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Alexa straightened her shoulders. ‘Your role is not to pass judgement on a situation of which you know nothing. It’s not your business.’

‘If you’re planning to sneak away then it becomes my business. If I wake up tomorrow and you have gone then I will have to answer to the Sultan. His Excellency isn’t exactly renowned for tolerating the mistakes of others.’

‘Coming with me would be a bigger mistake than you can possibly imagine.’

‘If you believe that then you clearly know nothing about the Sultan.’ He walked towards her, his expression unreadable. ‘If you disappear while under my protection then it is entirely my responsibility.’

‘The Sultan wouldn’t care. He doesn’t want this marriage.’

‘Nor does he want an international incident,’ Karim said dryly. ‘Make no mistake, the Sultan is going ahead with this marriage. The plans for the wedding are already underway. You marry him on the day of your twenty-fourth birthday.’

‘Yes, but I intend to travel alone. If you refuse to let me go, then you will regret it.’

A muscle worked in his lean jaw, and his eyes were faintly amused as he surveyed her with disturbing thoroughness. ‘Never before have I been threatened by a woman who barely reaches my shoulder.’

Alexa felt exhaustion wash over her. As if it wasn’t enough to constantly be trying to outwit William, she now had another fight on her hands. Utterly defeated by the constant obstacles that faced her, she sank back onto the edge of the bed, and then noticed something glinting under the edge of the pillow.

Puzzled, she reached out a hand, lifted the pillow and gave a soft gasp. ‘You sleep with a gun and a knife?’

‘I’m a cautious man.’ He walked over to the bed and gently prised her fingers from the pillow before dragging her back to her feet. ‘And I want to know why you feel the need to leave the palace in the middle of the night.’

She tried to ignore the fact that his hand still held hers. ‘Because it’s imperative that I reach Zangrar safely.’

He watched her for a long moment. ‘You’re that desperate to marry the Sultan?’

‘I prefer determined to desperate.’ Although desperate was probably much closer to the truth.

‘And you believe that your uncle is going to try and stop you?’

‘If I wait until morning—yes.’ Alexa hesitated but decided that she had no choice but to tell him at least part of the truth.

‘William feels very strongly that this wedding shouldn’t go ahead. Strongly enough to use physical means to prevent it.’

Karim was silent for a moment as he digested that piece of information. ‘He must love you very much to have such strong concerns for your well-being. And yet you choose to ignore that love?’

Alexa stared at him for a moment and then gave a short laugh. ‘He doesn’t love me. He hates me. He has always hated me.’

‘You’re young. Sometimes, when someone else’s wishes for you are in contrast to your own, it can be hard to hear what they are saying.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with my hearing. My uncle isn’t interested in what’s best for me.’ She eyed the door, knowing that she was wasting precious minutes that she didn’t have. ‘I have to go.’

‘If you leave, then I leave. Make no mistake about that. I’m your bodyguard.’

‘Haven’t you listened to a word I’ve said? I don’t need you.’

‘Why not, if you think you’re at risk?’

‘I don’t trust you.’

Karim frowned. ‘What possible reason could there be for you not to trust me?’

‘I don’t trust anyone. And if you insist on coming on this journey then I certainly can’t guarantee your safety.’

One dark eyebrow lifted in mockery. ‘I rather thought that I was supposed to guarantee your safety.’

She sighed and rubbed her aching head with the tips of her fingers. ‘Karim, I’m not a good person to travel with. It is going to be dangerous.’

‘Don’t you think you’re being a little melodramatic?’

He had no idea. Alexa let her hands drop to her sides and gave a resigned shrug. She’d already wasted too much time on this. She’d warned him. If he chose to ignore the warning, then that was up to him. ‘I’m leaving now, whether you come or not is up to you,’

she said wearily. ‘But, if you wait until the morning, then I’ll be gone, with or without the passport. And, if I wait until morning, I’ll be dead. In case you haven’t heard, I’m very accident-prone.’

She heard his sharp intake of breath as she walked across the room. At the door she paused and turned to look at him. ‘If you’re coming with me then bring the gun and the knife—and I just hope you’re as good as you say you are, because you’re about to need every survival skill you’ve ever learned.’

CHAPTER THREE

KARIM slid into the tiny car, wondering at precisely which point in the past twenty-four hours he’d relinquished grip on his judgement.

He brushed the tips of his fingers over his lower lip, trying to erase the delicious taste of her mouth and the memory of that searing kiss, but the gesture did nothing to alleviate the nagging ache of lust that now gripped his body.

Intensely irritated by his own response, he let his hand fall to his thigh.

