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‘Because I wanted to,’ he said flatly ‘And because I’ht have considered it a sign of weakness if I had refused, thus putting the deal in jeopardy’

‘Your business deals are more important than your life, are they, Dimitri?’

‘They are i ‘They are a quantifiable success, unlike s in life’

There was a soft rap on the door and Erin walked across the roo away inside her Who was it this time? Why couldn’t they just leave him alone and let him recover?

She didn’t knoho she expected to find but she was surprised to see a robed wo on the threshold—maybe because this was the only other woman she’d seen since she’d arrived in Jazratan Petite and slender and wearing a silvery veil, which provided the perfect backdrop for her lustrous ebony hair, she was holding a sly, her smile was confident and she didn’t appear in the least bit shy

‘The Sheikh has sent me,’ she said, in the loveliest accent Erin had ever heard ‘To minister to the esteemed Russian who today risked his life to save our beloved monarch’

Erin’s hackles started rising; she couldn’t help herself Was she ileam in the woman’s doe-like eyes or the anticipatory curve of her soft smile as she looked over towards where Dimitri lay on the divan? A whisper of apprehension washed over her skin No, she was not

‘What do you mean, “minister”?’ she questioned, more sharply than she had intended

The wo properties,’ she said softly ‘It is row in the foothills of the mountains to the far north of our country and after I have applied it the Sheikh’s saviour will feel noon his skin will disappear as if by ic’

Erin wasn’t sure if it was paranoia or just a powerful sense of soeous young creature going to start slapping creaht occurred to her It came out of nowhere but for some reason it stuck fire Did Saladin realise that she and the Russian weren’t having sex—had Di this luscious wo hi like Saladin, who ruled a country where the opposite sex seemed almost invisible

Coolly, she removed the pot from the wo the tiratitude to His Royal Highness,’ she said ‘But I think Dimitri would prefer me to minister it’

She closed the door in the wolint of huain—as if it hurt to attempt to smile

‘You an to walk across the roo to apply the cream yourself’

‘I did,’ she said ‘And I am’

‘Be gentle with me, Erin’

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

‘The look on your face does not suggest gentleness’

Putting the fire-berry potion down on a table beside the divan, she began to unbutton his silky riding shirt, aware that it was clinging like damp tissue paper to the sweat-sheened muscles She told herself that this was exactly the reason why she had gained a first-aid certificate and remembered the need to remain completely impartial To treat hi e the creae that impartiality presented Diht in their depths, as if they were asking a silent question which she didn’t dare interpret—let alone answer

Her fingers slid over his chest It was sheer torture to touch hi her best to concentrate on the healing aspect and not on how delicious it felt to glide the cream over hard muscle covered by silky skin But when he shifted his jodhpur-covered groin, it took all her detere there Yet she couldn’t look away, could she? She couldn’t just stare at the wall Instead, she focused intently on the bruises he had suffered and not the soft sigh which escaped from between his parted lips