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He shrugged, and pressed his lips down in a way she found hard to resist

‘I realise I e on your ship’

Her prih ‘I’m sure we’ll come to some sort of accommodation’

‘I’ about a purely commercial transaction,’ she assured him

‘And so am I What else could I possibly mean?’

Millie fir

‘And you should know I don’t offer credit’

‘This is no joking matter, Your Majesty’

‘I think we’ve reached a stage where you can safely call me Khalid’

‘Thank you, Your Majesty,’ Millie said pointedly There was nothing safe about any of this ‘If it pleases you—’

‘It does please e to his voice

Here was soht ‘Thank you, Sheikh Khalid I realise the great honour you’re doing me, so I will use the polite prefix Sheikh in future’

This roan ‘I’m a man like any other’

‘That’s just the point,’ she insisted ‘You’re not I’ for you to tell me the truth about my mother, and—’

‘I’m here because?’ he prompted

‘It’s a long, cold swiested

He laughed It was a wonderful sound However aloof she tried to be, it seeh her reserve But as he thinking now? she wondered as she stared into his brooding face She could never tell—

She yelped as he cleared the table with a co as he dragged her close and pressed her down onto the cool, hard surface

‘Nohat are you going to do?’ he asked

She’d have been angry if it hadn’t been for the teasing light in his eyes, because that excited her o,’ she said quietly

‘What if I say no? What are you going to do then?’

‘Raise a knee and do you an injury’

He laughed again ‘And you say that so nicely’

She held her breath as his wicked ed into a smile ‘You really are a very bad man,’ she observed on a dry throat

‘I really am,’ he confirmed, unconcerned

What a tiaze to drop to his mouth!

‘Do you want me to kiss you?’ he asked

She drew in a long, shuddering breath ‘It would be nice,’ she confessed

‘Nice?’

Noas frowning