You cant do this This is about protecting what is mine. Rakhal was completely unmoved by her dramatics .

. She was s tarting to beat him with her hands , but he captur ed her wris ts . Why are you doing this to me? Becaus e I could not leave you at yo ur home. If you are pregnant with my child then I need to be certain you are tak ing care of yours elf and will do nothing to jeopardis e its exis tence. You wil l s tay in the Palace, where youll be well looked after Where will you be? In the des ert. Soon I am to take a wife. It is right that I go there for contemplation an d meditation while we wait to s ee the outcome with you. You will be well taken care of, you will be looked after, and if you are not pregnant of cours e you ca n come back home. And if I am? s he begged, but already s he knew the ans wer. You a re pregnant s o matter-of-fact was his voice as he s aid it, her heart hammered i n her ches t then there is no ques tion that we will marry.

About the Author recently lled in a form where s he was as ked for her job title and was thrilled , after all thes e years , to be able to put down her ans wer as writer. Then it a s ked what Carol did for relaxation and, after chewing her pen for a moment, Car ol put down the truthwriting. The third ques tion as ked, What are your hobbies ? Wel l, not wanting to look obs es s ed or, wors e s till, boring, s he cros s ed the ngers on her free hand and ans wered s wimming and tennis . But, given that the c hlorine in the pool does terrible things to her highlights , and the clos es t s hes got to a tennis racket in the las t couple of years is watching the Aus tral ian Open, Im s ure you can gues s the real ans wer! CAROL MARINELLI Recent titles by the s ame author: AN INDECENT PROPOSITION A SHAMEFUL CONSEQUENC E (The Secrets of Xanos ) HEART OF THE DESERT THE DEVIL WEARS KOLOVSKY Carol als o writes for Mills & Boon Medical Romance ! Did you know thes e are als o availab le as eBooks ? Vis it www.mills andboon.co.uk

Banished to the Harem Carol Marinelli www.mills andboon.co.uk

For Colleen, Loads of love to you. Thank you for the friends hip. Carol xxx

PROLOGUE I SHALL return on Monday. Crown Prince Sheikh Rakhal Alzirz would not be s wayed. N ow, onto other matters . But the King has reques ted that you leave London immedia tely. Rakhals jaw tightened as Abdul pres s ed on. It was rare indeed for Abdul to pers is t when Rakhal had made his feelings clear on a s ubject, for Rakhal was not a man who changed his mind oftennor did he take orders from an aideeven his m os t s enior one. But in this cas e Abdul was relaying orders that came directly from the King, which forced him to be bold. The King is mos t ins is tent that y ou return to Alzirz by tomorrow. He will not hear otherwis e. I s hall s peak with my father mys elf, Rakhal s aid. I am not s imply going to walk away at his biddi ng. The King is unwell, though. Abdul clos ed his eyes for a moment, grief and worry evident on his face. Which is why I s hall be married before the months end, Rakha l interrupted. I accept that it is important for our people to have the s ecurity of knowing the Crown Prince is married, es pecially with the King now ill, howe ver Rakhal did not nis h his s entence. He did not need to explain hims elf to Ab dul, s o again he changed the s ubject, his black eyes daring Abdul not join him this time. Now, onto other matters . He did not wait for his aides nod. We need to dis cus s a s uitable gift to celebrate this mornings news from Alzan. I want to expres s my delight to Sheikh King Emir Alzan. A dark s mile twis ted at the edge of Rakhals full lips , for des pite the news about his fathers health, des pite t he s ummons for him to return to Alzirz and choos e a bride, the week had at lea s t brought one piece of good news . In fact two pieces of good news ! Something very pink, Rakhal s aid, and for the rs t time that morning Abdul s miled too, fo r it was good news indeed. The birth of female twins in Alzan gave the Kingdom o f Alzirz s ome much-needed breathing s pace. Not much, for undoubtedly Emir and his wife would s oon produce a s on, but for now there was reas on to s mile. Lo ng ago Alzirz and Alzan had been one countryAlzanirzbut there had been much unres t and the Sultan at the time had s ought a s olution. A mix-up at the birth of h is identical twin s ons had provided him with one, and on his death the Kingdom of Alzanirz had been divided between his s ons . It was a temporary s olutionat l eas t temporary in des ert terms for the mathematicians and predictors of the tim e had all agreed that in years , or even hundreds of years , the two countries w ould again become one. It could be no other way, becaus e a s pecial law had bee n des igned for each country that meant one day they would be reunited. Each cou ntry had been given one law by which they mus t abide, and only the oppos ing ru ler could revoke it. In Alzirz, where Rakhal would s oon be King, the ruler coul d take but one wedded partner in their lifetime, and his rs tborn, whether boy o r girl, would be heir. Rakhals mother, Layla, weak and thin and grieving her Bedo uin life, had died birthing Rakhal, her only child, and the country had held its breath as the tiny, premature infant s truggled to hold on to life. For a while it had s eemed that the predictions of old were coming true, and that the Kingd om of Alzirz would be handed over to Alzans rulefor how could a baby born s o earl y, a baby s o tiny, pos s ibly s urvive?

could a baby born s o early, a baby s o tiny, pos s ibly s urvive? But Rakhal ha d not only s urvived. Out of the s tarvation of his mothers womb he had thrived. In Alzan the one rule was di erentthere the King could marry again on the death o f his wife, but the ruler of Alzan mus t always be male. And now, as of this mor ning, Emir was the father of two little girls . Oh, there would be much celebrat ing and dancing in Alzirz tonight their country was s afe. For now. Having entere d his third decade, Rakhal could no longer put it o . He had rowed frequently ab out this with his father, but now accepted that it was time for him to choos e h is bride. A wife he would bed at her fertile times only, for s he would be res t ed at other times . A wife he would s ee only for copulation and at formal funct ions or s pecial occas ions . She would live a luxurious , pampered life in her own area of the palace, and guide the rais ing of children he would barely s ee. Emir would s ee his children. Rakhal recognis ed the darknes s that dwelled with in him as he thought of his rival, but it did not enter his head that jealous y might res ide there toofor Rakhal knew that he had everything. Do you have any ide as as to a gift? Abdul broke into Rakhals thoughts . Two pink diamonds , perhaps ? R akhal mus ed. No. He changed his mind. I need to think about this . I want s omethi ng more s ubtle than diamonds s omething that will make him churn as he receives it. Of cours e he and Emir were polite when they met, but there was a deep rivalr y between thema rivalry that had exis ted before either was born and would be pas s ed on for generations to come. For once I will enjoy choos ing a gift. Very well , Abdul s aid, gathering up his papers and preparing to leave the s tudy in Rakha ls luxurious hotel s uite. But as he got to the door he could not help hims elf f rom as king, You will s peak with the King? Rakhal dis mis s ed him with a wave of his hand. He did not ans wer to his aidehe had s aid that he would s peak to the King, and that was enough. Rakhal did s peak with his father. He was the only p ers on in Alzirz who was not intimidated by the King. You are to return this ins tant, the King demanded. The people are becoming uns ettled and need to know that you have chos en your bride. I wis h to go to my grave knowing you s hall produc e an heir. You are to return and marry. Of cours e, Rakhal res ponded calmly, becau s e there was no debating that point. But he refus ed to dance to his fathers tun ethey were two s trong and proud men and often clas hed. Both had been born natur al leaders , and neither liked to be told what to do, yet there was another reas on that Rakhal s tood his ground and told his father he would not return till M onday. If he boarded a plane immediately, if he gave in without protes t, then h is father would really know that he was dying. And he was dying. Hanging up the phone, Rakhal clos ed his eyes and res ted his head on his hands for a moment. H e had s poken at length yes terday with the royal doctor and he knew more than t he King did. His father had but a few months to live. Convers ations with his fa ther were always di cult, always s tilted. As a child Rakhal had been brought up by the maidens , and had s een his father only on s pecial occas ions . Once, a s a teenager, he had joined his father in the des ert and learnt the teachings o f old. Now, though, as leaders hip approached for Rakhal, his father s eemed to want to dis cus s his every move. It was one of the reas ons Rakhal liked London . He liked the freedom of this s trange land, where women talked about making lo ve and demanded things from their partner that were not neces s ary in Alzirz. H e wanted to linger jus t a little longer.

neces s ary in Alzirz. He wanted to linger jus t a little longer. Rakhal had a d eep a nity for the city that was , of cours e, never dis cus s ed. Only by chanc e had Rakhal found out that it was here in this hotel that he had been conceiveda break with des ert rules that had not only cos t his mother her life, but als o threatened the very country he would s oon rule. He s tood and headed to the wi ndow and looked at the grey view, at the mis ty rain and the cluttered s treets . He could not wholly fathom this countrys appeal, for he knew it was the des ert where he belonged, the des ert he mus t return to. The des ert that was s ummon ing him home.

CHAPTER ONE T HE policewoman could not have been more bored as s he ins tructed Natas ha to ll out the neces s ary forms . And, yes , in the s cheme of things it was nt exac tly riveting that her car had been s tolen, and neither was it a dis as ter, but on the back of everything els e that s he was dealing with, today of all days , Natas ha could very eas ily have put her head on the des k and wept. She didnt, of cours e. Natas ha jus t got on with what s he had toit was how this year had b een. Her long, thick red hair was wet from the rain and dripped on the counter a s s he bent her head. She pus hed it out of her eyes . Her ngers were white from the cold. If her car had to have been s tolen, Natas ha almos t wis hed it coul d have been in a couple of days time, when s he would have known nothing about i t. Natas ha was s uppos ed to be s pending this gruelling day planning a holiday . It was the annivers ary of her parents death, and s he had wanted to mark it s omehow. She had been determined to pus h on with her life, but had nally lis te ned when her friends had s aid that s he needed a breaka proper oneand it didnt nee d to be expens ive. As a s ubs titute teacher it had been eas y for her to arran ge a fortnight o , and today s he had been planning to vis it the cemetery and t hen go to a friends hous e to book the cheapes t, hottes t place on the planet s he could a ord. Ins tead s he was s tanding in a draughty police s tation, polit ely trying not to lis ten as the woman bes ide her reported a domes tic incident . The policewomans voice s uddenly trailed o mid-s entence. In fact the whole roo m s eemed to s top, even the argument breaking out between a father and s on pau s ed, and Natas ha looked up as a door bes ide the counter opened. She watched t he policewomans cheeks redden, and as Natas ha followed her gaze s he could certa inly s ee why. Walking into the foyer was pos s ibly the mos t beautiful man s h e had ever s een. De nitely the mos t beautiful, s he amended, as he walked pas t the counter and came into full view. He was tall, with exotic dark looks , his elegance s o e ortles s that he wore even a torn s hirt and a black eye well. H e was tous led and uns haven, and the torn s hirt allowed for more than a glimps e of one broad co ee-coloured s houlder. As he gave up trying to fas ten the br oken buttons on his s hirt he moved to tuck it in, and even though Natas ha look ed away the image of a at s tomach with a s nake of jet hair danced before her e yes . She s truggled to remember the regis tration number of the car s hed owned for more than ve years . Maybe you s hould go and s it down to ll it in? the polic ewoman s ugges ted. Natas ha was quite s ure s he was only being helpful becaus e, now he had moved, Natas ha was blocking her view of the exotic pris oner. Sti ll, it was rather nice to s it in a front row s eat and every now and then look up from the form to witnes s him s liding in his belt and buckling it, and then, a moment later, when they were handed to him, s lipping on his s hoes . Are you s ure we cant o er you a ride home? a s ergeant as ked. That wont be neces s ary. His voice was deep and low and richly accented, and des pite the circums tances he was very much the one in commandthere was an air of haughtines s to him as he too k his jacket from the s ergeant and brus hed it down before putting it on. The g es ture, as s ome dus t fell to the oor, was curious ly ins olent, as if telling all pres ent that he was better than this .

the oor, was curious ly ins olent, as if telling all pres ent that he was better than this . We really are s orry for the mix-up the s ergeant continued. Natas ha quickly looked back to her paperwork as he made his way over to the bench where s he s at, rais ed a foot and placed it bes ide her, and proceeded to lace up h is s hoe. There was a delicious waft that reached her nos trils , the las t trac es of cologne combined with the es s ence of male, and though s he res is ted, t hough s he tried terribly hard not to, her body did what it had to and des pite Natas has bes t intentions s he looked up. Looked up into a face that was exquis ite, into eyes that were at rs t black but, as s he s tared, became the indigo o f a midnight s ky. He let her explore the vas tnes s , let her deep into the rea ches of his gaze, then he withdrew that pleas ure, his concentration moved back to his footwear and Natas ha was for a s econd los t. So los t that s he did not turn her face away, s till watched, mouth s lightly gaping, as his dark red lip s tightened when the s ergeant s poke on. As I s aid before, Your Highnes s Natas has mouth gaped fully open. No wonder the s ergeant was groveling. There was a di plomatic incident unfolding right here in the room. I can only apologis e. You were doing your job. Shoes laced, he s tood to his impres s ive height. I s hould not have been there in the rs t place. I unders tand that now. I did not at the time . He looked down at the policeman and gave a brief noda nod that was nal, that s o mehow con rmed he was giving his word. It is forgotten. Relief ooded over the s er geants face even as His Highnes s s napped his ngers . I need my phone. Of cours e. N atas ha was dying to know what had happened, what the mis take had been, but unf ortunately s he couldnt drag out lling in the form any longer, s o s he went up t o the counter and handed it in. She could feel his dark eyes on her s houlders a s s he s poke with the policewoman, and as Natas ha turned to go their eyes met brie y for the s econd time. Brie y becaus e Natas ha tore hers away, for there was a s trange s ugges tion in his eyes that s he could not logically explain. Go od morning. His words were very deliberate and very much aimed at her. They force d her gaze to dart back to him as he greeted her in circums tances where it woul d be more cus tomary to ignore another pers on. It was almos t inappropriate to initiate a convers ation here, and Natas ha us hed as s he returned his greeting . Morning There was the s lightes t upturn to his mouthimperceptible, almos t, but thereas if he found her voice pleas ing, as if s omehow he had won, for s till he s tared. There was a bizarre feeling of danger. Her heart was racing and her br eathing was s hallow and fas t. Ins tinct told her to runes pecially as that haug hty mouth now s hifted a little further, moved to almos t a s mile. There was a beckoning in it, and s he unders tood now the danger. For her body s till told h er to runexcept to him. Thank you. Natas ha turned to the policewoman, thanked her for her as s is tance, and then, becaus e s he had no choice, s he walked pas t him to reach the exit. It was an almos t impos s ible tas k, for never had s he been s o awarenot jus t of him, but of her own body: the s ound of her boots as s he clipped pas t him, the relief in her nos trils as they once again detected h im, the burn of his eyes as they unas hamedly followed her progres s . And, thou gh s he could not know, s he was certain of the turn of his head as s he pas s e d him, and knew he was watching as s he walked out through the door. It was a re lief to be out in the rainnever had s he had a man s o potent linger in his atten tion on herand Natas ha walked quickly from the police s tation, cros s ing at th e lights and then breaking into a run when s he s aw her bus . It drove o as s h e approached it and

and then breaking into a run when s he s aw her bus . It drove o as s he approac hed it and s he felt like banging on the door as it pas s ed, even chas ed it fo r a futile few s econds , knowing what s he would s ee now. She tried not to loo ktried to dis appear in the empty bus s helterbut of cours e s he could not. He wa lked out of the police s tation and down the s teps in his s lightly muddied tux edo, and ins tead of turning up his collar, as mos t would, he lifted his face t o the rain, clos ed his eyes and ran a hand over his face as if he were s howeri ng. He made a wet winter morning s uddenly beautiful. He made the whole wretched day s omehow worth it for that image alone. Natas ha watched as he lifted his p hone to his ear and then turned around. She realis ed he was dis orientated as t o his location, but he walked on a little farther and located the name of the s uburb from the s ign on the police s tations wall. No, he did not belong here. He pocketed his phone and leant agains t the wall. It was then that he caught her watching. She tried to pretend that s he hadnt been. Deliberately Natas ha didnt j erk her head away. Ins tead s he let her gaze travel pas t him and then out into the s treet, willing another bus to appear, but s he could s ee him in her peri pheral vis ion. She knew that he had moved from the wall and, ignoring the pedes trian cros s ing, was walking very directly towards her. There were angry hoots from drivers as he halted the tra c and calmly took his timeit was Natas has hear t that was racing as he joined her in what once had been her s helter. Except it was nt the rain Natas ha needed s heltering from. He s tood jus t a little neare r to her than was polite. Natas ha couldnt really explain why s he felt that, bec aus e s oon the s helter would ll up, and on a rainy morning like this one s oon s he and any number of s trangers would be crammed in like s ardines . But for now, while it was jus t the two of them, he was too clos ees pecially when s he k new, was quite s ure, that he didnt need to be here. His people hadnt told His Hig hnes s that perhaps he s hould get the bus . What was he doing here? her mind be gged to know the ans wer to the ques tion. What had the mis take been? The hus ba nd came home. His rich voice ans wered her uns poken ques tion, and des pite her bes t intentions to ignore him Natas ha let out a s mall, almos t nervous laugh, then turned her head to him. Immediate was the wis h that s he hadnt, that s he had chos en s imply to ignore him, becaus e thos e eyes were waiting for her aga inthat face, that body, even his s cent; he was almos t too beautiful for convers ationbetter, perhaps , that he remain in her head as an image, a memory, rather than become tainted by truth. Something deep ins ide warned Natas ha that s he s hould not engage with him, that it would be far s afer to ignore him, but s he couldnt, and her eyes found his mouth as he s poke on. He thought that I was in hi s hous e s tealing. Rakhal looked into green eyes , s aw a blus h ood her face as it had when las t their eyes had metonly this time there was a parting of her li ps as s he s miled. But that initial res pons e was brief, for quickly, he noted , s he changed her mind. The s mile vanis hed and her words were ters e. Technica lly, you were! She went back to looking out into the road and Rakhal fought with a rare need to explain hims elf. He knew what had happened las t night did not p ut him in a attering light, but given where they had met he felt it important th at s he knew the reas on he had been locked up if he were to get to know her s o me more. And of that Rakhal had every intention. There was a very rare beauty to her. Redheads had never appealed to him, but this morning he found the colourin g intriguing. Darkened by the rain, her hair ran in trails along her trenchcoat. He wanted to take a towel and rub it dry, to watch the golds and oranges emerge .

trenchcoat. He wanted to take a towel and rub it dry, to watch the golds and ora nges emerge. He liked too the palenes s of her s kin that s o readily dis played her pas s ions ; it was pinking now around her ears . He wanted her to turn aga in and face himRakhal wanted another glimps e of her green eyes . I did not know. H e watched her ears redden as he carried on the convers ation. Of cours e that is no excus e. It was the reas on he had as s ured the policemen he would not be tak ing things any further becaus e s he was right: technically he had been s tealing , and that did not s it well with Rakhal. He could s urely live and die a hundre d times trying to work out the rules of this land there were wedding rings , but s ome chos e not to wear them; there were titles , but s ome chos e not to us e them; there were, of cours e, women who chos e to lie. And, in fairnes s to him, it was particularly confus ing for Rakhalfor his heartbreaking looks as s ured t hat many a ring or a diamond were s lipped into a purs e when he entered a room. But ins tead of working out the rules , this morning he chos e to work out this woman. Direct was his approach. What were you at the police s tation for? She was tempted jus t to ignore him, but that would only s erve to s how him the impact hed had on her, s o s he attempted to ans wer as if he were jus t another pers o n at a bus s top, making idle convers ation. My car was s tolen. That mus t be inco nvenient, Rakhal res ponded, watching her s houlders s ti en. Jus t a bit. Natas ha bris tled, becaus e it was far more than inconvenient, but then if he was royal , if he was as well-o as his appearance indicated, perhaps having his car s tole n would be a mere inconvenience. But maybe s he was being a bit rude. He had don e nothing wrong, after all. It was her private res pons e to him that was inappr opriate. I was s uppos ed to be going on holiday A driving holiday? She laughed. Per is h the thought! No. She turned jus t a little towards him. It s eemed rude to ke ep talking over her s houlder. Overs eas . Thos e gorgeous eyes narrowed into a fr own as he attempted to perceive the problem. Did you need your car to get you to the airport? It was eas ier jus t to nod and s ay yes , to turn away from him aga in and will the bus to hurry up. They s tood in s ilence as grumpy morning commu ters forced him a little clos er to her. She caught the s cent of him again, and then, after a s tretch of interminable s ilence, when it felt as if he were cou nting every hair on the back of her head, he res umed their convers ation and ve ry unexpectedly made her laugh. Couldnt you get a taxi? Now s he turned and fully f aced him. Now s he accepted the convers ation. Rakhal enjoyed the victory as muc h as he had enjoyed the s mall battle, for rarely was a woman unwilling, and nev er was there one he could not get to unbend. Its a little bit more complicated tha n that. It was s o much more complicated than s imply getting a taxi to the airpo rt. Truth be told, s he couldnt really a ord a holiday anyway; s he had lent her brother Mark s o much money to help with his gambling debts . She had been hopin g to take a break for her s anity more than anything els e, becaus e her brothers problems werent going away any time s oon. Still, this das hing s tranger didnt n eed to know all about thatexcept he did not allow her to leave it there. In what w ay? He dragged out a convers ation, Natas ha recognis ed. He pers is ted when oth ers would not. It jus t is . Still he frowned.

It jus t is . Still he frowned. Still he clearly expected her to tell. Tell a man s he had never met? Tell a man s he knew nothing about other than that he ignore d s ocial norms ? And he was ignoring them again nowas the lengthening bus queue jos tled to t beneath the s helter he placed a hand on her elbow, ins tead of ke eping a res pectable s hred of dis tance as the crowd s urged behind him, formin g a s hield around her. And if it appeared manly, it felt impolite. As impolite as her own thoughts as his ngers wrapped around the s leeve of her coat. For the re was a eeting thought that if the queue were to s urge again he might kis s he ra thought too dangerous to follow as her body pres s ed into him. She moved her arm, turned away from him, and was it regret or relief when s he s aw her bus ? Natas ha put her arm out to hail it and s o too did he. Except s he quickly real is ed it was nt the bus he was s ummoningit was a black limous ine, with all its w indows darkened. The car indicated and s tarted to s low down. Can I o er you a l ift home? No! Her voice was panicked, though not from his o er. If the car s topped now then the bus wouldnt. It cant park there He didnt unders tand her urgency, or wa s incapable of opening a car door hims elf, becaus e he s tood waiting till a ma n in robes climbed out and opened it for him. I ins is t, he s aid. Jus t go, Natas ha begged, but it was already too late. The bus s ailed happily pas t the s top blocked by his vehicle and Natas ha heard the moans and protes ts from the angry queue behind hernot that it perturbed him in the leas t. You made me mis s my bus ! Then I mus t give you a lift. And, yes , s he knew s he s hould not accept lifts from s trangers knew that this man had the s tranges t e ect on her. She knew of many things in that ins tantlike the angry commuters s hed be left with, and the cold and the wet. Yes , there were reas ons both to accept and to decline, and N atas ha could jus tify either one. She could never jus tify the real reas on s h e s tepped into the car, thougha need to prolong this chance meeting, a des ire f or her time with this exotic s tranger not to end. It was terribly warm ins ide, and there was Arabic mus ic playing. The s eat was s umptuous as s he s ank int o it, and s he felt as if s he had entered another worldes pecially when a robed man handed her a s mall cup that had no handle. She could almos t hear her mothe r warning her that s he would be a fool to accept. It is tea, s he was informed by His Highnes s . Yes , her mother might once have warned her, but s he was twent y-four now, and after a s light hes itation s he accepted the drink. It was s we et and fragrant, and it was much nicer to s it in luxurious comfort than to s hi ver at the bus s top. She certainly didnt relax, though how could s he with him s itting oppos ite her? With thos e black eyes waiting for her to look at him? Wher e do you live? She gave him her addres s s he had no choice but to do s o; s he ha d accepted a ride home after all. Forgive me, he s aid. A few hours in a cell and I forget my manners . His Englis h, though good, was the only part of him that was les s than perfect, and yet it made him more s o s omehow. I have not properly i ntroduced mys elf. I am Sheikh Rakhal, Crown Prince of Alzirz. Natas ha Winters . T here was not much s he could add to that, but his haughty, beautiful face did yi eld a s mall s mile when s he s aid, Of London.

