Page 10 of Her Irresistible Sheik
Ignoring the sofa, she perched on the edge of the chair nearest the fireplace, her hands clenched in her lap, her knuckles white.Her body trembled—whether from nerves or fear, she couldn’t say.
Around her, her family formed a ring of muscles and arrogance.Their shared blood was obvious in their tanned skin, their strong jaws, and nearly black hair.Her mother’s blue eyes were her only oddity—once the bane of her childhood, now the most noticeable part of her face.
Khal opened his mouth to speak again, but a new voice beat him to it.
“Has she agreed?Is she okay with the idea?”
All eyes turned toward the doorway.
Tasha stood there, fingers woven tightly together.Her shoulders were tense, and her expression taut with concern.She looked like she’d been crying—but had stopped before walking in.
Khal crossed to her in two strides and pulled her close, tucking her against his side.
“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” he murmured.
Nahla stood again, the panic surging back like a wave.
“What idea?”she demanded, voice trembling but sharp.“Someone tell me what’s going on!”
Tasha chuckled softly, though there was a tremble just beneath the surface.She walked over and took both of Nahla’s hands, her thumbs brushing gently across her daughter’s knuckles.
“We’re going to hide you away, love,” she said gently, her eyes glistening with worry.“Not forever.Just until the security team tracks down the man who breached the palace this afternoon.”
“Hide me away?”Nahla echoed, her voice quiet and sharp with disbelief.The words landed strangely in her chest—like chains, not safety.Her brows drew together.“That sounds… medieval.”
Her mind spun with possibilities.Surely her parents wouldn’t lock her in a tower or trap her in a windowless room.If they wanted her hidden, maybe they’d tuck her away in some sunlit cottage with good Wi-Fi, a pile of books, and an endless supply of mint tea.
“Yes, honey,” Tasha confirmed, squeezing her hands a little tighter.“Saif has a friend.”
“Not a friend,” Saif corrected immediately, a muscle twitching along his jaw.“Just a man who owes me a favor.”
Tasha offered her nephew a patient smile, then returned her focus to Nahla.“It’s a place where no one would ever think to look for you.”
But that only made Nahla’s pulse pound harder.Nowhere was safe—not if someone had gotteninsidethe palace.Her home, her sanctuary, protected by the most advanced security in the world—breached.
She tried to hide her unease, but it showed in the way she clutched her mother’s hands, her knuckles turning white.“Where is this mysterious place?”she asked warily, dread clawing at the edges of her composure.
Everyone in the room avoided her gaze.
Her heart sank.
And then a deep, gravelly voice rumbled behind her.
“With me.”
The voice scraped down her spine like sandpaper dipped in ice water.
Nahla whirled around—and stopped breathing.
There he was.
Towering.Broad.Blunt-featured and brutal-looking, the man standing in the doorway had the intimidating energy of a battle-scarred warrior, not a politician or diplomat.His face was all hard angles and faint scars, the kind of face that had survived violence and dealt it right back.His thick neck and boulder-like shoulders gave the impression he could tear a man apart with his bare hands.
Yet there was something magnetic about him.Dangerous, but undeniably compelling.
And she knew that face.She’d seen him before—at a summit last year.She hadn’t stopped thinking about him since.
Sheik Mikail al Acantra of Tavista.
