page25 (1/1)

He realised that the Sheikh was speaking to him and forced himself to listen

‘You must be weary after your travels, Makarov?’

‘A little,’ Direed

‘Then ill retire for the night, since negotiations are better conducted by the light of day, following a good night’s sleep and a little exercise’ The Sheikh smiled ‘I believe you ride?’

‘Of course,’ said Dimitri

‘Then perhaps you would care to join leamed ‘I have two fine new stallions I ah their paces’

Di better but have brought no riding clothes with me’

‘This is of no ave an i We are ht—before the sun is too high and the desert heat becomes merciless And in the ht’ The Sheikh rose to his feet and everyone fell silent as he swept from the room, followed by a retinue of servants

As the chatter recommenced Dimitri stood up and walked round the other side of the table, where Erin was giggling at so Was that what made Dimitri clamp a possessive hand over her arm, or si to resist?

‘Zvezdatoday,’ he said, seeing the faint clouding of her eyes which she couldn’t quite disguise As if it was hypocritical of him to use the Russian terertips over her sla pulse like that Unseen, he circled his thumb over the delicate skin and he felt her heart pick up even ood exaht’

Erin nodded as she stood up and said goodnight to the interesting a things about living in the desert She would never have guessed in athirsty was to suck on a pebble, or that cacti had so many medicinal uses In a way she was reluctant to leave the table, but she could hardly sit there all night just because she was terrified about the thought of being alone with Di dinner

And the way her body had instinctively responded to hi She’d tried to rationalise it as best she could, but in the end she’d been forced to face the truth That she still wanted hi to follow through Because even though she’d ring-fenced her heart, Dimitri could still s she kneere bad for her

Mainly him

Walking rigidly alongside his as they left the banqueting hall, trying to steer her thoughts away froth But it wasn’t easy There was a definite edge to hiuessed that, despite her relative innocence The hunger in his eyes had been unmistakable as he’d stared at her across the dinner table—and she couldn’t deny that the feeling had been mutual She had been overcoain To have him crush his lips down on hers To let him pin her down onto the mattress andand

Erin sed

And it wasn’t going to happen

It couldn’t happen

Because sex with Dimitri would weaken her It would tear down her defences and make her helpless And she couldn’t afford to be helpless For Leo’s sake, she had to stay strong

He aer—but there was no guarantee that his attitude towards women was any different Remember the way he treated you She certainly hadn’t been expecting violins and coht of sex he had been barely able to look her in the eyes He’d acted as if the whole extraordinary night had never happened

Her sandalsthe nificent architecture and scented courtyards asted on her—just like the wrought-iron lamps which flickered delicate patterns onto the walls Herher little apart she held dear was centred She thought about a little boy sitting at a table, crayoning She thought about his warm milk and bedtime story and those innocent eyes, which were so like those of his manipulative father, and her heart clenched