face did yield a s mall s mile when s he s aid, Of London. Their convers ation was s omewhat awkward. He as ked her where s he had been intending to go on holiday , and s eemed s omewhat bemus ed by the concept of a travel agent or booking a h oliday online. In turn he told her that he was in London for bus ines s , and th at though he came here often s oon he would be returning to his home. And now I r eturn you to yours , he s aid, as the car turned into her s treet and s lowed dow n. Somehow s he knew things would not be left there. Would you care to join me fo r dinner tonight? Rakhal as ked. He did not await a res pons e after all the ans w er was inevitable. Ill pick you up at s even. Im s orry. She s hook her head. Ive alr y got plans . She us hed a little. She was clearly lying. She had no plans . She was s uppos ed to be jetting o for two weeks and had told him as much. And s he was tempted, but they had met in a police s tation and he was wearing a black ey e from an aggrieved hus band. It didnt take much to work out that he would want m ore than dinner. And s o too would s he. She was s tunned at her reaction to him ; never had a man a ected her s o. It was as if a puls e beat in the air between thema tangible puls e that s omehow connected them. There was a raw s exual ener gy to him, a res tles s prowes s , and s he dared not lower her guard for this m an was far more of a man than s he was us ed to, more male than s he had ever en countered before. She reached for the door. Wait, Rakhal s aid, reaching out his h and and capturing her wris t. There was a utter of panic that ros e from her s t omach to her throat at the thought that he might not let her outor was that jus t the e ect of contact, for his ngers were warm on her s kin? You do not open the door. Neither, it would s eem, did he, for the robed man who had s erved them tea was the one who climbed out. Rakhals hand was s till on her wris t and s he wait ed. For what, s he was nt quite s ure. Another o er of dinner? Or perhaps it was he who was waiting? Maybe he thought s he would as k him ins ide? She looked at that hands ome face, at the mouth that was s o s orely tempting, and then at his come-to-bed eyes . She could almos t s ee them re ected therecould envis age the m tumbling in her bed. It was a dangerous vis ion to have, s o s he pulled her w ris t away. Thank you for the lift. He watched her almos t run to her hous e, s aw her s afely ins ide and then ges tured to his driver to move on. They rode in s ilence. Abdul knew better than to ques tion why Rakhal had been at a police s t ation, where the bruis es were fromit was not an aides place to ques tion the Crow n Prince. He would bring him a poultice later, and again over the next few days , in the hope that the bruis es would be gone by his return to Alzirz. Right now Rakhal had more than bruis es and s everal hours in a pris on cell on his mind. He had never been s aid no to before; quite s imply it had never happenedbut he did not grace the markets and had no need to barter. Rakhal knew s he was not li ke the women he us ually played with but, oh, the heaven of getting her to unben d. It was a s hame he was leaving on Monday. She might be worth purs uing otherw is e. Still, maybe the next time he vis ited London Except he would be a married man by then, and s omething told him that Natas ha would be even more dis appro ving. He wis hed s he had s aid yes . Natas ha thought the s ame almos t as s oo n as s he s tepped ins ide. Away from him s he was far more logicals he had jus t turned down a dinner invitation from s urely the mos t gorgeous man alive. The los s of her holiday and her car s eemed like minor inconveniences compared to w hat s he had jus t denied hers elf. She moved to the window and watched his car glide o .

to what s he had jus t denied hers elf. She moved to the window and watched his car glide o . Her hand moved to her wris t, where his ngers had been. She replay ed their convers ations again. He had been nothing but polite, s he told hers el f. It was her mind that was depraved. She kicked hers elf all day as s he dealt with the car ins urance company, and then tried to s ound cheerful when one of h er friends rang to tell her they had s ecured an amazing deal for ten nights in Tenerife. They would be leaving tonight, and was Natas ha quite s ure that s he didnt want to change her mind and join them? Natas ha almos t did, but then s he looked down at the gure that had been quoted as the exces s on her ins urance an d regretfully turned down her s econd amazing o er in one day. Her brothers debts were not Natas has res pons ibility, all her friends s aid, but actually they we re. Natas ha had not told anyone about the loan s he had taken out for himwhich w as why her friends were unable to unders tand why s he didnt want to come away on holiday with them, es pecially after s uch a hellis h year. To Marks credit, s i nce s he had taken the loan he had always paid her back on time, and Natas ha wa s s tarting to feel as if s he could breathe, that maybe he was nally working th ings out. A payment was due tomorrow, and s he pulled up her bank account online . Her emerging con dence in her brother vanis hed as s he realis ed that his pay ment to her hadnt gone in, and immediately s he rang him. Youll have it next week. N atas ha clos ed her eyes as he reeled o excus es . Its not good enough, Mark, the payments due tomorrow. She curs ed at the near mis s s he might have been en route to Tenerife, not knowing that s he had defaulted on a loan payment. I cant a ord t o cover it, Mark. I had my car s tolen las t night. She would not cry, s he was t ougher than that, but for s o many reas ons today was es pecially hard. When I ag reed to get this loan you promis ed you would never mis s a payment. I s aid youll have it next week. Theres nothing els e I can do. Look, he s aid, how s oon till yo u get the car ins urance payout? Sorry? You s aid your car had been s tolen, Mark s a id. Youll get that payment s oon. That will cover it. It might be found, Natas ha s a id. And if it is nt the payout will buy me another car. But, even though there was s o much to be addres s ed, s he was tired of talking about cars and money on to day of all days . Are you going to the cemetery? Cemetery? She heard the bemus ement in her brothers voice and anger burnt ins ide her as s he res ponded. Its their on e-year annivers ary, Mark. I know. Natas ha was quite s ure hed forgotten. Well? s he pus hed. Are you going? As he reeled o yet more excus es Natas ha s imply hung up the phone and headed to her bedroom. But ins tead of getting on with tidying up, for a moment or two s he s at on her bed, wondering how everything could have g one s o wrong. This time las t year her life had been pretty clos e to perfects h ed jus t quali ed as a teacher and had been doing a job s he loved; s he had been dating a guy s he was s tarting to if not love then really care for; s hed been s aving towards moving out of her parents hous e. She had als o been looking for ward to being a brides maid at her brothers wedding. Now, in the s pace of a year , all s he had known, all s he had loved, had been taken. Even her job. As an in fant s chool teacher s he had been on a temporary placement and about to be o er ed a permanent pos ition when the car cras h had happened. Knowing s he s imply couldnt be the teacher s he wanted to be while deeply grieving, s he had declined the job o er, and

be the teacher s he wanted to be while deeply grieving, s he had declined the jo b o er, and the las t year had been lled with temporary placements as s he waded through her parents es tate. Their will had been very s peci cthe family home wa s to be s old and the pro ts divided equally between their two children. How s h e had hated thathow much harder it had made things having to deal with es tate ag ents and home ins pections . And going through all the contents had been agony. It was a job s he felt s hould have been done in s tages ; s he had wanted to li nger more in the proces s of letting go. But Mark had wanted his s hare and had pus hed things along. Her boyfriend, Jas on, had been no help either. Hed been un comfortable with her grief and uncomfortable providing comfortit had been a relie f for Natas ha to end things . And now, one year on, s he s at in the s mall hom e s he had bought that s till felt unfamiliar, living a life that didnt feel like her own. Tears wouldnt change anything; s itting on her bed crying was nt going t o help. She headed downs tairs and, one cup of co ee later, unable to face a bus , s he called for a taxi, as king him to s top and wait as s he went into a ori s t and bought s ome owers . She hated coming here. Was nt it s uppos ed to bring her peace? It didnt. She looked at the heads tone and all Natas ha felt was ange r that her parents had been taken far too s oon. Maybe its too s oon for peace? Nat as ha s aid aloud to them, except her heart craved it. No, there was no peace to be had at the cemetery, s o s he took a bus home and had a long bath to warm up . Anticipating packing for her holiday, Natas ha had pulled out all her clothes , and late that afternoon s he tackled the mountain s trewn over her bedroom. Bu t Rakhal and their brief encounter was s till there at the back of her mind, and he was s o much nicer to think about than her problems clos er to home that s h e allowed hers elf a tiny dream What if s he had s aid yes to him? What, Natas h a wondered, did you wear for dinner with the Crown Prince Sheikh of Alzirz? Noth ing that was in Natas has wardrobe, that was for s ure. Except as s he hung up he r clothes there it was s till wrapped in its cover. She had never really known wh at to do with it. It was to have been her brides maids dres s for Mark and Louis es wedding, but Louis e had called the wedding o a week before the date, which ha d left Mark devas tated. It was then he had s tarted gamblingor rather that was w hat he had told Natas ha when hed come to her for help. Now s he wondered if it h ad been the reas on for Louis e calling things o . She had been s o angry with L ouis e for des troying her brother. The car accident res ulting in the death of their parents had been devas tating, but the upcoming wedding, though hard to lo ok forward to at rs t, had been the one s hining lightMark and Louis e had been t ogether for years , and her calling it o had had the mos t terrible e ect on Mar k. Yet now Natas ha was s tarting to wonder if Mark had been the one who had des troyed hims elfif his gambling problems were in fact not s o recent. She hadnt s poken with Louis e s ince the break-up. Louis e had always been lovely, and for the rs t time Natas ha allowed hers elf to mis s her almos t-s is ter-in-law. Sh e res is ted the urge to call her, becaus e Louis e didnt need to be worried with Marks problems now. Ins tead, Natas ha s lid open the zip and pulled the dres s from its cover. As s he gazed at it s he wis hed again that things had turned ou t di erently. It was gold and very s imple, with a s lightly uted hem that was c ut on the bias , and thin s paghetti s traps that fell into a cowl neck. It woul d be wrong to pull it on with wet hair and an unmade-up face, for if ever there was a dres s that des erved the full e ect it was this one.

an unmade-up face, for if ever there was a dres s that des erved the full e ect it was this one. So Natas ha dried hair and then s moothed it with s traightener s . Louis e had wanted her to wear her hair up. It was the only thing they had d is agreed on, but of cours e it was to have been Louis es day, and s o s he would have won. Natas ha took her thick red hair and twis ted it, s ecuring it on the top of the head with a clas p, then put on make-up as bes t s he could. She too k out her mothers earrings and necklace, holding the cool pearls in her hand for a moment. Natas ha rarely wore jewellery for the s ame reas on s he didnt wear pe rfume: it irritated her s kin. But today s he made an exception and put the jewe ls on. It s hould s till be her mother wearing them. How Natas ha wis hed that s he could rewind a year, becaus e things had been s o much s impler then. But if s he s tarted crying s he might never s top, s o Natas ha looked in the mirror ins tead. The dres s was s tunning and Louis e had been rightwith her hair up it was even more s o. The necklace and earrings were the perfect nal touch and, aga in as Louis e had as s ured her, s he didnt look like a traditional brides maid. More Natas ha looked again and gave a s mile. Had s he s aid yes to Rakhal, this was what s he would have worn, for now s he was t for a prince. Still he played on her mindbut then why wouldnt he? He had been the one s aving grace in a pretty mis erable day. And then s he heard a knock at her door. Perhaps it was Mark br inging over the money? Or an aunt dropping round to mark the oneyear annivers ar y of her parents pas s ing? While normally s he would have run down the s tairs to ans wer, given how s he was dres s ed Natas ha held back and went to the wind ow. She peeked through a gap in the curtain. Peering down into the s treet, s he s aw a limous inebut even before that s he knew it was him. Had known at s ome l evel that s he had been dres s ing for him. That this morning their attraction, or whatever it was that had occurred, hadnt all been in her imagination, that he had felt it too. And now Rakhal was at her door.

CHAPTER TWO R AKHAL had s pent the day trying to forget Natas ha. He had completed the mos t pres s ing of his appointments and then peered through the impres s ive lis t o f female contacts in his phone. This evening none of them had appealed. He could , if hed chos en to, have returned to the exclus ive London club he often frequen ted, where he was as s ured of a warm welcome from any number of young s ocialit es who would be only too happy to s pend a night in a princes bed. Hed chos en not to. Ins tead he had headed down to the hotel bar, taken a s eat in a plump leat her chair. In a moment a long glas s of water had been placed in front of him, f or here in London, it was his drink of choice. Les s than two minutes later, ano ther option had appeared. Blonde, beautiful, her s mile inviting. With but a ges ture of his hand he could have invited her to join him or have a drink s ent ov er to her. It was that eas y for Rakhal. Always . Both here and at home. Hed thou ght of the harem that s erved his every needthe harem that would s till s erve hi m even after his marriageand s uddenly hed been weary with eas y. He was bored wit h no thrill to the chas e. Hed ges tured to the bartender, who had walked over re ady to take his order, to s erve the blonde a glas s of champagne, but Rakhal ha d delivered other ins tructions . Now the car he had s ummoned waited as he knoc ked again at her door. Rakhal did not have time to play games , and neither did he have time to take his time. And yet here he was . All day s he had intrigued him. All day his rs t tas te of rejection had gnawed. Perhaps s he was already i n a relations hip? he had pondered. But s omething told him s he was not. There was a s hynes s to her, an awkwardnes s he found endearing. Rarely was e ort req uired from him with womenperhaps that was the novelty that had brought him here. He decided that the novelty would quickly wane, but that thought faded as s oon as s he opened the door. It was as though s hed been waiting for himhad s omehow a nticipated his s urpris e arrival. Appealing before, s he was exquis ite now. He r hair was dry, its true colours revealed: the colours of a winter s ky in Alzir z as the s un dipped lower over the des ert, reds and oranges and a blaze of re. His only qualm was that he wanted to s ee it worn downwould s ee it worn down, R akhal decided, before the nights end. What are you doing here? Natas ha had had her panic ups tairs and was as calm as s he could manage nowas cas ual as s he could hope to be when dealing with the s udden arrival of Rakhal. I s aid that I would pick you up at s even. And I told you I had plans Natas ha s tarted. Yet s he did want time with this intoxicating man and her refus al was halted. For all day s he had regretted s aying no to him, all day s he had wis hed s he had s aid yes , and now s he had her chance. Actually, my plans have changed She hoped her makeup hid her blus h as s he lied. My friend is nt feeling well.

She hoped her make-up hid her blus h as s he lied. My friend is nt feeling well. Wel l, now that your plans have changed He knew s he was lying, and he would not as k her to join him again. He had as ked her once, had even come to her door. Now h e s tood s ilently awaiting her decis ion, for it was up to Natas ha nowhe did no t beg. The decis ion was an eas y one. He was even more beautiful than s he reme mbered him from this morning. He was wearing an immaculate charcoal-grey s uit a nd his hair, mes s y that morning, was now s wept back. The bruis e on his eye h ad turned a deep purple, and Natas ha felt her nails dig into her palms as s he res is ted the urge to reach out and touch it, to run her ngers over the s light s welling at his left cheekbone. It was bizarre the e ect he had on her. Never had a man made her more aware of her femininity. Natas ha s wallowed, for he mad e her aware of her s exuality too, in a way no one ever had certainly not Jas on. She was lled with a s udden des peration for the night not to endand it would, N atas ha knew, if s he did not go with him now. It would end this ins tant if s h e did not s imply s ay yes . Ill get my bag. Natas ha hovered a moment, uns ure if s he s hould as k him inembarras s ed to do s o, but worried it would be rude not to. Do you want to? I will wait here, Rakhal interrupted. He wanted their night to s tart, and was not s ure if s he lived alone. If s he didwell, he did not want to ruin any tentative progres s with a kis s delivered too s oon. It would be hard not to kis s her. He was already growing hard. He turned out to face the s tree t, to look at the neat hedges and the hous es . He tried to fathom her, tried to work her out jus t a little, s urpris ing hims elf becaus e for once he had a n eed to know more about the woman he would be s pending the night with. She found a bag and quickly lled it with her purs e and keys , then took a moment more to s teady hers elf than to check her make-up. She found a jacket that didnt really do jus tice to the dres s . Even though it had s topped raining it was a cold, clear night, and s he really couldnt go out with bare arms , s o s he s lipped it on and walked down the s tairs . She could s ee his outline in the front doorwa y as he waited for her to be ready. He waited too while s he locked the door, an d then they headed to his car. This time it was his driver who came around and o pened the door, and there was no man in robes waiting ins ide when s he climbed in. She was nervous at being alone with him. Yet he was the perfect gentleman. H e took the s eat oppos ite rather than next to her, making polite convers ation as the car moved through the dark s treets . He did nothing and s aid nothing un towardin fact he didnt even comment on how s he was dres s ed. No doubt he was us ed to going out with women dres s ed up to the nines . She wondered how hed have reacted if he knew jus t how unus ual this was for her, if s hed ans wered the do or in jeans and s lippers . Would the outcome have been the s ame? Would he have waited while s he changed ? Would the us ual out ts in her wardrobe have s u ced for a night like this ? She doubted it. Yet he had s een her dripping wet this morning, had s een her at her wors t, and s till there had been want between the m. The doubt blurred as s he pondered this mos t s tunning man. She could s ee h is hand res ting on his thigh, the dark s kin, the manicured nails , and then s he turned her gaze away when s he realis ed he was watching her too. Her jacket felt like a blanket. The car was too warm. Both thes e things s he blamed for th e heat that s pread acros s her body as s he admitted her des ire. She wanted to pres s a button, wanted the window to open and the night air to blas t her face cool. When they turned a corner and his s tretchedout leg rolled jus t a little nearer to her rigid feet s he wanted to lift her feet to his waiting hands , to s imply be ravis hed. They pulled up outs ide a luxurious hotel. As the door op ened Natas ha s aw faces turning and was uncomfortable with this rare s crutiny from onlookers . She was grateful when his hand took her arm, and told hers elf that it was Rakhal they were looking at as they were welcomed and then led throu gh the hotel and into a res taurant.

welcomed and then led through the hotel and into a res taurant. Again he turned heads . Natas ha knew it had nothing to do with her, for the place was lled with jewelled and madeup women. It was Rakhal who drew the eye, Rakhal who had forks paus ing on their way to ruby-red mouths and s mall murmurs rippling acros s ta bles as people attempted to place him. And no wonder, Natas ha thought as s he t ook a s eat, with his dark looks , his elegance, there was a pois e to him that could never truly be taught. And tonight s he was dining with him. The table was beautifully s et with white tablecloths and candles , and the s ilverware and g las s es gleamed, yet it was not the luxurious s urroundings that unnerved her, but the company that s he kept. It was nt his title that intimidated eitherwell, p erhaps a bit, Natas ha concededbut really it was the man hims elf that had her s tomach folding over on its elf, had her s till uns ure as to whether s he s houl d have s aid yes to his o er. Becaus e des pite the s ilk of his manners there w as that edge to him. She knew s he had taken on more than s he could ever handle . The waiters lavis hed attention on them, pulling out chairs and s preading nap kins over their laps as Rakhal ordered champagne. Natas ha declined. Not for me, thank you. Id prefer to drink water. Oh, s he knew the cos t of a bottle of champa gne would be nothing to him, but s omehow s he didnt want to feel beholden, and s he was als o mindful that her common s ens e was s omewhat lacking around him. Champagne might only exacerbate the fact. Rakhal too, it s eemed, was only drink ing water, for he cancelled the champagne, ordered iced water and then turned hi s attention to Natas ha. Is there anything you are allergic to? he as ked. Or anyth ing you particularly do not like to eat? Oh! It was a rather unus ual ques tion. Ill jus t wait to have a look at the menu, thank you. I will make the s elections , Rak hal res ponded. Natas ha felt her lips tighten. She certainly did not want him c hoos ing her dinner for her, and s he told him the s ame. Id like to wait and s ee the menu. She was determined to win on this for this was a man who didnt us ually take no for an ans wer. Not this morning when s he had declined his lift, nor to night when he had come to her door des pite her turning down his invitation to d inner. And now he thought he could choos e what s he ate. Well, he had chos en t he wrong pers on if that was the cas e. Her voice held a warning when s he s pok e again. I can order for mys elf, thank you! Im s ure you can. But I have as ked my chef to prepare a banquet, s o he needs to know if there are foods to which you are avers e. Your chef? I s tay regularly at this hotel and s o I ens ure there is a chef from Alzirz. Naturally when Im away the other gues ts get to s ample his de lightful cooking, but tonight he is preparing food exclus ively for us He watched the movement in her throat as s he s wallowed. Of cours e I can have him come ou t and dis cus s your preferences , if youd prefer ? No. Natas ha s hook her head, her face us hed, more than a little embarras s ed at the fus s s he had made. That w ont be neces s ary. And Rakhal watched her blus h, vis ible even in candlelight. Pe rhaps I could have s omebody write down the ingredients s o you can check throug h them He was enjoying this now. Of cours e not. Im s ure it will be lovely. It is more that I thought you were choos ing for me I am, Rakhal s aid, and watched her r apid blinking. Tonight you are my gues t, and you s hould not be worrying about m aking decis ions . Say I were to come to your hous e tomorrow for dinner He watch ed the red darken on her cheeks as s he pictured it. Perhaps you would as k my pr eferences , but you would not give me a menu. He leaned forward a little.

would as k my preferences , but you would not give me a menu. He leaned forward a little. You would prepare dis hes that you thought might pleas e your gues t. We ll, I do not cook, but I have as ked my chef to do the s ame to cook with foods that are fres h and own in from my country. You have food own in? How s poilt was t his man? s he wondered, taking a s ip of her drink. And water too Rakhal res ponde d without a qualm. I am s erved water that is s ourced from my home. She paus ed a s s he rais ed the glas s to her lips . French champagne probably cos t les s . And then, as he had s ince the moment they met, he s urpris ed her again. If I am to give wis e couns el then I s hould be nouris hed by my land A waiter topped u p her glas s as the rs t cours e was brought: a s election of dips and breads an d fruits . Rakhal explained his s elections . The water is from a s pring deep in the des ert, and this is what I always s tart with. He picked up a date and a s mall s ilver knife. Us ually they are s erved quartered, but I prefer to pit my o wn. He s lid the knife through the s hiny fruit and expos ed the s tone. She felt her s tomach curl as he inverted the date and popped the s tone out. How, Natas ha tried to fathom, could s licing a date be s eductive? Dates were s omething her grandmother s erved at Chris tmas . Dates were prunes . Dates were not s exy . He dipped it in s ome oily goo and s he watched his long s lender ngers s wirl it around. Then he lifted it to her mouth and s he accepted, trying to touch on ly the fruit. But her lips met his ngers and s he had to force her mouth not to linger, to take the fruit, not to capture his hand and tas te his ngers . It s c ared her, the e ect he had on her, the places he took her mind to. And s he knew that he knew it as he pulled his hand away. As Natas ha chewed the rich fruit, s he amended her thoughts . Dates were s exy. It is called hays a al tumreya. His voice was low and for her ears only, and s he tas ted the hot s auce around the s weet date as s he lis tened. The date tree is the mos t important. It provides s hade around the s pring As they ate he told her about the oas is in the des ert , about the fruits and ripe peaches for nectar and about the aubergines that mad e the baba ganous h s he tried next. It held a s moky avour that had her clos in g her eyes in blis s as s he tas ted it. He told her about the foods that grew b eneath the tall date trees , and s he ate and s he lis tened and s he looked, an d he was intriguing rather than s poilt, and at each turn more beautiful s till. Rakhal was right. It was nice to be s poiled, not to have to make any decis ion s , s imply to lis ten and to talk as they s hared the s umptuous food. He told her a little about his land, about his life in Alzirz, and s he told him a littl e about hers elf tooor rather he as ked her about her family. My parents were kill ed las t year in a motor accident, Natas ha s aid. She waited for the urry of s y mpathy, but he s imply s tared and waited for her to go on. I have an older broth er. Mark. And he takes care of you? I take care of mys elf, Natas ha ans wered. Aware her res pons e might have been a little brittle, s he s oftened it. Its been a di cult year, but I manage. She was relieved when they were dis turbed by the waite rs bringing another impres s ive

She was relieved when they were dis turbed by the waiters bringing another impre s s ive cours e, and then he told her more about the land from which he came. Ab out the palace that looked out to the ocean and the des ert abode to which he es caped. It s ounds beautiful. You would love it, Rakhal as s ured her, and for a mom ent he glimps ed her therethe jewel in his harem. They ate more food from his cou ntry, and s he could tas te the s un. When he could not hear s omething s he s a id he moved his chair around the table until he s at next to her. Des s ert was a s hared plate, and he fed her fruit from his ngers again. Sometimes Natas ha f orgot s he was in a bus y res taurant. Sometimes s he forgot her own inexperienc e under the gaze of this very experienced man. For his voice made her ears ache to hear him, had her inching a little clos er to him. For Rakhal too this night was di erent. There was candourhe normally would not tell a woman s uch things ab out his home, about his life and his thoughts , but with her convers ation was p leas ing. Now they were s peaking of traditions , and he was hones t telling her that one day he would marry, that he would return to Alzirz and s elect his brid e. Though he was not completely hones t, for he did not tell her it would be s o on. How do you choos e? She was more than a little curious . Will s he be wealthy? From another royal family, perhaps ? We do not need wealthAlzirz is rare in that it s royals choos e their partners from the people. My grandmother was Sheikha Quee n; my grandfather was a wis e man from the des ert. She chos e him for his knowl edge, for at times the country moves too quickly and we need to remember the way s and teachings of old. When I am King You will be King! Natas ha couldnt keep the s urpris e from her voice. Are you s cared? He gave her an extremely quizzical look . I am never s cared. She doubted he was . She had never met a man s o as s ured. S o youre the eldes t? I have no brothers or s is ters . He s aw her s light frown and it was meritedbecaus e in his country it was expected that there would be many h eirs . It was imperative to the countrys s urvival, in fact. My mother died giving birth. Im s orry. Rakhal did not do s entiment. He had been brought up without it a nd, as his father had explained, he could not mis s s omeone he had never known. But there was a twis t s omewhere ins ide him as s he expres s ed her condolenc es . What was s he like? She died giving birth to me, Rakhal s aid again. How would I know? It was certainly rarely dis cus s ed. In fact Rakhal could only recall a f ew brief convers ations where his mother had been mentioned even in pas s ing. N eeding more, he had once s poken with an old man in the des erta man who, it was rumoured, had lived for one hundred and twenty yellow moons . But tonight was th e rs t time s omeone had directly as ked him about his mother. You mus t know s o mething? She was from the des ert too, Rakhal s aid. From an ancient tribe with rare lineage. He remembered what the old man had told him. She was apparently a wis e and beautiful s oul. He had revealed too muchor rather more than he was us ed to. He looked down and s aw their hands intertwined. Rakhal was not us ually a man w ho held hands , not in this way, and s o he reverted to ways more us ual for him to get the night back to where he felt s afer. He pres s ed his thumb into her palm. The beat of pres s ure and the s lide of his ngers around her wris t had t he colour ris ing on her cheeks . He was tired of talking. He wanted to bed her. But when s he did not return the pres s ure, when s he rather pointedly removed her hand from his , Rakhal made no attempt to retrieve it.

his , Rakhal made no attempt to retrieve it. I s hould take you home. He s hould, for the res taurant was practically empty. And yet s he was curious ly dis appoi nted and terribly con icted as he led her through the foyer. Hed been the perfect gentlemanonly s he was nt s ure it was a perfect gentleman s he wanted. But their night was coming to its conclus ion, for s he would not be as king him in. And perhaps Rakhal realis ed that. Realis ed that this might be his las t chance. Fo r he halted her, turned her to face him. Have you enjoyed this evening? Very much. I have enjoyed talking with you. She did not unders tand how rare, how unique this compliment was could not unders tand that Rakhal did not do deep convers ations w ith the women he dated. And yet he had enjoyed talking with Natas ha. He s miled to hims elf as the colour ros e from her neck to her ears . He s aw the pearls that hung from her earlobes and his ngers moved and captured one. Thes e are beau tiful. They were my mothers . I dont us ually wear jewellery She moved her head away from himjus t a little, but enough to s ignal a warning. A warning Rakhal did not heed. Ins tead his other hand moved to the jewel that hung on her ches t, a hea vier pearl, and he recognis ed its beauty. He was s urrounded by it after all. Wh y not? I dont like it She could hardly get the words out, could not carry on a conve rs ation with his hands s o clos e, with his ngers grazing her es h. It irritates s he attempted. But it didnt tonight, and neither did the ngers near her throat. Her s kin almos t begged for more of him. But I make an exception s ometimes for thes e. I can s ee why. The pearls are exquis ite. She could hardly breathe. One ha nd was at her ear, the other near her throat, and s he felt trapped, corneredbut delicious ly s o. They were actually my grandmothers Her voice was too high and bre athy. She was s ure he did not want her family his toryexcept thes e were the one precious thing that remained. Oh, they werent worth a fortune, but the antique r os e-gold was precious , and there was jus t s o much his tory there. And her mot hers before that. She Rakhal picked up a s trand of red hair that had es caped fro m the clas p and ran it through his ngers , then brus hed it behind her ear, his ngers trailing along her neck. His knowing eyes watched the puls e quicken. Fee ling the beat of it on his warm ngers , he wanted her hair down. He wanted to ta s te her mouth and he wanted it now. Perhaps he knew how his kis s would a ect h er. For before it was delivered he moved her to a wall, to a darkened alcove awa y from other gues ts and the night concierge, to a place where s he was almos t alone with him. And there was s o much want in his dark eyes , s o much s ex in his gaze, it frightened her more than he could know. Perhaps I s hould Natas ha ha d s tarted to tell him s he s hould perhaps get home, becaus e now the moment ha d arrived s he was both wanting and terri ed, but then s he could not s peak for his mouth was on hers . He had chos en his moment carefully, in the mids t of a s entence, when her mind was jus t a touch les s on him. He tas ted rs t lips t ick, and he s aw her eyes widen, and then he did not look any more. He clos ed h is eyes and felt ins teadfelt her momentary res is tance, a brief ailing in his a rms and then acceptance. And s he did acceptfor how nice it was to kis s him, or rather to be kis s ed by s uch a man. Nothing came clos e, for when his mouth fo und hers quite s imply it overruled.

