Page 26 of The Sheikh's Desert Princess

CHAPTER SIX

Eva held onto Riaz as he guided his mount slowly and expertly across the hot desert landscape. By the position of the sun she could tell they were moving north-east. His sense of direction seemed acute and instinctive.

Riaz had told her it would take around three hours to ride to his camp. Eva decided to settle in for a while. The easiest way to do that, she discovered, was to hold onto Riaz and let herself relax.

She felt safe. And it didn't matter that Riaz was still almost a stranger. She knew he had her safety uppermost in his mind. Just like he'd had the night before.

As she tucked herself close to him, she inhaled his scent, a powerful masculine aroma she found strangely and instantly enjoyable. Riaz sat bolt upright, his posture firm and slightly proud, she thought.

For a while, he didn't say very much to her. It was as if he realized what she had just been though, and didn't want to make things worse by dwelling on what Ahmed's men had had in mind.

And what had that been, exactly?

Eva thought for a while and came to the conclusion that it was simple. Ahmed had sent his men to bring her to his own camp.

That was shocking in itself, she thought. In this day and age, for a woman to be captured and abducted in the desert was like something out of olden times. Something barbaric and barely comprehensible. If she hadn't endured the experience, Eva wouldn't have believed it possible.

But it was all over. For now.

She'd had no choice but to accept Riaz's offer of safe conduct and a chance to recover herself. Even if it meant staying in his encampment for a night.

Tomorrow she would ask for a fresh horse and Riaz would no doubt insist on accompanying Eva back to safety. That was probably how things would probably turn out, she told herself. That wasn't the worst thing, she told herself. Circumstances had brought her and Riaz back together again.

Somewhere, at the back of her mind though, a treacherous, tempting voice told her there were other options for Riaz. But she pushed those thoughts firmly away.Maybe he wouldn't let her leave his encampment. Perhaps he'd insist she stay longer.

Would she object to that kind of proposal? Would she refuse the chance to spend more time with Riaz?

Right now, she didn't know the answer to that question. There would be time to consider all that once they'd arrived at his camp.

The movement of Riaz's horse and his close proximity felt hypnotic and after a while, Eva closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Her dreams were intense and colorful and Riaz was in them. Feeling her body rocking gently with the movements of the horse, holding onto Riaz, she was swept up in a kaleidoscope of images of the fort meeting, the desert and being in Riaz's tent.

In her dream, she felt herself lying once again in his bed only this time he was right there next to her. She felt soft movements lulling her into this strange, surprising fantasy.

Even although some part of her mind knew that all of this was a dream, she found herself enjoying the feel of Riaz's body next to her, the warmth of his presence, the way her was touching her.

She moaned and felt a sudden shifting movement of her body.

Eva opened her eye abruptly, snapping awake and found Riaz gazing at her, his head twisted round. He was grinning. Eva felt her face color with embarrassment. Had he heard her moan? What did he think that moan had meant?

Eva sat back, loosening her grip on his torso.

"You fell asleep for a while there," Riaz observed.

Eva dragged her gaze away from him, eager for him not to see the rapidly changing color of her face. They were still making their way across the desert. There was still no sign of the encampment.

Eva ran a hand through her hair and looked sheepishly at him. "I must have dozed off," she explained.

"It's probably the heat," Riaz replied. "Do you want to stop for a while? Stretch your legs?" he asked.

Eva felt the sudden stiffness in her body. Maybe it would do her some good to move around a bit.

"That might be nice," she said nodding at him.

Riaz drew the horse to a halt and slid down standing by the side of his mount. He looked up at Eva and extended his arms. His eyes were bright with anticipation. For a moment she considered whether she should let him do that. Would it send the wrong kind of signal?

Dismissing her doubt, she moved herself and settled into his arms, letting him take her full weight, his hands easing around her hips. Her feet sank into the sand and she straightened gazing up at him.

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