‘Careful, habiba, you don’t want it to go to his head,’ Jag mused as he turned back to her. ‘This is supposed to be one of the fiercest horses in the land but he looks as if one word from you would send him to his knees.’
Regan smiled. ‘He looks fierce because I suspect people have always been scared of him, but all he needs is to hear how amazing he is.’
Jaeger quirked a brow. ‘Don’t we all?’
Regan paused. Was that what Jaeger needed? To hear how amazing he was?
‘That was Tarik. He has just informed me that the tribe of my ancestors has invited us to attend a congratulatory dinner tonight.’
Regan blinked at him. ‘Because the summit is over?’
‘No, because I have decided to take a bride.’
She stared at him blankly and he let out a rough laugh. ‘You, habiba.’
‘But we’re not really going to be married!’ she said, shock sending her voice high.
‘To them we are.’
Regan shook her head, frowning. ‘I’m not sure it’s wise for me to meet even more of your people.’ She shook her head, compelled to state the obvious. ‘I mean, I’m not your fiancée. I’m a pawn. We both are because I’m using you to ensure Chad doesn’t spend the rest of his life in some dungeon, and you’re using me to get Milena back.’
A muscle flickered in his jaw, the one that worked every time he got angry. ‘I don’t have a dungeon,’ he growled.
Before she had time to react he caught her face in his strong hands and raised her lips to his. Momentarily stunned, Regan stood there, her body flush against his. It wasn’t a gentle kiss, or an exploratory kiss. It wasn’t even a nice kiss. It was hot and demanding, skilfully divesting her of any willpower to resist. Not that she was trying to.
Instead her arms hooked around his neck and she rose up onto her toes, meeting the sensual onslaught of his attack with a hunger as deep as his own.
At her total acquiescence he groaned, shifting her so that she was pressed between him and the stable wall, her head tilted back so that she was his to command. And he did, softening the kiss, taking her lips one at a time before plundering her mouth with his tongue.
Her lips clung to his, a sob of pure need rising up inside of her. This was what she wanted, what she needed, what she had craved ever since he had kissed her and touched her that night in the garden suite. This thrilling throb of desire that she had only ever experienced in his arms. It was like a fever in her blood, a rush of sensation that couldn’t be denied.
And then it was over just as quickly as it had begun. Once more he pulled back and she was left panting and unsteady, her body aching and empty.
She heard him curse as he turned his back on her. Then he spun towards her, breathing hard.
A groom exited a nearby stall carrying a tack box and Regan wondered if that was why he’d stopped.
She glanced up to see Jag watching her and for once he didn’t seem completely immune to what had just happened between them.
‘I think that should clear up any misconceptions you have that I didn’t want a repeat of our kiss the other night.’
She blinked up at him, shocked at what he had just disclosed.
He looked shocked himself and shook his head. ‘Wise or not, we have to attend the dinner tonight. It would be an insult not to, since we are already in the region. We will spend the night at my oasis and return to the palace first thing tomorrow morning.’
‘Your oasis?’
‘The place I come to when I want to unwind.’
CHAPTER NINE
WHEN WAS HE going to learn that kissing her was not the way to expunge her from his system?
He shook his head and strode inside his Bedouin tent. Set on the edge of a private rock pool and surrounded by palm trees, it was an upscale version of those his ancestors had used to live in. Usually he felt a sense of peace wash over him as he shed the suits and royal robes to reconnect with the man beneath, but not tonight.
He yanked his shirt over his head and made his way to the purpose-built shower at the back. He should not have let her words anger him, he thought savagely; that had been the problem.
He wasn’t used to someone questioning the wisdom of his decisions and he didn’t like the reminder of how they were using each other even though it was true. Riding Bariq back to the stables with her tucked against his ba