Nothing came clos e, for when his mouth found hers quite s imply it overruled. I t overruled fear, it overruled logic, it blew out logical thought proces s es all it did was cons ume. All night s he had wondered about this moment, when the s killed attack might come, and even with him s o clos e, s till when the moment h ad arrived it had s urpris ed her. And the kis s s urpris ed her too, for it s u rpas s ed all s he had known, all s hed thought s he knew, all s hed even dreamed. His lips were s oft, yet rm, and extremely ins is tent. His hands were precis e . They went to her s houlders and kept her s till as he kis s ed her thoroughly, as he drowned that rs t futile hint of protes t with his mouth, and s he felt t he mus cle of his tongue and ared at the tas te of him. Completely ins tant was her res pons e, and there, beneath the layer of cologne that had teas ed her s i nce the morning, was a mus ky male s cent that was s imply a trigger, for her ha nds s hot to his hair and her ngers knotted into the s ilken raven locks . It re vealed more than teas ing for her s ens es , for his hair was glos s y with exot ic pomade, and s he inhaled the oils . Her mouth moved to his command, and when it did, when s he was gone, when he knew s he was ready, he toppled her a little more agains t him, moved her deeper into his embrace. It was more ins tinct tha n a plan he was following now. For Rakhal, too, this kis s was di erent. It was a kis s that was not jus t about what was to follow. Rarely did he fully indulgew hen he returned to Alzirz, in the time before he chos e his wife, every need of his would be met by his harem. There would be no need to kis s , no need to arou s e. It would be his pleas ure that was the mutual goal. And then he would marrya nd, yes , he would kis s and arous e his wife, but with a di erent aim. For s he would be removed from his bed after two days . And as he waited for news of a s ucces s ful coupling his harem would indulge him again. But here in this s tran ge country there were di erent rules : womens demands were di erent. It was a pla ce where you kis s ed for pleas ure. What a pleas ure. His tongue was probing, h is chin rough, his mouth s mooth, and his hands knowing reading her want as if it were dotted in Braille on her dres s . They were down at her wais t and then at her hips , pulling her in a little more, enough for her to feel his hardnes s . She gas ped into his mouth and forgot her s urroundings , arched into him. He p res s ed her in s till further and s he felt him through her clothes , felt a ra re wild reckles s nes s that was what he made her feelthat a man s he had met jus t this morning could have her cas t her morals to the wind. He would never know the s truggle as s he forced her body to halt. He felt her lips pull away and co uld only admire her, for there was heat beneath his ngers and her breath was rap id and s oft on his cheek, her eyes dilated with arous al. Another moment, Rakha l was s ure, s hed have comeand not jus t to his room. I will get you home. She was s haking beneath his ngers and he mus t not rus h her. She was a virgin, Rakhal was quite s ure of itwhich was an incredibly rare treat thes e days . Tomorrow, R akhal vowed. On his las t night as a s ingle man in London he would bed her. Rak hal was completely certain.

CHAPTER THREE T HE ride home was not what s he was expecting. Natas ha had thought, as s he s tepped into the limous ine, that s he would s pend the journey fending him o es p ecially when this time he s at next to her. She had, after all, felt his erce er ection, had tas ted the pas s ion of his kis s . Her lips s till felt bruis ed a nd s wollen, and her body could not s ettle. His thigh s ometimes met hers as th e vehicle turned a corner, but there was no repeat of the kis s , and, unlike Na tas ha, Rakhal s eemed completely calm, perhaps even a little indi erent. She wo ndered if he was annoyedif perhaps he thought s he had led him on She was nt even s ure, as they pulled up at her hous e, if s he would s ee him againbut s o badly s he wanted to. He did not attempt to reclaim her mouth. Jus t gave her a brief kis s on the cheek as the driver came round to get the door. Nor did he try to angle for an invitation to come in. He wis hed her goodnight and s aw the icker of confus ion in her eyes as the car door was opened and cold air climbed in. Ra khal knew exactly what he was doing. Tonight s he would lie burning, recalling t heir kis s , wondering if he would call her, and he would keep her wonderingwould time things carefully. When s he was s ure s he had blown it, when s he was s u re it was over, her doorbell would ring and there would be owers and jewels to s oothe her, and Rakhal watched her climb out of the car, s aw the feminine curve s that tomorrow he would cares s , and for the s econd time in his life thought he would enjoy choos ing a gift. He had kis s ed her as s he wore gold and he wo uld take her when s he wore s ilver. A dres s would be included in his gift Not that Natas ha knew that. She s hould be relieved, s he told hers elf. She had ha d the mos t wonderful night, Rakhal had been a wonderful companion, not quite th e perfect gentleman, and yet s he was dis appointed. Her body s till twitched fr om his touch; her heart s till s kipped as s he reached her door. She turned aro und and gave a brief wave. She certainly would not as k him in to her modes t ho us e. But as s he went to pus h in the key s he frowned as the door opened under the weight of her hand alone and s he s aw that the lock was broken. The driver awaited Rakhals ins truction, and Rakhal waited for her to s tep ins ide. He fro wned as s he turned to him. Her eyes were urgent and he could s ee the fear on h er face. Immediately he s tepped from the car. She didnt need to s ay it. One loo k into the hall and it was clear s he had been burgled. He walked pas t her, wen t s traight ins ide, and s aw that it was in chaos . Drawers had been pulled out , and the s ofa had been s las hed. He halted Natas ha as s he went to run ups t airs , caught her wris t and pulled her down to his level. I will check ups tairs , Rakhal s aid, ins tantly taking control. You will wait in my car. He was relieve d that he had not driven o s ooner, worried too as to what might have happened i f he had not taken her out that night. He went to climb the s tairs and check fo r hims elf if the intruder was s till there. Rakhal had no fear, his irritation was only that s he did not obey himfor as he reached the top of the s tairs Natas ha came up behind him. Go back down, he ordered. I told you to wait in the car. But s he brus hed pas t him, opening her bedroom door, and he heard her s ob of hor ror. He was black with fury. The mattres s was s las hed too, the wardrobe empti ed, boxes , bags

was black with fury. The mattres s was s las hed too, the wardrobe emptied, boxe s , bags everything lay s trewn and torn. You are to go down and wait in the car. H is driver had come into the hous e now, and he was almos t as dark and as forbid ding as his mas ter. Rakhal s poke to him in Arabic. Go with him, Rakhal s aid. You are s afe. I will call the police Pleas e dont. They were the rs t words s he had s poken s ince leaving the car and he could hear the s hock and terror in her voi ce. Pleas e, Rakhal, I dont want you to call the police. Of cours e I mus t. You mus t report this No! Shed held onto her tears for s o long, s cared of what s he might unleas h, and s he held them back now. She pres s ed her ngers into her eyes to s top them from falling, clamped her mouth on her chattering teeth and s wallow ed the s cream that was building. She managed words ins tead, s carcely able to believe what s he was s aying, yet knowing in her heart that it was true. I think thats exactly what my brother wants me to do. She was incredibly grateful that Ra khal was here, that he did not as k ques tions , that he did not pry. Ins tead h e held her for a moment and then led her to his car. He poured s omething into a s mall glas s and then added water and ice. She watched the uid turn milky. Thi s time it was not tea. Arak, he informed her, and s he took a s ip. It was s trong and s ickly and s he tas ted anis e. It burnt as it made its way down to her s tomach. She s ipped s lowly as he made a few phone calls though not to the police , for he s poke in his own language. I have people coming to the hous e to make s ure it is s afe. He looked at her. Are you s ure you do not want me to call the p olice? I dont think Ill be calling to report the robbery, Natas ha s aid. You really b elieve that your brother would do this to you? I dont know what to think at the mom ent, Natas ha admitted. But if it was him Im not s ure Im ready to turn in my own br other. Panic was ris ing within her. Maybe s he was wrong. Maybe it was a s imple burglary. I dont know what to do I told you earlier, Rakhal interrupted, you do not h ve to make any decis ions tonight. There was no ques tion of him leaving her here to deal with this alone. You will come back to my hotel with me.

CHAPTER FOUR E VERYTHING is being taken care of. They were back at the hotel, in his s umptuous s uite, though Natas ha didnt really take in her s urroundings . She s at on a c hair as he made another phone call, and des pite the warmth of the room s he fel t as cold as if s he was s itting out in the s treet. It was nt s o much the burg lary that had ups et her, more the thought that Mark could s toop s o low. She k new that now s he was s afe, and that now that things were being dealt with, Rak hal would have s ome ques tions , but when he came o the phone he told her rs t what he had done. I have a member of my s ta at your home, Rakhal explained. I have informed him that he is not to touch anythingthat will give you s ome time to de cide how you want to proceed. Now, I mus t as k you againdo you really think your brother did this ? Yes . It was the mos t terrible admis s ion, it actually hurt t o s ay it, but s he was tired of covering up for Mark and exhaus ted from the s tres s . Why would he terrify you like this ? Money. Natas has eyes brie y met Rakhals , but then s he tore her gaze away, guilty at her admis s ion, as if s he were betraying Mark by voicing it. She s till hoped that s he was wrong. Im going to ri ng him And s ay what? I dont know, Natas ha admitted. Maybe Im wrong Her heart l th hope s he knew was fals e. Maybe Ive jus t been incredibly unlucky to have my c ar s tolen and my hous e broken into on the s ame day Then s he clos ed her eyes , remembering what her brother had s aid about the car ins urance. I will give yo u s ome privacy, Rakhal s aid, and s he was grateful for that. She s poke with Ma rk for perhaps a minute at bes t, and then s at for a moment or two more in s il ence, till Rakhal came out. She gave him a pale s mile. Im not unlucky. Im s orry. So too was Natas hamore than he could know. Did he admit to it? Rakhal as ked. Of cours e not, Natas ha s aid. And he does nt even s us pect that I think its himI jus t kne w from his voice, from the ques tions he as ked Natas ha, can you tell me what is going on? Its not your concern. She really hadnt told anybody. Oh, her friends knew i n part, but s he had never really revealed all of it to anyone. Its better that yo u dont get involved. I became involved when you as ked that I do not call the polic e, Rakhal s aid, and then he looked at her pale features , and the uns hed tears in her eyes , and in an unguarded moment he s poke from his heart. And you are my concern. She was . Whatever had taken place today would not end as he had rs t p lanned. He knew that this was more than one of his regular one-night s tands knew that even when he ew to the des ert on Monday, even when he married, s till s h e would be on his mind. Still he would take care of her. Its complicated, Natas ha s aid. Rakhal doubted that it was , but he s aid nothing. Ins tead he let her ta lk.

Rakhal doubted that it was , but he s aid nothing. Ins tead he let her talk. My b rother was s uppos ed to get married s ix months ago. She hated talking about fam ily things her parents had always been s o private and s he was too. You dealt wi th things without as king for help; that was the way s he had been brought up. Y et her brother didnt s eem to have inherited the s ame res ilience. A week before the wedding his ance, Louis e, called it o . Still Rakhal s aid nothing, s imply l et her s peak. Since then hes been going o the rails . When my parents died the fa mily home was s old thats when I bought my hous ewell, s ome of it. I have a mortg age Natas ha s aid, uncomfortable dis cus s ing money with a man who clearly had s o much of it. She was worried that hed think s he was as king for his help. But he gave her a nod, told her to go on. And s he was nt exactly volunteering the i nformationhis s ilence was dragging it out of her. But after he and Louis e broke up Mark jus t burnt his money. Burnt? Rakhal frowned. Not literally, s he ans wered. H e s tarted gambling, bought a as h car He owes a lot of people money. A couple o f months ago I took out a loan for him. I was able to get one becaus e I had the hous e Is he repaying the loan? He was but not this month. One moment. His phone w nging. He glanced at it before ans wering, then took the call. Natas ha s at the re as he s poke in his language, and it gave her a paus e. She was embarras s ed and angry that her one perfect night had turned out like this that yet again Mar k had s pectacularly ruined things . She was embarras s ed, too, at all s he had told Rakhal, and Natas ha wanted out. Where are you going? Home, Natas ha s aid. Loo k, thank you for a lovely evening. I really am s orry about how it turned out. Your e not going home. She gave a tight s miles he certainly didnt need this . Ill be ne as ha, that call was from my aide. Your brother has jus t gone to your home. It would s eem he is a very angry man. Hes looking for s ome jewels . He s ays that they are his She knew that that was what he had been looking forthe pearls s he wa s wearing tonight that Mark would ins is t s he put them down as s tolen on her i ns urance claim and, wors e than that, in her heart s he knew that had s he not been wearing them he would have s old them. He would have s old them and then ha d her claim the ins urance money. She was s imply too drained to cry, too exhaus ted to think. You mus t res t, Rakhal s aid. I will ring and book you a s uite. I do nt need a s uite, Natas ha s aid. The s ofa will be ne. My gues ts do not s leep on a s ofa. He was in no mood to argue, and neither was he that much of a gentleman. A nd neither do I. Pleas e, dont She ran a worried hand over her forehead. It s eemed s tupid but s he did not want to be aloneand if that was the price She recalled h is kis s , the blis s s he had found in his arms , and knew it was a price s he was only too willing to pay. But Rakhal did not like to win by default. And then he s aw her jump as her phone rang, s aw tens ion tighten her features as s he took the call. Thats not your concern, Mark. She s crewed her eyes clos ed. There is nt much mis s ing

Thats not your concern, Mark. She s crewed her eyes clos ed. There is nt much mis s i ng Ill decide if I s peak to the police. Turn o the phone, Rakhal ins tructed. He wa s worried for her. Her brother was out of control now that his plan was not work ing. You did not tell him where you are? Rakhal checked. I jus t told him I had boo ked into a hotel. Hed never gues s its this one Rakhal was nt taking any chances . You will s tay here tonight. There was another bedroom in his luxurious s uite and h e s howed it to her. A bath has been run for me but you are to take it. You need s ome time to wind down. I will have a s hower rs t Natas ha s at in the lounge a s he s howered, touched that he had not pres s ed her in any way, had not taken her in his arms to comfort her, for s he knew very well how it could have turned out. She was terribly glad that he had been theretried not to picture how tonigh t might have been had s he not met Rakhal. I am done. He walked into the lounge, a white towel around his hips , and s he s aw the s nake of hair s he had glimps ed that morning, the bruis es on his s houlder from his battle with the police a nd the aggrieved hus band. His s kin was wet, his hair was too, and in the middl e of one of the wors t nights s he glimps ed the pos s ibility of the bes t nigh t of her life. Her throat was tight as s he looked at him and, though touched at his thoughtfulnes s , that he had not pres s ed, a part of her rued it too. I am going to bed, Rakhal s aid, for he could feel the change in her tens ion, could s ee the need for es cape in her eyes , and he too was remembering their kis s . But he would keep his word to hims elf. You take your time. Tonight this is your home. She let out a breath as he clos ed the bedroom door, then headed to the ba throom and undres s ed. She s hould be in tears , or s cared or s omething, but s he looked in the mirror and s aw lus t in her eyes , and s he was s o very awa re that he was near. Natas ha had thought that, given it had been run a while ag o, the bath would be cool when nally s he s tepped into it, but of cours e it wa s s cented and warm, for s he was in his world now and s he wanted his bed. Rakh al wanted her too. He lay awake and tried not to think of her bathing. There was no ques tion of s leeping. He was more than us ed to a woman in his s uitejus t not in the s pare room. He lis tened to the gurgle as the water drained, and tri ed and failed not to picture her climbing out. He was hard beneath the s heet bu t he res is ted, lay there liking the rare feeling of uns ated arous al, s avour ing his res traint, anticipating the rewardbecaus e tomorrow he knew s hed be his . He did not regret his earlier choice of words to her. She was his concern now. Except on Monday he mus t return to his land and time was fas t running out. He thought of the harem, but perhaps s he would not be receptive to that s ugges t ion, and he thought too about keeping her as a mis tres s in London. It was an i ntens ely pleas urable thought; he would grant her the gold s tamp in her pas s port that would give her full privileges , would enable her to vis it him freely . When he heard her pad pas t his door he had to bite on his lip s o as not to s ummon her in and s hare the news . He had promis ed hims elf tomorrow. A prince did not break a vow.

CHAPTER FIVE NATASHA was awoken by the s ound of s ilenceonly then did s he realis e the full extent of the us ual background nois e of a hotel. The heating whirred and then s tilled; the alarm clock s topped ticking; the darknes s blackened further. Nat as ha s at up, taking a moment to remember where s he was and all that had happe ned. She tried the light at her beds ide but it was nt working, and then patted t he end of the bed. She found the thick bathrobe, s till damp from her bathing. P ulling it on, s he made her way out of bed, her hands in front of her to nd the window, but even as s he parted the blinds there was nothing to s ee: the s tree tlights and neon s igns were all out. Its a power cut. Rakhal had been awake anyway , and he s poke as s oon as s he opened her bedroom door. The back-up generator s hould kick in s oon It was darker than s he had ever known it, and s he was grat eful when he cros s ed the room. Then s he felt awkward as s he put her hand up to him and encountered s kin. Sorry. Even though it begged to linger s he pulled h er hand away, and des pite the dark s he was s ure he was s miling at her nervou s nes s . But Rakhal was not s miling. His eyes were long accus tomed to the dar k and he could s ee the parting of her lips . He was res is ting the urge to kis s her, for all night the kis s they had s hared had been driving him wild. He c ould s mell her, and it was di erentfor the bath had been prepared for him, and h er feminine s cent now mingled with the exotic oils of the des ert. He wanted to take her, wanted to s tay in the darknes s and s imply give in. And he could, R akhal realis ed, for it was tomorrow nowmidnight had long s ince gone. So he lowe red his head and brus hed her lips . She jerked her head jus t a bit, and then h e found her mouth again. Jus t a dus t of his lips was all he gave her, and then again, and then once more. It was a di erent kis s , a teas e of a kis s , beca us e this time it was Rakhal who pulled his lips back jus t a little, till her h ungry mouth s earched for his . And s till his mouth s tayed gentle. It was Nata s has lips that were ins is tent. But he did not return the pres s ure till her m outh was almos t begging, raining kis s es on lips that s tayed loos e, and then he relented, gave her the blis s of his tongue and a mouth that was s low and m eas ured. He made s ure s he was frantic for his s oothing and then, without war ning, without even s ubtly checking, his hand s lipped into her dres s ing gown and cares s ed a nipple that was hard and waiting. He s lid his palm over the s oft s kin till it was es s ential that his other hand held her or s he might s i nk to the oor. But he did not hold her. He let her become dizzy and weak, he let his towel fall, and s he let her robe open s o his manhood res ted on her s tom ach. Her lips were on his s houlder now, s he was leaning on him as if to regrou p, but he did not let her; he kis s ed her ear to blot out the whis pers of doub t that chained her and licked at the tender es h beneath her lobe till s he moan ed on his s houlder. Her hand moved to explore what would s oon be ins ide her. He kis s ed her neck and tas ted the pearls , kis s ed the puls e that thrummed agains t his lips . Her uns killed ngers felt s ublime as he moved his hand to s lide beneath her wais t, and he inwardly curs ed at a knock at the door. He ach ed with regret as he tied her belt and then picked up his towel, and s he s tood blus hing and burning and wanting as he let in a frantic butler, loaded with ca ndles and eager to ens ure that their mos t es teemed gues t was all right, expl aining that the whole of London had been blacked out.

had been blacked out. Rakhal was annoyed at the intrus ion, though in the circum s tance it was to be expected, and at leas t, he conceded, when they were alone again hed get to s tart all over with Natas ha and he did like her kis s es . Als o, the lounge room was not the mos t convenient of locations . He would have ha d to interrupt her anyway to take her to his room s o that he could s heathe. Let us look at the view, Rakhal s ugges ted, for he could certainly do with s ome fr es h air while the butler s et up candles around the s uite. What view? Natas ha a s ked, becaus e all of London had been plunged into darknes s . There were jus t a few cars on the road giving out light, a few people s tepping onto the s tree t to s ee what had happened. It was s urreal, for it was more dark than s he cou ld ever have imagined. This view, Rakhal s aidand then s he looked up. The s ky was a blaze of s tars . The more s he looked the more s he s awa s wirl of mas s es that moved and glitteredand there were purples and blues , and the majes ty of th e s ky s he lived under was only now revealed. Its amazing. It is nothing compared t o the des ert, Rakhal s aid, but it was an amazing s ight indeed though his eyes h ad turned to her now, and he could s ee the white robe, could s ee the glitter i n her eyes . He wanted to s how her the s tars in the des ert. He told her a lit tle about itthat the roof of his des ert abode was pulled back at night s o he co uld s leep under the s tars , as did true des ert people. Not every night, he to ld her, but on nights when he needed to think And he told her a little of the la nd that was beautiful. He told her ear, for her body was now agains t him as the y revis ited their kis s . Except the paus e had Natas ha thinkinghad her knowing that s he needed to be brave, that there was s omething he needed to hear. She was embarras s ed at the thought of his reaction. Rakhal She pulled back from his kis s . I need to tell you s omething You dont. He knew already. I was in a relations hip He frowned but s he could not s ee it. The thing is . She burnt as s he s aid it . Yes , s he res pected morals , but in this s he had been hurt. I havent s lept w ith anyone beforehe wanted to wait till we were married He felt her s kin burning beneath his ngers and the ans wer for Rakhal was s imple. Then he s hould have ma rried you. And Natas ha had thought the s amenot that s he had wanted marriage to him, more that s he had wanted his des ire. Had wanted him not to be able to res is t her. Had wanted an ardour that s imply hadnt been there. But it was here no w. I know we come from di erent worlds She was being brave again. Im not expecting I was terribly awkward to s ay to a man s he had known only for one day, but Rakh al s aid it for her. I will marry s omeone from my land. Rakhal was not awkward ab out dis cus s ing s uch things . But for now I can adore you. And he would adore h er later too, he decided, for s he would be his mis tres s . But he would not da zzle her, would not confus e her. He would tell her gently of his ways , for he was determined to keep her. Tonight we get to know each other, and if you are s t ill s ure in the morning She was s ure already. They moved into his bedroom and h e pulled back every curtain and opened all the

They moved into his bedroom and he pulled back every curtain and opened all the windows . The air blew out the candles bes ide them until only thos e at the far end of the room remained. Their light lit the bed a little. He made no apology for the temperature; ins tead he peeled o her robe and led her to his bed. And s he s hiveredbut not from the coldas he kis s ed her, and after a night s pent tos s ing and turning it was a relief to lie down naked next to him. He was s o bro ad and s o male. Her only regret was that s he could not s ee him properly. But her hands s earched him ins teadthe ches t and the s houlders and the s tomach th at had teas ed. His hands cares s ed her too as he s poke. She wanted to know ab out him, wanted to know more of his mys terious ways , and even if the convers a tion s eemed a s trange one to be having as they touched each others bodies there was a need to unders tand him, to learn all s he could while s he could, for s he knew it would not be for ever. They were facing each other, talking between k is s es , his thigh over hers and his hand in her hair. His mouth was at her nec k and then down at her breas t, and how lucky was his future bride, to have this every night, Natas ha thought as his lips nuzzled her s kin. And maybe s he s a id it, for s omewhere deep in the darknes s he told her he would be with his wif e for jus t two nights a month. Youll only s leep together two times ? Rakhal laugh ed, but it was more a low growl as he lifted his mouth from her breas t. Much mor e than two times , he explained, for he wanted her to learn his ways , wanted her back in Alzirz with himwhich meant s he needed a little of the truth. For two day s and nights we will be together And then? She could hardly breathe. His mouth was s uckling at her breas t, and s he almos t did not want him to ans wer for the f eeling was s ublime, but he lifted his lips and blew cold air onto her wet es h before s peaking. She will be taken away and hennaed, and then s he will res t as we wait to s ee. And then? His hand was on her s tomach, moving towards her intima te curls . If there is no pregnancy s he returns again when s he is fertile. You wi ll hope s he is pregnant, then? Natas ha s aid, for s he would want to be back in his bed. So you can s ee each other again? No, he corrected. If s he is pregnant the n I do not s ee her till after the birth. But She could not unders tand, but he did try to explain. She will res t and be pampered. Im s ure s hed rather be with you, Na tas ha s aid, and you with her. She blinked at the impos s ibility of itto be marri ed and kept apart. So youd go for months s he was more than a little embarras s ed to voice it .without ? Without s eeing her, he con rmed. I meant She s wallowed, for s hand was moving to her thigh now. Without s leeping together His warm ngers were between her thighs . Without s ex Of cours e not. His mouth was back at her breas t , his tongue s troking it to an aching peak. I have my harem. She opened her eyes , went to pus h his hand away from where it was gently probing, for the thought of a harem was almos t repugnantand yet her eyes met the s tars and her mind was s plit open. There was a tightening very low in her s tomach and s he wanted to hear, was s trangely turned on by his ways , by the impos s ible ways s he did n ot unders tand yet wanted to hear about. Tell me, s he breathed, clos ing her eyes to the moment.

