Royal Affairs: Desert Princes & Defiant Virgins

‘What is?’

‘The desert. It’s the same colour.’ For a moment she forgot about William as she gazed out of the window. ‘It’s astonishing. Fabulous. I never knew that there would be so many colours. I mean, it’s just sand, but—’ She broke off and shaded her eyes as she squinted towards the top of a steep-sided dune. ‘I never thought they’d be that high.’

‘Clearly you have never been to the desert before.’

‘I’ve never been anywhere before.’ Alexa steadied herself as the vehicle bumped over uneven ground. ‘This is a better road than I expected.’

‘Yes, when you can see it. When the wind blows it lies buried under sand.’

‘So how do you find your way when that happens?’

‘Modern equipment. And if that lets me down then I rely on experience and more traditional forms of navigation.’

‘Such as?’

‘The position of the sun, the direction of the wind, the smell of the air.’ He shrugged. ‘The desert tells you much if you are willing to listen. Why are you asking me, when you apparently intended to travel it yourself with no assistance? Presumably you already possess all these skills?’

‘I would have been fine.’ Something on the horizon caught her eye. ‘There’s something moving. I can see something.’ Her heart-rate doubled, but Karim didn’t slow the vehicle.

‘It’s a camel train. It’s how many people still choose to get around in the desert.’

‘Camels?’ Alexa stared, fascinated now that she knew it wasn’t a threat. ‘Can we go closer?’

‘You wish to take a closer look at a camel?’

‘Is that a problem?’

A look of incredulity crossed his bronzed features. ‘No, but it’s surprising. A close encounter with a camel wouldn’t be high on most women’s list of coveted life-experiences.’

‘Maybe not. But most women haven’t been trapped in one place all their lives. Have you any idea what it’s like to see the real thing after staring at a picture?’

‘You are telling me that you’ve never left Rovina?’

Unsettled by her impulsive admission, Alexa clamped her mouth shut. Why had she told him that? She knew better than to confide details of her life to anyone.

Ignoring her lack of response, Karim frowned. ‘Your uncle is clearly extremely protective of you. You should be grateful that he cares so much. Do you not feel that you have betrayed him by running away in the night?’

Protective? ‘If you always take things at face value then you’re not going to be much use as a bodyguard. Let’s just say that my uncle and I seriously disagree about the direction of my future.’

‘You are to become Queen in a year. I expect he feels that you should be in the palace, learning everything you can about your new role.’

Alexa leaned her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. She could have told him the truth, of course, but she’d long ago learned the dangers of confiding in anyone, so she stayed silent.

But the reminder of Rovina and William had extinguished her innocent enjoyment of the desert, and suddenly Alexa felt sick. There was still so much that could go wrong in the few days before her birthday and the wedding.

She glanced sideways at Karim. If it came to a fight, would he help her?

He was certainly capable of it. He was dressed in combat trousers and sturdy boots, and would have looked like a soldier were it not for the dark stubble that hazed his strong jaw after a night of travelling. Part soldier, part bandit, she thought dizzily. His hair gleamed blue-black in the harsh desert sunshine, and his bronzed skin betrayed his desert heritage.

He was strikingly handsome and more male than any man she’d met before, his face all hard angles and bold arrogance. He regarded the world with something that came close to disdain, and she knew instinctively that there would be few situations in life that this man wouldn’t be able to handle.

Alexa wished desperately that they hadn’t shared that explosive kiss. Until that moment she hadn’t known how a kiss could feel, and she wished she were still living in blissful ignorance. At least then she wouldn’t be using all her energy trying not to stare at his mouth.

With the hunger of an addict contemplating the next fix, Alexa’s eyes lingered on his powerful shoulders, slid down to his flat, muscular stomach and settled on the hard muscle of his strong thighs. He had the hard physique of a soldier and there was no spare flesh on his lean, powerful frame. The deadly blade of the knife glinted in his belt, and she had no doubt that the gun was also around somewhere close.

‘Stop staring at me, Your Highness,’ he drawled softly. ‘Or is the heat of the desert firing your blood? It has that effect on some people. To be in the desert is to return to life at its most basic and primitive.’

