Desert Prince's Forbidden Desire (HQR Presents Plus) Read online

  He rose to his full height and stared at her. ‘What the devil are you talking about?’

  ‘I suppose you’re right.’ Joanna swung her legs to the floor and stood up. ‘It would take a stronger woman than me to watch them hang the man she’d willingly gone to bed with!’

  ‘That’s nonsense!’

  ‘Everything my father said about you is true, especially the part about you being a—a barbarian who wants to keep his stranglehold on his pathetic little fiefdom!’

  She thought, for an instant, he would strike her. The bones of face showed white through his tan, and his eyes grew dark as stones. She could see him collecting himself, marshalling control of his emotions, and finally he spun on his heels, stalked to the door, and yanked it open. A man standing guard outside snapped to attention. Khalil spat a command at him, and the man nodded.

  He looked at Joanna. ‘Come,’ he said, his voice hard as ice.

  ‘You needn’t throw me out.’ She fought the desire to run and instead strolled casually to where he stood. ‘I’m more than eager to leave.’

  ‘I’m sure you are.’ He put his hand in the small of her back and shoved her none too gently into the hall. ‘My man will keep you company while you wait.’

  ‘Charming. But what am I to wait for?’

  Khalil smiled coldly. ‘Smile, Joanna,’ he said. ‘Your days as a cloistered prisoner are about to come to an end.’

  CHAPTER NINE

  JOANNA stood in the corridor outside Khalil’s bedroom and tried to look as if she found nothing unusual in being guarded by a man wearing a head-dress, a long robe, and a ferocious scowl.

  Was she really going to be set free? It was dangerous to let herself believe she was—but what else could he have meant when he’d said she’d been a prisoner too long? Or something like that; she’d been so stunned by the suddenness of his declaration that she wasn’t quite sure exactly what it was he’d said except to know that, for the first time since he’d carried her off, she felt a stir of hope.

  It would be wonderful to be free, to be away from this awful place and this terrible man. He’d stolen her and now he was feeding her lies, keeping her locked up and under guard—she’d never forgive him for that or for the other indignities he’d heaped on her. Taking her in his arms, kissing her when the last thing she’d ever want were his kisses, sparking a wild passion in her blood that she’d never before known…

  ‘Are you ready, Joanna?’

  She spun around. Khalil stood in the open doorway, seeming to fill it. He wore an open-throated white shirt and black, snug-fitting trousers tucked into riding boots. A white cloak was thrown over his shoulders.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ she said with a dazzling smile. ‘All I have to do is pack my suitcases and—’

  ‘I have no time for games,’ he growled.

  ‘No. I’m sure you don’t. I’m the only one around here with time on my hands.’

  He smiled tightly. ‘Perhaps we should discuss the goats and chickens again.’

  ‘Perhaps we should discuss the fact that I’m not accustomed to sitting on my hands all day.’

  ‘Had you shown me you could behave yourself, I intended to give you greater freedom.’

  ‘Had I shown you I could…’ Joanna tossed back her head. ‘I’m not Lilia, Khalil. You can’t make me do your bidding by promising me a reward.’

  His eyes narrowed. ‘Would you prefer that I threaten you?’

  ‘I would prefer,’ she said coldly, ‘that you treat me with dignity.’

  ‘You mean, you would prefer that I treat you as if we were in your world, that I dance attendance upon you and meet your every whim with a smile?’

  ‘Is that how you think I live my life? Like some pampered princess in a fairy-tale?’

  ‘Don’t be silly. I know better.’ Khalil folded his arms over his chest. ‘You go to your office at Bennettco every day and put in long, gruelling hours, working side by side with your father.’ He smiled grimly. ‘That’s what you wanted me to believe, isn’t it?’

  Joanna flushed. What was the sense in pretending? ‘I would have gladly put in twenty-four-hour days at the office,’ she said. ‘But my father is as much of a male chauvinist as you are!’

  ‘Another crime to add to my list.’ Khalil turned as one of his men came hurrying down the hall. ‘Ah,’ he said, taking a silver-trimmed white cloak from his hands, ‘you’ve brought it. Thank you, Ahmed.’ He held it out to Joanna. ‘Put this on.’