Tell me, s he breathed, clos ing her eyes to the moment. He had felt her tens e, h ad inwardly kicked hims elf for s aying it too s oonfor in this land his ways wer e not unders tood. But time was of the es s ence. One night with Natas ha would not s u ce, s o he had to tell her more truths . Tell me, s he s aid again as his ngers parted her mois t butter y. Wont your wife mind ? She will be relieved, Rakhal s aid. For s he will not be troubled with my needs . But I will s leep only with my wi fe uns heathed, Rakhal explained as his ngers s lipped ins ide her warmth, and I w ill do this only with her it is only s he I will make come Otherwis e it would b e cons idered unfaithful. There was s trange honour to his ways . And the women in the harem ? They are for me, not I for them. He lowered his head and replaced his n gers with his mouth. There is none of this . And he parted her legs and gave in to hims elf. He would mis s this . This was why he loved this land. When he went b ack this s weet pleas ure would be only for his bride. He tas ted and it felt li ke the las t time. He probed with his tongue and felt her hands in his head and it was the las t time, Rakhal realis ed, for his wife would not be s o bold as t o demand more from him, and nor would s he weep and beg as Natas ha did now. All the tens ions of the day were throbbed out into his mouth. And afterward, s he lay trying to remember how to breathe. The s tars were s till watching and s o t oo were his eyes and, no, s he did not want to wait for morning. She drank water from the carafe by the bed and could not fathom that it came from the des ert. S he poured s ome more and Rakhal drank it. She tried to res t and he tried to let her. Yet it was as though the night would not let them wait for morning; it was as though the s tars had other plans for them and were willing them on. His kis s on her s houlder made her tremble in anticipation. She could s tay like this for ever, Natas ha decided, as one hand played with her bottom. Still he kis s e d her, and then his other hand mas s aged her nipple. He kis s ed her with words while his hands were moving, s troking, as s uring, telling her what s he neede d to hear. How, s ince the moment he had s een her at the police s tation, s he had been on his mindwhich, Rakhal thought, was true. How, s ince the moment he ha d met her, he had wanted herwhich again, he conceded, was true. And he s aid many more things for here in this s trange country, where women made s imple things c omplicated, where they demanded declarations and promis es that could never be k ept, he played by the rules , gave in to the madnes s of the land jus t one more time and s aid things he perhaps ought not tolike how much he wanted her. Except that, too, was true. He told her how arous ed he was as s he burned beneath him . He moved his tongue along her s houlders and then down to s uckle at her breas t, and he kis s ed her nipple longer, until the tas te was imprinted on his ton gue. His s kin was s mooth and s oft, his erection both compelling and terrifyin gfor s he knew now that they would make love. His ngers concluded that s he was r eady. Will it hurt? A little, Rakhal s aid as he s heathed hims elf. He was over her , his erection nudging at her entrance, and he felt her tens ion, felt her tight and nervous . He moved his ngers down to where s he was now dry. We dont have to h e whis pered. I want to, s he s aid, but s he was hones t. Im s cared.

I want to, s he s aid, but s he was hones t. Im s cared. You guide me he s aid. And n her hand was around him, and he was s o s olid it terri ed her more. The s hea th came away in her hand. I will put on another He did not s how his impatience, k new it would not help, but Rakhal was not us ed to anything les s than s eamles s lovemaking. He knew that if he interrupted things now the moment would be gone . It was for that reas onthat foolis h, foolis h reas onthat he s tayed. Jus t rela x, he s aid, for he could feel the wanting in her body at odds with the dry des e rt between her legs . But now, without the barrier, s he had s oftened a little. He could feel her mois t at his tip and he kis s ed her calmer, perhaps jus t a little wilder. Better? he as ked. Much. For her panic was eas ing and lus t was tri ckling back. Im s orry She was and embarras s ed too at her cumbers omenes s . Natas ha She had nothing to be s orry about. He would s tretch her jus t a little, Rakh al decided, while s he was damp and more mois t. Jus t a little way, he whis pered . She moaned as he s tretched her, for it hurt and yet it was s ublime. He pus h ed and felt only phys ical res is tance. Her mind was with his now. Gently he mo ved, backwards and forwards , until s he begged him to enterand he did, tearing h er virgin es h. She bit into his s houlder and he thought then he might come, wa s dizzy from ghting it, but of cours e he mus t not. Rakhal knew that, for he wa s s till uns heathed. He would come out now, he decided. Except he s lid deeper inwards . She s obbed, for, yes , it hurt. It hurt becaus e it was almos t cruel to have a man as well endowed as Rakhal as your rs t lover. But it was a delici ous cruel, Natas ha s oon realis ed, as her body adjus ted to him. Jus t a little way more, Rakhal s aid, and he thought he might die from the pleas ure as he fel t the beckoning of her mus cles dragging him in. Stay s till, he warned, for the s oft buck of her body brought him dangerous ly clos e. She tried to, but s he ha d never felt anything like it, to be s o completely lled, and it killed not to m ove with him, not to move her hips to her bodys command. She gave in then, lifted her hips , and he moved out. And then as his tip neared the exit he plunged in again, for jus t one more tas te. He would be careful, he told hims elf as he s ank in deeper and then did it again. She could never have realis ed all s he was mis s ing out on. She felt his golden s kin beneath her ngers , felt the animal pas s ion that fought with his res traint, and the orgas m he had brought her t o in the s mall hours was bypas s ed already. She could feel tens ion in her thi ghs , and low, low in her s tomach, and s he felt as if s he might s cream. Rakha l, s he warned, for s he was s o clos e to the edge. Let go, he s aid, for he wante d to feel her come around his naked length. Rakhal would not leave her in London ; he wanted her in his lands he would be in his harem. He was giddy with the thou ght that he might have her again and again. Natas ha was giddy too. Her hips ros e to his and their groins ground together; he was bucking within her, and her m us cles were milking him, and Natas ha found ecs tas y there in his arms . Alway s he loved the releas e, but as he came to her it was like nothing he had ever s ampled beforehe s aw the s tars in his head, the s ame s tars that bathed the de s ert and s hone on them tonight; he s wept pas t Orion and puls ed deep into he r. And then he returned, back from the des ert to his hotel room and to cold rea lis ation. He had done the unthinkable

CHAPTER SIX NATASHA lay trying to make s ens e of things . There was no excus e s ave ins an ity, which was what s he felt around him. She was us ually the mos t s ens ible pers onres erved, s ome might s ay. Jus t not with Rakhal. His kis s es , his tou ch, his words had taken her to places where rational thought was left behind. Af ter a moment he s poke. Natas ha what happened there He actually didnt know how to broach it, for this was not a convers ation he had had before. This s ort of thi ng s imply did not, could not happen to him. Shouldnt have, s he nis hed for him. We didnt us e anything I didnt, he s aid. The mis take was mine. She turned and looked him, s aw the grim s et of his jaw, knew what he mus t s urely be thinking: s h e had trapped him s omehow. Her mind whirred for pos s ible s olutions and s he breathed in relief as one ew in. Theres a pill Thos e indigo eyes turned to her, bu t they were black and unreadable now. She babbled on s ome more, in an e ort not jus t to reas s ure him but hers elf, as if talking could s omehow eras e the m adnes s that had taken place in this bed. He looked in s ilent horror at the wom an he had jus t made love to. He accepted all res pons ibility for what had happ ened. She had been a virgin; he was a royal. He s hould have known betterhe alway s knew better. Till now. Rakhal had been rais ed as a leader in cris is . He mus t always remain calm. It had been ingrained into him, beaten into him at times , and he was grateful for thos e teachings now. He knew that s he did not unders tand the implications , but Natas has talk of a pill that could end things had a drenaline cours ing through his mus cles and his heart thumping in alarm. He kne w this had not been an attempt to trap him. There was a s trength to her, a dign ity that s uddenly unnerved him. This was a woman independent enough to go it al one. She might not even tell him about a babyperhaps with curls of gold and its f athers dark s kinand if he left now he might not even know. Still, he did not reve al his horror. His voice was pleas ant and calm when it came. There is time yet b efore you need to worry about s uch things . He pulled her into his arms . I told you you are to worry about nothing. She lay there s oothed as his hand s troked he r, as he told her that everything would be okay. She s lept, but it was not res tful, for whenever s he turned or moved it was as if he were awake and his arms found her again. At dawn s he lis tened as the s tranger who had become her love r moved to another room and chanted prayers s he did not unders tand. And s he s aid prayers of her own too, as king for forgivenes s for her foolis h mis take. It was a s imple mis take. Of cours e they would get away with it She heard him s hower, then s he heard him s peaking on the phone, but it was in his own lang uage s o s he didnt know what was being s aid. Rakhal did not like what he heard. Her brother was back and raging, demanding the jewels , demanding s he call the police. Rakhal could not let her go back to that hous e. He is s ued ins tructi ons and did not repeat them. He only needed to s ay things once.

them. He only needed to s ay things once. He returned, dres s ed in a bathrobe a nd uns haven. The bruis e on his eye was more grey than purple now. He was s til l s o impos s ibly beautiful as he s at on the edge of the bed and looked down t o where s he lay. Look about what happened She wanted to dis cus s it properlys he was nt actually s ure that s he could take a pill. She wanted to know what he was thinking. But Rakhal had other ideas . There is no point worrying about that now , Rakhal s aid. Whatever happens we will s ort s omething out. Get dres s ed. He s miled down at her. I want to take your mind o things . I will take you to breakfa s t. Somewhere nice. I havent got anything s uitable to wear. We could have breakfa s t here. We could, Rakhal s aid. And he pulled back the s heet and went to climb i n. Then he changed his mind, s miling down at her, naked and warm. She wriggled in delight as he traced his ngers down her hips and then paus ed, his eyes tende rly apprais ing her. Why dont we have breakfas t s omewhere a bit s pecial? He s po ke the language of romance, the language women here s eemed s o badly to need, a nd he s poke it eas ily for he had had much practice. Paris ! Dont be Her voice trail ed o , becaus e this was his life, this was his world, and s till s he could not fathom it. I havent got anything to wear my pas s port It was all too impos s ible . We cant jus t Why not? Rakhal s aid. I have a jet. We could be there in a couple of hours . Or lunch, maybe I will have s ome clothes brought up for you He made the impos s ible s o eas y. I will s end s omeone to get your documents , and I will have my people tidy your hous e. I dont want you being dis tres s ed She thought o f her hous e, the mes s and the chaos s he would have to return to, and s he wan ted the reprieve before s he went back to her life, wanted the es cape. Always a round him s he forgot to be s ens ible, and Natas ha nodded her head. Yes . She chos e clothes from a s election from one of the hotel boutiques which Rakhal ha d had brought up to his s uite. She chos e a dres s in the pales t grey with a m atching long coat. The hotel organis ed s omeone to do her hair and make-up too. It was the height of decadence. The luxury of it all s hould have been making h er giddy, but it was Rakhal who took care of that. The approval in his eyes as s he came out of her bedroom and the kis s to her throat before they headed to th e airport was a brief reminder of what had taken place las t night. And it was n ot clothes or make-up s he wanted. She would have happily s tripped bare there a nd thenexcept Rakhal had other plans . Plans which had s wung into action. From c ar to plane it was s eamles s for Natas ha at leas t. There was not a hint from t he s ta who greeted them as to the chaos this rapid change in the Princes plans h ad caus ed. Your Highnes s . The robed man who had been in the car the morning s h e had rs t met him was there as they climbed on board. He bowed and kis s ed Rak hals hand, and nodded his head to Natas ha, then dis appeared into an area toward s the front of the plane. Its amazing! It really was ; there was a des k and large leather chairs , a bar and even a bed it was beyond luxurious even for a hotel ro om, but the fact it was a plane had Natas ha reeling. You have a des k? I y a lot, R akhal explained. And often I am working He gave her a s mile. But not today. We s h ould take our s eats we will be taking o s oon. He held her hand as they taxied al ong the runway and took o into the morning. They would be in Paris within an hou r, the captain explained once the plane had levelled out. I s hould get changed, R akhal s aid, and looked up as the s teward came to take their order for breakfas t. Jus t juice and pas tries , Rakhal s aid. We will be dining when we land. He loo ked to his gues t, s upremely polite. If that is okay with you?

looked to his gues t, s upremely polite. If that is okay with you? Of cours e. She l ooked around the jet and he s aw her eyes linger on the bed. Why not s tretch out a little? Rakhal s ugges ted. She would never have the chance to s ample s uch l uxury again, Natas ha realis ed as Rakhal headed to the bathroom. And it was lux ury to lie on the bed, to clos e her eyes and res t on s oft pillows as the plan e took her away. It felt as if s he had been s leeping for ever and the plane s eemed darker when s he awoke. The s hutters were down. She s tretched luxurious ly, a little s urpris ed when s he looked over and s aw Rakhal on his computer a t the des k, s peaking with Abdul his aide. He was not dres s ed in the s uit s he was us ed to. Ins tead he had changed into robes and had a ka ya on his head. Natas has rs t thought was to her s hamethat s he would be a little bit embarras s ed walking around Paris with him dres s ed like that, for he looked s o royal, s o impos ing. But even before that thought had been fully proces s ed, even bef ore Rakhal turned around, the truth of her s ituation was s lowly dawning. How lo ng till we land? Still s he tried to deny the obvious becaus e things like this s urely couldnt happen to s omeone like her. A couple of hours , Rakhal s aid, and Na tas ha noted that he didnt even attempt to lie. And how long have I been as leep? Fo r a while. She tried to keep calm, but fear was cours ing through her, and it was blind panic that had her racing from the bed to confront him where he s at. You cant do this . She attempted to reas on with him. You cant jus t take me! You left me with no choice but to do s o. Rakhal was completely unmoved by her dramatics . Sh e was s tarting to s hout now, to beat him with her hands . He captured her wris ts . This is about protecting what is mine. Im not yours to protect That is yet to b determined. And Natas ha knew then it was not about her. With all that was going on, with the things you were s ugges ting, I could not leave you. To him it was l ogical. If you are pregnant with my child then I need to be certain you are takin g care of yours elf and that you will do nothing to jeopardis e its exis tence. You will s tay in the palace, where youll be well looked after by women who will take the bes t care of you. Where will you be? In the des ert. Soon I am to take a w ife. It is right that I go there for contemplation and meditation. We will wait to s ee the outcome with you. You will be well taken care of, you will be looked after, and, if you are not pregnant of cours e you can come back home. She could feel hys teria ris ingwanted to s lap him, wanted to run for the emergency exit. But s till he held her wris ts . There was nothing but nothing s he could do. An d if I am? Natas ha begged, but s he already knew the ans wer. If you are pregnant s o matter-of-fact was his voice as he s aid it then there is no ques tion that we will marry.

CHAPTER SEVEN I T WAS dark as they came in to land. She could s ee the palace ris ing out of t he des ert, and it was the mos t terrifying feeling as the plane touched down in a country s he hadnt even heard of till yes terday. They had own for hours , and when the ght in her had died Natas ha had s at in a chair and s tared s ilently out of the window. For a while s he had thought they were ying over the ocean. Shed thought s he could s ee white rippling waves . But s he had come to realis e that the near-full moon lit a des ert beneath them. It had s hown her all too c learly the remotenes s of the land Rakhal would one day rulethe land he was takin g her to now. An as s is tant helped her into a robe that covered her from head to toe, only revealing her eyes , and once o the plane they were driven a s hort dis tance to the palace, which s tood tall and exquis ite, though it felt far f rom welcoming as s he s tepped out of the car. Natas ha knew it would be hopeles s to ght herethere was no point kicking and s creaming. Even if s he could get a way there was nowhere to run; all s he could do was s tay calm and appear to hav e given in to him. He was unfamiliar in his robes , dark, mys terious and forbid ding, and s he curs ed again at her foolis hnes s , rued the trus t s he had pla ced in him. Rakhal was anked by s everal men who s poke in low voices , while Na tas ha was s urrounded by a group of women. They walked s wiftly through fragran t gardens , and only when they were s afely ins ide the palace did Rakhal s peak with her again. You will take refres hments with the maidens my father has as ked that I s peak with him. For the rs t time s he witnes s ed tens ion in his featu res , but his voice was as haughty and as s ured as ever. As he turned to go, pe rhaps he s aw her fear, for he tried to comfort her. Natas ha, I unders tand you are s cared, that this mus t be overwhelming for you, but pleas e know that I wo uld never hurt you. You already have, s he ared. Lies hurt too, Rakhal. You lied to get me on that planeyou didnt make a s ingle attempt to s peak to me, to dis cus s what we s hould do. There could be no dis cus s ionyour words left me with no choi ce but to act. He remained unmoved. Now I will s peak with the King. It is not eve ry day that a Crown Prince returns in circums tances s uch as this . For now you will wait. She had no choice but to wait, to s it as Rakhal s wept out of the ro om, dark and unapproachablea s tranger. Rakhal did not like to leave her. He was more than aware how terri ed s he mus t be. Yet there had been no choice but to bring her here. Had it been any other time he could have waited things out in Lo ndon, but fes tivities were already s tarting in Alzirztheir Crown Prince s hould be deep in the des ert now, contemplating his countrys future, as king the des e rt for guidance as he chos e his future bride, not walking into his fathers s tud y to be chas tis ed. He was braced for a row, his back ramrod-s traight, his fea tures expres s ionles s , as would be expected of any ruler about to go into bat tle. He was ready for anything as an aide opened his fathers o ce door, braced fo r confrontation as he s tepped ins ide, and yet nothing, nothing, could have pre pared him for the s ight that greeted him. He was more than grateful for his bru tal training, for the beatings he had taken in the des ert, for the cruel les s ons he had been forced to learn, for his mas k did not s lip as he laid eyes on the frail s hadow of a man who had once been s o s trong. His voice did not wave r as

eyes on the frail s hadow of a man who had once been s o s trong. His voice did not waver as he greeted his father; his eyes did not s hut as he watched the fee ble King attempt to s tand. Rakhal kis s ed his father on both cheeks , as was t heir way, but it was not born of a ection it was s imply the way that things were done. He waited for admonis hment, for his father to tell him he was a fool, bu t ins tead his father coughed, and then coughed again as Rakhal waited, his fury building towards the palace doctor, who had told him there was s till much time , that they were talking months . But that was the trouble with s ta who were lo yal. Even an es teemed doctor did not want to face the truth at times . The trut h was in front of Rakhal. The truth he could clearly s ee. Soon he would rule. I thought you would go s traight to the des ert. The Kings voice was thin and reedy, and as he gratefully s at back down it was clear that he was growing weak. I wil l depart for there s hortly. Rakhal kept his s entence brief. There was a thickne s s to his throat that was unfamiliar, a s ting in his nos e as he looked at the man who had been s o s trong and proud and tried to addres s him as if he s til l was . So why the detour? The King coughed again. You are was ting time. He s aw hi s s on frownthe only emotion he had dis played s ince entering his o ce. There are only two days for coupling. You have was ted many hours travelling. That is not w hy I brought Natas ha here. Rakhal ins tantly unders tood what his father meant. I can as s ure you that what happened yes terday was a mis take. If Natas ha is n ot pregnant then I fully intend to choos e a bride from Alzirza woman who unders tands our ways , who will be proud to give birth to our future leader. The peopl e will not take this well I am aware of that They will be appeas ed if there is an heir. Natas ha would be a poor choice. It s ounded hars h, even to Rakhal, yet it w as es s ential that his father unders toodfor Natas has s ake as much as the count rys . Except his father had other ideas . You have already made your choice, the Ki ng interrupted. When you s lept with her uns heathed. It was once. It needs to be mor e. The King held his s ons eyes . The des ert mus t play its part in this . For the rs t time Rakhal s aw fear in his fathers eyes . We ignored its rules once Father, Rak hal broke in. My mothers death had nothing to do with that. Logic told him this , e ducation told him too, and yet in this Rakhals voice did waver; in this Rakhal pe rhaps was not s o s trong. You were conceived in London, the King s aid. None of th e rituals followed. For weeks we did not know that your mother was with child. A nd look what happened. You, Rakhal, know better than anyone the ways of the des ert cannot always be explained. I am from a lineage that is pure royal; you are from a lineage that is both royal and from the des ert. Are you s o brave as to tes t your modern theories out with your own child? For the rs t time s ince thei r meeting the Kings voice was s trong and he s tood to confront his s on. I was yo ung and bold like you once. I did things my way ins tead of the ways of oldand lo ok what happened. Your mother died in childbirth; you were born s o s mall that you were not expected to s urvive. The des ert taught us a cruel les s on, yet i t gave us one chance to redeem ours elves you are that chance, Rakhal. Go now and have her oiled and prepared. Even as Rakhal opened his mouth to protes t, the Ki ng found his voice and overruled him.

Even as Rakhal opened his mouth to protes t, the King found his voice and overru led him. And tomorrow s he s hall be hennaed and res ted. It is better that s he s tays at the palace now. No! The King was adamant. Your role is that of protectors he will be terri ed here without you. She s hall remain in the des ert with you til l we have an ans wer. Rakhal was appalled at the pros pect. His time before s ele cting a bride was for deep contemplation. At night he could give in to his bodys urges , feas t with the harem, and then return to the fes tivities and s elect h is bride. It was unthinkable that he s hould have Natas ha there in the des ert with himes pecially if he could not be with her. For it was forbidden. Once henna ed and painted, her body was not for him. She does not belong in the des ert. She d oes not belong in this land. For the rs t time Rakhal glimps ed his fathers anger. However, we s hall deal with the problem, not the caus e. You will do well to re member that from your teachings . Perhaps your choice was not the wis es t, but the people will s oon forgive if it proves fruitful. If not, the people need nev er know Which is why you want her hidden away in the des ert? His father was older and wis er, and s till he had more ans wers . You cannot hide in the des ert, the King res ponded. My wifeyour mothertold me that. The des ert will always reveal the truth. There are maidens waiting for her therethey will keep me informed, as wil l Abdul. There will be no more dis cus s ion. He looked his s on in the eye and R akhal did not like what he s aw there. The once black eyes were now pale and mil ky. But on this point his father s tood s trong. I am s till King. And one day I wi ll be, Rakhal s aid, but his father refus ed to be s wayed. Go now, he ordered his s on. But as Rakhal reached the door he halted him. You have heard the news from Alzan? About his twin girls ? Rakhal had far too much on his mind to s mile, for no w he had to tell Natas ha not jus t that s he mus t join him in the des ert, but that tonight s he mus t join him in his bed. His father had had the excus e of ignorance when he had bedded his mother, had believed then that the teachings we re merely fables . Rakhal did not have that excus ehis mothers death had been a wa rning. And yet he could not force hims elf on her. And it would be force, Rakhal knew. So he had far more on his mind than to engage in idle gos s ip. About his wife. The Kings words halted Rakhal as he went to walk out. His wife? Rakhal turned around. Rumour has it that the Sheikha Queen was mos t unwell during her pregnanc y. That it might prove fatal were s he to try and conceive again. And is this from a reliable s ource? Rakhal checked. Of cours eand it had been con rmed by the mos t reliable, the King s aid. Of cours e he did not s ay it directlyhe never does . Ra khal knew who his father was refering to: the wizened old man from the des ert. B ut he s ees not jus t one tes t but two two tes ts that will divide us for ever or reunite Alzanirz. Perhaps that tes t is the twins . Of cours e Emir would not was te his breath as king me to forgo the rules to allow a princes s to rule Alz an. He looked to his s on, s aw des pite the s trong jawline, des pite the unblin king gaze, that his features were jus t a little pale. We allow a princes s to ru le Alzirz, Rakhal s aid. If Natas ha is pregnant, if the gift is a daughter, s he will one day be Queen. Which is why Alzirz will go on. The King s miled, but then i t died on his lips and there

Which is why Alzirz will go on. The King s miled, but then it died on his lips and there was hate in his eyes . Did Emirs father revoke the rule when my wife died? B itter were his words . No. Ins tead the entire burden of our countrys future fell to you, and now it is time for you to accept that burden like a manlike the Princ e you areand ens ure our country continues . Which is why you will take this woma n to the des ert and to your bed this night. Rakhal walked through the palace. Hi s tory lined its walls not jus t portraits of the royals , but oil paintings of t he des ert and the people from whom he came. He walked into the lounge where Nat as ha s at s ilent, and des pite prompting by Abdul s he refus ed to s tand when he entered. All eyes except hers were on him. You are to come to the des ert wit h me. No. He heard her inhale, heard the rate of her breathing increas e. We are lea ving now. Rakhal ignored her refus al. Abdul was watching him after all. But once they were alone he would talk to her. He would reas s ure her. For now he had t o appear to be abiding by the rules . The helicopter is being prepared. No! This tim e s he did bite and kick and s cream, but her protes ts were futile. It could, a s Abdul informed her, be no other way.

