Page 29 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
“For professional reasons.”
“The reason you’re here has nothing to do with what’s happened.Thatis all about us.A man and a woman who can’t resist each other.”
“Last night,” she said, “was just sex.”She went to turn away, but he grabbed her hand.
“There was nothingjustabout last night.It was a lot more than sex.”He was angry now.Angry that she should diminish what had happened between them.“And you know it.And you refuse to accept it.”
“That’s because there’s nothing to accept!”
They glared at each other.And, in that moment, he knew it could have gone either way.If he’d tugged her and she’d slammed against his chest, they would have ended up back in bed again, making the kind of love that only two people could when their needs are great, and their fears are even greater.
But, as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t tug her toward him.There were still traces of the fear in her eyes behind her mask of anger.Reluctantly, he released her hand and stepped away.
“You know there is,” he said quietly, “and whether you like it or not, I will help you accept it.I’ll go now because I see fear in your eyes.And I don’t want you to be afraid of me.”
“I don’t understand why you want to help me.No one else has ever helped me.”
“Perhaps no one else has ever truly loved you as I do.”
She stood silent for a few moments, her shocked expression telling him everything he didn’t want to know.He couldn’t bear to see her walk away, so he turned instead and went to his suite of rooms.He didn’t know how he was going to help her see that their future lay together, but he knew he couldn’t simply let her go—this princess, this angry, hurting woman who he wanted to spend the rest of his days and nights with.
Rosana watched him walk away,with his words echoing around her head.Had he really just told her he loved her?She pulled the belt of the robe tighter around her and padded barefoot back to her room.She looked around at the rumpled sheets, the discarded clothing, and closed her eyes and leaned back against the wall.
What the hell was she going to do?How was she going to get herself out of this mess?Because it was messier than Zaire believed.And he was wrong.She wasn’t frightened of him.But of herself.
Chapter14
Rosana paced the room, eager for a confirmation of a flight out of Sifra, even if it was the next day.It seemed a flight was more difficult to book than she’d thought.Apparently there were none available today.But she had to leave.
She stopped pacing and looked at herself in the mirror.She couldn’t believe what she’d allowed herself to do last night, nor the effect it had had on her.She felt as if she were looking at a different person, someone she didn’t know.But then he’d become someone different, too.Someone who wasn’t a king, but a man who desired her, a man who could make her feel things she’d never felt before.
She jumped as her phone rang and a flight, the last of the next day, was confirmed.She’d have preferred an earlier one, so she didn’t have time to dwell on what had happened to her, and what most definitely she shouldn’t have allowed to happen.But at least she was on the wait list should anyone cancel.
She’d packed everything away, and had stayed in her room, working all morning, and she’d have stayed all afternoon, if she hadn’t received an unwanted text.The text she could ignore.Even though it was from the king.But the knock at the door, she couldn’t.The first time she did.And the second.But the person obviously would not go away.
Impatiently, she jumped up and flung open the door, ready to launch a tirade at Zaire.But it wasn’t him.She came face to face with a startled looking assistant.
“Sheikha,” the woman bowed.“His Majesty, the king has requested that you join him this afternoon.”
“No, I can’t.I’m busy.”
The woman looked even more startled.Rosana doubted if many people refused an invitation from the king.Although it was more of a summons than an invitation.
The woman bowed.“His Highness asked me to inform you that the car will collect you both at two this afternoon, to take you to your appointment.”
“What appointment?”
The woman’s impassive expression didn’t alter.“With the school.”
Rosana was so surprised that she didn’t respond, and the woman simply bowed and walked away.
Rosana closed the door and glanced at her watch.It was one thirty.She had half an hour.She paced the room.She really couldn’t stand the thought of being with him.Her resistance was usually strong, but it was paper thin when she was with him.But if they were going to a school, perhaps she could cope.But which school, and why?
She checked her messages, which she’d been ignoring, and she found the answer to her question.It was the school which Queen Mandana had founded.Damn.She tossed her phone on the bed.He knew how to tempt her.He understood her, that much was obvious, because this was about the only thing which would make her meet up with him.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.She quickly composed herself and went to open it.It was one of the palace officials.
“His Highness has asked me to escort you to the car.He will leave to visit the schools in ten minutes, exactly.”
