Royal Affairs: Desert Princes & Defiant Virgins: The Sheikh's Virgin Princess / The Sheikh and the Virgin Secretary / Desert Prince, Defiant Virgin

Sheltered?

He had no idea! ‘The heat won’t worry me.’ But she had a feeling that he wanted it to worry her and for a moment she felt puzzled. Why would the Sultan’s bodyguard have an opinion on her impending marriage? Why would he even care?

Karim put the water back in the cooler. ‘We should get going. We have a long way to go before darkness.’

‘Where are we sleeping tonight?’

‘Out in the desert, Alexa. Where else?’ He opened the car door for her, a faint smile playing around his firm, sensual mouth. ‘You can lie back, look at the stars and dream of the Sultan. Take the opportunity to rest while you can.’

CHAPTER FIVE

THEY reached the tents just as dusk was falling and the setting sun was a deep orange ball in the darkening sky.

Karim was suffering agonies of mental and physical tension. He wasn’t sure who had been affected most on the journey. It had been long, trying and extremely hot, and he had succeeded in making it hotter still by choosing to talk about topics which would have been best avoided given the intimacy of their current situation.

His plan to plant seeds of doubt in her mind by his descriptions of the Sultan had backfired in the most spectacular way. He’d been in an almost permanent state of arousal since she’d lain underneath him in the bedroom, and his poor choice of conversation topic had merely increased the relentless sexual tension that gripped him. The more he’d talked, the more he’d imagined and the more he’d imagined, the harder it had become to drive.

At one point, he’d been sorely tempted to stop the car and douse himself with the remains of their cold water in a brutal attempt to return his brain to sanity.

But he hadn’t taken that option, and to make matters worse—to raise his temperature still further—his expansive description of the Sultan’s sexual appetites hadn’t appeared to worry her that much, which presumably indicated that she believed herself more than capable of matching them.

In the end he’d stopped talking, hoping that a period of reflection might be sufficient to induce the degree of doubt in her mind that he’d been hoping for. But instead of brooding she’d simply snuggled down and fallen asleep yet again, leaving him to cope alone with a rampant attack of unrelieved sexual hunger.

He should have woken her, but he’d taken one look at the blue-black shadows beneath her eyes and the pallor of her skin and found himself unable to rouse her from a sleep she so obviously needed.

Wondering when he’d become such a soft touch, Karim brought the vehicle to a halt outside the tents and glanced at her in exasperation.

All she seemed to do was sleep.

Clearly her hectic lifestyle was catching up with her.

His mouth tightening, he decided that enough was enough. If this woman became Zangrar’s queen it would be disastrous, and his absolute priority had to be to prevent it happening. ‘Your Highness.’ She didn’t stir and his tone hardened. ‘Alexa.’

Her eyelids lifted and Karim tumbled headlong into her soft, blue gaze, and suddenly all he wanted to do was spend the foreseeable future exploring the possibilities of her mouth …

Feeling as though he was losing his grip, he dragged his eyes away from hers and tightened his grip on the wheel. ‘We’ve arrived.’

‘Arrived?’ Her voice husky, she stretched with feline grace, and then suddenly sat upright sharply. ‘Oh my goodness—you should have woken me!’

Wondering whether she was more dangerous awake or asleep, Karim gritted his teeth. ‘You were tired. We’re spending the night here.’

‘You sound cross.’ Pushing her hair away from her face, she glanced sleepily out of the window. ‘I can’t believe I fell asleep again.’

‘You’ve obviously been having too many late nights.’

‘I just don’t sleep well at home.’

Remembering the picture he’d been shown of her being removed unconscious from a nightclub, Karim was tempted to point out that in order to sleep she had to be in her own bed. Then he remembered that antagonizing her was not his objective. ‘The heat in the desert can be draining.’

‘You should have woken me up and let me drive.’

‘There was no need.’ Having heard about her accidents, he had no intention of allowing her to drive.

She looked over her shoulder. ‘I’m just relieved there’s no sign of my uncle.’

‘You truly believe that your uncle might follow us?’

‘Maybe not in person, but he’ll send his men.’ Her eyes shifted to his face. ‘If he can stop this wedding he will, Karim.’

Suffering from an almost agonizing attack of sexual tension, Karim found himself wishing that her uncle had shown more skill in his persuasion techniques. At least then he wouldn’t be facing a night alone in the desert with a female who made him feel uncomfortably out of control.

‘We will stay here tonight. It is a regular watering-hole for camel trains. The accommodation will be simple but sufficient for our needs.’ And hopefully sufficient to convince her that life in a hot desert-country was not for her. For the sake of his sanity, he hoped she would make the decision sooner rather than later. He could have her back at the airport within a day.

Clearly oblivious to his physical torment, she peered out of the window. ‘I didn’t think trees grew in the desert.’

‘They are date palms. And even in the arid desert, there is water.’

‘So, who stays in this place usually?’

‘Wandering desert tribes. And tourists wanting to discover the “real” Zangrar.’ He opened the door of the vehicle. Immediately a man hurried towards them and fell to his knees. Feeling another surge of tension, Karim spoke softly and watched as the man scrambled to his feet quickly and backed away.

Alexa climbed out of the car and joined him, astonishment on her face as she watched the man. ‘Why did he bow? What did you say to him?’

Without missing a beat, Karim slammed the car door shut. ‘Unfortunately he guessed that you are the royal princess who is to marry the Sultan. I told him that we don’t want your identity revealed.’

‘Karim, I look like any other tourist. How could he possibly know who I am?’

‘The wedding is an important event of relevance to all the citizens of Zangrar. Everyone in the country is aware of your existence.’

‘But if he knows who I am—’

‘He will be discreet. Do not worry about him.’ Karim pulled her small case out of the back of the vehicle. ‘The facilities here are basic, but you should be able to wash in the pool under those trees. Just watch out for the local wildlife.’ But if he’d been expecting a show of fear and revulsion at the warning, he was once again disappointed. She simply nodded, apparently more concerned with looking in the direction from which they’d just come.

‘By now, my uncle will have realized that we’ve left. He’ll be following us.’

‘Such perseverance on his part must make you wonder whether this wedding is wrong for you.’ Wondering why she refused to see what was so clear to others, Karim walked towards the tents, gesturing for her to follow him. ‘You don’t think he has your best interests at heart?’

‘No.’

‘And yet he has a great deal more life experience than you and knows you well, having cared for you since the death of your parents. It must worry him to see you so set on a marriage that he doesn’t believe will make you happy.’

When she didn’t answer, Karim sighed. Like most women, she seemed to make a point of rejecting all sensible advice that came her way. It was obvious to him that her uncle understood nothing about the workings of the female mind and had taken entirely the wrong approach. Had he insisted on the wedding taking place, there was a strong chance that by now the princess would have decided that marriage to the Sultan was definitely not for her.

No matter. If she wasn’t willing to accept the decision of others then she’d simply have to make the decision herself.

And he was going to help her.

True, he didn’t appear to have made an impact on her yet, but they still had three days of the journey to go through the harshest terrain in Zangrar.