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

Alexa closed her eyes and snuggled closer and his warm, masculine scent made her stomach quiver. ‘Have you any idea how it feels to have someone on your side after a lifetime of being alone?’ For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt safe. ‘How is your arm?’

‘Barely hurting.’

She smiled in the darkness. ‘You’re lying.’

‘Tell me about your dream, Alexa.’

Her smile faded. ‘I don’t want to talk about that.’

‘Try.’ He smoothed a hand gently over her hair, and shifted slightly so that he held her even closer. ‘For me, habibati.’

‘After they were killed, I suppose I was in shock. I just wanted to wind the clock back. I wished I’d made my parents go back for the doll while I stayed in the car. I wished something had happened to stop us leaving at that exact moment.’ Alexa paused, hollowed out by sadness. ‘That’s the dream I have. Time and time again I race towards the car to warn them, but I’m too late. I’m always too late.’

‘I cannot believe I didn’t discover any of this when I was in Rovina.’

‘You weren’t looking.’

‘Why was no one able to protect you?’

‘My uncle is very, very clever and he had many supporters. And, don’t forget, he didn’t exactly present me in a good light. By the time he’d finished, most people were wondering how a princess who couldn’t even drive her car straight could possibly run a country. I knew I had to get away if I was ever going to survive. I pinned all my hopes on this marriage to the Sultan. It was my only escape route.’

‘And you’re taking it.’

‘Do you blame me?’ She lifted her head and saw Karim’s eyes glitter in the torchlight.

‘No,’ he said harshly. ‘After everything you’ve told me, I do not blame you.’

‘You saved my life tonight.’ Unable to help herself, she reached out a hand and touched his face, feeling the roughness of his jaw beneath her fingers. ‘I just panicked and ran.’

‘You have no reason to thank me.’ Suddenly he seemed tense. ‘It is my job to protect you. And I will protect you, Alexa. You can be sure of that.’

His job . Alexa felt despair and disappointment mingle, and let her hand drop. What had she expected? Comfort wasn’t part of his job description. ‘I don’t know what the Sultan told you when he gave you this mission, but I don’t suppose the brief included getting yourself shot. It was hard for me to trust you, but I’m glad I did. You’re the first person I’ve met who hasn’t betrayed that trust. Thank you.’

‘You are safe, and that is what matters.’

She knew she ought to move. He’d taken her in his arms to give her comfort, nothing more. But she couldn’t bring herself to move away from his warmth and strength. In a minute , she promised herself, her eyes sliding nervously around the shadows of the cave. ‘Do you think they’ll find us?’

‘No. You should get some sleep.’

‘I don’t want to sleep.’

‘Because of the nightmares? I suspect you only have the dream when you are wound up and tense.’

Sensing that he was about to tip her off his lap, she reached up and wound her arms round his neck. ‘Can we stay like this? Just for a minute?’

His muscles were rock hard and rigid beneath her quivering body. ‘Alexa—’

‘Please, Karim?’ She whispered the words against the smooth, warm skin of his neck and felt his throat move.

‘Alexa, we can’t—’

‘I just want you to hug me, that’s all. Do you know how long it is since anyone hugged me? I was eight years old, and I barely remember it.’

He didn’t answer for a moment, and then shifted his body and lay down, taking her with him. ‘I will hold you and you will sleep.’

He made it sound like an order, and she gave a contented smile because only Karim would think of ordering a person to sleep.

But at least he was still holding her .

‘Do you always try and control everything that goes on around you?’

‘Always.’

She felt his muscles flex as he reached for a blanket and covered them both. ‘Sleep, Alexa.’

The darkness suddenly seemed intimate and welcoming, and she wondered why she’d ever been afraid of the caves.

But the moment his arms came round her, and she felt his hard, athletic body brushing intimately against hers, she knew that there was no hope of sleep.

Why did she feel like this?

It was just because she’d confided in him, she told herself, because he’d saved her and listened and offered sympathy. These feelings inside her were there simply because, for the first time in her lonely life, she’d dared to share her problems with another person.

It was just gratitude .

But the slow, dangerous curl of warmth low in her pelvis didn’t feel anything like gratitude, and she shifted slightly to ease the electric buzz in her body.

‘Stop moving.’ Karim sounded equally tense, and she was just about to pull away from him when he gave a low groan, rolled her on her back and brought his mouth down hard on hers, his kiss hungry and urgent. His hand slid into her hair and cupped the back of her head, holding her firmly while his mouth seduced hers with shocking expertise, demanding a response from her.

And she gave freely. It didn’t enter her head to push him away, because why would she want to stop something that felt so completely right?

He kissed in exactly the way she remembered, and her response was as wild and uncontrolled as it had been before. Excitement exploded through her, and she dug her fingers into his hard, strong shoulders, holding on as he drove her wild. She felt helpless and out of control, and when she felt his hand slide over her taut nipple she cried out against his mouth and arched in urgent invitation.

He knew exactly where to touch her—how to touch her—to derive the maximum response from her, and Alexa shifted against the blanket in an attempt to relieve the maddening ache between her legs. And he must have known what he was doing to her, because his hand moved lower still, and she felt the gentle brush of his fingers touching her intimately. And that almost agonizing intimacy jerked her out of her stupor.

She couldn’t do this, could she?

No matter how right it felt, it was still wrong.

Karim couldn’t be part of her future.

‘No.’ Never had it felt so hard to say that word, and her fingers closed over the hard muscle of his arm as if she knew that she was never going to have the will-power to do this by words alone. ‘No. We have to stop. We have to stop now.’ Before she was unable to stop. And she was already so close to that point.

He broke the kiss briefly, but only to look deep into her eyes, and the intensity of that look and the warmth of his breath was as seductive as the touch of his mouth. ‘You want to stop?’

No. No, she didn’t. But she had to . ‘I don’t want this.’

‘That’s a lie.’ Dismissing her rejection with his usual confidence, his mouth claimed hers again and she felt herself descending into a thick, sensual fog that threatened to consume her.

‘No, Karim.’ Denying her own sensuality, she dragged her mouth away from his and this time she turned her head. ‘You have to stop! It’s not right. I’m marrying the Sultan. We shouldn’t be doing this.’

‘You want me.’ His arrogant statement left no room for denial, and she didn’t even bother trying.

‘Yes. But that doesn’t change anything.’ Faced with the most impossible decision, she shifted away from him slightly, wishing that she knew how to calm the reaction of her body. ‘I—This should never have happened. I can’t be with you, Karim. I’m not the sort of woman who can sleep with one man and then marry another. It wouldn’t be right.’