  She eyed the garment with scorn. ‘I’m not one of your women. You can’t wrap me up like a Christmas package!’

  Khalil sighed wearily. ‘I would not dream of making a Christmas package of you. You are far too prickly a gift to give anyone.’

  ‘Good. Then you can forget about me wearing that thing.’

  He stepped forward and draped the cloak about her rigid figure, drawing the hood up and over her bright auburn hair.

  ‘You will wear it,’ he said.

  Joanna glared at him. ‘Why?’

  Khalil put his hand in the small of her back and pushed her gently ahead of him along the corridor.

  ‘For no more devious reason than your comfort. It’s cool in the mountains this time of year.’ He looked at her and shook his head. ‘Why must you always search for hidden meanings?’

  ‘Dammit!’ She shrugged free of his hand and swung towards him, her mouth trembling with anger. ‘Anyone listening to you would think you’ve treated me with honesty and respect from the moment we met!’

  His eyes darkened. ‘I’ve dealt with you as you deserved.’

  ‘Would you respect me more if I’d spent my life herding goats?’

  To her surprise, a grin spread across his face. ‘Are we back to that? It might be a good idea for me to have you spend the day with the goat-herders!’

  ‘I’d rather spend it with Lilia,’ she snapped. ‘That poor little girl seems almost as miserable as I am.’

  Khalil’s smile vanished. ‘I try my best to make her happy,’ he said stiffly.

  ‘She’s very lonely.’

  ‘Do you think I don’t know this?’ His mouth tightened. ‘I realise that she could use companionship—but it never occurred to me that you would enjoy spending time with her.’

  ‘No. Why would it, considering that you’re so certain you know all there is to know about me? You accused me of trying to categorise you, but you’ve done the same thing to me from the instant we met!’

  ‘I know what I see.’

  ‘Really. Then I suppose you know that I like children very much, that for a while, when I was at school, I thought of studying to be a teacher.’

  ‘You?’ He smiled again. ‘A teacher?’

  ‘That’s right. Me, a teacher. And I’d have been a good one, too.’

  ‘What stopped you, then?’

  Joanna hesitated. ‘My father didn’t approve.’

  ‘And you changed your course of study, because of that?’ Khalil’s smile was open this time, and genuine. ‘That’s hard to believe.’

  ‘I changed it because…’ She hesitated again, uncertain of why she was telling him something she’d never told anyone. ‘I thought he disapproved of teaching because he wanted me to come into Bennettco.’

  ‘But he didn’t,’ Khalil said softly.

  Joanna shook her head. ‘No. He—he just wanted me to—to—’

  ‘He wanted you to be what I have accused you of being: a handsome accessory for a man to wear proudly on his arm.’

  ‘Yes!’

  Her head came up sharply; she was more than ready to tell him what she thought of such an attitude. But he wasn’t looking at her with derision; what she saw in his eyes was nothing she understood.

  ‘Perhaps we see only what we wish to see,’ he said after a moment.

  It was a strange thing for him to have said, Joanna thought. She wanted to ask him what he’d meant, but he put his arm lightly around her shoulders and they stepped out into bright sunshine. Ahead, two horses stood wait
ing in the cobblestoned courtyard. She recognised Najib instantly. The big stallion was pawing impatiently at the ground. But there was another horse standing beside him, a smaller, more delicate one, as white as Najib was black. Her bridle was hung with tiny silver bells, and her saddle was a masterwork of finely tooled leather.

  ‘This is Sidana,’ Khalil said, gently stroking the mare’s long nose. He smiled. ‘She is gentle, although even she may object if you mount from the wrong side. I promise you that she will take us safely to our destination and then back.’

  Joanna looked at him. ‘You’re not setting me free, are you?’ she said, with a sinking heart.

  He shook his head. ‘I am not.’

  She nodded. ‘I see.’

  ‘No,’ Khalil said fiercely, ‘you do not see! But you will. After today, you will not believe the lies you have been told by your father.’

  ‘What lies will I believe, then? Yours?’

  The muscle in his jaw knotted with anger. ‘Go on,’ he said tightly, ‘get on the horse.’

