The Desert Rogues Part 1

by Susan Mallery

  “Good. We’ll pick a day.” He reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I always forget how alone in the world you are. You don’t have anyone but me, do you?”

  “I have friends,” Heidi said quickly, not sure if he was being nice or feeling sorry for her. “And the king and Fatima have been very good to me since my grandfather died.”

  His dark eyes seemed to see into her soul. “You lost your parents when you were very young, didn’t you?”

  “I was four. I don’t really remember them,” she admitted. “They were killed while on safari in Africa. Their Jeep was swept away in a flash flood. Grandfather came home immediately. The first memory I have of him is when he walked into the house calling my name.” She smiled at the recollection. “I’d been staying with neighbors until he could arrive. I think he’d been in China. Anyway, he called until I finally showed myself. He was so big and tall, with a long coat and fierce black eyes.”

  The past seemed to close in on her, but all the memories were good ones, and they made her feel safe.

  “I stood in the doorway, but I was too afraid to say anything. He turned and saw me. He announced that he’d come halfway around the world to collect his granddaughter. That she was the only one he would have done that for. Which, he said, made me very special.”

  Her throat tightened with remembered emotion. “He crouched down then and held out his arms. When I hesitated, he smiled. It was the most loving, welcoming smile I’d ever seen. He told me that if I would take a step of faith and trust him, he would never ever let me go.”

  Jamal lightly traced the length of her arm. She felt the concern in his touch, even through the material of her sleeve. “He kept his promise.”

  “Yes, he did. He bought a house and made my room into a little girl’s paradise. I think I had every doll ever made. When I wasn’t in school, we traveled the world together.”

  She thought about all the places he’d taken her and how he’d proudly introduced her as the best, most beautiful granddaughter in the world.

  “When I was about twelve, we both agreed I would do better in a boarding school. I was reaching that awkward age girls have when we really need a female figure in our lives. Plus, I knew he wanted to spend his life finding adventures, not living in the suburbs. But we still had our summers.”

  “Sounds like you were grown-up for someone so young.”

  “I tried to be.” She glanced at Jamal and shrugged. “The one thing I didn’t realize until he was gone was how hard it must have been for him when his only son died. I was only four, so I guess it was fairly easy for him to hide his grief, but not even once did he let me know he was suffering. I always believed I was the center of his universe.”

  “He was a good man,” Jamal said. “I know he greatly helped our country during the Second World War.”

  Heidi nodded. “He told me stories, as did your father.”

  “We have that in common,” he said. “My grandfather was a lot like Edmond. He gave much to his family.”

  He took her hand in his and laced their fingers together. “There were many reasons I didn’t resist my father’s suggestion that you and I marry. I knew you would be comfortable living in El Bahar. You understand the customs and have a love for the people. You’re intelligent and funny, and you have a wonderful ability to make the crown prince squirm.”

  His words gave her a warm feeling inside. They also made her blush. She pressed her free hand to her hot face. “I don’t know why I bother Malik, but every time I try to make things better with him, they only get worse.”

  “You tease him. He needs that. Too many people take him seriously. I hope when Malik remarries he finds someone who will stand up to him and not be intimidated by his position and power.”

  “That’s a tall order.”

  “I know. But I found you. He can find someone like you as well.”

  She searched his face. “You’re really not sorry we’re married?”

  “Not at all.”

  “I’m glad,” she whispered.

  Jamal leaned toward her. Her heart stopped in her chest. Was he going to kiss her—really kiss her—the way he had kissed Honey?

  But instead of pressing his mouth to hers, he lightly touched his lips to her cheek.

  “I’ll let you get back to work now,” he said, releasing her hand and standing up.

  “Thank you for bringing me the disk,” she said, hoping her disappointment didn’t show. So much for wild abandon.

  He left without saying anything else. Heidi wrinkled her nose. Was it her? Was she too plain as her regular self to attract him sexually? He’d just told her that he was glad he’d married her, and while she hugged the information to her heart, she wasn’t sure it was going to be enough.

  It was Yasmin, she thought glumly. His late wife still had a firm grip on his emotions. Which meant he would probably be friends with her as his wife, sleep with her as his mistress, but hold his innermost self back from both women.

  No, she thought with determination. There had to be a way to make him care about her. She had to be able to compete with the memories of Yasmin and win sometimes. She would just keep looking until the answer came to her.

  That decided, Heidi returned to her work. She also ignored the little voice inside of her. The one that asked why it was so important to obtain her husband’s affections. The same one that also whispered she had better hold her own heart in safekeeping or she would find herself in love with a man who might not be able to love her back.

  “That was very nice,” Jamal said as he folded his napkin and tossed it on the glass-topped table.

  Heidi set down her fork, hoping he didn’t notice how little she’d eaten during the meal. This was her second “date” with Jamal, and she’d been a little disappointed when this time he’d actually wanted to eat lunch. To be honest, she’d been hoping for a repeat performance of the hot kissing they’d done last time. The anticipation of his mouth on hers, his tongue and his hands had made her so shivery and nervous that she’d barely been able to eat three bites of her salad.

