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She wasn’t sure what lance up as she waited for another tick to be placed against her nauard Was it animal instinct? An invisible bond? Or a silent whisper, sheindividual staring down in her direction

‘Come up,’ Sheikh Khalid indicated with a jerk of his chin, before stepping back into the shadows behind the rail on the top deck

Triuh him as Millie boarded the Sapphire He’d known she’d co for her She wasn’t stupid Millie knew there was so he hadn’t told her and she couldn’t take the chance he’d sail away She wasn’t here to sell herself for information Millie wasn’t like her mother with desperation as her only driver She was a seeker of justice and truth, and she was principled The urge to protect her was stronger than ever, as were his feelings of guilt The cheed through his body, a warning to protect her fro hiht, he would not destroy her with the truth It was so ed a new life, and he was glad of it There was nothing to be gained byher look back at the past

Millie was intuitive as well as beautiful, and she was right to coht As she had suspected, the Sapphire would be leaving King’s Dock soon Spending these last few hours in her coh But as she ran up the coht there was only one way, a visceral way, to get Millie out of his systeence he must deny himself There were other pleasures to distract hi A Bedouin at heart, he would always be restless, and had never craved the challenge of his native land more

When she appeared fraed and freshened all around hihts on this deck, she appeared ethereal and vulnerable He knew nothing could be further froether, and tonight determination showed in her expression as if she believed destiny was on her side

‘Over here,’ he called out

Her chin lifted and her gaze landed squarely on his face His biggest probles, as a fierce carnal hunger did its best to wipe out his previous saintly thoughts

I knohat I’uard who had accompanied her on board the Sapphire retreated and the door closed behind hi her on a deserted deck with only his al majesty, Sheikh Khalid of Khalifa, for company Security had ih the ship The party that she and her ooddrunk, were hosted and protected, rather than guarded, by the Sheikh’s most excellent staff But that didn’tless than the truth He could forget the edited version Learning what had really happened that night was the only reason she was back here

The only reason?

‘Welcome,’ he said

As his husky and seductive tone took a leisurely stroll across her senses, she told herself fir like his brother, and she was safe Sheikh Khalid had let her ain by filling in those gaps that had lashed her with guilt for eight long years?

She was here in search of the truth, but also, Millie silently admitted as she raised her face to his, because she couldn’t stay away There was so between them that wouldn’t allow her to The Sapphire was in dock Sheikh Khalid was close, and, as many times as she told herself that she couldn’t miss this opportunity, it was far, far more than that She couldn’t breathe easy She couldn’t think straight She couldn’t function properly Only when she knew everything would they part and go their separate ways

And was that all it was?

That was all it could be, she told herself as his dark, all-seeing eyes drilled down into hers What else could it be? Arousal, sadness, guilt and anger collided inside her,and loathe, and feel a type of passion she had never experienced before They had no future together That was the botto suspicion that he could have done more to save her ulf between them

But as the Sheikh’s confidence and sexual energy enveloped her in erotic heat, she beca, so brazenly masculine; in every way, he was different, and on a completely different scale froth Sheikh Khalid had no need of royal robes to stamp him with the majesty of power His authority was unparalleled And there was a part of her, a reckless part, that wanted nothing more than to battle with him

Go head to head, at least, she reasoned That hy she was here, after all

‘We’ll talk inside,’ he said, leading the way into the shadows of his apartment on board the Sapphire

She had started to follow, but for soed to trip over a cleat sticking up fro around as she yelped and stuainst his chest

‘Steady,’ he murmured as their bodies collided

It was a few moments before he released her, and she was in no hurry todeep into her eyes ‘What do you want of er?’

Her only thought was, You And the truth shocked her She had been fighting her attraction to hiain, Millie realised now, but this was soave a smile as if he knew

Freeing herself, she pulled away At best he ht think her her hter Even in thethe best chance you ever had to clear your mother’s name’

‘I don’t knohat happened that night,’ she said, feeling she‘But I can tell you this My mother wasn’t weak, she was desperate, and vulnerable, and your brother took advantage of that’

‘We need to talk,’ the Sheikh told her in a cal voice