  ‘This is pointless! If you really think I’m dumb enough to fall for some charade you’ve set up in my honour—’

  ‘Get into the saddle, Joanna—or I’ll lift you on to Najib’s back and you will ride with me!’

  Ride with him? Feel his arms around her, his heart beating against her back? Feel his breath warm at her temple, his thighs hard as they enclosed hers? Colour flamed in her cheeks.

  ‘I’d sooner ride with the devil,’ she muttered, and she grabbed for the pommel, stabbed her foot into the stirrup, and climbed into the saddle.

  ‘All right?’ She nodded and Khalil sprang on to Najib’s back in one fluid motion. ‘Hold the reins loosely but firmly, so the mare knows you’re in command. You’ll have no problem with her. She is sweet-tempered and obedient, and very well trained.’

  ‘The perfect female,’ Joanna said sweetly as they started from the courtyard. Behind them, two of Khalil’s men and their horses fell into place at a slight distance.

  Khalil laughed. ‘I never thought of it that way, but now that you point it out, I suppose she is.’

  ‘You still haven’t told me where we’re going.’

  ‘You’ll know the place when you see it.’

  ‘I’ve no idea what that’s supposed to mean.’

  Khalil smiled. ‘Why don’t you relax, Joanna? You’ve complained about being cooped up—well, here’s your chance to enjoy some fresh air and new sights. Look around you, and enjoy this beautiful day.’

  He was right, she thought grudgingly. It was, indeed, a beautiful day. The dark green mountains pierced a sky so blue and so bright it almost hurt the eyes. It was spring, and wild flowers were beginning to carpet the gentler slopes, filling the air with their sweetness.

  It was lovely here. Joanna thought of New York and Dallas, of crowded city streets thronged with people and automobiles. All of it seemed far, far away. How easy it would be to be happy in a place like this, she thought suddenly. Unbidden, her gaze flew to the man riding at her side.

  What was wrong with her? Here she was, being taken out on a tether and thinking nonsensical thoughts, while somewhere her father must be agonising over her welfare.

  ‘Listen,’ she said, glaring at him, ‘if you think taking me to some—some staged bit of theatre will turn my head around…’

  ‘There is the stage, Joanna, and the players.’ Khalil reached out and caught the reins of her horse. ‘An hour from now, you can tell me what you think of the production.’

  Before she could speak, he tapped his heels into Najib’s flanks and both horses shot forward. Joanna clung to the mare’s reins, too intent on what she saw to be afraid of the sudden swift motion.

  They were entering a town, a real one, with houses and narrow streets. Not even Khalil could have had this place created overnight, she thought wildly as he brought their horses to a stop.

  ‘Would you like to get down and walk around, Joanna?’

  She started. Khalil had dismounted. He was standing beside the mare, looking up at her, his face as expressionless as a mask.

  She nodded, too bemused to offer any objection when he held up his arms. She went into them readily, her hands light on his shoulders to steady herself, and he eased her gently to the ground.

  ‘What is this place?’ she asked.

  ‘It is Adaba. Our central marketplace.’ He took her arm and they set off along the narrow street, his two men trailing behind them. ‘I thought you might like to see some of my downtrodden subjects with your own eyes.’

  She wanted to make a clever retort but already her gaze was moving towards the market ahead. People were selling things and buying things, and she could hear bursts of chatter and laughter. It looked very much like the outdoor markets that flourished in lower Manhattan. People were busy. And happy. But—but…

  ‘Observe the way my people cringe at the sight of me,’ Khalil murmured.

  In fact, most of the people didn’t seem to notice him or, if they did, they paused in their transactions only long enough to smile and touch their foreheads.

  ‘What did you do,’ Joanna asked with a chill smile, ‘tell them you’d chop off their heads if they threw themselves at your feet this one time?’

  His hand tightened on her arm. ‘Why be so uncreative, Joanna? Perhaps I threatened to skin them alive if they didn’t behave.’

  ‘No doubt!’

  A woman came hurrying up to them. She touched her hand to her forehead but Khalil stopped her, put his arm around her shoulders, and kissed her cheek. The woman glanced shyly at Joanna and said something that made him laugh before she melted away into the crowd.