She was the most hotly sexual woman he’d ever met, and her behaviour was every bit as shocking as he’d been led to believe.

The fact that she was prepared to kiss another man days before her wedding confirmed everything he already knew about her, and that kiss had obviously shorted his mental circuits because he was behaving in a way that was entirely uncharacteristic. Instead of being fully in control of the situation, he was now on his way to a mystery destination with a princess who gave new meaning to the term drama queen.

Dead. Dead?

What did she mean that if she waited until morning she’d be dead?

Clearly, she thought a little exaggeration on her part would help urge him into action, or perhaps she’d just been aiming for the sympathy vote. It was a pity for her that he had vast experience of a woman’s ability to manipulate a tricky situation to her advantage, especially where money was involved. Obviously the Princess Alexandra was afraid that her uncle might step in and prevent the wedding. And it didn’t need a genius to work out why she would go to any lengths to prevent that happening.

Money had an appalling effect on people. He’d seen it firsthand, and her determination to creep away from the palace in the middle of the night in order to protect her prize, had left him with no obvious alternative but to join her. Until she changed her mind about the marriage, his mission was not complete, and his mission stood no chance of being completed if she travelled to Zangrar alone and unaccompanied.

He needed time with her.

Wincing as his shoulders brushed the door and his head banged the roof, Karim tried to shift himself into a more comfortable position, but it proved impossible. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t opt for a more luxurious mode of transport,’ he muttered, but she didn’t even glance in his direction.

‘I’m not interested in luxury. I’m interested in anonymity.’

Well aware that that both those statements were in direct contrast to everything he knew about the Princess Alexandra’s public displays of extravagance, Karim wondered what she was trying to prove by making him journey in the smallest car available to mankind.

A road-sign flashed past and he frowned. ‘You took the wrong road. The airport is the other way.’

She didn’t respond. Instead her eyes were fixed on the road, and her hands gripped the wheel of the car so tightly that her knuckles whitened under the pressure. ‘We’re not using that airport.’

‘The Sultan’s private jet awaits you at Rovina Airport.’

‘I know. Which makes it the first place they’ll look when they realize that we’ve gone.’ She glanced in her rear-view mirror and then turned left down a road without indicating. Tyres screeched in protest, and Karim’s shoulder thudded hard against the window.

Watching his life flash before his eyes, he inhaled sharply. ‘Stop the car! I will drive.’

‘No way. For a start, you don’t know where we’re going.’

‘True. But, wherever it is, I would like to reach there alive.’ He adjusted his balance as she took sharp right that virtually flung him on top of her.

‘You chose to come, Karim.’ She changed gears like a racing driver. ‘Are you a nervous passenger?’

‘That depends on the driver.’

‘I’m an excellent driver.’

‘And yet you have crawled from the wreckage of two car accidents in the past year.’

‘Precisely. A less skilled driver than me would have been killed.’

‘A more skilled driver than you wouldn’t have crashed in the first place. Why do you keep looking in the mirror? It’s pitch-dark out there. There is nothing to see.’

‘So far. I need to make sure that no one is following us.’

‘Who would be following us?’ Karim felt a flicker of irritation. ‘Some women are incredibly aroused by drama, I know, but you are taking it to new levels. Stop the car.’

‘No. There’s a chance that my uncle may have discovered that we’ve left. If I stop, then I risk losing the advantage we have.’

‘Has it ever occurred to you that your uncle may have your best interests at heart?’

‘Has it ever occurred to you that he hasn’t? Don’t lecture me, Karim. You’re the one who insisted that I needed a bodyguard. I wanted to leave you behind.’ She changed gears smoothly and accelerated fast up a dark road. There were no lights at all, but she seemed to know every bend and curve. ‘You chose to come with me. That means that you go where I go.’

‘And where is that, precisely?’

‘I’m going to the Sultan. By my own route.’

‘I hope that you will not have cause to regret that decision.’ Her determination exasperated him. Why was it that women became so focused when faced with an increase in their fortunes?

‘My father wanted me to marry the Sultan.’

‘Your father had never met the present Sultan.’

‘True. But he knew his father.’

Karim felt something dark and dangerous curl inside him. ‘Perhaps I should inform you that you might find that the present Sultan is not such a soft touch when it comes to a pretty face.’

‘It doesn’t matter. We both know that the Sultan cannot break the contract that exists between us.’

‘I’m sure the Sultan will find your eagerness to wed him most flattering.’

