Page 7 of The Sheikh's Desert Princess

CHAPTER TWO

The woman had spirit, Riaz thought to himself as he entered his tent. Ahmed had been right about her. He smiled as he recalled the defiant way she'd faced him down out there.

Because that was exactly what she'd done. She'd taken a stand and defied him.

He drew in a deep breath, savoring the temporary solitude of the tent. He was grateful for this refuge away from the bustling activity outside.

He glanced around the inside of the tent and nodded approvingly. His men had laid everything out just as he'd ordered. There was the low couch in front of the small table. On the table was a tall, curved silver pot in which he expected he would find was some recently made tea.

Beneath his feet he felt the thickness of the ornately patterned rug. The walls of the tent were of heavy material, a deep shade of red. His color. The color of the blood red sky.

Outside, he could hear the sounds of preparation. There were almost a hundred men out there and, right now, Riaz didn't want to be near any of them. It was all so familiar.

However, the woman, Eva, was no safer now than she had been before he'd spoken to her.

Riaz knew he wasn't about to let that continue. She'dseemed hesitant about accepting his invitation, but he knew it would be the wisest way for him to send an important signal to the rest of the tribesmen.

Not that she belonged to him. That wasn't the message he wanted to send, he told himself. He hardly knew the woman. She was younger than him by a few years, possibly in her mid twenties. She had that familiar confidence he'd encountered in so many American women. It was as if she believed nothing could touch her, that nothing could harm her. That the world belonged to her. He smiled at that thought.

Riaz knew from experience how foolish such a belief was. Out here, in this glorious wilderness, nothing could be taken for granted. Riaz had seen how easy it was for someone to come to harm. For life to change in an instant.

Especially for someone as beautiful as Eva Braddon. Did she have any idea of the effect she would have on the men in this camp?

Of course she did, he told himself. She knew how attractive she was. He'd sensed her awareness of her beauty. There was a proud, even haughty, expression in those gorgeous blue eyes. She held her body in a confident manner, and he had to admit to enjoying the sight of that.

Riaz sighed and threw himself down into the couch. He poured himself some tea into the tiny cup and settled back. He sipped the tea, enjoying the bitter taste.

He needed something to bring him back to his senses.

Eva Braddon had thrown him off balance. It had taken barely a few minutes, but she had affected him in a way that no woman had ever done before.

How could that be?

There was undeniably something about her which triggered sensation in him. Visceral, instantaneous sensation. He needed to keep that sensation well and truly under control. He knew where such temptations could lead a man.

He drained the cup and slammed it down into the table.

Was it simply that she had defied him? Or was there something more? A promise of something he hadn't enjoyed in a very long time.

He drove that thought out of his mind. He knew that train of thought would lead him somewhere he didn't want to go.

Riaz stood and tightened his robe around his body.

He had duty to perform. Much was expected of him. It would do him no good to display any kind of interest in Eva Braddon.

All he had to was protect her while she remained here and avoid giving her too much information about himself.

That shouldn't be so hard, he told himself.

But, even as he strode toward the tent entrance, a treacherous voice murmured to him that it wasn't going to be easy at all.

****

For the rest of the afternoon, Eva did what she was good at. She observed, taking notes and photos, capturing impressions. She was a journalist and she had come here to do a job.

For the rest of the day it seemed that all of the activity of the tribesmen centred around preparing for the coming evening. Eva kept herself at a distance from the men.

Although Riaz's advice still rang in her ear, and she desperately wanted to try to communicate with some of the men and gather more information about just what was happening here, she still remembered what he had said to her. The warning he had given her.

---