Iris Johansen - A Summer Smile

She shook her head incredulously. “I can’t believe this. You’re speaking as if women have no wills or minds of their own.”

“Am I?” The slashing black brows lifted mockingly. “I have no desire to give that impression. I know women can have extraordinarily strong wills. As for their mental powers”-he lifted one shoulder in a half shrug-“they can be very cunning as well.”

“Cunning?” Zilah echoed distastefully. “What a horribly denigrating word. I regard myself as intelligent, but I am not cunning.” She frowned. “Do you always speak to women so insultingly?”

“No, usually I’m quite flowery and utterly charming,” he drawled outrageously. “I’m only honest with them when they might offer a threat to me or mine.”

Her eyes widened. “You think I’m some kind of a threat?”

“It’s a possibility.” His eyes were cool, shimmering ice floes. “As I said, Daniel is intrigued. It is not like Daniel to regard women in a serious light. He was very emotional yesterday when you were so ill. Emotion has a way of weakening a man’s defenses. I will not have him hurt, Miss Dabala. You must ply your woman’s wiles on someone else. Do you understand?”

“Perfectly,” she said calmly. “I’m to fall meekly into Daniel’s bed, but on no account am I to venture to think or regard myself as anything but a vassal.” She lifted a brow. “Have I got it right?”

He nodded. “Perhaps you are more intelligent than cunning after all, Miss Dabala. You’re quite correct.”

“I just wanted to make sure I understood.” She met his eyes and said clearly, “Go to hell, Sheikh El Kabbar.”

There was a flicker of surprise in his face, followed by a touch of amusement. “I’ve found some women capable of sending men there, but not by suggestion alone. I’m afraid you’re going to have to do better than that.”

“I have no desire to try to influence your destiny in any way, Sheikh El Kabbar,” she said wearily. “Or Daniel’s either. All I want to do is to get well enough to go to Zalandan. The minute the doctor releases me, I won’t bother you again.”

“Ah, but the doctor is a very cautious man where certain patients are concerned. You may be with us for some time. That’s why I thought we should have this chat.” His smile was brilliant in his bronzed face. “Enjoy your stay with us, Miss Dabala. I promise that on the next occasion we meet I’ll be as meticulously polite and diplomatic as anyone could wish.”

“I’d rather you’d be rude but honest,” she said bluntly. “I haven’t any use for polite deception.”

For an instant there was a trace of admiration in those guarded eyes. “I can see how you would appeal to Daniel. He has a great respect for honesty as well. That was why I was a bit alarmed when-” He broke off. His gaze narrowed thoughtfully on her face. “Respect and admiration are far more dangerous than lust. I’ll have to keep a close eye on you, Miss Dabala.” His gaze once more traveled over her, lingering on her naked shoulders above the sheet. There was suddenly a fugitive twinkle in his eyes. “A task I’m going to take a good deal of aesthetic pleasure in performing.” Before she could reply he had turned away and was strolling toward the door. “You have such superb skin that it’s really a shame to cover even an inch of it, but Daniel’s being very stuffy about not keeping you totally naked for the duration of your stay here. As your own clothing was blown up with the plane, I’ve taken the liberty of ordering you a complete wardrobe from the stores in Marasef.” He glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Don’t worry, Daniel also insisted on paying for everything, so you’re not beholden to me for a single handkerchief. What a pity. I enjoy having beautiful women in my debt. Good day, Miss Dabala.”

Zilah found herself staring at the closed door with a mixture of indignation and amusement. Philip El Kabbar was utterly impossible, obviously a complete male chauvinist and more arrogant than even a ruling sheikh had any right to be. She should be ready to roast him over open flames after that little conversation. Yet there had been a thread of warmth and humor beneath the mask of glittering hardness that for some inexplicable reason had kept her from feeling too much animosity.

There was a perfunctory knock on the door, and it swung open. Daniel entered, balancing a covered rattan tray in one hand and a large box in the other. He was dressed even more casually than El Kabbar had been, in cut off jeans and an army-green tank top. However, nothing about Daniel’s vitality was leashed. It was almost an explosive force as he strode into the room. “I ran into Philip in the hall,” he said grimly as he kicked the door shut with his sandaled foot and strode toward the bed. “Was he decent to you?”

“Isn’t he usually decent to his guests?” she asked evasively.

“Don’t play word games with me, Zilah.” He tossed the box he was carrying on the bed and settled the tray on her lap. “I want an answer from you.” He sat down on the bed beside her and plucked the napkin from the covered tray to reveal eggs and fingers of buttered toast. “Eat your breakfast.”

A little smile tugged at her lips. “Which do you want me to do first?”

“Both.” He scowled. “Hell, I wanted to be here to run interference for you. I only stopped for a minute to pick up that box from the helicopter. I should have known Philip would do something to upset you.”

“He didn’t upset me,” she said as she took a bite of toast. “I had no trouble holding my own with your friend, the sheikh. Though I think he was doing his best to intimidate me. He appears to have very little respect for the gentler sex.”

“That’s because he’s never found them to be particularly gentle.” He too picked up a piece of toast from her plate and began to nibble it absent-mindedly. “That, along with having a father who believed all women belonged in a seraglio, wasn’t conducive to developing warm and tender feelings toward womankind. He doesn’t trust them worth a damn and acts accordingly.”

“Is that why he doesn’t have any women servants?”

“Probably. I never asked him,” he said. “Look, I know he said something that wasn’t exactly hospitable. When I told him you were staying for a bit, he had that thoughtful look that usually means trouble. I’d appreciate it if you’d ignore it. Philip is a good friend to me. I’ll see that it doesn’t happen again.”

“He is a good friend to you. That was why he was trying to save you from my vampish ways. I got the distinct impression he believed I was about to clip all your locks off as Delilah did Samson’s.” She tilted her head to look at him with mock objectivity. “I could have told him that with your beard it would be entirely too much trouble.”

Daniel’s hand rose quickly to his jaw. “You don’t like my beard?”

She had a fleeting memory of the soft virile brush of that beard rubbing against her naked breasts and she felt a sudden thrust of aching heat go through her. She dropped her eyes to her plate. “I like it. I just don’t have any desire to wear it on my belt as a trophy.” She smiled. “That particular shade of red doesn’t go well with my coloring.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said blandly. “I think you could get used to wearing me on your person in no time at all.” He took another bite of toast before adding softly, “Or in your person.”

Her startled gaze flew up to meet his. His eyes were soft and midnight-dark and his face was filled with sensuality. She was abruptly conscious of the warm hardness of his naked thigh pressing against her own through the thin satin barrier of the sheet. There was a sudden tingling clenching between her thighs that made her inhale sharply.