Page 36 of Her Irresistible Sheik
Yes.A harem would be—
Sniff.
Oh god.
The scent was back.
His nostrils flared.
Lavender.
It clung to him with desperate affection, a floral death grip of humiliation.Clyde closed his eyes.He’d committed political assassinations, infiltrated embassies, and once poisoned a diplomat during a handshake—but he’d never felt so thoroughly emasculated.
Perfume-drenched.Thumb sprained.Hair possibly coated in cobwebs and more lavender.
He curled into a dark corner of the stone chamber and waited.One kill.That’s all he needed.Then maybe a shower.
A very, very long shower.
Preferably with steel wool.
Chapter 19
“Your Highness,” Tom said, his voice cutting through the silence of the room like a scalpel.
Mikail turned from the wide window, dragging his gaze away from the ink-black garden beyond.Sleep had eluded him—again.The echo of Nahla’s kiss still burned on his mouth, and no amount of logic or discipline could extinguish the primal fire she’d lit inside him.
But Tom’s expression killed all lingering thoughts of pleasure.
“Nahla?”Mikail demanded immediately.
“She’s fine,” Tom assured him, stepping into the office.“She’s asleep.In the library.”
“The library?”Mikail blinked.“Why the hell is she in the library?”
“We’re not sure,” Tom said.“But…it may be a good thing she was.”
A chill swept across Mikail’s spine.“Why?”
“There’s evidence that something happened in her suite,” Tom said, voice steady.“We haven’t confirmed if it was an accident or a breach.I’ve spent the last hour reviewing every camera feed.But there were no unauthorized entries or exits.Nothing on the perimeter sensors.All secure.”
Mikail moved forward, every inch of him tight with tension.“So what’s the concern?”
Tom exhaled.“Two things.First—yesterday, Heather flagged something unusual in the kitchen.A broken tooth.Blood on the floor.No staff injuries.No explanations.”
Mikail folded his arms.“We’re alarmed about a tooth now?”
“That was odd enough,” Tom agreed.“But then, tonight—about two hours ago—guards stationed outside Nahla’s suite heard something.A thump.They investigated.Found nothing.”
“She could’ve knocked something over,” Mikail offered.“Dropped a book.Hell, tripped on her suitcase.”
Tom’s mouth pulled to one side.“Except she wasn’t in her suite.She was already in the library—and hasn’t left since.”
Mikail’s brows snapped together.“Then who knocked something?”
“That’s just it.There was a broken perfume bottle found in her bedroom this morning by the cleaning team.Lavender perfume, oil-based.It was all over the floor.There wasn’t a trace of it when the guards checked after hearing a suspicious sound.Which means the bottle fell off of Princess Nahla’s dressing table after their sweep.”
Mikail stared.“So you’re saying…someone else was in her room.”