  Now she sat across from him and pleated her linen napkin between her fingers. She shifted in her seat and started to cross her legs, then remembered that her skirt was too tight to allow much freedom of movement. While she could technically hike it up and cross her legs, that would mean exposing skin all the way to her panties, and what with their tabletop being glass and all, that didn’t seem like a wise idea.

  But Jamal didn’t seem to notice that her push-up bra and low-cut blouse combined to show more cleavage than should be allowed by law. Or that her skirt was more Band-Aid than fashion item. The good news was she was finally getting better with her high heels. So far she’d only stumbled twice.

  Jamal leaned toward her. “As I was saying, I did study as well. It wasn’t all good times.”

  They were talking about Jamal’s years at university in England. She shook her head. “Sounds to me as if you had much more fun than I did when I was in college. Some of the girls were wild, but I ran around with a fairly studious group. I can’t tell you how many Friday nights I spent studying.”

  Jamal stared at her, then grinned. “Oh, I get it. You’re teasing me. I can’t see you spending any night at home.”

  She opened her mouth to tell him he was crazy, then clamped it shut as her brain started functioning again. Talk about messing up. She was Honey Martin, femme fatale and all-round bad girl, not her innocent self!

  “You caught me,” she said with a quick laugh. “Okay, yes, I was out until all hours. I’m amazed I even graduated.” She offered an insincere smile and hoped he would believe her. Then she decided she’d better change the subject before he asked something tough, like her major.

  “So did all your brothers go away to college?” she asked. “I mean, you do have brothers, don’t you?”

  “Of course. Two. And yes, we were all educated in different parts of the world, followed by university in England. While t
here are excellent schools here in El Bahar, my father was concerned about exposing us to other ways of doing things. El Bahar is a successful blend of East and West, old and new. He has created that balance and works very hard to keep it in place.”

  She had to bite back her “I know” and quickly replace it with “He sounds wonderful. I would imagine it’s very difficult for a son to follow his father and be king.”

  “It is,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand in his. “I wouldn’t want Malik’s responsibilities for any amount of money.”

  She had trouble concentrating on the conversation, mostly because of the fact that his fingers felt so strong and warm as they held her own. Plus, he’d angled his chair toward her, as if he wanted to focus all his attention on just her.

  “Ah, Malik is the crown prince, right?”

  He nodded. “As the oldest, he’s had to learn about all areas of government. But it doesn’t stop with El Bahar. Malik will have to take our country forward in a time where everything is changing. Our father has done much to prepare him—soon it will be up to Malik alone.”

  Heidi had never much thought about what it must be like to be the heir to an entire country. She was grateful that Jamal’s responsibilities weren’t as great. He was in charge of the financial state of the family and worked with the economic council to form and maintain El Bahar’s economic policy. That seemed like more than enough for any man.

  Jamal stroked his thumb against the back of her hand. “Father was always much tougher on Malik than on the rest of us. Khalil and I were allowed to skip lessons from time to time so we could ride or play, but not Malik. He had to attend long, boring meetings, even when he was little.” Jamal stared off in the distance.

  “He was not allowed to show any weakness,” he continued. “No matter what happened, Malik was expected to be strong.”

  Jamal seemed plenty macho to her, Heidi thought. She could only imagine what Malik was like in private.

  “Where was your mother in all this?” she asked without thinking then wanted to call the question back. She didn’t know anything about the king’s late wife, except that no one ever spoke of her. Even her grandfather had been strangely silent on the topic.

  “Sorry,” she said quickly. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

  “There’s not much to say,” Jamal told her. “She died about a year after Khalil was born. I don’t remember her at all. Malik might because he’s the oldest.” He paused as he thought. “What I do remember is my father being lectured by an assortment of government officials, each of whom wanted him to remarry. He always refused. He said that he had loved one great woman, and he was unlikely to find another similar. Because he didn’t want to subject a second wife to constant comparisons in which she would surely fall short, he chose to remain a widower.”

  Jamal gave her a slight smile. “As he had three healthy sons already, there wasn’t much they could say in the way of argument with him.”

  “I see.” Heidi hesitated. “Your father must have loved her very much.”

  “She was his entire world, or so I’ve heard.” He squeezed her hand. “My father is the kind of man who loves with his whole heart, but he loved only once.”

  Heidi didn’t know what to say to that. She wanted to ask if it was a family trait—if he, Jamal, was the same way. Did he love only once, and was that one great love Yasmin? Heidi didn’t want it to be so. If it was, she labored in vain because Jamal wouldn’t have any of his heart left over to give her. She was beginning to worry that friendship and passion weren’t going to be enough for her—but was she going to get a choice in the matter?

  “What are you thinking?” he asked unexpectedly.

  “About your late wife,” she said truthfully, although she was not going to tell him anything specific. Then she remembered she was supposed to be ignorant about Jamal’s past. “I mean I, ah, read in an article that you were married before.”

  “Yasmin is off-limits to you, young lady.” He gently squeezed her fingers.

  “Why?” Didn’t he want to talk about his great love? “

  Because it’s only polite,” he said. “Your past is off-limits to me, as well. I doubt you are the kind of woman to kiss and tell, right?”