  Joanna tried unsuccessfully to wrench her arm from his grasp. ‘What’s so funny?’ she demanded. ‘Or does the sight of a captive always rate a chuckle in this crowd?’

  Khalil grinned. ‘She wanted to assure me that even though your eyes are an interesting colour, she still prefers the blue of mine.’

  ‘A fan,’ Joanna said drily. ‘How wonderful. Did she want your autograph, too?’

  ‘Her name is Cheva. She was my nurse, when I was a boy. She loved my English mother very much, and it always pleased her that I inherited her—’

  Joanna stared at him. ‘Your mother was English?’

  He laughed. ‘Close your mouth, Joanna. It is a warm day, and there are flies about. She was, yes.’ His arm slipped to her waist as he led her deeper into the crowded marketplace. ‘She was an archaeologist, come to Jandara on a dig. I know you would like me to think my barbarian father abducted her, but the truth is they met at an official function, fell in love, and were married ten days later.’

  ‘And were they happy?’

  ‘The barbarian and the Englishwoman?’

  ‘No,’ Joanna said quickly, ‘I didn’t mean—’

  ‘They were very happy. Is that so difficult to believe?’

  Joanna looked at him. ‘I—I’m confused,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t—I don’t really know what to believe.’

  His arm tightened around her. ‘Perhaps you will know, by the afternoon’s end.’

  * * *

  When the sun began dropping in the sky, they made their way back to the horses. By then, Joanna’s head was spinning. Nothing was as she’d expected—and yet, in her heart, she knew that everything was as she’d begun to suspect it might be.

  She didn’t speak the language of Khalil’s people, but it didn’t matter. Many of them spoke English, especially the younger ones.

  ‘It is an important language, the language of nations, Prince Khalil says, so we learn it,’ a horse trader told her earnestly. ‘We start young, when we first enter school.’

  ‘Ah,’ said Joanna. ‘Only boys learn a language, then?’

  ‘Is that how it is in your country?’ the young man said, frowning. ‘That only boys may learn?’

  She stared at him. ‘No. Of course not. Boys and girls both learn what they wish.’

  ‘Here, too.’ He smiled. ‘I am glad
to hear that America believes in educating its women.’

  Khalil laughed. ‘I assure you,’ he said, clapping the young man on the shoulder, ‘it does!’

  At a stall where fresh fruits lay heaped in abundance, a group of young women stood chatting.

  ‘It must be difficult,’ Joanna said to one of them, ‘to raise a family here, so far from modern conveniences.’

  The young woman nodded. ‘It is not simple.’

  Joanna’s brows arched as she glanced at Khalil, who stood several feet away, lounging against a stall.

  ‘Why don’t you leave, then?’ she said. Her voice fell in pitch. ‘Is it because Prince Khalil will not permit it?’

  The young woman repeated Joanna’s words to her friends, who covered their mouths and laughed.

  ‘We are free to leave, if we choose,’ she said, turning back to Joanna. ‘But only a fool would wish to live in the south, under the rule of Abu. Surely, you know this.’

  Joanna stared at the woman. I don’t know what I know, she wanted to say… But she only smiled.

  ‘Thank you for talking with me,’ she said.

  She was silent when Khalil took her hand and drew her forward along the dusty street.

  ‘Well, Joanna?’ he asked softly. ‘Have you seen reality?’

  ‘It’s been a long day, Khalil. I’m tired. Can we go back now, please?’

  He looked at her, then nodded. ‘As you wish.’

  They made their way to where the horses waited. Joanna walked to the mare’s side and put her hand on the animal’s neck. She closed her eyes and pressed her forehead lightly against the coarse hair.

  ‘Joanna.’ Khalil’s voice was gentle and so was the hand he placed on her shoulder. He said her name again but she didn’t answer. After a moment, he spoke to his men. One of them reached for the mare’s reins, and they led her away.

  Khalil clasped Joanna’s waist and lifted her on to the back of the stallion, then swung into the saddle behind her. His arms went around her as he gathered the reins into his hands, but she didn’t protest. A terrible languor had crept over her.