CHAPTER EIGHT NATASHA had never been on a helicopter, and as it took o her s tomach s eemed to ris e with it. She clos ed her eyes on a living nightmare. Abdul was on one s i de, and there was als o a young veiled woman bes ide her. Rakhal s at oppos ite, s peaking in Arabic to his aide, and s he tried to s hut out the words coming i n over the headphones . But s uddenly Rakhal s poke in Englis h. To the left is A lzan. Natas ha s napped open her eyes . I dont need a touris t guide. I am s imply tr ying to orientate you, Rakhal s aid. Realis ing that any information might help, Natas ha looked out of the window. But all s he could s ee was endles s des ert and panic ros e within her. She could die here, right this minute, and no one wo uld ever know; her friends and family didnt even know that s he was here. Thereover there, Rakhal s aid s ome time later, is my des ert abode. As it came into view s he could s ee a collection of tents , but as the helicopter hovered s he s aw th at it was not jus t tents more a large complex. The helicopters s potlight, as it s earched for its landing s pot, illuminated hors es circling their enclos ure a s the light dis turbed them, and there were camels too. But more s urpris ing fo r Natas ha was that there were s wimming pools . She counted three of them, righ t there in the deep of the des ert, and even without the helicopter trained on t hem they were lit up. Bes ide one there were people brightly dres s ed and danci ng. Even though s he had nothing to compare it to, his des ert abode was nothing like s he had expected. Cold air hit her cheeks as Rakhal helped her out of the helicopter. His s trong arms lifted her down and they ducked under the blades , his grip tight on her hands . Within two s teps her s hoes were los t in the s and. She made no attempt to retrieve them. Her footwear was s imply irrelevant n ow. Her only thought was that s he wanted to run back to the helicopter, to dive in and be lifted away. But by the time they had reached one of the tents the he licopter was already taking o into the s ky. Natas ha could hear the throb of s ens ual mus ic from the pools ide, the s ound of laughter too, and the cool air was tempered with incens e. It was almos t irreverent. Perhaps the s ervants wer e having a party, Natas ha wondered. Perhaps they had not realis ed Rakhal was r eturning tonight. It was quieter ins ide, but there was no relief to be had. You will put on thes e, Rakhal informed her. And though s he did not want the s mall s lippers s he obliged. She wanted to be alone with him, wanted to argue away fr om Abduls dark eyes that followed her every move. An argument about s lippers was not high on her priorities ! Not your robe, Rakhal halted her as s he went to tak e it o . The maidens will do that. Four women were approaching, their heads lowere d, bowing to Rakhal and reaching out for her. Natas ha inched. He s poke to them in Arabic and they backed away. Come through, Rakhal s aid. I have told them I nee d to s peak with you rs t. He led her through to a larger area, and thankfully th e maidens did not follow. It was dimly lit and had a s ens ual luxury. There wer e cus hions everywhere, and low tables heavily laden

lit and had a s ens ual luxury. There were cus hions everywhere, and low tables heavily laden with food, and perhaps they had been expecting him after all, for there was mus ic coming from behind a s creened area and incens e burnt in here too. She felt as if s he was s tepping into s omewhere forbidden. She was almos t right. It was nt forbidden, but it was mos t unus ual to have a woman here with him, and Rakhal was more than a touch uncomfortable with Natas has pres ence. Hi s des ert abode was not really the place he would cons ider bringing the potenti al mother of a royal heir, but circums tances had left him with little choice. No t you. He turned to Abdul who, unlike the maidens , had followed them through. I w is h to s peak to Natas ha alone. Not tonight, Abdul s aid, for on this matter even he could pull rank with the Prince. I have expres s orders from the King. Rakhal his s ed in frus tration, for it was es s ential that he s poke to Natas ha alon e. He needed to tell her he would not harm her, would not force her into s ometh ing that s he did not want. But he could not s ay s uch things in front of Abdul , s o he turned to Natas ha, who s tood pale but de ant bes ide him. Normally, Rak hal explained, my wife Im not your wife, Natas ha cut in. The potential mother of my c ild, then. He was nding this di cult. Her huge green eyes were hos tile and s car ed, and that was not how s he s hould be at this fragile time. He mus t be alone with her, for s he had no idea of the royal ways of old and s he had to be s ee n to comply. Here, he s aid. I will help you with your robe. I can help mys elf. She l ifted it o and threw it down, s tood in the dres s s he had chos en that morning . The coat s he had left on the plane, and the dres s s he had put on with s uch excitement was now crumpled. Her gorgeous hair was knotted from the robe and fr om her dis tres s before, and her lips were s wollen from crying. She looked ver y s mall, very s cared, and als o terribly, terribly de ant as s he tos s ed the robe to the oor, and it evoked unus ual feelings in Rakhal. He wanted to s ooth e her, wanted to calm her, and he cros s ed the room. But s he s hrank back, as s he had with the maidens . Sit? he s ugges ted. Perhaps eat Theyll be looking for me Natas ha s aid. Excus e me? My friends , Natas ha s aid. I do have a life. You cant ju s t whis k me o and expect no one to notice. Theyll call the police Why dont you rin g them, then? Rakhal frowned. Ring them? I will have s omeone bring you a phone. He c alled s omething in his own language and in les s than a moment a maid appeared. There is no need for his trionics , Natas ha. Ring your friends and tell them. And s ay what? The truth, Rakhal s aid. She took the phone and he watched the wres tle in her eyes . I do not want your people worrying about you. Ring them and put th eir minds at res t. She hurled the phone at him, for he had her trapped every whi ch way. But Rakhal had re exes like lightning, and caught the phone. Ring and s a y you have taken a holiday, he s ugges ted. Becaus e for now you can treat it as o ne. For now this is your home, and you will res t and be pampered. You will come to no harm, Natas ha. He walked over and touched her cheek. She s hrank back. My role is to ens ure you are looked after. He had to explain things to herhad to tel l of their ways .

He had to explain things to herhad to tell of their ways . If I had a bride s he w ould live at the palace, Rakhal explained. For two days I would be with her, and t hen the maidens would take care of her. She would be hennaed and oiled and Much m ore than that he did not know, for he would not s ee his wife after two days of couplingwhat happened after was dealt with by women. He told Natas ha the little he knew. She would res t and be looked after, and if the oils and the owers did n ot work I would return to her the next month. I dont unders tand. You do not need to, Rakhal s aid. The maidens know what needs to be done, how you need to be looked a fter, the things that mus t be taken care of. If you do carry the future heir th ere are prayers to be s aid, traditions that mus t be upheld. As I s aid, normal ly you would be at the palace. I would not s ee you. He walked to a veiled area a nd pulled the curtain back. After a brief hes itation s he followed him. Here is where you will res t. It was a lavis h room of purples and reds , with a large ci rcular bed in the centre. Above it hung a thick rope. You pull that and a s ervan t will come. If you need a drink or food or a mas s age, Rakhal explained. You may join me for convers ation if I am in the lounge and the mus ic is s ilent. I s ha nt be joining you, Natas ha s aid, but for the rs t time s ince the plane, for the rs t time s ince realis ation had hit, the tightnes s in her ches t was abating . For the rs t time s he felt as if s he could properly breathe. This was a room jus t for her, and s he s tepped into it, des perate to be alone, to gather her thoughts , to make s ens e of all that had happened. My res ting area is the oth er s ide of the lounge, Rakhal s aid, but s he s imply s hrugged. She did not car e where Rakhal res ted. All s he wanted was to be aloneexcept s he froze when s h e heard him s peak on. It is only tonight that you will join me there. Natas ha di d not turn around; the tightnes s was back in her ches t and s weat beaded on he r forehead, yet s he forced her voice calm. What did you s ay? Tonight Rakhal kept h is voice even. Aware that Abdul was lis tening, he could not reas s ure her. He wis hed s he would turn around, s o s he could s ee the plea in his eyes , know he would not hurt her. She might s omehow unders tand that the hars hnes s in hi s voice did not match his intent. You are to s leep with me tonight. No She s hudder ed. Rakhal, no. Now s he did turn around. She pleaded with the man s he had jus t met, the rs t man s he had made love with, who was now forcing her to join him i n his bed. No. There can be no dis cus s ion. He was s upremely uncomfortable. Rakha l could hear the plea in her voice, but with Abdul pres ent there was nothing he could do. Go now, Rakhal s aid as the maidens approached. They will have you prepa red.

CHAPTER NINE R AKHAL lay on the bed, waiting for the maidens to bring Natas ha to him. Mus ic was s oftly playing and he could hear the s ound of water and the maidens chatt er as they bathed her. She did not return their convers ation. He could s ee the occas ional glimps e of her s hadow on the white tented ceiling, could s ee loc ks of her hair and the curves of her body, and he did his bes t not to look at t he teas ing images . For though the room had been prepared, though the mus ic an d the s cents had been chos en carefully to arous e, he knew he mus t res is t. They hadnt been alone s ince their time back at the hotel. There had been no chan ce to explain things . Natas ha would never have agreed to come with him, and ne ither could he have left her in London to deal with her brother alonees pecially if there was a chance s he was carrying his child. He had never thought s he wou ld be brought to the des ert. It had not entered his head that his father would ins is t on this night. But at leas t in his bed, alone, he could nally s peak w ith her, reas s ure her. But Natas ha dreaded his bed. She could s ee his s hado w on the ceiling as the maidens bathed her, and though las t night had been wond erful s he could not s tand the thought of s leeping with him nowcould not give i n without a ght. Natas ha climbed out of the bath and s hivered as the maidens o iled and dres s ed her in the ims ies t of gowns , and then led her through the tent towards his res ting area. She willed fear to s ubs ide s o that s he might think. I need my jewels , Natas ha s aid, for they had been taken from her. She t urned to the maidens . If I am to be pres ented to him I need to wear my jewels . T hey are in your chambers , Amira, a maiden who s poke a little Englis h, informed her. They are s afe there. You dont unders tand. They were my mothers , Natas ha s ai d. And my grandmothers . It is tradition that I s hould be wearing them. Amira gave a nod and led her to her room. Tradition was the one word that s eemed to reach her. And I need to pray, Natas ha s aid, before I put them on. Amira nodded and s t epped outs ide as Natas ha got down on her knees . She knew s he had but a few m inutes , and for the rs t time s he was glad s he had been brought to the des er t for here the walls were not made of s tone, and s he knew that this was her onl y chance. Rakhal waited and he waited, trying to plan what he would s ay to her, how bes t he could make her unders tand. He knew s he was out of the bath, had thought s he s hould be with him now, but then this was unus ual for him too. So he lis tened to the s oft mus ic, lay back on the bed. It was then that he hear d the commotion, watched as a curtain parted. But ins tead of Natas ha, a panick ed maid called out to him, Your Highnes s ! There was fear in her voice and alread y he was s tanding, whipping a s as h from the bed as the maiden s poke on. She i s not here. Rakhal demanded more information. She as ked to go to her room, to col lect her jewels . She ins is ted that s he wear them for you. And Rakhal knew the n that s he had run, that the jewels had been an excus e, but that s he

And Rakhal knew then that s he had run, that the jewels had been an excus e, but that s he would not have left them behind. She s aid s he wanted to pray I s hou ld not have left her alone The maiden s obbed for his forgivenes s . I never thoug ht s he would run, Amira begged, for only a mad pers on would run into the des er t at night. Or a pers on who did not know how impos s ible it was to s urvive. F or the rs t time, Rakhal did not wait to be dres s ed. He pulled on his robe and s andals as the maids s ummoned help from the guards . When they heard Natas ha had gone mis s ing the s ta , unus ed to s uch s trange behaviour, ran for thei r hors es and Jeeps , but Rakhal halted them. Somehow he kept his head, ordered them to collect lanterns and to s earch on foot. He did not want them racing o i nto the night; he did not trus t that they would brake in time, and nor did he t rus t the hors es not to trample her. That s ort of s earch could only take plac e at dawn. By then it might be too late. No one ran into the des ert nightes peci ally dres s ed in a ims y gown. Did s he not unders tand how cold it was out the re? That the winds that brought heat to the s ands by day chilled them at night? That the s corpions would be out now, ready to bite at her bare feet? That even if the s and s hone white beneath the moonlight and s tars s he would be los t before s he knew it? The s eemingly at s ands were dunes that s hifted and chang ed like the ocean. The wind would carry her s creams not to him but through the canyons , for the des ert was es pecially cruel to s trangers . He did not wait for the others to gather; ins tead Rakhal s trode into the night, s houting out her name. But then it dawned on him that Natas ha was running from him. That s h e would rather ee into the hars h, unforgiving des ert then s pend a night with him. And he ceas ed s houting, s ilently as king the s kies for a chance to expl ain, a chance to tell her that he never would have forced her, that that had not been his intent. After fteen minutes of runningto where s he did not knowthe adre naline left Natas ha, and s he fell exhaus ted onto the cold s and. She knew tha t s he had been crazy to run, but it had proved equally impos s ible to s tay, s imply to s ubmit. She could hear s houts far in the dis tance and realis ed the pack was heading in a di erent direction, that s he s till had a chance to es c ape. Natas ha looked out, to the vas t s pace that would s urely claim her, then looked back to the tent. But already it had dis appeared from her vis ion and t he voices were fading into the dis tance. It was either call out now and s ummon help, only to be returned to him, or take her chance with the night She chos e hope. Rakhal watched from a dis tance. He s aw her turn, res is ted the urge to call out to her, and watched as s he made up her mind, as s he turned from the v oices that would bring her to him and faced the dark ins tead. It was then that he called out, his voice making her s till for a s econd and then propelling her into a run. You would rather s tep into the night than be returned to me? Yes ! Sti ll s he tried to run, but he s oon caught up. He grabbed at her wris t and his g rip was too s trong. He s pun her round. Even when I tell you I would never hurt you? That I will take care of you? I dont need to be taken care of! Natas ha s cream ed, kicking and hitting and trying to bite becaus e, yes , s he would rather take her chances alone in the des ert than be taken care of in that way. But you do! S till he gripped her wris t. He knew the his s ing and s parks would fade like a recracker and he did not argue further, jus t held on to her as s he s pun in an ger, as s he curs ed and s houted. Finally it faded, and he let her go when s pe nt; s he s ank to the s and and s at hugging her knees , and then s he looked up at him and with all s he had left in her s he s pat.

s pat. She mis s ed. Even defeated, Rakhal noted, s he did not cry, and there wa s a twis t in his ches t, a rare need to reach out and touch. But as he tried he s aw her head pull away, and then angry eyes as hed towards him. Do it, then! She went to pull o her gown. I wont give you the s atis faction of my ghting. He was a ppalled at her thoughts , that s he believed he would treat her as s uch. He s a nk to the ground and pulled at the gown, the ims y material tearing as he fought to keep it on. Stop this ! Why? We both know whats going to happen. Jus t take me h ere and I can vomit in the s and rather than in your bed. I am not going to s leep with you. Still s he fought. I would never force you Oh, pleas e, Natas ha hurled. I was being prepared for you. Becaus e the maidens cannot know that we do not s leep together, that I have no intention She paus ed for jus t a moment, ceas ed ghtin g jus t long enough for him to go on. Abdul cannot know that I have only the bes t intentions , he explained, which is why I could not s peak properly with you on the plane. You were in danger back in London. I had no choice but to bring you h ere. Danger! She s hot out a mirthles s laugh. You think that was danger? Your brother came back in the night, Rakhal s aid. He broke windows . He was raging Do you thi nk I would leave you to deal with that? Id have dealt with it! How? She didnt knows h ctually didnt know. Her heart s eemed to s queeze tight with fear, for had s he n ot met Rakhal, had s he not been with him that night, s he would have been deali ng with her brothers rages . Her hand went to her mothers necklace. She knew her b rother would have ripped it from her throat, and even if s he was angry with him , s he was s cared for him too. Was he arres ted? No. He was s itting with her now. Her gown was torn and her breas t was expos ed, but he pulled up the fabric and held it as he s poke. He ran o , but he came back in the morning, remors eful. By then we were already on the plane. I had left ins tructions . My people have de alt with him. She s tarted to panic again, to grapple to es cape him, but he held her s till, kept her covered, and realis ed jus t how little s he trus ted him, how little s he knew of their ways . Your family is my concern too! Rakhal s hout ed above her rage. Your brother is on his way here. Here? He was made an o er, Rakhal explained. His debts paid, including yours , in return for s ix months labour in the mines of Alzirz. The mines ! What was this place? What were they doing to Mark? But s he did not know him. He will leave here a wealthy man. He will work hard f or s ix months and build mus cle ins tead of debt. He will eat food from my land and be nouris hed. He is not here as a s lave he is here to rebuild his life. Yo u can s peak with him s oon. And Rakhal revealed his deeper motivation if you are no t pregnant, when you return to London you will have s ix months to s ort out you r life His voice trailed o and Natas ha s at s ilent, trying to take in all he ha d told her. And des pite her fears , des pite her confus ion, there was a bud of calm ins ide her; the fear that had uttered for months , maybe longer, was quie tly s tilled. Finally her brother had a chance.

uttered for months , maybe longer, was quietly s tilled. Finally her brother had a chance. I would never hurt you. All this I was going to tell you when you were brought to me tonight. For the rs t time s ince the plane s he could properly lo ok at him. For the rs t time s ince then he was the man s he had metexcept s he u nders tood a little more of his power now, and could s ee, too, the foolis hnes s of her ways . For, yes , s he had been a virgin, but s he s hared the res pons ibility and s o too the cons equences . Rakhal, I accept my part in our night to gether. She s wallowed. I accept that if I am pregnant then there will be a lot of decis ions that need to be made. But I s imply cant try to get pregnant. Her voic e was urgent. Which is what tonight would have been about I unders tand that, Rakhal interrupted. He believed in tradition, and he believed in the des ert, but he wa s modern in other things , and in this he would defy his father, in this he woul d turn his back on the des ert rules . We would not have. Now it was he who hes ita ted. We would not have made love. I too am prepared to accept the fate we made th at night. He looked at her and s lowly s he nodded, s tarting to believe that the man s he had met was s till there ins ide him. When I brought you here it was my intention that you s tay at the palace. Only when I arrived my father ins truct ed that we go to the des ert, that all the rituals mus t take place. Here it is unthinkable that you would not want to be carrying the heir to the throne. The p eople could never unders tand that we are both hoping youre not pregnant. We need to let them think that we are trying to ens ure that you are. So we are jus t to s hare a bed? Natas ha veri ed. Nothing els e will happen? It is not as s imple as t hat. They need to think He was embarras s ed, Natas ha realis ed. They need to hea r, he explained. The maidens will wait outs ide the s leeping area. Were to make nois es ? She couldnt believe what s he was hearing. You are going to pretend to be mak ing love to me? He nodded. But the s hadows . She thought of his s hadow, taunting h er on the tent ceiling as s he bathed. Theyd s ee them. They will s ee our s hadows and we will look as if we are. But I give you my word, Natas ha, it will be for appearances only. She believed him. She looked into eyes that were the s ame colo ur as the s ky above and knew he was giving her his word. Some people condemn our ways . That is from ignorance. If you are carrying my child, you are the mos t precious pers on in this land. There were s houts in the dis tance. Natas ha coul d s ee lights in the s hadows and people nearing, and no more did s he want to r un and take her chances with the night. When this is over, if you are not carryin g my child, s till I will look after you. You will have a s tamp in your pas s p ort that will s peak volumes a s tamp that only I as Crown Prince can give. I wil l make s ure your brother gets on well, and you will be able to vis it him freel y. I know I have done little to earn it, but I am as king for your trus t. He cou ld not have all of it, but nally there was hope for her brother when before ther e had been none. And s he accepted, too, even if s he could not fully unders tan d, how impos s ible it would have been for him to leave her in London if s he wa s carrying his child. Im angry, s he warned him. For even if s he trus ted him a li ttle there was a deep fury s till there. Im s o angry. I know that, Rakhal s aid. But for tonight can you nd a way to put that on hold? If we can placate the peopleif we can appear to go along with things then more and more we will

placate the peopleif we can appear to go along with things then more and more we w ill be left alone. Tears glis tened in her eyes as s he nodded her head. Rakhal c alled to his people that he had found her and picked her up and carried her to h is tent. The tears that threatened were not born of fear, but of the knowledge t hat the s trong arms holding her, his need to protect her, the care he was takin g, had nothing to do with her. He cared only s o long as there might be a child.

CHAPTER TEN T HE maidens gave her a drink and s ome fruit and then bathed her again, paying careful attention to the s cratches on her legs and gently chiding her in their own language. They dabbed at her wounds before dres s ing her in a fres h gown a nd then s he was led through the tent. There was mus ic playing and the lighting was low. She could s ee the s hadow of Rakhal through the tent wall and s wore if s he ever was his wife that this would be the rs t thing to change. The maide ns left her at the thres hold of his s leeping quarters and then took their plac es on the oor. She was relieved rather than s cared to s ee him this timerelieved to leave the maidens and their s trange rituals behind. Or s he was relieved un til s he s aw the man that awaited her, for he s eemed even more beautiful than the las t time. It was as if her brain were incapable of recording s uch exquis itenes s in detail. He was lying on a vas t bed, or rather a rais ed area that w as draped in furs and s ilks . The s pace was all malefrom the dark colour s chem e to the woody fragrance that burnt. It was clearly not an area for s haring; cl early this was his domain. Rakhal was on his s ide, naked except for a s liver o f s ilk covering his groin. His ches t and his limbs had been oiled too, and his s kin gleamed in the candlelight. And now Natas ha was more nervous than the vi rgin s he had been when rs t s he had s hared his bed. Then his promis e had bee n to pleas e her. Now it was not to. He took her hand and guided her onto the be d, moving his head in clos e to hers and murmuring into her ear. It will be okay. I know. She could s mell the pomade in his hair, as s he had during their rs t kis s , but things were s o very di erent this time. We s hould kis s , Rakhal s aid, and he captured her face in his hands and brought her clos e. But their mouths did not move, jus t their heads , and s he trus ted him a little more s till. Th en his hands went down her arms , and now their lips did meetbut it was jus t lip s , and they did not pres s . He moved his head to her ear and s he felt his bre ath. They s tayed for a moment, his hands running along her arms , cares s ing h er, then moving to her back as if pulling her in, and then to her front, where t hey res ted s till between them. She trus ted him a little more. I s hould take o your gown now. She nodded her cons ent, lifted her arms , and he s lid it over h er head. They knelt facing each other. As s he s hook her hair s he caught s igh t of her own s hadow, could s ee her hard nipples , his ngers appearing to trace themyet they did not touch her. Even when he lowered his head and s eemingly kis s ed her breas t his mouth s tayed clos ed, and his tongue did not cool the hea t. She ached for it to do s o and performed for the s hadows or was it for hers e lf? Her neck arched back and the mus ic quickenedtheir s hadows , Natas ha realis ed, were for the mus ician, for the tempo changed as s he and Rakhal moved. The s trings of the quanoon s eemed to pluck deep ins ide her as his chin grazed he r breas t and his kis s on her s kin remained elus ive. Her hands moved to his h eadto s teady hers elf, s he told him. And he s teadied her tooone hand around her wais t and the curve of her bottomand the mus ic has tened and s he res ted a he ad on his s houlder. She could feel her breas ts atten on his ches t and tried t o s low down her breathing.

his ches t and tried to s low down her breathing. Now, Rakhal s aid, you mus t trus t me. He laid her down and s he s tared at the wall, at the outline of his body and the full s tate of his arous al. Of cours e he was arous ed, Natas ha told h ers elf. She was toonot that s he would let him know it. It was jus t two bodies con nedtwo bodies primed with food and s cents and brews for this momenttwo bodies that las t night had been s o delicious ly intimate. It would be impos s ible f or him not to be arous ed. He lifted her knees and lowered his head between her legs but his mouth did not touch her. She could feel only his breath when s he wa nted his tongue. It was a relief when he told her to make s ome s ounds of appro val, to let it be known that the Crown Prince Sheikh was arous ing her. She moan ed not becaus e s he was told to, but becaus e s he had to. And as his hair met her thigh, as his head danced between her legs , it was torture that his mouth d id not cares s her. He pulled her hand to his head, told her to moan louder, tol d her to rais e her hips . As s he did s o s he mis judged, felt for a s econd t he s oothing of his mouth, and then he moved back, and s he bit down on a plea f or him to continue as the mus ic urged him. She was acting, s he told hers elf a s his head ros e. She was acting, Natas ha ins is ted as he lay over her. Soon, Ra khal s aid, you can res t. His voice was hoars e. His weight was on his elbows , b ut their groins s till met and his erection was pres s ed between them. She didnt want to be res tings he wanted him ins ide her. Say my name, he s aid. You would ca ll my name. And s he did. She called his name as if he were ins ide her. And again , Rakhal s aid as he moved over her. She s obbed it out, s aw their s hadows movi ng in unis on, and the mus ic has tened and urged them on to a place s he mus t not go. Trus t me, he s aid. And s he wis hed s he didntwis hed he were a liar and w ould take her now. The mus ic and the potions mus t have confus ed her s ens es , mus t have muddled her brain, for as s he lay trapped beneath him, as s he wat ched their images move on the tent wall, s he wanted to s tay there, wanted to b e having his baby, wanted for ever with Rakhal. But it would not always be like this , s he reminded hers elf. The wife of Rakhal would be kept far removed from himif s he were having his child, after the wedding s he would not s ee him. So s he tore her eyes from the wall and looked up to the s ky. Only that did not di lute her arous al. Tonight, quite literally, s he s aw s tars . Rakhal! She s aid his name for s he wanted this over. She could not play this dangerous game. Rakha l, s he begged, and he moved fas ter as the mus ic reached a cres cendo. Now, he s aid in her ear and he lifted his body and s huddered a moan and faked his rs t o rgas m. Without his bidding s he called out, as s he had las t night. Should he kis s her? Rakhal wondered. If s he were his bride, would he kis s her now? Perh aps he forgot for a moment that they were acting, and for Natas ha it was a reli ef that he did. His tongue was a cool balm, and while their rocking was s lowing , the mus ic fading, it was contrary to the re in their groins . It s hould be o verand yet his erection was s till pres s ing, his breathing was ragged, and her ngers were on his back and digging in. Her hips ros e higher agains t him and hi s tongue darted in a decadent trys t. Natas ha tried to quiet the jerks of her b ody, tried to tell hers elf s he was playing only the neces s ary game. But as h e lifted his head and watched the colour ris e from her ches t to her cheeks , a s he felt tens e beneath him, there was a glimmer of triumph in his eyes as s he denied her orgas m.

beneath him, there was a glimmer of triumph in his eyes as s he denied her orgas m. He rolled o her and onto his s ide, pulled the s ilk over his groin, and Nat as ha clos ed her eyes , guilty at having enjoyed it. Well done, Rakhal whis pered . Now you can res t, and tomorrow you will be taken to your own room. We dont have to be together after this night His voice trailed o as a maiden entered, and s h e was reminded of her role as Rakhal trans lated the maidens words . She is as kin g that you lift your hips . And s he burnt with s hame as s he did s o and a cus hion was placed under her, to tilt her hips s o that the s uppos ed royal s eed might get its bes t chance. A ves s elthat was all s he was , Natas ha reminded h ers elf. All s he would ever be to him. And s he clos ed her eyes to the s tars and tried to hold onto her tears as s he waited for morning to come.

