Page 63 of The Sheikh's Desert Princess

He thought about her out there alone and an impulse seized him. And impulse to hurry to one of his horses, leap upon it, and race quickly after her.

But he held himself in check, in spite of the fact that, by doing so, strain and tension were merely made worse.

He thought about her. An image of her pretty features, her beautiful body, filled his mind.

Eva was his now.

He knew that. Felt the truth of it in every sinew, sensed it in every nerve and muscle.

Felt it in his heart.

Conviction had taken hold of him. A brutal hard certainty that he knew, in the coming days, he would struggle to deny and fight to control.

Riaz walked down to the river. He stooped down and threw some cold water over his face. The shock of the water made hardly a dent in how he felt.

Riaz recalled the incredible encounter in the pool at waterfall. The memory of Eva's body triggered a hard sensation in him. Something like regret and desire mixed together. The sensation made him burn, and yet again he scooped water up in his hands and doused the back of his neck.

How exquisite had it felt to hold her close, to touch her skin, feel the heat of her desire for him. It had confirmed his suspicions, had made him feel gratified that he'd taken the action of making sure the camp was deserted.

He'd wanted her all to himself; wanted to possess her; needed to claim her as his own.

And he had done just that.

He'd felt the certainty of that as he'd held her close to him after their lovemaking in the tent. For a brief moment, he'd even played with the notion that she felt the same. That somehow she had lowered her barriers, just as he had done. That, for her, their union was more than just temporary. That, like him, she had accepted that fate had brought them together.

But he had been wrong.

Badly mistaken, it seemed.

Riaz gazed out across the river toward the distant desert. What had once seemed glorious now seemed empty. Before when he gazed out across the scene, he'd only ever felt its majesty fill his soul.

Now there was an emptiness in his soul. An awful vacuum.

He now knew there was only one way to fill that empty space in his soul. Only one person who could make him feel complete. Make all of this seem in any way meaningful.

Eva.

She had found a place in his soul.

Riaz sat down at the edge of the river and let his thoughts drift. It seemed as if he sat there for a long while, perhaps, for as long as an hour. He lost track of time, consumed by thoughts of the woman who had just walked out on him.

The sun had moved closer to the western horizon. He wondered how far Eva had travelled

Then his attention was caught by the sound of horses hooves making their way into camp. For a moment, hope flared in him. The thought that maybe Eva had come back.

But that hope died as quickly as it rose inside him when he saw the figure of one of his men come racing through the trees toward him. The man, Abdul, was breathless and Riaz could see the urgency in his expression.

"Sheikh Al Shirah," Abdul gasped sliding to a sudden halt in front of Riaz.

Riaz should took Abdul by the shoulders, waiting for him to regain his composure and catch breath.

"Steady, man," Riaz said. "What is it?"

The man's eyes widened. "Sheikh Ahmed is on his way."

"What?" Riaz exclaimed. "Where did you see him?"

The man pointed toward the western horizon. "I passed him on my way back here," he explained. Abdul's "eyes widened and he hesitated a moment. "And I saw the esteemed lady. She was riding toward Ahmed's men."

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