Jacqueline Diamond - Captured By A Sheikh

Sharif lifted the baby against his shoulder.

Ben’s little head came up, and two shiny eyes peered into his.

Love flooded through Sharif, so powerful that the breath caught in his throat. He could not deny the power that his child held over him. He had thought he could produce a son and then simply entrust him to the women in his family. The child had been intended as a gift to his homeland. Now he knew he would protect the child at any cost.

The bathroom door opened. The fragrance of Holly’s hair and the brightness of her spirit filled the room.

She tossed her borrowed shirt onto the bed. “I can wash that by hand….”

“We have a more important matter to—” He stopped, on catching sight of her changed appearance.

“Well?” she asked. “Is it that bad?”

Bad enough that he wanted to resume where they had left off, with a kiss that deepened into something that no man should contemplate with another man’s bride….

Dear Intrigue Reader,

A brand-new year, the launch of a new millennium, a new cover look—and another exciting lineup of pulse-pounding romance and exhilarating suspense from Harlequin Intrigue!

This month, Amanda Stevens gives new meaning to the phrase “men in uniform” with her new trilogy, GALLAGHER JUSTICE, about a family of Chicago cops. They’re tough, tender and totally to die for. Detective John Gallagher draws first blood in The Littlest Witness (#549).

If you’ve never been Captured by a Sheikh (#550), you don’t know what you’re missing! Veteran romance novelist Jacqueline Diamond takes you on a magic carpet ride you’ll never forget, when a sheikh comes to claim his son, a baby he’s never even seen.

Wouldn’t you just love to wake up and have the sexiest man you’ve ever seen take you and your unborn child into his protection? Well, Harlequin Intrigue author Dani Sinclair does just that when she revisits FOOLS POINT. My Baby, My Love (#551) is the second story set in the Maryland town Dani created in her Harlequin Intrigue book For His Daughter (#539).

Susan Kearney rounds out the month with a trip to the wildest American frontier—Alaska. A Night Without End (#552) is another installment in the Harlequin Intrigue bestselling amnesia promotion A MEMORY AWAY…. This time a woman wakes to find herself in a remote land in the arms of a sexy stranger who claims to be her husband.

And this is just the beginning! We at Harlequin Intrigue are committed to keeping you on the edge of your seat. Thank you for your enthusiastic support.

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Associate Senior Editor, Harlequin Intrigue

Captured by a Sheikh

Jacqueline Diamond

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A former news reporter, Jacqueline Diamond has covered the police beat in several cities of Orange County, California, where this book is set. The author of more than twenty-five Harlequin romances, she’s married and has two sons.

Books by Jacqueline Diamond

HARLEQUIN INTRIGUE

435—AND THE BRIDE VANISHES

512—HIS SECRET SON

550—CAPTURED BY A SHEIKH

HARLEQUIN AMERICAN ROMANCE

79—THE DREAM NEVER DIES

196—AN UNEXPECTED MAN

218—UNLIKELY PARTNERS

239—THE CINDERELLA DARE

270—CAPERS AND RAINBOWS

279—GHOST OF A CHANCE

315—FLIGHT OF MAGIC

351—BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS

406—OLD DREAMS, NEW DREAMS

446—THE TROUBLE WITH TERRY

491—A DANGEROUS GUY

583—THE RUNAWAY BRIDE

615—YOURS, MINE AND OURS

631—THE COWBOY AND THE HEIRESS

642—ONE HUSBAND TOO MANY

645—DEAR LONELY IN LA…

674—MILLION-DOLLAR MOMMY

687—DADDY WARLOCK

716—A REAL-LIVE SHEIKH

734—THE COWBOY AND THE SHOTGUN BRIDE

763—LET’S MAKE A BABY!

791—ASSIGNMENT: GROOM!

804—MISTLETOE DADDY

Holly Rivers— She’s a dead ringer for her missing sister. Blood may be thicker than water, and so may deception.

Sheikh Sharif Al-Khalil— He doesn’t hesitate to take what he believes he’s entitled to, by whatever means necessary.

Jasmine “Jazz” Rivers— She took the sheikh’s money to have his baby, then disappeared. Is she an extortionist, or a murder victim?

Zahad Adran— Dispossessed of his own inheritance, the sheikh’s trusted aide might be looking to replace it with someone else’s.

Tevor Samuelson— Attorney, old friend and would-be bridegroom, he invites trust. But does he merit it?

Noreen Wheaton— Director of a surrogacy clinic, she’s been known to tamper with client files.

Manuel Estrellas— He risked his job and his life to tell Holly the truth of baby Ben’s parentage. Does he have a hidden agenda?

Yusuf Gozen— He’s sworn revenge on Sharif for the slaying of his despotic brother. Do his targets include the sheikh’s son and the woman he loves?

Special thanks to Gary Bale and Kelly Millard

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Epilogue

October

Bahrim City, Alqedar, in southern Arabia

The surrogate mother was gone. And, with her, the baby due to be born in a few weeks.

Furious on hearing the news, Sheikh Sharif Al-Khalil clenched his fists. “The police in California—will they not help?”

Zahad Adran, the sheikh’s cousin, aide and chief of security at the palace, spread his hands in frustration. “They have found no signs of foul play, so there is no criminal investigation.”

The sheikh stared at his aide over the papers stacked on his broad desk, the contracts that would bring money for hospitals and schools. “I will fly to America at once. I must find my son!”

Beneath his red-and-white-checked kaffiyeh, the traditional headdress of his country, Zahad’s scarred face was wise beyond his years. “Cousin, let me deal with this situation. Our people need you, now more than ever.”

“The longer we wait, the harder it will be to find her!” Sharif could scarcely think beyond the need to retrieve the woman who would bear his child.

“If you approve, I will fly to California tomorrow and investigate,” Zahad said. “The director of the surrogacy clinic, Noreen Wheaton, has promised to cooperate. However, we must remember that the mother has many rights under American law.”

Angrily, the sheikh turned away. Mirrored in the glass of an arched window, his eyes glittered with rage. His sharp-featured face, hardened by warfare, was softened only slightly by a short beard and mustache, and by the white, banded headcloth that fell across the shoulders of his business suit.