Hidden in the Sheikh's Harem: Christmas at the Castello

Feeling wretched, with sand coating every part of her cold, wet body, Farah could have cried with relief when she glanced up to see a rocky incline in front of them.

Jumping down from the stallion’s back, the prince reached up and tugged her off, unceremoniously dragging her and her horse under the shelter. It wasn’t much, just a narrow crevice really, but it was facing away from the wind. When he released her arm, she swayed and he held her while her legs worked to keep her upright.

Carefully she unwrapped her makeshift headdress and shook it out. She tried to brush some of the sand from her body but she was so wet it only made her cold fingers sting. Instead, she used the torn fabric to brush over Moonbeam’s legs to offer him some relief. She could hear the prince shaking out fabric and presumed he had taken his shirt from around the stallion’s head. She knew his skin must be sore from where he’d been pelted by the storm.

‘Thank you,’ she said stiffly.

‘For what?’ His deep voice sounded beside her and she jumped because she hadn’t heard him move and couldn’t see a thing in the blackness.

‘For protecting my horse.’

‘If he had died, so would we,’ he bit out.

Okay, so that cleared up any notions she’d had about him being thoughtful. About to move as far away from him as possible she let out a shriek when he put his hands on her shoulders and worked them down to her waist.

Incensed at the invasion of her person, Farah slapped his hands away. ‘I told you I don’t have any more weapons.’

‘Where’s your mobile phone?’

Feeling small and helpless compared to his size and strength, she shoved at his wide chest, thankful that it was now covered in fabric. ‘Why would I have a mobile phone when our village doesn’t have coverage?’

He cursed and moved away from her. Farah let out a pent-up breath and gave a hollow laugh, her arms coming around her body to ward off the chill. ‘Swearing won’t help, and you only have yourself to blame, because your father refused to spend money on anyone but himself.’

He ignored the jab and once again she heard the rustle of fabric.

‘What are you doing?’ she demanded as he pulled Moonbeam’s blanket off.

‘We need this more than he does.’

‘You can’t just take it off. He’ll freeze.’

‘He will not freeze. He has a thick coat of hair and he’s mostly dry. We are not.’

As if on cue, another huge shiver wracked her body and she rubbed her arms. The wind howled outside their rocky respite but at least it didn’t cut right through her any more. Too tired to argue, she dropped to her knees on the hard ground.

‘You’re too close to the opening there. Come here.’

How he knew her location was beyond her. ‘I’m fine.’

‘That wasn’t a request,’ he growled so close to her she jumped again.

‘I’m too tired to argue with you’ she snapped. ‘Just let me be.’

‘The way your father let me be?’

Farah closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about why they were in this predicament because she knew her father had been wrong to do what he’d done, even if he did think his reasoning was solid. ‘Did I not just say I was too tired to—hey! Put me down!’

‘I too am tired, I’m also hungry and angry, so I would advise you not to test the limits of my patience because that ran out three days ago when your father refused to release me. He hasn’t had the courage to face me since.’

‘My father is not a coward!’

‘No?’ He placed her on the ground more gently than she expected, given the roughness of his hold. ‘So you condone his actions? Or perhaps you assisted him.’ When he sat beside her Farah automatically scooted sideways to get away from him but he grabbed her arm and yanked her back. Then he anchored her with his forearm and pulled her backwards until she was lying on her side with him plastered along her back, his knees pressing into the backs of hers.

‘I’m not sleeping with you!’

He tugged the horse blanket over the top of them. ‘No, you’re not. You’re sleeping next to me. There’s a big difference, habiba, and believe me you would not be invited to do the former.’

Farah felt her blood boil at his arrogance.

‘But there is only one blanket,’ he continued, shifting her even closer. ‘And, given that you can’t stop shaking, we need to share body heat to warm up. Relax and this will go a lot easier.’