The Sheik and the Virgin Princess (16 page)

“It’s not you,” she mumbled. “I’m angry at Byron.”

Rafe crouched next to her. He wasn’t concerned that Byron had tried anything—he hadn’t left them alone long enough for anything to happen. “What did he do?”

“Nothing. It’s what he said.” She raised her head and glared at him. “Do I look stupid to you?”

“Not at all.”

“I didn’t think so. Men worrying that I’m not smart enough has never been the problem. Usually they think I’m too smart.”

“So the duke thought you were an idiot?”

“Apparently.” She rubbed her temples. “I can’t even say it. It’s just too humiliating.”

Rafe rose to his feet. “If he insulted you—”

“He did, but not the way you’re thinking,” she said, interrupting. She looked away. “He said I was beautiful.”

“What?” Rafe frowned. That was hardly an insult. He ignored the tension in his chest that told him he didn’t like the duke complimenting Zara.

“You heard me.”

He sank next to her on the grass. She wore her hair down in a thick braid. As she spoke, she twisted the braid around her fingers.

“Why is that so horrible?” he asked. “Don’t you want him saying nice things?”

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t want him lying to me and expecting me to believe him. I would have accepted pretty or even attractive. But beautiful? The man obviously thinks I’m a moron. Or he doesn’t think at all. Or he assumes that I’ll be so bowled over by his flattery that I won’t bother to question his sincerity.”

“I think you’re making too much of this.”

“Of course you’d say that. You’re a man. But it’s significant to me.”

Rafe sensed he was treading on dangerous territory. He decided to go slowly and carefully. “You’re an attractive woman, Zara. Beauty isn’t universal. Maybe Byron was telling the truth from his point of view, but you don’t feel comfortable admitting it.” He hated that he was defending the guy.

“Maybe camels fly here in the desert.” She glared at him. “I understand how all this works. When people meet there’s either an attraction or there isn’t. That attraction can color someone’s view but it’s not going to take it out of the realm of reality. I mean you have obviously had sexual feelings for me, at least that one time when we kissed, yet you’d never say I was beautiful.”

She paused just long enough to make Rafe sweat. There was a deep, dark conversation pit right in front of him and he didn’t know how to keep from falling in. Fortunately Zara kept talking.

“If Byron knew me and had spent time with me, I just might believe him. But right now he’s just playing some stupid game with me and it’s really annoying. Is it always going to be like this? I thought getting a date was bad before, but this is impossible.”

Another of the king’s cats strolled by. Rafe patted the creature before turning his attention back to Zara.

“Take a deep breath and slow down,” he told her. “First of all, you’re still getting used to a new situation. It won’t always be so confusing. Second, give yourself some credit. You act like you’re the female version of the elephant man. That’s not true.”

“I know the kind of woman I am, and I know what men say about me.” She tossed her braid back over her shoulder. “I’m smart and intimidating. Not beautiful, not sexy. Cleo’s the man magnet in this family.”

“You’re not giving yourself enough credit.” He found her damned sexy, although he couldn’t tell her. Not without creating a different kind of trouble.

She shook her head impatiently. “Get real. My dissertation was on the changing face of society as demonstrated by feminist writers in the last quarter of the twentieth century. I doubt that makes you think of sweaty sheets. It’s just impossible. I’m never going to find someone who wants me.”

She’d gone from angry to vulnerable in a heartbeat. He could handle the former, but not the latter. Her slumped shoulders and bleak expression made him want to pull her close and offer comfort. A dangerous proposition, he reminded himself. He was the hired help—nothing more.

“You’ll find him,” he told her. “The right guy is out there.”

“How will I find him? And where is he? If you have any names with you, please feel free to pass them along.”

She started to get to her feet. Involuntarily Rafe grabbed her wrist to hold her in place. The second his fingers touched her soft skin, he knew he’d made a really big mistake. Especially when she looked at him and he saw the questions in her big eyes. Questions and desire.

An answering spark leaped to life inside of him. His self-control deserted him, leaving him hungry. There was only one way to satisfy his appetite. Only one way and with one woman…

“Rafe.”

She breathed his name, the single syllable giving away more than she realized. He heard the anticipation, the wanting. It increased the fire inside of him, burning away the last of his resistance. Before he could come to his senses and head for the open desert, he pulled her close.

She melted against him. Her arms came around his neck as he hauled her onto his lap. He shifted so that he could lean against the base of a date palm. The right side of her chest pressed against his. She was hot, sweet and more desirable than any woman he’d ever known. At that moment he felt as if he would die if he didn’t kiss her.

So he did. He moved his lips against hers, exploring what he’d discovered before, listening for the sound of her breath catching, pleased when her fingers trembled. He licked her lower lip. When she parted, he slipped inside, teasing her, tasting her, taking her deeply, insistently. She didn’t shy away or protest. Instead she strained toward him, circling his tongue, then closing her lips around him and sucking gently.

Need shot to his groin, engorging him to the point of discomfort. He swore silently, knowing this was a game he couldn’t win. Not with her.

But she tempted him beyond reason. One of his hands lay on her thigh. He moved his palm along the outside seam of her slacks to the curve of her hip. From there he slipped to her rear. He squeezed the roundness, then eased her into a straddling position with her feminine center resting directly on his need.

It was an unbearable combination of pleasure and pain. He couldn’t help grabbing her hips and rocking her against him. Her body moved easily as they found a rhythm that made them both gasp. She cupped his face and continued to kiss him. Tension made her shudder. He could feel her arousal growing, not to mention his own. The second he began calculating the distance to a more private location, he knew he’d crossed the line. He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her off.

Zara was caught by surprise. She flashed him a hurt look. “You can’t be stopping now.”

