Bella and the Merciless Sheikh

‘Everyone loves her,’ Rachid said, glancing towards the desert with worry in his eyes. ‘Perhaps I made a mistake. Kamal said I should have sent someone to follow her but she was most insistent—’

‘Kamal?’ Zafiq stared at them with growing frustration. ‘What does Kamal have to do with this? He is still in hospital.’

‘Bella has visited him every day since he’s been in hospital,’ Rachid told him. ‘Taking him pictures of the horses. She really makes him laugh. She tells terrible jokes.’

Zafiq knew all about her terrible jokes. ‘What do you mean, you will all miss her when she leaves—where is she going?’

‘Home to England.’

Zafiq felt as though he’d been thumped in the chest. ‘Why would she do that?’

‘She didn’t say. She just said it was the right thing.’

‘She should not have gone into the desert!’

Yousif cleared his throat. ‘Stopping Bella is a bit like trying to stop Batal when he is galloping, Your Highness. A lost cause.’

‘She will certainly be lost by now,’ Zafiq said through gritted teeth, and Yousif flushed.

‘You are worried about Amira, of course—what do you want us to do, Your Highness?’

Realising that his concern for Bella eclipsed his worry for his favourite mare, Zafiq dragged his fingers through his hair. They were waiting for him to make a decision and for the first time in his life cool, rational thought evaded him.

Driven by concern for Bella, he vaulted onto the back of his stallion. ‘I will ride after her.’

‘I will come with you,’ Rachid said immediately, but Zafiq shook his head. ‘No.’

Yousif and Rachid looked at each other. ‘At least take your guards. Do you want us to call the Retreat and say you are on your way?’

‘No guards. And I don’t want you to contact the Retreat.’ Zafiq knew she wouldn’t be there. At the thought of her sitting cross-legged, drinking herbal tea, he almost laughed. But his desire to laugh faded as he thought about how much danger she was in.

She thought she knew the desert…

And he knew that an assumption of knowledge could be more dangerous than an ad mission of ignorance. It was impossible not to think about what had happened last time Bella had ridden into the desert alone.

Nursing a clear memory of her lying in the sand, dangerously dehydrated, Zafiq urged Batal forwards and prayed that he wouldn’t be too late.

Bella was lying on her back in the pool when she heard the thunder of hooves and saw the growing cloud of sand. ‘Our peace is over, Amira.’

But her heart sank because she knew who was coming.

Would he arrest her for stealing his horse a second time?

Amira threw up her head and whinnied, her ears flicking forwards and her nostrils flaring.

Deciding that she didn’t have time to grab her clothes, Bella stood so that just her head appeared above the water as Zafiq rode into the camp like a warrior going into battle.

Watching him, Bella wondered whether the pain would fade once she was thou sands of miles away from him. ‘What happened to the princess,’ she called lazily, hiding her agony behind in difference, ‘not pretty enough? Or did she answer you back?’ She skimmed her hands over the water and watched as the ripples spread across the surface.

‘Even after weeks in my country you have developed no respect for the harshness of the desert.’ His voice a furious growl, Zafiq sprang from the horse with an athletic grace that Bella found it impossible not to admire.

‘Calm down. You’re sheikhing yourself up over nothing.’

He cast her a warning glance and walked across to Amira. ‘Has the mare had water?’