Colour flooded into her cheeks and she looked away immediately, hideously embarrassed that he’d been aware of her scrutiny. ‘I wasn’t staring.’

‘Once you are married to the Sultan you will need to hide the fact that you are attracted to other men.’ The vehicle lurched suddenly, and he muttered something under his breath and swung the wheel, skilfully compensating for the deficiencies of the terrain.

Clinging to her seat, Alexa felt her face burn, and suddenly the heat in the car seemed increasingly oppressive. ‘I’m not attracted to you.’

‘You were gazing at me as you would a lover. The same way you looked at me last night, when you came to my bedroom.’

She’d never had this type of conversation with anyone before, and the breath jammed in her throat. ‘I came to your bedroom to find my passport. And I certainly wasn’t looking at you as I would a lover. Trust me on that one.’

She’d never had a lover, and after one particularly traumatic experience when she was sixteen she hadn’t wanted a lover. Until this moment.

The thought startled and shocked her, and she rubbed her fingers over her damp forehead, trying to return her mind to its previous state of indifference to romance. The experience of her youth had taught her an important lesson. Once—just once—she’d trusted a man and she’d been paying the price ever since. She hadn’t been so much burnt as fried to a crisp. But in a way, that experience had made it easier to do what had to be done. Marriage to the Sultan had somehow seemed less daunting, knowing that love and romance were never going to be an option for her.

Trying to ignore the way Karim made her feel, Alexa stared out of the window, feeling the solid ground of her belief system shifting dangerously beneath her feet. She didn’t want to feel like this. She didn’t want to think these things.

‘Try and stay in character, Your Highness,’ Karim advised. ‘You can’t be bold and feisty one minute and embarrassed the next.’

Angered by his remark, Alexa turned. ‘That depends on the conversation topic.’

He glanced briefly in her direction, a faint smile touching his hard mouth. ‘Thinking about sex is a perfectly natural mind-progression between people of a certain age, wouldn’t you agree?’

‘No, I wouldn’t! And I’m not thinking about sex.’ But now the word was out there in the open she felt her pelvis burn and her stomach flip. And suddenly she could think of nothing but sex. And not sex in the abstract or in general—sex with Karim.

With a feeling close to desperation, she felt her eyes stray to his bronzed, capable hands. He handled the vehicle with skill, but the lightness of his touch didn’t fool her for a moment. She knew that Karim was in control. The master. And then her capricious mind imagined those same confident hands moving over her body, and she suddenly felt as though she’d been seared by the flame of a blow torch. ‘Is the air-conditioning working?’

‘You grow hot, habibati?’ His mouth tightened, and it was evident that he didn’t welcome the chemistry any more than she did. ‘You are worried that you are having such explicit thoughts about one man only a few days before your wedding to another? It’s inconvenient, I agree.’

The fact that he’d so clearly guessed her most intimate thoughts left her mortified. ‘I’m not thinking about you at all.’

‘No?’

‘No. And if you think that then you’re delusional.’

‘I’m honest, Your Highness, but I realize that honesty is not a trait that most women possess, especially when they have their eye on the higher prize.’

‘I’m marrying the Sultan in four days.’

‘Precisely.’ He glanced towards her, but the sunglasses made it impossible for her to read the expression in his eyes. ‘You should save those hot, longing looks for your wedding night.’

His words tied her in knots. She didn’t want to think about her wedding night. ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more.’

‘Why? It’s the future you’ve chosen. Why wouldn’t you want to talk about it?’ He turned his attention back to the road. ‘I would have thought you would be interested in knowing about the Sultan.’

Her heart was pounding and her mouth was dry. Perhaps talking about the Sultan would return her mind to reality. ‘All right. Tell me about him.’ It didn’t actually matter what they talked about as long as it took her mind off the dangerous chemistry that was pulsing between them.

‘He is a typical only child.’

‘Overindulged?’

Karim gave a faint smile. ‘I was thinking more of the fact that he is a high achiever who is perhaps most at home in his own company.’

‘People must fall over themselves to obey his every wish. It must be difficult. He’s probably surrounded by people who say what he wants to hear, and he can’t really trust any of them because they all have their own agenda.’ Her words were greeted by a long silence, and when she glanced towards him she saw that his jaw was tense.

