Bella and the Merciless Sheikh

‘Get out of the water, Bella!’ His voice roughened by exasperation, Zafiq paced to the edge of the pool. ‘Say something!’

He looked sensational with the sun turning his hair blue-black, the intensity of his gaze demanding that she look at him.

Shock turned to happiness and then faded away into the most agonising misery.

How could she?

‘That’s a heck of a sacrifice to make for sex, Zafiq.’

‘You think I’m asking you to marry me so that I can have sex?’

‘You haven’t actually asked me to marry you—’ Bella felt something brush against her ankle and gave a squeal. ‘Zafiq, there’s something in this pool. Ugh!’

He lifted an eyebrow. ‘I thought desert creatures didn’t bother you?’

‘I like lizards but this was slimy.’ She was hopping around on one leg, whimpering, and Zafiq gave a masculine smile, stripped off his clothes and joined her in the water in a smooth dive.

He surfaced right next to her and lifted her into his arms. ‘It is a piece of weed.’

‘What?’

‘Around your ankle.’ Casually he flipped it away. ‘Not a creature. Not slimy.’

‘It felt slimy. Put me down, Zafiq—I don’t have any clothes on.’

‘That’s the way I prefer you,’ he drawled softly, his eyes on her mouth as he lowered her into the water and drew her against him.

Bella gasped as she felt the heat of his body against hers. ‘What are you doing?’

‘I’m proposing.’ He murmured the words against her mouth. ‘Could you say yes quickly so that we can cut straight to the exciting part?’

Mesmerised by the wicked look in his eyes and by the explosive reaction of her own body, Bella moaned. ‘No…I can’t— No.’ She had to be strong about this. She had to remember what she’d learned—how she was determined to live her life. ‘No, Zafiq.’

Zafiq sighed. ‘Now what?’

‘I said no.’

‘I heard you—what I want to know is why. I know you love me, so don’t try and deny it.’

‘Yes, I do love you. But you don’t love me. And that isn’t good enough for me. I don’t want to marry for money or status. I don’t even want to marry because I’m in love. I’ll only marry when it’s an equal partnership. When love is given and returned. When we both want the same things. When we’re a team because we have an emotional bond, not a paper one.’

‘Bella—’

‘Whatever anyone says, I’m not like my mother,’ Bella whispered. ‘I won’t marry without love. You taught me how it’s possible to feel, and I don’t want to feel less than that. And I want a man who feels the same way about me, otherwise what chance will we have? I won’t settle for less than a love match because I’ve seen what happens when you do.’

His dark eyes were locked on hers. ‘What makes you think I don’t love you?’

‘Er, possibly the fact that you’ve never said those words to me?’

‘You have never said those words to me either.’

‘I have,’ she said hotly. ‘When I fell off Batal into your arms, I said, “I love you.” And you never mentioned it. You never reacted.’

Zafiq let out a long, exasperated breath. ‘I assumed you were talking to the horse.’

‘You thought I was declaring my love for your horse?’

‘You are always saying things like that to the horses. The staff tell me you chat to them all the time, telling them how much you love them and how good they are.’

Bella blushed. ‘Well, that’s true, I guess.’