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CHAPTER FOUR

HE’D LOST FAILED

Sharif could hardly believe it

I wish all kinds of beautiful things for you

Reuished voice, hethe last fireworks, stouards fell in behind hient Makhtari Arabic

“Your Highness, you should know that—”

“Later,” he bit out His whole body felt tight For the love of heaven, couldn’t they leave hi up the stairs, Sharif paused, looking down the dark hallway toward Irene’s room But as the point?

There’s lots of ic to believe in The kind people make for themselves

Furiously, Sharif turned toward his own suite He could hardly believe that it was ending like this That after hours of flirting with her, dancing with her, it had still ended with hi back to his bedroom alone

For the last thirty hours, Irene had been the center of his battle strategy, the intense focus of his every thought He’d used all his best techniques, the ones that never failed He’d chariven her his complete attention—and not just for an hour, but for the entire day More He’d told her the truth when he said he’d never tried so hard before He’d forced hi her as a horse trainer would tame a skittish colt

And this was the result?

He looked down in disgust at the extravagant diamond necklace clenched in his fist Women could never resist him So how had she?

I’ve waited my whole life for the man I will love

Sharif took a shuddering, incredulous breath He’d never met a woman like this She was crazy But that was also why she’d drawn his interest, that light inside her The fierce purity

I don’t fail, he’d boasted to her once Well He rubbed the back of his head She’d certainly proved the truth of that

What did he care? he told himself harshly What was one woman to him, more or less?

He just had never failed before Not in any arena of his life When he tried so, he always succeeded

Until now And he suddenly felt so time

Respect No More than respect Envy

Which didn’t make any sense at all After all, he wasn’t bound by any antiquated, ridiculous rules about sex He could have it whenever he wanted