‘If you have that degree of insight into the complications of royal life then you are clearly interested in more than shoes and clothes.’

‘I’ve lived in a palace all my life so I know what it’s like to be constantly under scrutiny. Everything you do is magnified a hundred times and then reviewed by everyone. I don’t suppose it’s any different for the Sultan. It’s all about manoeuvring and politics. Persuading other people to adopt ideas in a subtle way.’

‘The word subtle definitely doesn’t apply to the Sultan. He gives an order and it is done. That’s how things work in Zangrar.’

‘No one argues with him?’

‘No one would dare. It is not his style to rule by consensus.’

‘But you like him?’

Karim frowned. ‘I have never before been asked that question.’

‘It’s a yes-or-no answer.’

He inhaled sharply. ‘In that case, it’s probably no. I don’t think I like him, particularly. In fact, there are occasions when I probably dislike him more than anyone I know. He is infuriatingly autocratic, far too controlling and disturbingly possessive.’

Alexa stared at him, surprised. ‘You’re very frank.’

‘I thought you were looking for the truth.’

‘I was, but all the same—aren’t you worried that I might tell him what you really think of him?’

Karim laughed. ‘No, for two reasons. Firstly, when you are with the Sultan he will not be either wanting or expecting conversation from you. And secondly, the Sultan has absolutely no need or particular desire to be liked. Respect—now, that’s a different matter entirely.’

Alexa chose to ignore his oblique reference to sex. ‘So you respect him?’

‘He and I share a similar vision for Zangrar.’

‘And you think he’s the man to bring that vision to life?’

‘Without a doubt. The Sultan is not a man to entertain the possibility of failure.’

‘Well, that’s good, then. He wants something badly and he’s prepared to go for it.’

‘He takes that approach to everything in his life. He decides what is important, and then he pursues that goal relentlessly until it is achieved. He never fails. You might want to remember that.’

‘I hope I’ll be of use to him.’

‘You’ll definitely be of use.’

Alexa felt a flicker of disquiet, but chose to ignore the implication behind his words. ‘I can give him an impartial opinion.’ She knew more about palace politics than most people.

Karim laughed with genuine amusement. ‘You think the Sultan will be interested in your opinion? This is Zangrar, Alexa. The Sultan’s expectations of your role will not extend beyond the bedroom.’

Suddenly the car seemed like a furnace. ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

‘I’m being honest. Clearly you haven’t thought beyond your wedding.’

Alexa tensed in her seat, knowing that it was true. ‘As his wife I can be extremely useful in many ways.’

‘There will be only one way that interests the Sultan.’ Karim glanced at her briefly, his expression thoughtful. ‘But you shouldn’t worry about it. As I discovered last night, you are clearly an extremely sexual young woman. I’m sure you’ll be able to keep him satisfied, as long as you take plenty of rest in the hours that he is working.’

‘Now you really are being ridiculous.’

‘On the contrary, the Sultan is a man who sets himself a punishing work-agenda. He has little time for relaxation and even less time for physical exercise so these days he tends to combine the two. He has an extremely high sex-drive, but you shouldn’t find that a problem. You’re clearly a woman with energy and drive of your own. The more I see of you, the more convinced I am that this marriage is to be celebrated by all concerned.’

‘The Sultan and I will share a great deal more than sex,’ Alexa said stiffly, ignoring the sudden churning of her insides. ‘My background is not so dissimilar to his. I’m sure that once I understand him, I’ll be able to help in all sorts of ways.’

‘The Sultan will not require you to understand him. And he seeks the help of no one. As I said, your role will simply be one of—’ he paused as he hunted for the word ‘—recreation.’

‘You can’t possibly know that.’ Alexa sat back in her seat. ‘For a start, he has never even met me. He may not find me attractive.’

‘The Sultan does take a great interest in the international press,’ Karim said gently. ‘Like most people, he is already intimately acquainted with your charms.’

The memory of just how those photographs had been taken made her insides churn with misery. ‘Those photographs were taken without my knowledge. I was set up.’

‘You weren’t really with the man?’