  “Of course,” Heidi said easily, even as she wondered if that was true. After all, she didn’t have any kissing to tell about, except for his, so she hadn’t actually been tested.

  “So you won’t tell me about all your dozens of lovers?” he asked, his voice teasing.

  “Dozens is a slight exaggeration.”

  “So it’s less than fifty?”

  Fifty? Heidi laughed. “Definitely less than fifty.”

  “Less than twenty?”

  “Of course.”

  He studied her, his dark eyes appraising. “I want to guess less than ten, but you’re so beautiful. Men must be a problem for you wherever you go.”

  Oh, yeah, right. She practically had to step over them just to get to her car, she thought humorously. “You would be surprised,” was all she said, however.

  Wait a minute. Had he just said she was beautiful? Beautiful? For real? And she barely thought of herself as pretty. Did he mean it? If only she knew a way to ask.

  “Still,” he said, standing, then pulling her to her feet. “You’re here now…in my power, so to speak. I have a sudden desire to make sure you never get away.”

  He was making it impossible for her to breathe. Really. Her throat was all tight, as was her chest, and if her heart beat any faster, it was going to self-propel itself out of her body.

  She couldn’t think of a single thing to say in response, so she allowed him to pull her close. He wrapped his arms around her. She knew exactly what was going to happen next and found that she couldn’t wait. She desperately wanted him to kiss her the way he had before. All hot and passionate with tongues brushing and hands exploring.

  Now, standing so close to him, staring up into his dark eyes and handsome face, she couldn’t imagine why on earth she’d been afraid of being intimate with a man. Jamal made her want to find out everything and do it over and over until they got it right.

  “Now what are you thinking?” he asked as he leaned close and brushed his mouth against hers.

  “Nothing important,” she murmured, then brazenly licked his lower lip.

  He shuddered at her touch, which made her shudder in return.

  “It must be important,” he said as he nibbled on her jaw. “You were blushing.”

  “No. I never blush. It’s the lighting in here.”

  “Liar.” His voice was low and seductive. “But if you don’t want to tell me what you were thinking, maybe you’d like to hear what I’m thinking.”

  She shivered again, but this time as much from apprehension as anticipation. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Jamal could shock her in forty-seven different ways if he tried. The trick was going to be for her to act blasé, because she was, after all, the experienced-mistress type. At least Honey was.

  He trailed soft, damp kisses down her neck and followed the curve of her top until he reached her exposed cleavage. Once there, he dipped his tongue into the valley between her breasts.

  Her breath caught and her knees nearly gave way. She clung to him, praying he would never stop.

  “Do you want to know?” he asked.

  “Huh?”

  He laughed—a satisfied male laugh. “Do you want to know what I’m thinking.”

  “Oh, ah, sure.”

  Right now she would agree to anything as long as he kept touching her, she thought hazily, her head lolling back so that he could easily reach all of her throat.

  “I have a fantasy,” he admitted. “I’ve had it for years and not once have I ever had it fulfilled.”

  That got her attention. Heidi straightened and stared at him. “Never?”

  “No.” His dark gaze met hers. “It’s probably going to sound a little silly to someone as sophisticated as you.�
��

  “I doubt that,” she said honestly. “Tell me.”

  She wanted to hear any fantasy he’d had for years—especially one that hadn’t been fulfilled by Yasmin.

  He leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I would love to see you do the Dance of the Seven Veils for me.”

  She blinked. “Dance of the Seven Veils? Like in the movies?”

  He licked the shell of her ear. “Exactly.”

  He kept licking her and nibbling on her lobe, which made it impossible to think. Still she forced herself to respond to his request. “Isn’t that where the woman ends up naked?”

  “Yes. Then she and the handsome sheik make love.” He straightened and smiled. “You’d be a terrific dancing girl.”

  And Jamal had the handsome-sheik part down cold. Now if only the thought of doing that for him didn’t make her stomach head directly for her throat.

  “And, ah, you want me to dance for you?”

  “I can’t imagine anything more perfect.”

  She weighed her options. There was the whole issue of being naked and then having sex. That she would leave for later. Far better to have an emotional heart attack in the privacy of her own bedroom. Which left providing an answer to his request. His fantasy. Jamal wanted her to do something that Yasmin had not done.

  “No problem,” she said before she could stop herself. “Give me a few days to find a costume, maybe take a couple of seven veils dance lessons, and I’ll be ready.”

  He pressed her close. “I knew you’d be the one,” he said, kissed her briefly, then released her. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Before she knew what was happening, he was gone.

  “Just like a man,” she muttered into the empty room a few seconds later as the door shut behind him. Now what? She thought for a second, then realized there was only one person who would know about both the dance and costume. Time for a talk with Fatima.

  Chapter Ten

  Jamal pulled his Lamborghini into the midday traffic and tried not to think about what had just happened with “Honey.” Unfortunately his efforts to avoid getting uncomfortably aroused came far too late. Just being in the same room with her made him hard. That, combined with holding her close and kissing her, was enough to send him over the edge. He wanted her, and he liked her. It was a deadly combination.