CHAPTER ELEVEN H ER time with the mas ter was over, Amira informed her. Natas ha had not s lept ; ins tead s he had lain pretending to. When Rakhal had ris en at s unlight to p ray s he had opened her eyes to s ee the maidens quietly waiting. Shed been led t hrough the tent to eat at bread and dates . Shed drunk infus ed tea and now they bathed her. She would never relax, Natas ha was s ure. But the water s melt of l avender, and the ngers that mas s aged her s calp were rm and yet tender, and as s he breathed in the fragrant s team Natas ha felt the tens ion s eep from her. She unders tood that s he was being taken care of, that the maidens meant her n o harm. She was taken to lie on low cus hions and her breath was in her throat a s Amira explained that s he would be decorated. Her s kin was damp and warm as t iny leaves and owers were painted around her areola and jus t above her pubic bo ne. The tiny owers dipped above and into her intimate curls , and Amira did her bes t to put Natas ha at eas e as s he explained their ways . An old lady drew a circle and then darkened one s liver. When s he pointed to the s ky Natas ha un ders tood it was las t nights moon that had been drawnthe time recorded. For nine o f thes e moons we s hall paint you and pray that the owers will grow to here. Ami ra pres s ed into the middle of Natas has ribcage and the old lady s aid s omethi ng. Amira laughed. Sometimes ten moons , Amira trans lated, and then the old lady s aid s omething els e only this time the maidens bowed their heads . What is s he s aying? She s peaks of Queen Layla, Amira explained. The owers only climbed to her e. She pointed to jus t above Natas has umbilicus . There were only s ix moons for our Prince. It was too s oon, Amira explained, then tried to reas s ure her. But i t will not happen to you. Queen Layla was not s afe in Alzirz at her fertile tim e. She was not painted and fed the potions . She did not have us to take care of her Where was s he? Amira looked uncomfortable and did not ans wer immediately; in s tead s he carried on with her artwork. After a moment s he s poke on. She was f rom the des ert, and when s he was in the palace s he pined for it. She was s o thin and s o ill, and s he was growing weaker She joined the King in Londonhe wan ted to try the doctors there. Amira pulled a face. She would have been s afer here . Ins tead s he came back to us already carrying a babe. They nurs ed her at the palace; they did everything that could be done. But s he was too weak Natas ha w as s tarting to unders tand their terror of breaking any traditions . When the d ecorating had been completed, s he was oiled again till s he was drows y, then d res s ed in s heer organza and led to her bed. She was given a thick milk and ho ney drink, but it was s ickly and s weet and s he could not nis h it. You mus t d rink it all, Amira s aid. It will help you to s leep. She gave a s mile. You will s leep now till tomorrow morning. When s he was left alone Natas ha put down the go blet, uns ure what they were giving her, and uns ure if it was okay if s he were pregnant. She knew there was no way s he would s leep for twenty-four hours , b ut the room was dark and cool and nally s he did fall as leeponly to awake dis or ientated. The room was s till dark, and s he could hear mus ic ltering through f rom the lounge. Without thinking s he wandered out. What are you doing here? Immed iately Rakhal s tood from the cus hion he was lying on. You do not come out when the mus ic plays !

You do not come out when the mus ic plays ! He was hars her than hed intended, but s he mus t not come out when there was mus ic, for it mas ked other s ounds . To his credit, he had jus t been s itting ponderingbut Natas ha was not to know tha t. More than that, the s ight of her uns ettled himthis s ide of a woman he was n ot s uppos ed to s ee. Her hair was oiled and her s kin was too; the organza rob e was ims y and clung to her. She was lus h and ripe and he was wanting. But s h e had been bathed and painted. Go to your room! he s napped, and promptly led her back. You do not come out when the mus ic is on. Then turn it o , Natas ha s aid, an d looked at him, this man who would s end her back to her room. Actually, dont bot her. She s hook her head. I dont even want to talk to you anyway. Sleep, Rakhal ordere d. I cant s leep. Pull the rope. He turned away, for he mus t ris e above his feeling s . She was completely forbidden now, and he was s tronger than his urges , s o he led her to her room. He s aw the goblet s till full on the tray on the oor. Yo u need to drink that. He cros s ed the room and picked it up. She s at on the edg e of the bed and he held it to her lips . She loathed it. It was s ickly and thi ck like cus tard, and it ran down her chin, but his ngers caught it. All of it, Ra khal s aid. There are herbs that help you to res t, that are good for your womb. H e pres s ed the thick goo to her lips and s he took it from his nger. He was har d and trying to ignore it. He pulled back the s ilk and s he s lid into bed. Her body was on re. It mus t be the herbs or the oils , for there was heat between her legs and her breas ts felt taut as he s tared down at her. Sleep, he ordered, and left the room. So tempted was s he to call him. And it was the s tranges t p lace, the mos t dizzying place, for the mus ic was louder from the lounge and it lulled her. The herbs from the drink made her dreams giddy, and then the mus ic was quiet, and there was jus t the s ound of laughter drifting acros s the des ert night. A s plas h from the pool and then another one. She opened her eyes an d a tear es capedfor it was not, as s he had thought when s hed rs t arrived, the s ervants partying while the mas ter was away. She had only jus t realized. The bright colours the women had been dres s ed in, the dancing, the laughter that h ad come from the pool That was his harem.

CHAPTER TWELVE YOU can continue to s ulk, Rakhal s aid a few days later, when s he was s till s o furious s he would hardly s peak with him, or you can enjoy the reprieve. Ill s ulk , thank you. Natas ha lay on the cus hions . She was allowed out, apparently, bec aus e the mus ic was nt playing. She was s till dres s ed in the ims y organza, a nd would be bathed at s uns et tonight. Rakhal had dis mis s ed the maidens who us ually hovered around her, and s atis ed that the coupling had taken place Abd ul left them alone now, but although they now had the opportunity, Natas ha refu s ed to talk. You wanted a holiday I wanted to lie on the beach and s pend time wit h my friends . But you werent able to, Rakhal reminded her, for your brother s tole f rom you. Now you can res t and be pampered. I do not s ee what your is s ue is . I s s ues , Natas ha corrected. She was angry at him on s o many levels s o many and es pecially onebut s he could not bring hers elf to s peak about it, could not s wallow down her jealous y enough for it not to appear in her voice. So s he s p oke of other things that bothered herand there were plenty! You brought me here ag ains t my will. You gave me no choice, Rakhal s aid. When you s poke of this pill th at you could take. Natas ha looked away. Really s he was not s ure that s he woul d have taken the pillwas nt s ure of anything any morebut Rakhal did not leave thin gs there. Did you think I would leave you to deal with your brother? He had a poin t, but s he would not give in. You could have dis cus s ed things with me. There wa s no time. Rakhal had no choice but to admit it. I explained to you that one day I would marry. I had already been told to return to choos e my bride. I was to y out on the Monday. And he watched the anger grow in her, watched the re on her ch eeks , and there was rare guilt as s he challenged him. So I was your las t ing? I hoped, Rakhal s aid, to s ee you again Were you going to as k me to join your harem? s he s pat. I knew that would not go well. I thought I might s ee you in London. S he tried to ris e from the cus hions but he s tood over her. Do you unders tand t hat I could not leave you in London knowing that you might be carrying my child? That I could not marry another without rs t being s ure you were not? If you ar e pregnant, Rakhal s aid, it might be my countrys only chance to continue. My fathe r was once arrogant, as s uming he would produce many heirs . She s at there s wa llowing her fury as he continued. If you are pregnant, Rakhal explained, I know it will be a di cult trans ition for youthat much I do unders tand. However, you wil l never live in fear again, and you will never know anxietythat is my duty to you I take care of your family. I take care of your problems . You live in luxury; you rais e your children. Without you? You would s ee me through your fertile times , Rakhal explained, and for feas ts and celebrations , and of cours e I would come regularly and vis it the children, teach them our his toryes pecially the eldes t.

his toryes pecially the eldes t. He did not unders tand the tears in her eyes had n ever had to try to explain this before. He s napped his ngers . He was uncomfort able with this convers ation and he did not like to dis cus s the pointles s for thes e were things that could never change. I am going to bathe and then I will w alk in the des ert, Rakhal s aid. You s hould res t. And he ordered mus ic which me ant s he mus t return to her room. She lay there for almos t an hour s eething, hearing the s ound of laughter that came from the bathing area. No, s he would n ot meekly lie back and accept his ways at leas t in certain things ! What are you doing here? Rakhal s napped as s he walked into his bathing area and the laughing and chatter abruptly ceas ed. I am bathing. Really? Her eyes as hed their warning a nd her voice chilled the room. Tell your maidens they are dis mis s ed. Rakhals eye s were jus t as angry, but with a few s hort words and a ick of his wris t they were left alone. As he had s tood over her before, Natas ha now s tood over him. Im here becaus e you think I may be pregnant. You are cons idering taking me as y our bride. She s poke very s lowly, her face coming clos e to his . And you have t he gall to have three women was h you while I am s ent to my room I was having a b ath. Rakhal was far from repentant. There is nothing s ens ual in it. She s lipped her hand in the water and found his thick, warm tumes cence. Oh, I beg to di er. H e moved her hand away. She was decorated, he remembered. But he s aw her pale ng ers linger on the s urface of the water and wanted to pus h her hand back down. Y ou are to res t Im bored with res ting. Her eyes were dangerous . And I tell you this now, Rakhalyou have your rules , well, here are mine. There are to be no other w omenand that means no maidens bathing you. She s aw his jaw tighten and s he glimp s ed a pos s ible future and did not like it. If I am pregnant that will go for o ur marriage too. You are being ridiculous . No. She s hook her head. You will be in th e palace, he told her. You will not even know Ill know, Natas ha s aid. Rakhal did no like the rules being rewrittenes pecially this oneand s imply dis mis s ed her. Fi ne, Natas ha s aid. Im going for a walk. A walk! He was aghas t. You do not walk. You re to res t. I have res ted. She was having great trouble keeping her voice reas on able. And now I would like s ome fres h air. I want to s ee the des ert. It is not a place for a s troll, Rakhal s aid, but s he would not give in. If you want to s wim I have a private pool, and there is a garden around it I want to get out. You do not jus t wander out to the des ert alone. I thought the other night had taught you that much at leas t Then walk with me. If s he s tayed ins ide, even within th e compound, for another minute s he would s urely go crazy. Perhaps he s ens ed that, for he gave a nod, and as he began to call the maidens to come and dry him and dres s him he had the good s ens e to change his mind. Go and put on a robe, Rakhal s aid. And you mus t have a drink before we leave. Still s he

Go and put on a robe, Rakhal s aid. And you mus t have a drink before we leave. Stil l s he s tood there. Im as s uming youre not here to dry me? Her blus h chas ed her out of the bathroom. It was not what he had s aid, more the thoughts his words h ad triggered. She refus ed to think of him drying and dres s ing, took the s mal l victory that he was alone, and s lipped on a robe over her s heer gown. The ma ids came and tied on thin leather s andals , ens ured s he took a long drink, cl early worried that s he was leaving the s afety of the tent. Ill be ne, s he as s u red Amira, but s he could s ee the dart of fear in the young girls eyes . As s oo n as s he was outs ide s he unders tood why, for the air was not s oothing. It w as hot and dry. Even the light wind cas t s and in her eyes , and s he realis ed then the haven of the compound. It is not a place for walking, Rakhal s aid. I tho ught you s aid you went out in the des ert a lot? That the des ert is where you do your thinking ? I am from the des ert, though. You mean your mother was from the d es ert. He looked down to where s he walked bes ide him. It is not that s impleeven if I never met her, her his tory is within me. I know how to s urvive here. You do not. What was s he like? Natas ha as ked. You mus t have found out Rakhal had nev er dis cus s ed this s ort of thingnot even with his father. His childis h ques t ions had been dis mis s ed. Yet he had found out things on his vis its to the de s ert, and had overheard convers ations with the maidens yes , his mother had bee n a wis e and beautiful s oul, but s he had been other things too, and he chos e now to s hare them. She was very unus ual, Rakhal s aid. My father met her when he was walking; he found her dancing in the des ert. He chos e her as his bride ev en though he was warned agains t it. Normally the Kings wife does not caus e prob lems , but my mother did. Tell me, Natas ha urgednot jus t becaus e s he had to unde rs tand this complicated man, but becaus e the des ert fas cinated her s o. My fa ther had work to do in London. After a few months of marriage he was dis appoint ed that my mother was not pregnant and s he was toos he did not like the palace a nd pined for the des ert. The maidens were frantic, for s he s topped eating and would hardly take a drink s he s pat out the cus tard He turned and gave a wry s mile, for Natas ha had done the s ame. She grew too thin, too pale and weak, and my father had her taken to London. He s aid that there the bes t hos pitals were available, the bes t treatments , and once there s he s tarted to pick up and e at Maybe it was your father s he mis s ed and not the des ert? Rakhal s hook his he ad, but he could not completely refute it. After all, it was in London that he h ad been conceived. My father carries guilt with himhe s hould not have s uccumbed with his bride in London. None of the traditions were followed. She returned to Alzirz already pregnant. She s tayed at the palace but des pite their bes t e or ts the damage was done and s he grew weaker there. I was born jus t a few months later and s he died in the proces s . He looked over to Natas ha. I do not as k y ou to believe in our ways , jus t that you unders tand that in going through wit h this I am trying to protect you too. And that much s he did unders tand. I s pok e to my brother today. She had at rs t thought hers elf a pris oner, and had been s urpris ed on the s econd day when Amira had brought her a phone and s aid tha t her brother wis hed to s peak with hernow they s poke mos t days . How was he?

How was he? He s aid s orry, Natas ha s aid. Hes s aid s orry many, many times . But t his time I think he means it. She glanced up at Rakhal, to his s trong pro le, to the eyes s he could not read. She wanted to as k him a ques tion. Ive been thinki ng The des ert makes you think. I know, s he admitted. I was s o angry with my parent for making me s ell the hous e her words tumbled out fas t I think they were look ing out for meI think they knew Marks problems . If the hous e had been in both ou r names . She s huddered at the thought. They s till are looking out for you, Rakhal s aid. Do you believe that? Of cours e. Do you think your mother is looking out for you? Thos e wide s houlders s hrugged and s he almos t had to run to keep up with him, but then he paus ed. Have you heard of dus t devils ? She s hook her head. To rnado? She nodded. Sometimes there are s mall ones . Often He looked out to the hor izon, as if looking might make one appear. Sometimes I think I s ee her there dan cing, Rakhal s aid. Sometimes I hear her laughing. It was ve years ago that my fat her ins is ted I marry. He looked at her s hocked face and s miled. Here in Alzirz we only marry once in a lifetime. So youve de ed him? It was not eas y, Rakhal s aid. There was much pres s ure. I know my people need an heir. I came out here to thi nk and I heard her laughing, as if s he was giving me her bles s ing to refus e. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I s hould have married then He looked to Natas ha. It mig ht have s aved you s ome trouble. He was uncomfortable with this dis cus s ionhad told her things he had never s hared. He s tarted to walk on. Anyway, s he is bac k with the des ert s he loved. Rakhal. She looked out at a lands cape that was erce , brutal and s taggeringly beautiful, and then s he looked back to a man that wa s the s ame. She craved his mouth and his mind, but not his ways . It was nt the d es ert s he pined forit was your father. Enough! Well, clearly they were happy to s e e each other in London. She would not be s ilenced. I can think of nothing wors e than being locked away in the palace. Es pecially Natas ha s wallowed. Es pecially if I loved my hus band and knowing She could not bite down on her venom, for how s he hated his ways . Your mother would have loathed knowing he was with his har em. I s aid that is enough. Rakhal did not need a lecture from a woman who had s pe nt jus t a few nights in his land. You admonis h our ways , yet you defend yours . In my country women are cos s eted, looked afterwhereas you were in fear of you r own brother. And, he demanded, is there delity in your land? Some, Natas ha s aid. R ubbis h, Rakhal s aid. In your land hearts get broken over and over becaus e of th e impos s ible rules . Here we accept that no one woman can s u ce for a king. I will not continue with this ridiculous convers ation, Rakhal s aid, and s trode o . You really dont like arguing, do you? She ran to keep up with him. You only like it when I agree with you. Well, I never will. You might have to.

You might have to. No. She s topped and s tood s till in the erce heat. She s tood a s he walked, and s he called to his back as he walked on. If I am to res pect you r ways , then you will res pect mine. Natas ha, we do not have time for this . The s un is erce. It is time to return to the tent. Im not going back until you lis te n to me. Then you will be waiting a very long time. But of cours e they both knew h e was blu ng, for though he would allow Natas ha to peris h in the des ert, s he might be carrying his child and that made it a di erent matter indeed. With a h is s of annoyance Rakhal turned around and s trode towards her. I will carry you back if I have to. Good, Natas ha s aid. Then my mouth will be clos er to your ear. R eluctant was the laugh that s hot from his lips . You have an ans wer for everyth ing. No, Rakhal, I dont, Natas ha admitted. I have no idea what is going to happen if I am pregnant. I dont have any ans wers there. But while we wait and s ee what i s going to happen, while Im s tuck here in the middle of nowhere, while I am forc ed to play by your rules , then I ins is t on enforcing one of mine. There will be no other women. Natas ha. His voice was full of reas onpatient, evenas he explaine d the s trange rules . I have told you: I cannot s leep with you if there is even a chance you are pregnant Then youd better get us ed to being alone. She s aw the s hake of his head. I mean it, Rakhal. Suppos e I play by your rules ? What if you a re pregnant? What if we are to be wed? Youd really expect me to go months , maybe a year You clearly expect me to. But it is di erent for women, Rakhal s aid. You wen almos t a quarter of a century without it. After all, you He did not get to nis h . Her hand s liced his cheek and he felt the s ting of her ngers meet his es h. I f I am your wife, you are loyal to me. And if I am not? Rakhal challenged. What? You will lie there rigid like a plank of wood? The triumph s he had witnes s ed that night was back in his eyes now. I did not even touch you the other night, yet yo ur body came to me You hadnt been with another, Natas ha retorted. You didnt s icken e then. And the wind whis tled acros s the des ert, the s un s eemed to burn in t he back of her s kull, as s he told the truth. I would never forgive you, Rakhal. She made things a little more clear. And I dont give out s econd warnings .

CHAPTER THIRTEEN S HE could not s leep, des pite the cus tard. Eight days here and s he was growi ng more crazy by the day. Her breas ts felt tender and s he wondered if s he wou ld s oon have her period, butmore worryingly for Natas has he was nt s o s ure that s he wanted it to arrive. She wanted more time with Rakhal. She s hould not enj oy their convers ations , s he told hers elf. Should not crave the evenings when they played old board games or ate and laughed or s imply talked. Should not li e at night and lis ten to the mus ic and remember the s hadows and picture hers elf back in his bed. Should not let hers elf fall in love with this s trange lan d And when the mus ic was s ilenced s he wis hed s he could s leep, wis hed that s he did not crave his company, s o s he lay there, though s he had been given permis s ion. She s hould not condone his s trange s ummons except s he could not s leep. What are thes e? She had never s een anything more beautiful. There was a roll of black velvet on the oor and it was littered with jewels of all di erent s hades of pink, from the pales t blus h to the darkes t of wine, and Rakhal wa s s itting as if contemplating them. Are they rubies ? Diamonds , Rakhal ans wered, and it was at that very moment s he realis ed s he was in s erious trouble. Oh, s he had known it when s he awoke on the plane, had known it too when s he ran i nto the des ert, but this was a di erent s ort of trouble. When s he s aw the s tones , and the care he was taking with his decis ion, s he had a utter in her s tomach. Was he choos ing a diamond for her? To be feeling like that was a very di erent s ort of trouble indeed. There are als o s apphires , Rakhal s aid, and g es tured for her to join him. It is a di cult decis ion. I do not want to caus e o ence. O ence? Diamonds are more valuable, es pecially pink ones , but here He hande d her two s tones , both heavy and a purplis h pink, and s he held them up to th e light, marvelling at the kaleidos cope that danced in them. They are beautiful, yes ? Theyre more than beautiful, Natas ha breathed, for it was as if an angel had chipped a piece out of heaven and dropped it to earth. The trouble is they are s apphires . I thought s apphires were blue? She looked to him and he was s milinga s mile s he had never s een, for it was black and unkind, but it was not aimed at her. He looked to the jewels s he had put down. That I hope will be his rs t thou ght. His ? King Emir of Alzan, Rakhal s aid. I am to choos e a gift to s end to celebr ate the gift of his twin girls . I rs t thought of diamonds pink diamonds but it i s too obvious a choice, s o I have had my people s ource the bes t in pink s app hires . I do not want to caus e o ence by giving a gift that is not valuable, bu t thes e are the bes t. And then his s mile darkened. But

giving a gift that is not valuable, but thes e are the bes t. And then his s mile darkened. But naturally when you think of s apphires you think of blue, and blue makes you think of s ons . Rakhal had made his choice. As Emir mus t be thinking as the entire country is thinking Perhaps Emir is s imply enjoying his gorgeous ne w girls . He looked at her and lay down on his cus hions , and s he lay down on h ers , becaus e s ometimes , when neither was s ulking, they talked. Shed told him about her family, about her parents and how s he mis s ed them s o. About her j ob as a teacher. In turn he would tell her tales of the des ert and s ometimes , like this time, it was the only place on earth s he wanted to be. His voice was rich and painted pictures in her mind, and tonight when he as ked for the mus i c to res ume he told her s he could remain. Generations ago the Sheikha Queen was to give birth in one full moons time. He s miled as s he clos ed her eyes to the s ound of his voice. He had never expected her to be s o keen to learn of his la nd, had never known another who was not from here to be s o interes ted in the t ales of old. But the Queen s urpris ed everyone. The birth was early, and they we re expecting only one baby, but two s ons were delivered. The doula was taken by s urpris e and there was confus ion. With twins , the rs tborn s hould be brand ed, to avoid any mis take, only thes e twins were a s urpris e, and they could n ot be s ure who was the rs tborn. Always there had been unres t in Alzanirz. The country was divided Why? s he interrupted. She looked over to him and s aw that he was watching her, knew his eyes had been roaming her, and s he loved the feeling of warmth. This s ide honoured the s ky, the other the land. Both thought their way the mos t important. The King s ought couns el and it was decided to appeas e all people. Each twin would rule half of the land. So Emir and you are related? Di s tantly. Rakhal s hrugged. And now he has twins ? He would have preferred s ons , Ra khal s aid. His wife was ill with this pregnancy perhaps too ill to get pregnant a gain Poor thing. It is good for Alzirz, Rakhal explained. Perhaps Alzan will return t us s oon. He gave a wry s mile. Emir has one brother, but he is not King materialh e is too wild in his ways . Emir would never s tep as ide for Has s an and now h e has two daughters ! Twins divided us and now they will reunite us . She did not return his s mile. Why would you want another country to rule over? Why do you s e ek debate when there can be none? It was written many years ago. I dont expect yo u to unders tand. I dont want to, Natas ha s aid. I cannot imagine being dis appointe d to have a daughter. You do not have to, Rakhal s aid. For here in Alzirz the s ex of a child is not a concern. All the people want is healthy o s pring and plenty of them. And s he was s tupid to have hoped he might be s electing a s tone for hereven more s tupid for thinking s he wanted to be a part of this s trange land. She s tood and headed to her chambers . Where are you going? He had been enjoying their talk. To my room. You o end eas ily. You s o eas ily o end. He was tired of her moods , tired of her s peaking back to him and yet he was not tired of her.

her. Rakhal s ummoned Abdul and as ked that the s apphires be delivered to Emir in the morning. Pleas ed with his gift and the bile it would induce in his rival he headed to his s leeping quarters . But the brief pleas ure died as he s tret ched out on the pillows and as ked for the mus ic to be s ilenced for he remembe red the night s he had s hared his bed. But perhaps he s hould as k the mus icia n to res ume, for his body craved a woman. So many times thes e pas t nights his hand had reached for the rope that would s ummon the mis tres s of his harem to s end him a woman, and now, as he lay there, his mind awake and his body too, h e thought of Natas ha and what s he might look like beneath the organza. He had only s een her covered, but he knew s he would be hennaed and oiled, and though it was forbidden how he ached to tas te and to s ee He ached His hand reached fo r the rope to pull it, s o that he would not think of Natas hafor even if he want ed her he could not have her. If his child grew in her womb it s hould res t und is turbed. He was hard at the thought of her. He s hould reach for the rope, not reach for hims elf, for that was als o forbidden. There were twenty women who c ould attend to his needs tonight, except his mind craved only one. Rakhal? He had not heard her foots teps . It was only her voice that told him s he had entered his quarters . You are not permitted here, he barked, and rolled onto his s ide, b ut he knew that s he had s een the ris e of the s ilk. The mus ic is nt playing, a nd anyway I cant s leep. She could not. Natas ha knew from the ache low down in he r s tomach what the morning would bringknew that it was their las t real chance t o be alone, that it might be their las t chance to talk properly. Impos s ible a s the rules were, Rakhal was not totally unreas onable. Unlike the night s he ha d arrived, when s he had felt s o terri ed and alone, nowdes pite their di erence s there was a peace that only he brought, a s mile that only he s ummoned, and ne ver again would s he fear him. Im not tired. Then pull your rope and one of the maid s will bring you a potionor give you a mas s age if you choos e I want to talk. Then I will have s omeone who s peaks Englis h come and read to you, or hold a conver s ation. I meant to you, Natas ha ans wered. With you. When he s aid nothing s he loo ked up. The s tars are amazing tonight. Can they pull back my roof? Tomorrow I will as k for it to be done. He wanted her gone, wanted to s ummon a woman from the h arem. He did not want a circus parading in the tent tonight and xing the roof wh en he wantedno, neededher gone. He felt the indent of the cus hions and was appall ed by her boldnes s as s he s at down on the Princes bed, where only the invited were allowed. He s napped on the light to s cold herand then wis hed that he hadnt for s he looked amazing her hair coiled over her s houlders and her mouth his f or the taking. He mus t not. Go back to bed. Im not ten years old, Natas ha s aid. You cant jus t s end me. Im bored. I am never bored. He s aid it as an ins ult. Yes , wel l, youve got the bes t view. If I could look at the s tars I wouldnt be bored eith er. She lay down bes ide him but he moved away. Im not here to s educe you.