‘Yes, I was, but—’

‘You don’t owe me an explanation. And as for the Sultan …’ Karim gave an expressive shrug. ‘I have no idea how he feels about it, of course, but it probably isn’t a good idea to raise the subject. Obviously he isn’t expecting a virgin bride, but that needn’t necessarily work to your disadvantage. On the contrary, having an experienced woman in his bed means that he won’t feel obliged to curb his appetites. Am I driving fast enough for you?’

His question made her wonder whether he had guessed that she was suddenly wishing they were driving in the opposite direction, and Alexa looked away from him. She didn’t want to think about the photographs, she didn’t want to think about discussing her past with the Sultan, and she especially didn’t want to think about being in the Sultan’s bed! It just wasn’t a thought that had even crossed her mind before now. And then she realized why she was feeling so uncomfortable—during all the references to sex with the Sultan, her mind had conjured up disturbingly explicit pictures, and all of them had involved Karim.

The chemistry had been alive from the moment they had met, but it seemed to be growing in intensity with each moment they spent in the desert. Perhaps it was because he seemed so comfortable in these surroundings. Comfortable and confident.

And breathtakingly sexy.

The thought shocked her.

This was not the time to be noticing a man.

Alexa kept her eyes forward, reminding herself that marriage to the Sultan could only be a step up from the life she’d had up until now. ‘Perhaps the Sultan and I will get on extremely well. Have you known him long?’ Glancing towards him, she wondered why the question should make him smile.

‘All my life.’

‘You were playmates?’ She guessed that they were about the same age, so it was the only explanation.

‘Of a sort.’

By that he presumably meant that the Sultan was of royal blood whereas he wasn’t. ‘So you know him well?’

‘Too well. I am closely acquainted with all his most irritating personality traits.’

‘Such as?’

‘The list is endless. He is far too intolerant of the deficiencies of others. Impatient and quick to anger. He’s arrogant, and rarely, if ever, believes that anyone else can understand and grasp the subtleties of a situation as well as he can.’

‘Perhaps he’s right.’

Karim frowned. ‘I wasn’t complimenting him.’

‘No, I realize that. But if he’s as ferociously clever as they say, then it’s entirely possible that no one else does grasp the situation as well as he does. Which makes that the truth, rather than arrogance.’

‘That’s a generous assessment.’ He studied an instrument on the control panel and flicked a switch.

‘Or maybe simply an alternative assessment. Sometimes the facts don’t speak for themselves.’ As she well knew. ‘What else? What matters to him?’

‘Honesty and loyalty. Does that worry you, Alexa?’

‘No. I appreciate the same qualities.’

‘Really? How honest is it to marry a man you don’t love?’

‘Completely honest, because I’m not pretending to love him.’ She glanced towards his arrogant profile, her gaze direct. ‘It means that the Sultan and I know where we stand. There are no lies. I think that’s a good place to start. I’m confident that we can make this work.’

‘And yet you have no idea what the Sultan expects from his wife.’

She didn’t care. Once she was safely living in the palace within the high walls of the Citadel, the rest would be irrelevant. They could work it all out, she was sure of it. ‘I’ll be a good wife.’

‘So you’re basically happy to do anything at all as long as you have access to his wealth, is that right?’

Not his wealth, no. His protection.

The truth hovered on her lips, but she clamped her mouth shut, bewildered as to why she would even contemplate confiding in

this man when she knew the dangers of trusting another person. Hadn’t she learned from bitter experience that thoughts were best kept private? ‘Does the Sultan have a sense of humour?’

Karim concentrated on the road for a moment. ‘In the three years since his father died, there have been many problems in Zangrar, none of which have given much cause for laughter.’

‘Disputes over oil and problems with an irrigation project.’ Sensing his surprise, she shrugged. ‘I can read, Karim. There was a report on the Internet. He takes his responsibilities seriously.’ And she’d liked that about him. It had given her hope. Once she had explained the situation, he would help her with Rovina, surely?

‘The fortunes of Zangrar and the people depend on the Sultan.’

The contrast to William cheered her. ‘I’m quite confident that the Sultan and I can have a harmonious marriage.’

‘The Sultan isn’t a man who could be harmoniously married to anyone.’ Karim stopped the vehicle without warning and stared up at the sky.

