with Tavista!”
“All the more reason it’s the perfect hiding place,” Saif said gently, but firmly.“No one will think to look for you inside his palace.”He pulled her into a hug, his voice low against her ear.“He’ll keep you safe.”
“I can keep myself safe,” she whispered back, but the words sounded weak even to her own ears.Her voice was muffled against his shoulder, and when she stepped back, her eyes flashed defiantly.“I could go to one of my friends.Lay low for a few weeks.”
“And put them in danger?”Zayn asked from the corner of the room, arms folded, brow furrowed in frustration.“Would you really risk their lives just so you can feel like you’re in control?”
Nahla flinched.She opened her mouth—then closed it.Her throat felt tight.
“But—” she began, floundering.
“Honey,” her mother began, voice soft as velvet but threaded with steel, “this trulyisthe smartest choice.If that horrible man could breach our palace defenses, then he could easily reach any of your friends.None of them have the kind of protection we do here.”
Nahla’s arms were crossed so tightly across her chest, her fingernails bit into the sides of her arms.She felt her mother’s calming touch rub gently between her shoulder blades, but it didn’t ease the cold coil of dread wrapping around her spine.
“Yeah, but—” she snapped her head toward Mikail, who hadn’t budged an inch “—how ishissecurity any better?”
“It’s not,” Zayn answered dryly before Mikail could speak.His gaze slashed toward the man like a drawn blade.“But Tavista and Lativa aren’t exactly on friendly terms right now.No one would think to look for you inhispalace.”
Nahla’s mouth parted.Her voice rose with frustration.“So you’re just going to throw me to the wolves?!”
“Not wolves, dear,” her mother said with that same placid, diplomatic tone, still rubbing soothing circles along Nahla’s back.“Just a sweet, cuddly puppy.”
That earned a snort of laughter from someone—maybe Laith.But it was drowned out by the unmistakable sound of Mikail’s low, gutturalgrowlof protest.The sound vibrated through the room like the warning of a caged beast.
Tasha’s eyes sparkled with restrained amusement.“Well.Not that cuddly, apparently.”
Nahla turned, her jaw tightening, and arched one perfectly shaped brow.“Isn’t a puppy what got me into this whole mess in the first place?”
Mikail tilted his head slightly, studying her like one would a wild, cornered animal—respectful, but clearly waiting for a sudden strike.His brow furrowed.“I don’t follow,” he admitted flatly.
Of course he didn’t.
She didn’t bother explaining.Instead, she let the silence stretch as her heart thudded painfully against her ribs.
He stood like a statue—shoulders squared, hands loose at his sides, his dark clothing stark against the ornate elegance of the palace salon.His expression gave nothing away.But his stillness?That said everything.He was holding himself back.Contained.Like hehadto be.
Nahla’s breath caught.
