Page 3 of At the Sheikh's Pleasure
He ground his teeth.Another thing that had changed about her.Last time he couldn’t remember her uttering anything more than mumbled acknowledgements under the severe stare of her father.Now it didn’t look as if she were going to hold back.But, as much as he’d have liked to reply in kind, he knew he’d been in the wrong.He’d been rude.He wasn’t usually rude—well, not to people’s faces, anyway.And hehatedbeing in the wrong.
“You misunderstood, sheikha.I was referring to…” He’d hoped a lie would spring into his mouth, but nothing emerged.Because her eyes, which at first glance had appeared as cold as he remembered, suddenly flashed hot as soon as he had spoken.She knew he was going to lie and was angry at the added insult to her intelligence.The heat in her face transformed her, revealing an entirely different woman to the one he’d remembered.If he’d had to describe in one word what that heated gaze had revealed, he’d have saidpassion.His gaze, inevitably, fell to her lips once more.Before he could consider this revelation further, a clap on his back from Amare broke his reverie.
“Zaire was referring to our vizier’s wife.”Amare leaned close to Rosana.“She’s a shocker,” he said confidentially, before withdrawing with a smile.“But let’s not moan about your staff’s family in front of Rosana!May I call you Rosana, sheikha?”
Rosana nodded, and any trace of heat disappeared back behind her reserve.She inclined her head on a neck which, Zaire couldn’t help thinking, would be graceful beneath her conventional scarf.“Yes, you may.We are—orwere—neighbors, and we will be working together.”
“And you are here to discover the whereabouts of the diamond.Like your colleagues.”
She raised an arched eyebrow.“Now your wives.”
Amare laughed.“Indeed.Funny that.”He glanced at Zaire, whose icy stare killed Amare’s laughter dead.Amare cleared his throat.
“And I will be working with you on my task,” continued Rosana.
“Ah, about that,” said Amare.He looked from Zaire back to Rosana.Zaire could read him like a book.He was wondering how on earth Zaire and Rosana were going to work together.“It will be my brother you’ll be working with.”
Rosana frowned.“But I thought Darrius would be returning tomorrow to be with Leonora.At the desert palace?”
Amare grimaced.“Notthatbrother.”
Zaire could see the moment Rosana understood the situation.He hadn’t thought her expression could become any frostier.She turned to him, her eyes haughty.“That would leaveyou, then, Your Majesty.But I’m sure you have business to attend.Maybe this could be delegated to one of your assistants?I sincerely doubt you wish to aid me in my work.”
There was a challenge in her eyes, which surprised him.Maybe she’d heard as much about him as he had of her.The thought intrigued him.What had she heard?What pre-conceptions of him did she hold in her mind?That clear forehead which shielded that clever mind wrinkled a little and her brow raised in question.What?Then he remembered she’d asked him a question.
“I am committed to helping you.”He deftly avoided addressing her implication that he had no interest in either her of the diamond.He didn’t.But he didn’t wish her to know all his thoughts.“Of course I will help you.Exactly as my brothers have helped your colleagues.”
The eyebrow rose a little higher, and it took him all his control not to laugh.
“Maybe notexactly.They went a little further than ‘helpful’,” he added.
It seems she was not amused by his allusions.“Indeed.I have no curiosity about how far, or otherwise, they went.All I need from you is to gain access to certain rooms in the palace so I can test my theory.”
“And that,” he said, “is all you will get.”He forced a tight-lipped smile onto his face.She might have a full figure lurking beneath those stiff robes, she might have eyes that held depths he hadn’t imagined, and lips that were generous with a sweet curve to them, but, really, she was as unbearable as he remembered.
She shot him a tight-lipped smile.“And that is all I want, I assure you.”She glanced around.“I trust I can begin my work first thing tomorrow morning?”
“Of course.I’ll organize someone to take you to wherever you wish to go.”
“Excellent.Then,” she said, casting an arrogant, sweeping gaze at Amare and then back to him, “I’ll leave, as it seems your fear of my gaze freezing off your balls has extinguished your legendary charm.”
He couldn’t help it.He grinned before he could control it.Her forthright reply was so unexpected that he not only smiled, but laughed out loud.Her face didn’t move an inch, only became heated again.
“You find something funny?”
He forced his laugh into a cough.“I didn’t realize I had any charm, let alone it was the stuff of legends.”
“I concur,” she said stiffly and was about to walk away when Amare stepped in, shooting a warning frown at Zaire.
“Please, Rosana, stay a little longer.You’re quite correct my brother is severely lacking in niceties, but I assure you his heart is in the right place.”
She didn’t look at Zaire.“And I can assure you, I have no interest in his heart or its locality.I really must be leaving now.”
“But you have so much in common!”said Amare.Zaire could hear the desperation in his voice and knew its source.Amare positively glared at Zaire now and nodded knowingly behind her back.He knew what he was referring to.They’d talked earlier about the need to make Rosana’s visit go as smoothly as possible, given her royal status, and the ongoing tensions between their two countries, and Zaire knew he wasn’t helping.He was king now, whether he liked it or not, and he had to control his heated temper and work for the good of the country.“You should invite Rosana to see your horses,” continued Amare.
“Horses?”Zaire frowned and turned to Rosana, whose eyes had unaccountably brightened.“You like horses?”
“Yes!”she said, with more liveliness in that one word than he’d heard all evening.“I mean…” Was it his imagination or was that a blush seeping up through her cheeks and uncertainty filling her eyes?“I mean, I used to.”