‘There’s no need for sarcasm. We’ve already established that I’m not pretending to be in love with him, and from what I’ve read that should be a pleasant change for the man,’ she muttered, crunching the gears as she slowed fractionally to take a corner. ‘He seems to spend his life fending off over-eager women. It must be very frustrating for him.’

‘You needn’t waste sympathy on the Sultan,’ Karim drawled. ‘He has vast experience with women, and is well able to protect himself.’

‘Well, he won’t need to protect himself from me. I’m honest.’ She trod hard on the accelerator. ‘And I certainly won’t be pretending to be in love with him. We’re going to get along just fine.’

‘I’m sure the Sultan will be overwhelmed by your romantic nature,’ Karim said dryly, wondering whether greed was any less distasteful when it was practised openly.

‘From what I’ve heard, the Sultan doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.’

‘You’re very sure about that. What if marriage to you is preventing him from marrying someone else?’

‘Oh, come on, Karim! You yourself said that the Sultan has avoided marriage all his life. He’s thirty-four years old, and he’s dated every beautiful woman in the western hemisphere.’ She changed gears viciously. ‘If there was someone he wanted to marry, he would have done it by now.’

‘And you have reached this conclusion on what basis?’

‘He’s the Sultan. The absolute ruler. He can marry anyone he pleases.’

‘Evidently not, since it seems that he will be marrying you. I’m afraid life is nowhere near as simple as you describe, even for the Sultan.’

‘We’re here.’ Ignoring his last remark, she turned the wheel sharply and drove the car through a gap in a fence and into an open field. Then she flashed the headlights three times. From across the field came an answering flash, and she nodded and switched off the engine. ‘We need to be quick.’

She was already out of the vehicle, the collar of her black jacket pulled up and a hat pulled low over her eyes. ‘Hurry. I don’t know how much time we have.’

Seriously questioning his decision to go along with her, Karim followed her, and then reached out a hand and hauled her against him. ‘Enough,’ he growled. ‘Enough, Your Highness. No one is following us.’’

‘Maybe not yet, but they will be. We need to get on that plane. Now.’ Her voice was urgent. ‘They’re coming, Karim. They’re already on their way. I can feel it.’

Karim felt her shiver in his arms, and his own body stirred in response as he stared down into her beautiful face. Why was she so desperate to go through with this marriage? Was this really all about money?

And what had happened to his judgement? Was he seriously going to board a strange aircraft with a woman who he didn’t trust, like or even admire?

‘You’re making no sense. Give me one good reason why I should do as you say.’

Her breath was coming in rapid pants, and then she jerked away from him and pointed a gun—his gun—straight at his chest. ‘Because if you don’t then I’m just going to have to shoot you. I will not allow anyone to stop this marriage, and that includes you. We’ve already wasted far too much time. Make your choice, Karim, but make it fast.’

Her hands shaking, Alexa held the gun as she’d seen it held in the movies, hoping that she looked suitably threatening. ‘Well?’

Karim stood still, remarkably calm, given that he was staring down the barrel of his own gun. And then he reached out and gently prised the gun from her shaking fingers with a hand that was entirely steady.

‘It’s dangerous to play with weapons that you know nothing about,’ he said softly, and she made a desperate grab for the gun but he slid it back into the holster under his jacket. ‘Next time you want to threaten someone, choose a weapon you’re familiar with.’ He watched her for a moment, his eyes searching. ‘Given that our prompt departure is obviously a matter of great importance to you, we’d better leave.’

‘Thank you.’ She should have felt relief, but instead she found herself wishing that he’d opted to stay behind. He was the most disturbing man she’d ever met, and she didn’t want him in her life. Especially not at this particular moment when concentration was crucial to her very survival. Alexa took a phone out of her pocket and made a quick call. Immediately a set of landing lights illuminated a runway, and she saw the small plane waiting. ‘They’re ready. Quickly.’

Checking over her shoulder for any glimmer of approaching headlights, Alexa pulled away from him and sprinted towards the plane, not really caring whether Karim followed or not.

She didn’t understand why he was asking so many questions.

He was a bodyguard. His brief should have been to follow orders, not to give them.

Arriving at the plane, she climbed the few steps and then sank down on the nearest seat, her insides churning so badly that she could barely breath. Karim sat down next to her and she felt the brush of his arm against hers.

Even without turning her head she knew he was watching her. She could feel him watching her.

And then he gave an impatient sigh, leaned across and fastened her seat belt in a decisive movement. Wishing he’d selected a seat across the aisle, Alexa’s mouth dried.

‘Thank you.’

She didn’t look at him. She didn’t dare.

She had to stay focused, and looking at Karim just blurred her mind.