‘What’s the matter? Where are we? And where’s the road?’

‘Underneath the sand. The wind is picking up.’ He flicked a switch on the dashboard and several instruments flickered to life. ‘The weather is not looking as stable as I would have liked.’

‘What are you saying? Is this a sandstorm?’ Shielding her eyes from the glare of the sun, she looked at the sky but could see nothing but endless blue, broken by a few wisps of white. ‘It looks fine to me.’

‘At the moment. Conditions change very rapidly in the desert. We will stop here briefly and rest.’

‘Don’t stop on my account.’ Glancing over her shoulder, she checked that there were no other vehicles in sight. ‘I’m quite happy to just push on.’

‘It is important to take regular breaks, and crucial to drink.’ He opened the door and Alexa felt the sudden rush of heat fill the car.

‘I hadn’t realized how effective the air-conditioning was. It’s hot.’

‘It’s the desert, Your Highness. Out here temperatures can reach fifty degrees. Without water a human being would not last long. Wait there, I’ll come round to you.’

‘I don’t need help getting out of a car, Karim.’ What was he thinking—just because she’d been forced to accept the services of a bodyguard, she was happy to relinquish her independence? No way!

Opening her own door, Alexa was about to jump to the ground when Karim caught her, his strong hands hard on her hips as he pulled her roughly into his arms.

‘I told you to wait.’

‘And I ignored you. I don’t know what sort of woman you’re used to mixing with, but I’m the sort who can climb down from a car without help.’ She wished he’d move his hands from her hips. Caught against his hard, powerful frame, she felt her heart jerk and her body melt. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Preventing you from killing yourself.’ His tone was harsh. ‘You never step down into the desert without first checking for snakes.’

He was all muscle and masculinity, and her heart was bumping so hard against her chest she could hardly concentrate.

‘Snakes?’ How was she expected to focus her mind on snakes when all she could think about was him?

‘This is their home, Your Highness, and during the day they’re sleepy and often at their most dangerous. They don’t always appreciate being disturbed.’

His gaze flickered over the sand beneath his feet, and then he gently lowered her to the ground, her body sliding down his in a slow, deliberate movement that simply increased her internal agony. Her stomach swooped and she knew that the sudden explosion of heat inside her had nothing to do with the strength of the sun’s rays beating down on them.

The sudden harsh intake of his breath indicated that he’d felt it, too.

For a moment they stood there, his fingers biting into her hips, and Alexa couldn’t breathe or move, her thoughts and senses smothered by the proximity of his body. She was supposed to be thinking of snakes and the dangers of the desert, but all she could think about was him and she felt a flash of panic. What was it about this man that had such a powerful effect on her? She never had trouble focusing, never, and yet suddenly.

All she could think about was the kiss they’d shared, and she could see from the slow burn of fire in his eyes that he was suffering a similar torment.

‘I’m not that familiar with the rules of the desert.’ She forced herself to pull away from him and he released her instantly.

‘The Sultan would not forgive me if I failed to protect you.’

‘So what do they look like, these snakes?’ Her body showed no sign of recovering from the searing heat of the contact. There was a maddening ache between her thighs, and her lips were so dry that she tried to moisten them with her tongue. ‘Are they well camouflaged?’

‘Extremely well camouflaged. The ability to disguise themselves well is the only thing that stands between them and death in this environment.’ His voice was tight and angry, and Alexa knew that he was no more absorbed by the conversation about snakes than she was. In fact, if a snake had picked that moment to come and bite them, there was a strong change that neither would have noticed.

‘So now what?’ She took another step away from him, hoping that distance might succeed where logic was failing.

‘We eat and drink.’ Reaching into the car, he pulled out a flask and handed it to her. ‘Water. It’s another essential part of desert survival. In this heat, you must drink.’

Taking the flask, her fingers brushed against his, and she almost dropped the precious water on the ground. ‘This so-called road isn’t exactly busy, is it?’ Trying to disguise the fact that her hands were shaking, Alexa lifted the flask to her lips and drank. Then she glanced over her shoulder again, as she’d done repeatedly since they’d left the airport. ‘Obviously there isn’t much traffic between the airport and the Citadel.’