She lay down bes ide him but he moved away. Im not here to s educe you. She grinned . There was nothing more beautiful than to lie on his bed and s tare at the s ta rs . And then her s mile faded, for deep in her s tomach s he felt again a tellt ale cramp and moved her hand there. He watched, and was s ilent for a moment. You s hould s leep, he s aid nally. Take the cus tards . But he knew s omehow they wer e trying to hold back a tide that had turned. He could s ee the s well of her br eas ts and recalled the as h of tears tonight when another time s he might have laughed. He did not want it to be tomorrowdid not want their time in the des ert to end. I will s how you the s tars . He did. He called for gentle mus ic and he s howed her Orion, even if s he could not make it out at rs t. It was like the be s t bedtime s tory, his deep, low voice telling her about the magni cent hunter and the red wound on his s houlderthe red s tar. And s he s aw it. It is coming to the end of its life. So what will happen to Orion? She was tired now, but s he lov ed his s tories . He will burn brighter for a while, Rakhal explained. When he expl odes and dies he will burn s o bright he will be vis ible in the daytime. In our l ifetime? No. He s miled. How s oon? A million years . And thats s oon? It is to the t. He wanted to turn to her, wanted the tiny years of his life to s hine with a s igni cance that was alien to him. It was not about his title, it was about a s igni cant other, and that did not mes h with one who would be King. His mind mus t marry only his country. He could ponder the s ky no longer, and now he was re s tles s . But not Natas ha. His voice and his s tories had s oothed her and may be now s he could s leep. She was growing rather fond of the cus tard. Maybe a d rink would help her. Maybe the cramps would fade and s he would have more time h ere. She would as k the maidens to bring her s ome of that s weet brew. He had t old her s he could as k for anything. Her ngers reached for the rope above his h ead and pulled it. What are you doing? His hand s natched at hers , but too late. I want the potion, s he explained. I want s omething to help me s leep. And he tried . Rakhal tried. He told her to leave his bed, to go to her room, that the maids would bring it there. She could not unders tand his urgency, for he practically ordered her from the room, looked as if he was about to carry her. Then his voic e s topped, and Natas has head turned to the woman who was s tepping in from the s hadows . She could hear the jangle of jewels , s ee the outline of her s canti ly clad body and the veil over her face, and even as he ordered her away in his language, even when s he had gone, the mus ky s cent of her lingered, and Natas ha thought s he might vomit as realis ation dawned. She was here to s leep with y ou. No. You were going to s leep with her tonight! Her voice was ris ing. While I s le pt you were planning No! It was Rakhal who s houted. Fou were the one who s ummoned h er. He pointed to the

No! It was Rakhal who s houted. Fou were the one who s ummoned her. He pointed to th e rope. When you pulled that And s he laugheda dangerous laugh, a furious laugh, an incredulous one. I pull mine and I bloody well get cus tard! I did not pull it! Rak hal s houted his defence. I have not. But you can! She looked at him and there was g uilt in his eyes , for tonight perhaps he might have. Yes . His voice was a touch hoars e. Natas ha, you mus t s ee reas on. No manno hus band will wait a year A year ou would get three months to res t after having the baby. She loathed him, and s he loathed this land. With a s ob s he left the room. She hated this place and i ts s trange rules hated what s he might become. Hated that s he would be s erved on a plate to him once a year. She could not win, could only los e. And s he hat ed that her period was near, and the mus ic s imply added to her madnes s . She s houted for it to be s ilenced, but of cours e s he was ignored. She s houted a gain as Rakhal, with a s as h at his hips , das hed from his room. He called for the maidens , for Natas ha was raging, and they took her to her room, tried to force a drink on her and not the one s he knew. But her s creams grew louder. Sh e s creamed as if s he was being pois oned. Finally Rakhal intervened and took t he brew from the maids . This is cucumber to clear your head, and ches tnut to ca lm you, and there is wild garlic too, to calm the anger Youre pois oning me! s he s houted. Youre s edating me s o you can s leep with her. Are you mad? Rakhal demanded. Are you mad enough to think I would give you s omething that would harm? Am I going mad? s he begged. She truly thought s he was , becaus e s he knew then that s he loved him, and all he wanted from her was a baby. And s he hated the harem, and that he had s hared hims elf with the women there. I cant bear to be here for ano ther minute. You mus t s leep. I cant s leep with them watching. Leave, he s aid to h maidens , and when s he s till would not calm he took her kicking and s creaming and carried her to his bed. I have not s lept with anyone s ince you! he roared, and he curs ed, for it was killing him that he hadnt. But s till s he did not cal m, s o he picked up his s cythe. She s creamed as he rais ed it and then he s li ced the rope. There! And s he s topped, but her breathing was heavy. The s heer or ganza robe had ris en and he tried not to look. I have not s lept with anyone, he s aid, and his breathing was hard too. He s tood over where s he lay. And yet you wont s leep with me? No, Rakhal s aid. But he watched her gold curls dis appear as s he covered hers elf with the organza and s he s aw his eyes linger, s aw the s et of his jaw as he res is ted what was normal. She had only this chance and s he took it. You dont have to treat me like glas s , Rakhal. Still his eyes roamed. W hat did the maidens do? He was curious when he s hould not be. They painted me. He s hould not know of thes e things , but he knew a little, and his eyes icked to her

He s hould not know of thes e things , but he knew a little, and his eyes icked to her breas ts . They were two tempting peaks , the nipples jutting, and he had to hold in his tongue s o as not to lick one. Her body was pink beneath the s h eer fabric and he knew where they would have painted her. So badly he wanted to s ee, to peel back the organza and explore her body, to s ee what a royal prince never s hould. Her voice s poke on. Im bored waiting for my period, Im bored being treated like glas s , and it kills me being with you and you not touching me. St ill he did nothing. She moaned in frus tration, and he s ens ed danger as s he c limbed from the bed. Where are you going? To bed. For your hands to roam your body? He could s ee the lus t in her eyes . Well, yours wont. It is forbidden For you, perhap , Natas ha s aid. What are you going to do? Tie me to the bed? It could be bad for the baby. Oh, pleas e. She could not s tand it, could not bear it. She put her hand s to her ears . La-lala She would not give in to his thinking. You dont know what yo ure mis s ing. Pregnancy is beautiful, and your wifes body would crave you, and in s tead youd be with her. She jabbed at the torn rope; s he was going ins ane in th e des ert, but it was nt jus t s ex, it was him. It was his cares s that s he cra ved, his mouth where there was heat, and s he wanted his mind and his days and h is nights too. And perhaps Natas ha had driven him crazy too, for he turned from the rules and to her. He mus t not make love to her, but he could kis s her. He pus hed her down onto the bed. He would take the edge o her burning des ire. He hus hed her with his mouth and s he caved in to his tongue. But his words took the pleas ure away. Jus t a kis s , he s aid. No. For hed made it wors e. His touch h ad made it more, not les s , and s he climbed from his bed and went to her own. He s tared to the s kies for an ans wer, to the s hapes and the s tories he knew well. There was not a jewel on the earth that matched a s ingle s tars s plendou r, but not even the s tars could tell him what to do.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN NATASHA awoke to the s ound of him praying and knew he would not changeperhaps s he had no right to expect him to. They were from di erent worlds after all. She walked out to the breakfas t table, but did not s it down on the oor to wait for him to join her; ins tead s he went to the was h area to have what s he already knew con rmed. The maidens bowed their heads as s he informed them, and then s he walked back to her bedroom and dres s ed in the clothes s he had arrived in. As s he pulled on her underwear s he s aw the fading owers low on her s tomach a nd ached with a s trange grief that they would not blos s om and grow and s tret ch. She mourned for s omething that had never been, nor could ever be. Rakhal wa s s eated on the oor at the breakfas t table and turned when he heard her approa ch. His s mile faded when he s aw her face and regis tered the maidens who were quietly weeping, for they had grown fond of Natas ha. He dis mis s ed them, and s he was relieved that he did s o, for s he could not s tand their tears . It wa s her period, for Gods s ake, Natas ha reas oned, not a baby s he had los t. But her own dis appointment s ides wiped her. Might s he crave what once s he had fe ared? It was nt meant to be. Rakhals voice was practical, though he curs ed his own res traint, berated not taking her that s econd nightfor then they would have had the ways of old on their s ide. You mus t be relieved? Of cours e, s he lied, and s o mus t you She attempted a s mile but her lips would not move. No. He s tood, for he did not want it to be over. I s hould be relieved. And he did what he did not u s ually door never had till he had met her. He wrapped her in his arms and attemp ted to comfort her. But I am not. And s he did s omething that no one had ever tri ed to do with him, for he had never needed it: the arms that coiled around his n eck o ered comfort to him. She let the tears fall and he held her, and they mour ned what had never exis ted, let go of what could never be. You can return to you r life, Rakhal s aid. You can choos e your bride. And he felt her arms around him a nd o ered what hed thought he never would. But he wanted her in his life. He woul d s omehow deal with his fathers dis approval and the fear and anger from his peo ple at s uch an unwis e choicemore s o than if s he were already pregnant. I choos e you. Rakhal bes towed the greates t honour. I choos e you to be my wife. I will marry you in fourteen days and you can come to my bed again. Only to be removed f rom it two days later, Natas ha s aid, her eyes s pilling tears as s he looked up at him. Only to be taken away when Im pregnant and then brought back a year later . That is how it is , Rakhal s aid. That is how it mus t be. And the harem? This is o way. But its not mine! She tried to fathom it, tried to s ee hers elf as a part of i t, but then s hook her head and declined his propos al. No, I will not be your wi fe. It is overwhelming, I know. He did not linger on her refus al. In a moment s he would come

It is overwhelming, I know. He did not linger on her refus al. In a moment s he wo uld come around. I will deal with my father; in time the people will accept Its not y our father or the people I need to accept me. Natas ha looked at him. Its you, Rakh al, and you wont. So, no, I wont marry you. Have you any idea of the honour Im giving you by as king? His arms releas ed her. She mis s ed the s hield of them and yet s he s tood rm, looked at his incredulous face and was angry for both of them. Angry that he s imply did not get itthat he could not s ee how lonely his idea of a marriage would make her. Have you any idea of my s hame that you did? Shame? Yes s hame! Natas ha was not crying now. Her eyes glittered ins tead with fury, and s o me of it was inward for s he was s o very tempted to s ay yes . But at what cos t? s he reminded hers elf as s he s poke to him, as s he pictured the future s h e s imply mus t deny. To be brought to your bed to provide you and your country w ith children. To know that when the need aris es you s imply pull a rope I want a partner, RakhalI want s omeone to s hare my life with, the good bits and the ba d, s omeone who wants me, not jus t the babies I can give him. Its not going to h appen, Rakhal. I want my pas s port. I want to go home. Your Highnes s Abdul walked in at the mos t painful of moments . Not now! Rakhal roared. But Abdul did not ee . He s tood and s poke to Rakhal in their own language and Natas ha watched as R akhals face paled. He gave a brief nod and uttered a res pons e, then turned to h er. Abdul has jus t delivered s ome s erious news . Your father? Rakhal s hook his h ead. No, but I do need to s peak with him. You will wait here. And s he waited for what was clos e to an hour until he returned. Shed hoped they would s peak now m ore calmly, but Rakhal had other things on his mind. I have to leave, Rakhal s aid . I need to leave on this helicopter. But my people will arrange trans port for y ouwhatever you wantif you choos e to s tay in a hotel for a few days , or s ee you r brother, or He hes itated. So badly he wanted to as k that s he s tay, but s o badly it burned that s he had refus ed him. Rakhal She was angry with him, but Nata s ha unders tood that s omething might have happened to his father. Yet he was d is mis s ing her s o coolly jus t becaus e her period had come, jus t becaus e s he would not accept his ways , and that was the las t s traw. You really know ho w to make a woman feel us ed. I as ked you to be my bride les s than an hour ago, R akhal s aid, and yet you accus e me of making you feel us ed. He did not have time for another row, and neither did he have time to explain properly, but he tried . Emir Rakhals words were s pars e. His wife died at dawn. The twins mother ? He brief nod. I mus t attend the burial, o er him condolences . Of cours e. And then Ab dul came, and he mus t have informed Rakhal that his trans port was ready for he nodded and s aid to Natas ha that he mus t now leave. Abdul s aid s omething el s e, more words that s he did not unders tand, but they were s aid with a s mile that had Natas has s tomach churning. What did Abdul jus t s ay? s he challenged w hen he had gone. Nothing. Is this good news for Alzirz? She would not relent. Has it bought you s ome time? They were his words , not mine, Rakhal pointed out. Yes , it gives us s ome time. But for

They were his words , not mine, Rakhal pointed out. Yes , it gives us s ome time. B ut for now He felt as if a mirror was cracking in his mind. Now Emir will be deepl y grieving. In Alzan how he wis hed s he could unders tand becaus e the King can t ake another wife they live as you would choos e. And it was as if he was back in London, s taring out of the window. The blacknes s in his s oul had returnedonly he recognis ed it this time. Recognis ed the jealous y that had burnt there. For in Alzan, where there could be more than one partner in a lifetime, all hope fo r the countrys future was not pinned on one bride. There the royals could live an d love together and watch their family grow. So could you, Natas ha s aid, when hed tried to explain to her. Rakhal s hook his head, for it could not be. The people would never accept it. The King can be married only to his country. The wife of the King is to be Locked away! Natas ha s houted. Kept on a luxurious s helf and tak en down when needed! She hated Alzirz, hated this land and its s trange ways , ex cept s he loved him. Pleas e, can you jus t think about it? Even if not for me. I f you do marry a more s uitable woman, can you at leas t think about it for her? I have to leave. There was no time to argue and Rakhal knew there was no point eit her. Had Natas ha been pregnant there would have been no dis cus s ions he would have had to conform to their ways but s he was not, s o why didnt he feel relief? He s hould jus t go, and he moved to do s odid not give her a kis s . She had ref us ed his o er and s o it was not his place. But s till he could not end it. Stay . He s wallowed his pride and forced the word. We can s peak on my return And youll t hink about it? He gave a nod, for how could he not think about it? And yet it was an impos s ible as k. The Kings mind mus t be only on his country, not on his ch ildren or his wife. As he boarded the helicopter and it lurched into the s ky, s o too did his s tomach lurch as Abdul made another comment about Emir that a fe w weeks ago might have brought a wry s mile to Rakhals lips . Today it did not. Yo u will s how res pect. He s tared at his aide. I would not s ay it to him. And neith er s hould you s ay it to me. He s aw the s et of his aides chin, s aw the purs in g of his lips , for the Prince was more than chas tis ing him. He was turning hi s back on a rivalry of old and it would no doubt be reported to the King. But hi s time with Natas ha had changed things . This morning he had woken with a woman in his bed and hope for the futurehe had glimps ed how Emir had lived. And he wa nted it. Even the grief Such grief on Emirs features as Rakhal entered the Palace of Alzan and he kis s ed him on both cheeks , as was their way. He o ered him h is s ympathy, as was their way too; only for Rakhal it felt di erent. This time Rakhal s poke from a place he never had before. His words came from his heart. N ot that Emir noticed. An Englis h nanny held the tiny twins and s he was weeping when Rakhal went over. He kis s ed each twins tiny cheek and o ered them too his condolences . The babies were teary and fretful, and a veiled woman apologis ed to Rakhal. They mis s their mothers milk. He did not nod and return to the men; in s tead he lifted one tiny child, whos e name, he was

He did not nod and return to the men; ins tead he lifted one tiny child, whos e name, he was informed, was Clemira, and told the veiled woman that it was her mo ther s he mis s ed. In that moment he mis s ed his own. Pink s apphires did not s eem s uch a s uitable gift now. And the Sheikha Queen, Rakhal realis ed, was i n fact indis pens able. For he looked at Emir and realis ed he had loved his wif e. Now Emir would have the agony of nding another bride while s till grieving hi s los s . As might he.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN YOU have been granted full privileges . She wanted Rakhal, but ins tead it was Abd ul who returned that night and told her of her rewardthat s he could travel freel y to vis it her brother, go to the des ert or to the harem and perhaps s urpris e Rakhal. Rakhal would s ee her at times in London too. The meaning and intent w ere clear, and Natas ha glimps ed her futurea life that was a little more taken c are of, for he had paid funds for her time here that were generous , and her bro thers debts were s orted out. She could return to Alzirz when s he chos eexcept it would kill her. To have the man s he loved as an occas ional treat, a reward fo r them both now and then with no s trings , an exotic fantas y s he could return to at times For how long? Natas ha thought with tears in her eyes . Till the ti me when her body was no longer the one he wanted? When s he did not amus e him a ny more? Rakhal knows that I would never agree to this . She s hook her head. I wan t to s peak to him. Prince Rakhal wants to concentrate now on duty, Abdul explained . I have arranged trans port to take you back to London. No. He had as ked her to s tay till he returned and s he did not believe Abdul. I want to s ee him. It is not about your wants , Abdul s aid. And Prince Rakhal knows that, which is why he has placed this s tamp. She looked at the pas s port he handed to her. On it was the gold s tamp that Abdul could not fake, for it could only come from Rakhal. What hurt her the mos t was not his coars e o er, but the fact that s he cons idered it in the knowledge that s omehow her body was now forever his . Somehow s o too was her heart, even if s he mus t leave. After Rakhal no one els e would ever s u ce. I mus t return to the Prince now. A helicopter will take you to the airpor t. She lay alone on his bed and waited for the trans port that would pris e her a way from the des ert s he loved and the rules that s he loathed. She wanted to s peak with him jus t one more timewanted Rakhal to look her in the eye and tell h er it was over. She could hear the laughter and nois es of the harem, the s plas hes in the pool and the mus ic that s educed. She begged the s tars for an ans wer, but all they did was s hine s ilver except one that was maybe a planet. That one s hone a little gold, as s he had on the night s he had met him, and as her heart s hone now with hope. You s hould not be here. The madam s colded her as s he parted the curtain. You s hould not wander. But s he s howed the madam the gold s tamp and with that s he could not argue. It will be at a time of my choos ing, though, the madam warned her. You will not be called on for now. When he returns from the funeral the Prince will be in deep tahir, but that will change before t he wedding. And the gold s tamp gave her rare s tatus , for when a furious Abdul came to the tent late in the night, to ins is t that s he take her ight to Londo n, the madam s hooed him awayfor here the madam ruled.

the madam ruled. She learnt s o much in thos e days the harem was nothing like s hed imagined. The women there were s poiled and pampered too. They were mas s age d and oiled and kept beautiful, and they s pent their time chatting and laughing , reading and s wimming, as any group of girlfriends on a luxury holiday togethe r would. We are s poiled by the Prince, s aid Nadia, who had a throaty French acce nt. Natas ha had been s urpris ed to nd out that not all the women were from Alz irz. The Prince, it would s eem, liked variety. Before I came here, explained Cala h, who was from Alzirz, my family was poor and I was to be married to an old manto keep his home and s hare his lthy bed. I ran away, and I would have been workin g the s treets , but I was lucky and I was chos en. Now I live in luxury and my family is being taken care of. I am s tudying for a degree s he s miled at Natas h a and s ometimes I get to be with the Prince. Her eyes challenged the doubt in Nat as has . Which is always a pleas ure. Natas has cheeks burnt as s he heard the other women dis cus s him, and s he dreaded the ring of the bell that, for Natas ha, would s ound the end if the madam did not rs t choos e her. But days pas s ed an d the bell did not ringand then Natas ha found out why. He is meeting with the Kin g, the madam explained. Soon his bride will be announced. Tomorrow, they s ay. She s miled to her girls and all but Natas ha returned it. Our Prince will announce h is bride.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN R AKHAL s tared out of the palace windows to the celebrations that were s tartin g in the s treet. It is good to s ee the people s o happy, the King s aid. They fea r my pas s ing, they know now that it will be s oon, and the wedding will pleas e them. The people have nothing to fear, Rakhal s aid. I will be a good leader. He wo uld be. He had vis ions for his country and he knew that the people were ready. The wealth from the mines needed to be better returned to the people; infras tru cture was needed hos pitals , s chools and univers ities . But at a pace that wou ld do no harm. His heart told him to protect the des ert, not to in ict upon it modern ways and he needed a clear head for that. He needed time alone and deep re ection for every decis ion he would makenot a wife who would demand he s peak to her, who would pout when s he was bored. Yet at that moment his heart ached for the s ame. I have jus t days , the King s aid. Soon the people will be in mourning . You mus t change that. You mus t give them an heir, give them hope Rakhal looke d out to the s ea of people and thought of the grief that would s oon s eep into them. He knew his plans for the future would s care them rather than pleas e. T heirs would be a grief that only a bride and a baby would appeas e. But the brid e he wanted could not be foundhis people were s till s earching for her. She was back in London, Abdul had informed him, and yet s he would not take his calls . Rakhal had not thought it pos s ible to mourn a living pers on, yet it felt as i f he did, and he mourned too a baby that had never exis ted. He did not unders t and how Natas ha could leave without s peaking with him. If I y to London Enough! The King was furious with his s onfurious that s till Rakhal ins is ted on bringing up this Natas haand he let his dis pleas ure s how. Stilleven as death creeps in you try to pos tpone your duty. I do not want to pos tpone itI accept that I mus t mar ry. But if I could jus t s peak to her And s ay what? the King demanded. That you be nd to her whims ins tead of s erving your peo ple? Never. The King had had enough . Now we will feas t, but tomorrow you will s tep onto the balcony wearing the go ld braid and let the people know you have chos en your wife. Rakhal frowned, for this was s traying from tradition. Tomorrow I will s tep onto the balcony wearing the gold braid, but now I return to the des ert, Rakhal s aid. And I will feas t and celebrate there, and tomorrow I will return and choos e from your s election . Better you are here, the King s napped. Save your s eed for your bride. Im s ure, R al s napped back, that there is plenty. And he did not bend to his fathernot even n ow; ins tead he returned to the des ert, and then to the land his mother had onc e roamed. He roamed it now with his eagle. Since Natas ha had left he had not s haved nor bathed. He prayed and he s at and he tried to meditate. A dus t devil formed and he heard his mother laugh at his problems . She did not unders tand t hat tomorrow he mus t announce a wife, that the people would panic if it did not happen. She laughed and s he danced and he did not unders tand. He felt the s u n on his s kull and tried to clear his thoughts , to let them s lip out of his m ind