“I have to.”

He stood up and turned his back on her. He ached with desire. Every inch of him throbbed in time with his rapid heartbeat. What the hell was wrong with him? He never allowed himself to get pulled off course during an assignment. In other circumstances, this sort of distraction could get him killed. He knew better.

“I’m sorry,” he ground out. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

He sensed her moving and turned to see her scrambling to her feet.

“Don’t make it worse by apologizing,” she muttered. “I don’t understand what the big deal is. There’s obviously a huge attraction between us. No one has to know that we explored it.”

“It’s not that simple. I have a responsibility to protect you, even from yourself. And if that’s not a good enough reason, then try telling yourself that these sorts of things have a life of their own. Do you really want to read about your personal life in the tabloids?”

“That would never happen.”

He didn’t bother responding. Zara was new to this world, but he wasn’t. He’d seen the disastrous consequence of an ill-timed affair.

“You’re making me crabby,” she told him. “I hate being crabby. Not to mention confused. I want things with you I’ve never wanted with anyone else. Worse, I’m telling you that and even acting on the impulses. This is so not me. What’s going on here? Is it being in Bahania. Is it the water or maybe early signs of senility?”

Rafe didn’t have an answer. Or maybe he didn’t want to see the truth. He and Zara generated a lot of attraction between them. The heat was dangerous to both of them.

She put her hands on her hips. “Should I assume your silence means you don’t have an answer, either?”

“Not one that makes sense.”

“How helpful is that?” She sighed. “Everything about this situation is unfamiliar. I’ve actually teased you about kissing me. I never do that.”

“I never let personal interfere with business.”

She stared at him. “So this isn’t usual for you?”

“Not even close.”

A smile curved up the corners of her mouth. “That makes me feel a little better.”

He didn’t respond to that statement. There was no point in telling her that his inability to ignore the passion between them had him wondering what the hell was wrong with him. When had he gotten so damn soft? He needed a few weeks in a war zone to improve his reflexes and his self-control.

“Where do we go from here?” Zara asked.

“Nowhere. Nothing’s changed. I work for the king and I don’t get involved with his daughter.”

She dropped her arms to her sides. “You need to find some new material,” she told him. “This same story is getting old.” She turned on her heel and headed for the palace, then paused.

“Oh, by the way, Jean-Paul has invited me to dinner and I accepted. I think you’ll need to dress formally.”

Rafe watched her go, her head high, her slender hips swaying gently. She was back in a temper. She’d also had the last word. Princess Zara…formally Zara Paxton, professor, was turning out to be more trouble than he’d imagined possible. And damned if he didn’t like every second of it.

Once she reached the palace, Zara headed for her room. Dozens of thoughts swirled through her brain, and she didn’t know what was going on. Life had certainly taken a turn for the interesting ever since she’d landed in Bahania. She’d been prepared to feel conflicted about meeting the stranger who might be her father, but she’d never thought she could have man trouble.

For the first time in her life she had two men vying for her attention. Of course neither of them really cared about her—they were interested in getting a connection with the royal family. Of course, there might be a different motive—maybe the duke needed money for his aging manor house. Or Jean-Paul might want a loan to expand the vineyard. Whatever their reasons for pursuing her, she knew they had nothing to do with her as a person. So while her popularity was a change, it was especially unappealing.

She turned the corner and headed for the door leading to the rooms she shared with Cleo. As she stepped inside, she called her sister’s name, but heard only silence. Cleo must be out—maybe with the fabulously handsome Prince Sadik. He had certainly taken notice of Cleo at the state dinner.

Zara wandered around the spacious living room, then plopped down on the sofa. She could see the Arabian Sea in the distance. Already the sun was high in the sky. The temperature would be climbing, and soon it would be difficult for her to be out in the heat. But here in the palace the air was cool.

Zara glanced around at the elegant furnishings, the expensive tapestries and the small wet bar in the corner. She knew if she crossed to it and opened the minirefrigerator, she would find an assortment of drinks, including her favorite sodas. The small cupboard above held different snacks. She could even phone the kitchen and ask that something be sent up.

Bahania was a fantasy come true for her. In fact it was better than her fantasy. She was living in a palace, and if King Hassan really did turn out to be her father, then she was about to become a princess. So what if that made a couple of guys a little weird?

Zara rose and walked to the floor-to-ceiling windows. Restlessness filled her and she knew the cause. Rafe. She didn’t understand anything about him.

She also knew that she was playing a very dangerous game with him. She’d learned a few things in the twenty-eight years she’d spent on the planet, and one of them was that men didn’t lie about certain things. When a guy said he didn’t do relationships, she needed to listen. The problem was, she didn’t want to.

Zara sighed. Rafe had told her that she was a marriage-and-kids kind of woman and that he wasn’t a marriage-and-kids kind of guy. Her gut told her that he was telling the truth on both counts. Unfortunately, knowing he was a mistake didn’t take away his appeal.

She wanted him.

Some of the attraction was sexual. He made her think about things she’d never considered. For the first time in her life she was responding to a man based on chemistry. But there was more to it than that. She couldn’t dismiss everything as being due to hormones.

She liked him.

Zara put her fingertips on the cool glass. She wished it was otherwise, but wishing didn’t change things. She liked being with him, talking with him. She even liked it when they argued. He was straightforward and so masculine. He was kind, although she suspected he would hate that description. He was also attracted to her.

She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been interested in her body with the same intensity Rafe showed. She could see his desire, as well as feel it. How was she supposed to resist that? The combination of sexual attraction and general liking weren’t a temptation she could walk away from. Around him she felt safe and yet strong. She’d never experienced that particular combination before.