Annie West - Royals Untamed!

She stood her ground despite wanting to slip past him. ‘I have not yet received any kind of indication that you have honoured your side of the deal , as you call it.’

‘Is my word not enough for you?’ he said as he walked away again, giving her the impression of an animal trapped in captivity, stalking the perimeter of its reduced territory.

She looked at his broad shoulders, tight and firmly set. He had exploded into her life again, opening up wounds which had only just begun to heal, and the only way she could tolerate it was to know that he would keep his promise of helping Claude.

‘No, it isn’t,’ she snapped, the rush of humiliation sweeping away rational thought. He’d married her, rejected and abandoned her. ‘Why should I trust you at all when you detest me so much you couldn’t stand to be near me? You couldn’t get me out of your life fast enough.’

She bit back her grief and anger, wanting to be as far away from him as possible. Just being near him muddled her mind. Suddenly it was all too much and she rushed past him, grabbed her handbag and headed for the door as fast as she could. She couldn’t stay in this room a moment longer with him. Her emotions were in turmoil. Emotions she’d thought she had well and truly under control were now running riot inside her.

She still had feelings for him, despite all he’d done. Feelings which meant she couldn’t risk staying a moment longer with him in the suite, even with its capacious luxury.

‘Where are you going?’ His deep voice rang with command, but she didn’t stop.

‘Shopping. Anything to keep His Supreme Highness happy.’

‘Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Amber,’ he said as he crossed the room, joining her at the door.

Her heart sank. Couldn’t she go out alone now? Was this an example of what her life in Barazbin would be like? A return to the restrictions of bodyguards and servants. ‘I’m quite capable of going shopping on my own.’ She tossed the words at him and forced a smile.

‘You can’t just wander the streets of London without security or an escort. You’re a princess.’ He marched alongside her as they made their way to the lift.

‘How dare you?’ She rounded on him. ‘I’ve been wandering the streets of Paris for the last few months, no thanks to you. I’m sure I can manage to go out alone and buy a dress in London.’

‘Don’t be so dramatic. You make it sound like you were destitute, when the reality was very different.’ He turned as the lift doors opened, walking in without a backward glance, obviously intent on being her escort and security.

More infuriated than she’d ever been, she marched in after him. ‘What do you mean: “the reality was very different”?’ she asked as the lift enclosed them, wishing he wouldn’t keep alluding to such things. If he’d thought she would approach him after that night and ask for financial support he didn’t know her at all.

An uneasy feeling settled over her, as if he was waiting for her to trip up. He obviously didn’t believe a word she said.

‘You are a princess, and you should be living like one—no matter where that is.’ His gaze held hers as he folded his arms across his chest and nonchalantly leaned against the polished lift wall, as if having such discussions in a lift were part of everyday life.

Shocked to the core, she could only stand and look at him, but his changing expression showed he was fast losing patience. He talked as if he’d given her vast sums of money, as if such an act had appeased the guilt of his rejection. Last night she’d pushed aside those suggestions that she’d been given money without much thought, but now it niggled in her mind.

Now wasn’t the time to ask questions. He obviously thought she was trying to get as much money from him as possible. Why disabuse him of that opinion when it might just be what she needed? If he thought that was what she was doing, then getting him to agree to a divorce would be much easier, especially since she’d finally accepted the truth, despite how she felt about him—she needed to be completely free of him.

‘Obviously your idea of how a princess lives is different to mine,’ she taunted him, pleased when he drew in a sharp breath. Let him think she’d spent all his money. She didn’t want it and she didn’t want him. The important thing was to be able to make Claude well. That was all that mattered right now and she’d do well to remember that when her heart hammered as soon as he came close.

‘At least we both know where we stand now.’ His voice was harsh and he looked away from her, giving her the opportunity to study him. The wild ruggedness she had fallen for when she’d first met him wasn’t so apparent now, as if abandoning the desert sands to rule his country was slowly taming him.

The lift doors opened onto the busy hotel lobby and she almost ran out, still desperate to put as much distance between them as possible. Everything about him was messing with her emotions. ‘I’m not exactly going to run out on you. A young boy’s health is now dependent on me going to Barazbin—and on you keeping your word.’

Kazim studied her for a moment and she watched a muscle flicker as he tensed his jaw, his lips pressed into a thin line of annoyance. She raised her brow at him, sending him a challenge despite knowing she shouldn’t. Just what was it about him that made her act so—irrationally?

‘Do not argue with me, Amber.’ His firm words irritated her and she glared at him. ‘I am coming with you.’

She sighed in resignation, which earned her a questioning look. Determined not to show him just how much he was getting to her on every level, she waltzed out of the hotel. Within seconds, just as he’d done in Paris, he fell into step beside her. She scanned the boutiques of the affluent street, knowing they would be too far out of her price range. She was certainly in the wrong part of London for her current budget.

‘Kazim,’ she said, stopping in the street so suddenly other pedestrians would have collided with her if he hadn’t pulled her close. Flustered, she looked up into his eyes, as dark as ever, but, instead of the usual hard and passionless depths, they blazed with something so intense it echoed deep inside her. As if, with that one look, he was claiming her as his.

‘What is it now?’ A smile teased at the edges of his lips and her heart jumped then raced erratically, his change of mood confusing her, disarming her.

She swallowed hard, not wanting to admit anything to him but she had no choice. ‘I can’t afford to shop here.’

‘We’ll go to the next one then,’ he said without taking his eyes from her face. Heat was spreading from his touch and the world around them stopped, blurred into oblivion, ceasing to exist. The hum of the traffic slipped away and it was just the two of them.

Mentally she shook herself, trying to clear her head, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ‘What I mean is I can’t afford anything, not from this street.’

He let go of her so abruptly she almost stumbled and the noises of the traffic rushed at her as if someone had suddenly turned the volume back up.

* * *

Kazim kept a tight rein on his temper. She certainly knew how to infuriate a man. He had no idea why he’d even decided to go with her. Shopping in any form was something he just didn’t do. But he’d glimpsed a hidden part of her as she’d studied the view from the suite earlier. He’d seen vulnerability as she’d stood at the hotel window. Vulnerability he was now compelled to protect.

Of course his security team would have discreetly followed her, just as they were doing now, but she’d stirred in him an old need to protect and, along with it, bad memories from his childhood.