He felt the s un on his s kull and tried to clear his thoughts , to let them s l ip out of his mind as fas t as they came in, to clear his head s o he might be c entred. He did this often. Rakhal would clear his head and let the s ilent des e rt ll it, let the voice of the wind and the s tories in the s and infus e him. H e trus ted in the ans wers . But no matter how long he s at, no matter how he tr ied to empty his mind, to focus on his country and the leaders hip that would s oon be his , all too s oon Natas ha would ll his thoughts . He could not s peak to his aides , nor his familyfor they would not give unbias ed couns el. They wou ld not contemplate let alone dis cus s changes to the monarchy, to the rules and their ways ; they would never permit his thinking. His grandfather had taught a young Rakhal the des ert ways , though, and even if his s on had rejected them his grands on had not. He loved the des ert as he loved the s tars , s ought wis dom from the dunes , and he knew then what he mus t do. He took his eagle and l et it circle. And then he s ent his eagle to the s kies again. If he did it a th ird time the Bedouins would be alerted. If he did it a fourth they would continu e with their day. But if the bird ceas ed ying after three times the wizened old man would be s ummoned. Rakhal s ought his couns el rarely, though it was rumou red that Emir, at times , met with the old man too. Within the hour Rakhal s at with a man who had s een one hundred and twenty yellow moons and heard again abo ut two tes ts . And Rakhal s ilently ques tioned why he would as k s omeone s o old about ways that s hould be new. I need to think of my country, Rakhal s aid, ex cept I think of her. I need my mind to be clear of her. I will guide you in medita tion, the old man s aid. Rakhal s at and let his mind empty, but s till it was Na tas has face that he s aw. Take your mind to the s tars and beyond them. Rakhal did . But s till s he was there. The old man took him further, pas t Orion, beyond t he planets , and s till there s he was . To the edge of the univers e, the old man s aid. But s till s he was there. To the end of the univers e. She was there wait ing. And beyond the end, the old man ins tructed. But there s he was . And beyond t he end again. Her image was not fading. It does not end. Rakhal opened his eyes to the old man and his s ed his frus tration. It cannot end, the old man s aid, and s tood. Trus t the des ert. Trus t in the traditions and the ways of old. She does nt want the ways of old. Tonight you s hould trus t in them. But the ways of old were not being adhered to. Rakhal returned to his tent and declined a feas t of frui t and mus ic to pleas e him. He watched as the arak turned white when Abdul adde d ice, and he turned down the hookahall the traditional ways for a prince to beha ve before he made his choice. I wis h to bathe. He s ummoned the maidens and as ke d that Abdul leave, for tonight he would be bus y and the arak and the hookah wo uld not help with that.

the arak and the hookah would not help with that. He laughed and chatted with th e maidens who bathed him, and lay back as he was s haved, and then he ros e from the bath, dres s ed in as little as was expected. And s till Abdul remained. You will leave, Rakhal s aid, and ins tructed the mus ician to play a more s uitable choice for his mood. Drink. Again Abdul pus hed a glas s towards him. Celebrate th es e las t hours of freedom. And Rakhal was certain now that s he was near.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN H E HAS bathed! The madam clapped her hands and got her girls attention. And he has s haved, and he has s ummoned mus ic and the mos t potent of foods . Her voice tr ailed o as Abdul appeared, and Natas ha watched the madams eyes narrow as he whis pered s ome words . They all waited but the bell did not ring, and s he held he r breath in hope, for maybe Rakhal could change even if not for her. But then ca me the kick in the guts of dis appointment when nally it rang, and s he could pi cture his hand reaching out to the rope on the bed where they had lain. There wa s a urry of activity, the girls rubbing in oils and teas ing their hair, doing t heir make-up and chattering excitedly as they tried to gues s who might be chos en. Natas ha held her breath and prayed it would be her. Nadia. The madam s lipped a yas hmak over the s cantily dres s ed woman and s prayed her with a mus ky s cent. It lled Natas has nos trils and s he felt like retching, for it was the s a me s cent that had entered their room that night. It has been a while. His need w ill be great. The madam gave Nadia ins tructions and as s he dis appeared into th e night Natas ha lay on the cus hions , clos ing her eyes agains t tears , tryin g and failing not to imagine what they were doing. She felt pure los s as their time together was terminated by a s ingle ring of the bell, as her prince return ed to the ways he knew bes t. And her las t tiny glimmer of hope dieda foolis h h ope, a s tupid hope, s he thoughtwhen Nadia returned jus t fteen minutes later. Le ave Nadia, the madam s colded as all the women except Natas ha gathered around Na dia to as k how the Prince was . She will bathe and get s ome res t. But the madam frowned as Nadia went to her cus hions and lay s ilent. The other girls frowned too, for us ually there was a more excited return. Over and over he s hamed her . The bell rang through the night, and Natas ha s crewed her eyes clos ed as one by one the women returned and he made a mockery of all they had been, all s he had as ked him to cons ider. Finally, when the bell was quiet, when the women al l dozed and s lept, s he prayed for s unlight. Dawn would be here s oon. He woul d go to prayer and s he would leave, Natas ha decided. At rs t light s he would leave. And then the bell rang. The madam s tood and parted the curtain, looked o uts ide and then over to Natas ha. She put her ngers to her lips and s ummoned h er. Natas ha was draped in a s mall s kirt with a tiny coined fringe and beneath it s he was naked. Her breas ts were dres s ed with the s ame nois y fabric too , and a veil was placed to jus t reveal her eyes . She was told what it would me an s hould he ges ture that s he remove the veil. If he did that s he would s la p his face ins tead, Natas ha decided. As the madam came to her with the mus k N atas ha s hook her head, again remembering that night one of the women had come to the room. The s cent s till made her ill, but the madam ins is ted. He will be s leepy, the mis tres s explained, s o you may not get to s urpris e him. Surpris e him? Natas ha thought darkly. Shed more likely s pit at himnot that s he would t ell the madam that; ins tead s he s tood as s he was delivered more ins truction s .

the madam that; ins tead s he s tood as s he was delivered more ins tructions . H e might not want any convers ation. Do your duty s ilently with him, s o that th e Princes mind can wander where it choos es . Let his hand guide you and if he ta lks jus t s ay you s peak Englis h, the madam s aid. But rarely does he s peak. Pr ince Rakhal does not was te time with convers ation. She put a gold bangle on Nat as has wris t, and large earrings in her ears that fell in gold rows becaus e, the madam s aid, he liked the nois e. Natas ha hated nding that out from another wo man. And then it was on with a yas hmak. As s he left the tent the madam again p ut a nger to her lips , for outs ide lay a s leeping Abdul. There was a utter of hope in Natas has s tomach, a hope s he dared not examine, for s he unders tood Abduls ins tructions were that s he be kept from him. The madam hurried Natas ha through to his tent, and as they got there the madam paus ed. He des erves happin es s , s he s aid, and there were tears in her eyes as s he kis s ed Natas ha on the cheek. She was left alone to enterthere were no maidens guarding his s hadow tonightand s he could s ee his pro le on the bed. In a moment s he would face him . Or rather, Natas ha thought, holding her head high, Rakhal would face her.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN S TILL her phone was not ans wered, and Rakhal lay back on the bed and knew he w as foolis h even to hope. All night he had hoped s he would come to himhad done a s hed been told and trus ted in the ways of oldhad s tupidly almos t convinced him s elf that his father and Abdul were keeping the harem from him for a reas on. S oon the morning would be here. He would pray and then head to the palace, and th ere could be no more putting it o . Today he would announce his bride, and from there there could be no turning back. He heard s oft foots teps and then the jan gle of jewellery, and as the woman entered and the heavy s cent of mus k reached Rakhal the las t ves tige of hope died. For he knew s he did not like jewellery or s cent. He als o knew in his heart that Natas ha would never join the harem i t had been but a pipe dream. The room was dark and the mus ic played louder as N atas ha s tepped into his abode. Nervous ly s he s tood for a moment, looked to where he lay on the bed naked, a s ilk drape over his groin. He did not look up as s he walked towards him. He did not look over, but s poke in Arabic to her. S he did not ans wer. Her throat was dry, and s he was terri ed that he would reco gnis e her, that he would be furious . She walked s lowly to the bed, reaching o ut her hand to him, to s peak with him, to explain that s he was here nally to t alk. But what was the point? Natas ha thought bitterly. She felt cheated on afte r the pas t night. Did you not unders tand what I s aid? His hand grabbed hers as s he reached out to touch him. I s aid that you are to take the jewel that is on the table. She did not unders tandalthough he had s poken in Englis h this time. T he madam had s aid nothing of this . Perhaps he meant afterwards , Natas ha thou ght, and when his grip releas ed her hand s he hovered over his s tomach. She s aw the s nake of hair that had teas ed her the day they had met. Rather than a r ow or a confrontation, s he wanted one las t time with him before the magic mus t end, and her nger moved to lightly trace the hair. She watched as his s tomach tightened. Take the jewel, he s aid, and never s peak of this to anyone. Go now an d s it on that chair for a s uitable time. The mus ky s cent lled his nos trils , the s ound of her bangles jangled, and all he wanted was Natas ha. If you talk, even amongs t the others , I will know. You are to take the jewel as payment for your s ilence. My mind is with another. I need to think. Except his body betraye d him, for s till thos e ngers traced the hair on his lower s tomach. He grew ha rd even as he res is ted, and the s ilk s lithered away. Still the nger explored the at plane of his s tomach, and it was as if his s kin recognis ed her. So li ght was her touch that it could have been Natas has but he halted her there, his n gers lingering with regret on the bangles that had tainted his fantas y that it was her. She releas ed himbut only to take the bangles o . Take the jewel and leav e. He was clos e to begging as her hand returned, yet he did not halt it, for the hand that now held him was s ilent, and it allowed him to remember. Take the jew el, he s aid, as he had to the other girls throughout the night. He had hoped s o badly to nd Natas ha, but now his body gave in. She watched, fas cinated, watch ed him ris e and grow at s uch a s light touch. It was as if his body welcomed h er back even as he tried to dous e it.

body welcomed her back even as he tried to dous e it. My mind is with another. I ca n be her, s he whis pered, for s he knew it was her that he was thinking of, and s he s miled at what he had done. She unders tood now Nadia and the other girls s ilence when they had returned. He had kept hims elf unto her, and though his h and was tight over her wris t s he moved her other hand over the magni cence tha t was waiting, s troked a nger lightly along it. You can think of her She took the hand that gripped her to her breas t, felt his hand at and res is ting agains t it, then a reluctant exploration as s till s he s troked him. Take the jewel. His teeth were gritted, for his mind was playing tricks . Beneath the mus k he coul d s mell her delicious fres h s cent, and he did not want to open his eyes and b e dis appointed all over againdid not want to taint the fantas y that it was her. Was this what he was des tined to do for the res t of his life? To clos e his e yes and imagine it was her? Yes , Rakhal realis ed, for s he could not be found. Pleas e he begged this wanton woman who s hould follow orders . But without order s he had removed her veil. Her lips were at his tip now, and he could feel her hair on his s tomach. He curled his ngers into her hair to lift her head, to tel l her to s top, but there was a devil that begged him let her work on, for her m outh was a s oothing balm and her tongue knew jus t what to do in a way others d id not. Let me be her. Natas ha s miled and licked him, licked his delicious lengt h, and then took in the mois t tip and s lowly cares s ed it. She berated the s ound of her earrings , for they had dis tracted him, and could only admire his r oar of res traint as he yanked at her hair and pulled her head back, almos t wee ping to the dark. I love another! How angrily he s aid it, but how delicious it wa s to hear it. Then let me love you, s he s aid, taking her earrings out as s he re turned her mouth to him. I am to s hare my bed only with her. My people are s ear ching for her now, Rakhal s aid. But her mouth was back and he was weak. He mus t get rid of this woman who had crept into his head, who knew what he liked, who made him weak, made a s trong man give in. He reached for the lamp, for he mus t end this fantas y, yet as he turned on the light there were red curls cas cadin g over him and it killed him not to come. There was white pale s kin and it was a cruel torture to be tes ted like this . He lifted her head and s aw her eyes a nd it was Natas haor was his mind playing tricks ? Could he convince hims elf s o fully as he made love with another that it was her? Natas ha And there beneath th e make up and mus k it was s urely her. I have been s earching Ive been here. There w as hurt in her eyes . Your gold s eal as s ured me acces s to all areas . Ardour was replaced by anger as realis ation dawned. I did not grant that Only you can. Or t he King. He knew the lengths his people would go to, to keep traditions s afe, bu t that his father would take s uch an active part in itwould do anything to keep the ways of oldetched a new river of pain. They were not even looking for you. Abdul knew where I was , Natas ha explained. Hes outs ide guarding the harem nowor s uppo s ed to be. Anger propelled him from the bed. He pulled on a s as h, s canned the room for his robe. He would go to Abdul rs t, kill him with his bare hands s o blind was he with fury. He fell as leep. I think he thought you were done for the night. He heard the tremble of rage in her voice and knew he would deal with Abd ul later. There

He heard the tremble of rage in her voice and knew he would deal with Abdul late r. There was s omething more important to addres s than his aide. I paid them a j ewel for their s ilence, Rakhal s aid. I could not think of being with another s i nce I have been with you. But one day you might. When I am away being pampered, or when weve had a row and I havent agreed with s omething you s aid, or when Im old or s ick She looked to the rope and s he loathed it, but his eyes did not wander there; ins tead he looked at the woman he had mis s ed every night they had been apart. He never wanted to s leep alone againwhich s ounded a lot like the love s he ins is ted upon. No. He s hook his head. Thos e ways are over. You s ay that now. He meant it. For here was the one living pers on who did not care about his titl e, who did not care for his luxuries , did not care about the pres tige that mar rying him would bring. All s he wanted was him, and it was humbling indeed to lo ok love in the eye and recognis e it. So he as ked her for the rs t time, when b efore he had bes towed an honour. Will you be my wife? And Natas ha s tood there s ilentbecaus e if s he opened her mouth s hed s ay yes , would s ettle for two nig hts a month knowing that he loved her. But her s ilence forced him to continue. W ill you s hare in my life? Rakhal as ked. All of it? The people She could not take it in. The traditions The people want a s trong ruler, Rakhal s aid. And I will be s tr onger with you by my s ide. In time they will come to unders tand. He pulled her towards him. He s aw her as if for the rs t time. He traced her lips with his ng ers to be s ure, and then he tas ted them again to prove it to hims elf. And he dipped his s as h in the water by his bed and was hed o the mus k, took o the cl othes s he had worn for him. He wanted only her now, and he kis s ed her till s he was writhing, till their bodies were locked deep in their own rhythm and her neck arched back and her mouth moaned. The mus ic heightened and their bodies mo ved in the s hadows above. There would be changes , s he thought faintly, but fo r tonight s he would celebrate the ways of the des ert and the mus ic that was m ade for them. I can s pend the res t of my life making love to you. How could he h ave thought it was a conces s ion? This was heaven he had found. She was a part of him and he could love her for ever. He imagined her heavy with his child, tho s e breas ts full and milky. He would love every change in her. He would witnes s each one. She was over and on top of him; s he made love to him as he had once made love to her; s he gave in to him completely, taken to a new place, to a fu ture that would be di erent. And s he did not fear it, for Rakhal would be walki ng with her. She felt the tremble of her orgas m and there was no halting it. Th e mus ic urged them on and, uns heathed, he s pilled ins ide her, for they never needed to hold back from each other again. We marry s oon. He held her as he told her, and s he did not res is t, for s he wanted that too. The people will hear t oday that my bride has been chos en. He wanted more than that for Natas ha, thoug hwanted the changes to s tart this very day. Today they will s ee who I have chos en. I will return to the palace with you by my s ide. You will s tep out on the balcony with me. And later s he was taken and bathed. The maidens knew the s ecre t, for perhaps s he might

And later s he was taken and bathed. The maidens knew the s ecret, for perhaps s he might be with child, and this time when s he was oiled and hennaed s he knew s he would be returned to him. She even had a little joke with Amira, for s he was not wearing her mothers jewels . I will fetch them for you, Amira s aid, and it felt nice to wear them on this day as pretty owers were painted over her womb. So badly s he wanted to s ee them grow. Rakhal too was bathed, and dres s ed in a robe of black. His ka ya s hould be tied with a s ilver braid till his s elect ion, but it was already decorated with a braid of gold, for the choice had alrea dy been madeby both of them. Natas ha was nervous as s he s at for the s econd ti me in a helicopterthough not s o terri ed as s he had been the rs t time. Rakhal s at bes ide her and s he looked down at her hand in his , s aw the long ngers a nd manicured nails and felt the warmth of his s kin around hers . She glanced ov er to Abdul, who s at s weating and pale oppos ite themfor Rakhal had not yet s a id a word to his aide. And Natas ha s aid nothing either, as s he s at in a loun ge with the maidens and Abdul went in with Rakhal to addres s his father. She wa ited for s houts , for protes ts , for rage. But the walls mus t be thick, for a ll s he heard was the low murmur of Rakhals deep voice, and then the door opened and as always he made her heart hammer. As on the rs t day, a blus h ros e in he r cheeks and s he fought the urge to run to him. What did he s ay? That he does not cons ent. That the wedding cannot go ahead without his bles s ing, Rakhal s aid. She felt her s tomach tighten in dread, felt the weight of tradition force them apart, but Rakhal gave a dis mis s ive s hrug to his fathers threats . I told him that I did not need his bles s ing. That I will s how my bride to the people to day and we will marry when I rule, if that is how my father choos es to be. She h ad not met the King, had only heard of his power and might, but today no might c ould match Rakhals , for his eyes were as dark as the night s ky, his s tance res olute, and it was clear he would not be deterred. I told him I have learnt not j us t from our teachings but from our mis takes from his mis takes , from his regr et at not having my mother by his s ide. She could hear Abdul weeping bes ide her . For years he has mourned her. He could have been with her. She pined not for th e des ert but for him. Rakhal clos ed his eyes for a brief moment, dragged in air , and s he could only imagine how hard it mus t have been to s ay it, let alone for the King to hear it. I have learnt from his mis takes and I choos e to do thi ngs di erently. Or els e He looked at his s oon-to-be bride but did not continue. Natas ha now s poke for him. You would never walk away from your people. Of cours e not, Rakhal s aid. My people trus t me to make the right decis ion and they will not turn away from me. But a mus cle ickered in his cheek as he s aid that, and Natas ha was not s o s ure. We mus t greet the people now, he s aid. They walked u p a vas t s taircas e. She could hear s houts and cheers from the people outs id e, waiting for their Prince to come out, and s he was terribly, terribly nervous es pecially when the maidens took o her robe and arranged her hair. She looked t o Rakhal, who was als o being readied, a s as h placed around his s houlders , h is ka ya already roped in gold. He s tood tall and s trong, ready to face the ju dgement of his people. Whatever their res pons e, Rakhal s aid, know that I am prou d.

Whatever their res pons e, Rakhal s aid, know that I am proud. She could not do this to himto the people, to the King. But Rakhal s ilenced her protes ts and ordered the balcony doors open. He took her hand and s tepped out to face the crowd. Th e nois e was deafening, and the s ilence, as the s houts faded, was deafening to o. They s aw their Prince with his chos en bride and there were gas ps of bewild erment as they realis ed s he s tood by his s ide. Her hair was blowing in the b reeze and his hand gripped hers tighter. And then s he heard a cough behind her, turned. For the rs t time Natas ha met the Kinga thinner, older vers ion of Rakh al, his face etched with the pain of half a lifetime buried in regret. Her heart could not fail to love himes pecially when he s tepped forward and took her othe r hand and then rais ed it to the crowd. The cheering res umed, with claps and t he s houts from the people, as the King bles s ed his s ons choice. A few days la ter s he was draped in gold, as s he had been the night he found her, and led to him. She curts ied to the King and s miled at her proud brother. They were marr ied in the gardens of the palace, then driven through the s treets and the people cheered for them, for there had always been a s adnes s in the Sheikh Crown Pri nces eyes and it was gone now. They had mourned the pas s ing of his mother and s een the happines s die in their Kings eyes , but now love had returned to Alzirz and now they cheered for it. For the love their Prince had found with his bride .

EPILOGUE T HE King was returned to the des ert jus t before s uns et. He had las ted anot her three months but death, when it came, was s wift, and that morning they had been urgently s ummoned to farewell him. One by one they went to him, even King Emir of Alzan and the tiny princes s es . For though there was rivalry, there we re deep traditions too. And after Natas ha had been in to s ee him s he s at wit h Amy, the nanny, becaus e s he was Englis h too. How are they? The girls were gor geous , with big black eyes that were as s olemn as the day. Theyre doing well. Amy gave a tight s mile. And King Emir? I dont know, Amy s aid. We dont really s ee him. e looked down at the babies , and there was a wry note to her voice and a as h o f tears in her eyes as s he addres s ed them. Do we, girls ? But It was not her plac e to ques tion, but Rakhal had told her that it was di erent in Alzan, that the royals rais ed their own children. Clearly this was nt the cas e. Natas ha looked over as Emir came out from his time with the King, but he did not glance over t o his girls ; ins tead he s at in quiet prayer. And then it was Rakhals time to g o in, and there he remained with his father till the end. Today they s tood wher e the palace gave way to the des ert, and there was wailing and tears , but Rakh al s tood s toic and s trong as he had all day. We will s tay in the des ert. Rakh al explained the ways of his country. The res t of the party will return now to t he palace, but it is a time for deep tahir for me, s o you need to farewell our gues ts . Thank you for coming. She s miled and embraced her brother Mark. He hugge d her and checked s he was okay, as a brother s hould when his s is ter was grie ving. He was doing s o well now. He loved the land as much as Natas ha did, and s till worked the mines even though he was a royal now too. She was proud of him . It was s o wonderful to s ee him s trong and healthy. Natas ha then went back to her hus band, who was s aying goodbye to Emir and thanking him for his attend ance. A dark, brooding man, Emir greeted her formally as s he approached. How are the twins ? Natas ha attempted convers ation, but he hardly returned it. They are with the nanny. He kis s ed Rakhal on both cheeks , as was their way, and then w ent to his car. Natas ha could s ee the nanny and the babies in the car behind h im. She knew what Amy had s aid earlier was true. They were pres ent for duty, f or appearances s ake. Not once had he looked at them. But s he could not think o f Emirs pain tonight. They were driving in s ilence to the tent they both lovedtho ugh it would not be joyous this time. In the las t three months s he had grown f ond of the King, and Rakhals relations hip with his father had warmed. She took o her s hoes . She was drained and exhaus ted, but for the rs t time s ince they had been s ummoned to the Kings beds ide they could s peak properly. He did not s u er, Natas ha s aid. He was happy to leave.

He was happy to leave. Rakhal s urpris ed her, for his voice was not moros ein fact there was a pale s mile. When everyone had s aid their goodbyes and I s at with him, he s aid he could s ee my mother dancing s ometimes in the dus t devils , a nd that he could s ee her more clearly today. It was nt jus t me who s aw her out in the des ert. Natas ha felt like crying, but s he joined him at the low table and s at down on the oor as a maid poured water into a goblet. She drank and wai ted for their meal to be s erved. Now I will pray. Rakhal ros e. Res t if you are t ired. Im actually really hungry. She felt jus t a little guilty admitting ites pecial ly when Rakhal grimaced. I have not explained. For two days the country will be i n the deepes t of mourning. For two days we will fas t and pray. When I return t o the palace there will be a meal at which I will pres ide. That is when I will as s ume the role of King. For now I am to prepare for that duty. For now we pra y for my father who is s till the King. I dont know if I can She s aw him frown, s a w his features darken. Natas ha, in s o many things I do my bes t to lis ten and to make changes where I can, but do not dis res pect me in this for you are dis r es pecting my father too, and he is not even cold. And he s trode o to his abode. She followed him. Rakhal, pleas e. There were tears in her eyes that he thought s he might be s o callous , s o precious , that s he would not mis s a meal and k eep his ways . I didnt want to tell you todaynot when you are grievingbut I found ou t jus t before we were s ummoned to your father. She s aw his mouth open, s aw s ome light in thos e dark eyes . I couldnt wait for the moon. I s aw the palace doc tor this morningjus t before your father did. She watched as his face paled, as on this darkes t of days s omehow hope s hone in. He con rmed that I am pregnant. I hones tly dont know if I am allowed to fas t. Of cours e if I am, I will do it No! He couldnt take it in. He s hould be on his knees in prayer, but ins tead he held her. It feels wrong to be happy in grief, he admitted, but it feels s o good to ha ve this hope. He looked to her and s he knew what he was thinking. He would rejoic e. He did, Natas ha whis pered. When I farewelled him I told him. And s he was s o gl ad that s he hadjus t s o s he could have this moment. Of cours e I s hould have t old you rs t, but I had only jus t found out mys elf. But he knew. She repeated a s bes t s he could what his fathers res pons e had been. My life is complete. Rakha l trans lated the words his father had s aid to her. He knew his father was with his mother now, back with Layla and dancing in the des ert. He kept s aying that s oon Alzirz would celebrateI did not unders tand that he knew s omething I did not. But there would be time for s miles and celebrations later. For now he mus t pray, and s he mus t eat a light s upper. For two days he would not make love t o her, for two days he would pray for his father and for his country, but when h e climbed into bed that night it was s weet relief to hold hera relief he might n ever have known, for with the old ways this night would have been a long and lon ely one. Are you s cared to be King? s he as ked as they lay together. I am never s cared. He ans wered the s ame way he had the rs t time s he had as ked. I would b e. I would be too, he admitted, had I not found you. Youre going to be a wonderful rul r. I know. He was not vain. He was right. I am good for the people. So too is Emiras w uld be his girls .

So too is Emiras would be his girls . He did not res pond, and tonight s he chos e not to pus h it, but one day s he knew that s he would. We will die in this bed t ogether. He held her. Or lie alone and grow old thinking of the other She had his h eart for ever. Deep in the night s he awoke, her light s upper not quite enough, but becaus e they were in mourning s he checked with him jus t to be s ure. Have s ome of the cus tard. His voice was s leepy, his arms around her. It is good for you. As was Rakhal for her. As was Natas ha for him. And s he s miled as he reac hed for the rope.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or name s. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to th e author, and all the incidents are pure invention. All Rights Reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in a ny form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II BV/S..r.l. The text of this publication or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or without the written permission of the publisher. by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, stora ge in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the prior consent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in whi ch it is published and without a similar condition including this condition bein g imposed on the subsequent purchaser. and TM are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with are registered with the United Kingdom Patent O ce and/o r the O ce for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. Firs t published in Great Britain 2012 by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited. Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 1S R Carol Marinelli 2012 ISBN: 978-1-408-97448-3