Anger pulsed hot through his veins, along with a sizzling, unwanted awareness of the woman now standing so close to him that he could see the tiny pulse point thudding at the base of her neck, hear the hitch in her breath, smell the cinnamon-rose scent of her perfume. Despite his rage, Raheem’s traitorous cock twitched in response. Not good. Not good at all.
“For your information, Miss Bliss, I brought you here because my sleeping chamber has the only Western-style bed in the encampment. I thought it might be more comfortable for you than our more traditional arrangements, since you appear to be exhausted from hiking around the dunes all day. My intention was to let you have the bed, the entire bed, for yourself. I would sleep in the adjacent chamber, which has a comfortable divan and pillows. At no time
had I planned to touch you in any way, no matter how tempting. I only wanted you here for your brains and ideas, not your delectable body. Do I make myself clear?”
It was her turn to blink up at him this time, surprise written all over her expression. Whatever response he’d been expecting her to give, it wasn’t, “You find me tempting and delectable?”
This took a bit of wind out of Raheem’s sails. While his libido continued to boil around her, he stepped back and straightened the white linen robe he’d chosen to wear tonight in place of his usual khaki shorts and T-shirt. At least the voluminous folds would help to hide his obvious arousal, he hoped. He glanced up and met her gaze. “You called me Sultan Sexy Boy.”
She bit her lip and his gaze was drawn to the tiny movement before he forced himself to look away. This was ridiculous. They were both grown adults. She was obviously not thinking right due to her tiredness and he ought to know better than to engage with such an exasperating female under duress. Besides, it had been far too long since he’d taken a lover to bed. That must explain his strange, nearly overwhelming reactions to her.
With a sigh, Miss Bliss stepped forward and extended her hand to him. “How about we start over. I’m Laura Bliss, assistant location scout. Please call me Laura.”
Raheem hesitated, remembering the sparks of connection he’d felt the first time they’d touched and fearing it would be all the more potent after their emotional outburst. He was right. Still, he tamped down the need growing inside him and instead bowed slightly at the waist. “And I am Sheik Raheem bin Haik al Nazdrani. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Laura. Please call me Raheem.”
Instead of merely shaking her hand, he bent farther and brushed his lips over the back of her hand. She gasped, a quiet sound he would’ve missed if he wasn’t so attuned to her. Luckily, she pulled her hand free and cradled it against her stomach as if she’d been burnt. She glanced around at the tent, then over at the entrance, where two servants entered to stand guard inside the tent. Before she could say anything more, a yawn escaped her and her shoulders slumped.
“Truthfully, I am pretty tired. I suppose staying here tonight wouldn’t be awful. I’ll need to leave first thing in the morning though.”
“We were planning to break camp at dawn anyway,” Raheem said, leading her over to a sitting area strewn with pillows. A table was set up in the middle and a gold bowl filled with fresh fruit decorated the center of it. They flopped down on the pillows, opposite each other, and Raheem waved to the servants to bring them fresh water to drink. “My brother Feraz must get back to his governing and my other brother Rehaj must tell him how to do it.”
Laura snorted at his sarcastic tone. “Do you have any other siblings?”
“Alas, yes.” He thanked the servants then dismissed them. “Four sisters, all extremely nosy. Beware.”
“Noted.” She pulled a small bunch of grapes from the bowl and began popping them in her mouth one by one. Raheem did his best not to notice her soft pink lips again. “So, you wanted to know my views on your country?”
“Most definitely.” He grabbed a handful of dried apricots. “Begin by telling me your first impressions, please. From the time you landed at our airport onward.”
4
The next morning, Laura woke early and quickly got ready. She was alone in the tent. Where her enigmatic host had gotten to at the crack of dawn she couldn’t imagine, but Laura wouldn’t argue that having some space to herself was nice after last night.
They’d ended up staying awake much later than she’d intended, talking about his homeland and her impressions of his country in general. She’d been honest and fair and he’d seemed to take her opinions seriously, even if he had argued a point or two with her. Mainly about the industrialization of Djeva, funnily enough.
She wouldn’t have pegged the playboy sheikh for the tree-hugging type, but he’d gotten genuinely angry when she’d remarked about the expansion of a certain high-profile American oil company buying up property in Djeva for drilling purposes. When she’d tried to question him further about his plans to stop them, though, he’d shut her down fast. Which only left her more curious. She’d always imagined Middle Eastern rulers sitting on their golden thrones somewhere and ruling their destitute people with an iron fist.
Still, in the brief time that she’d spent so far in Djeva’s capital city of Al-Qusta, it had seemed clean, well-maintained, and thoroughly commercialized. Some of the other smaller emirates in the area, she knew, had sold their available land to the highest bidders in order to raise quick capital for the lavish lifestyles of their ruling families. Was Raheem’s clan one of those?
The thought bothered Laura more than she cared to admit. After all Sheikh Raheem was nothing to her. They barely knew each other. And after he and his crew safely deposited her back at her hotel, chances were high she’d never see him again. So why did it bother her so much if he’d sold out his homeland to build some pleasure palace in the desert?
It didn’t. End of story.
She shook off the absurd idea and grabbed a bagel off the buffet table in the tent before marching outside. The quiet courtyard from the night before was a hub of activity. Crews were tearing down and packing away and from what she could see, her tent was the only one left standing.
These people were fast, she’d give them that. It wasn’t even six a.m. yet and they were ready to head back to civilization. Across the way, she spotted a pretty woman with long flowing black hair wearing a bright purple maxi dress. Must be one of the nosy sisters Raheem had chatted about the night before. Feeling in the way, Laura headed over to where the woman stood near the caravan of vehicles being packed up for the trip home.
As she approached, Laura noticed the other woman was on her cell phone. But as Laura neared, she quickly ended her call and held out her hand, her smile wide and dazzling. There was a slight resemblance to Raheem in the woman’s fine bone structure and regal bearing, but where Raheem’s eyes were like molten gold, this woman’s irises were onyx-dark. “You must be the late arrival my brother was complaining about last night. I’m Jessenia, Raheem’s older sister.” She looked Laura up and down with an appraising eye, then narrowed her gaze. “He mentioned you worked for a film production company. That must be terribly exciting.”
Laura introduced herself and shrugged. “Well, the terrible part is right. If I hadn’t been out searching for some stupid dune all day, I wouldn’t have gotten lost and I wouldn’t have had to crash your encampment last night.”
Jessenia gave a dismissive wave. “Whatever. I’m sure you’re very good at your job. It’s easy to get disoriented in these deserts. People have died out here, you know.” She gave Laura a side glance. “And as for you crashing our camp last night, I’d say it was more fate than anything. Do you believe in fate, Miss Bliss?”
“Laura, please. And not really, no. I believe we make our own fate or luck through our choices.”
“Hmm. Ah, there’s my brother now.” Jessenia waved Raheem over. “Your guest is ready.”
Raheem bowed slightly, a small smile curving his full lips and once more Laura was struck by just how handsome he was. Tall, muscular without being bulky, with midnight hair and eyes that would drive a saint to sin. She found herself batting her eyelashes at him before she caught herself. Lord have mercy. She was here to work, or she would be as soon as she was back at her hotel. She was not here to flirt with strange men in the middle of the sand dunes, no matter how drop-dead gorgeous.