A man walked out of the cockpit and nodded to her. ‘You are ready, Your Highness?’

‘Yes. Just go, David. Quickly.’ Knowing the risk he was taking, she looked at him doubtfully. ‘You’re sure you want to do this?’

‘How can you doubt it?’ The man’s expression was fierce. ‘We owe it to your father’s memory. We owe it to Rovina.’

Karim lounged in the leather seat, studying the woman next to him through half-shuttered eyes.

The moment the plane had taken off, she’d fallen deeply asleep, and now she lay without moving, her thick, dark lashes forming a crescent against her ashen cheeks.

He still hadn’t quite recovered from the shock of seeing her standing there, pointing his gun at him. But the incident had taught him two important things.

Firstly, that the Princess Alexandra was determined to marry the Sultan, and, secondly that she was not such a tough, independent soul as she would have liked him to believe. The slender hands holding his gun had been shaking so badly that, had she actually succeeded in firing the thing, the first shot would have hit his head and the second his toes. Clearly she didn’t have a clue how to use a gun.

Still, he’d underestimated her, and he wouldn’t be doing that again in a hurry.

Her extreme behaviour had surprised even him.

But it shouldn’t have done, should it? He gave a cynical laugh. His wealth of experience with her sex had long since taught him that nothing focused a woman’s mind more than a serious threat to her spending power, and the princess appeared to be facing that threat in the form of her uncle.

What would she say, he wondered, if she knew that he, too, was determined to prevent the wedding? The only difference between him and her uncle was that he intended to succeed.

Transferring his gaze to the front of the plane, he briefly wondered about the identity of the pilot. He’d been surprised by the loyalty and devotion displayed by the young man. Was he one of her many lovers?

Probably, if her reputation was to be believed.

Not that there had been any communication between them since that first brief greeting.

On the contrary, she’d been sleeping since the plane had taken off.

Deciding that it was time to take back control, Karim took advantage of her unconscious state to make some necessary calls. Blessing modern technology, he removed his hand-held computer from his pocket and sent two urgent e-mails that were both immediately answered. He was just pocketing the device when Alexa’s head flopped sideways onto his shoulder.

Karim froze in shock as she snuggled into him. The top of her head brushed his neck as she automatically searched for the most comfortable position, and his senses were engulfed by the delicious scent of her amazing red-gold hair.

She smelt like an English garden in the middle of summer.

Seriously discomforted by the unexpected familiarity, he lifted a hand, intending to push her back into her own seat, but somehow his fingers became entwined in a lock of her hair. The curl looped itself around his fingers like a silken coil, and he studied the vibrancy of the colour with fascination.

Whatever else had been said about her, it was certainly true that the Princess Alexandra was astonishingly beautiful. She was a woman that any healthy, red-blooded man would find impossible to ignore. And as for how she tasted …

Irritated by the dangerous direction of his thoughts, Karim allowed her hair to slide through his fingers, reminding himself that this journey was all about helping her to review her decision to marry the Sultan. To stray from that path would complicate things in the extreme.

The weight and warmth of her body remained pressed against his shoulder, and, although sleeping snuggled against him was an intimacy he’d never before allowed a woman, Karim found himself strangely reluctant to wake her. He had no desire to travel with a tired, irritable woman, he reasoned, and anyway sleep not induced by the exhaustion of sex held no significance whatsoever.

He forced himself to relax in his seat, grimly determined to ignore the intrusive and disturbing reaction of his body. Occasionally he glanced at her, wondering when she was going to wake up.

She slept as though she was never going to regain consciousness, and at one point he found himself leaning closer, just to check that she was actually breathing.

It was only when the plane finally landed in Zangrar that she stirred, perhaps sensing the sudden stillness of the plane. Her head was still resting on his shoulder and her gaze met his, her face dangerously close.

Karim felt something stir inside him and curved his hand around her cheek, tempted to help himself to another taste of her luscious mouth before continuing with the job in hand. His body throbbed and ached with the memory of that kiss, and he realized with no small degree of irritation that he had been in an almost permanent state of arousal since he had met the princess only a day earlier. Only the most ruthless self-discipline prevented him from sacrificing his principles in favour of immediate sexual gratification. His hand dropped and he drew back, and she did the same, apparently dismayed to find herself so intimately entwined with him.

‘I slept—I’m sorry.’ She sounded astonished. ‘What time is it?’

‘We have just landed in Zangrar.’

‘Landed?’ Her expression confused, she looked out of the window. ‘But that isn’t possible.’

‘Why isn’t it possible?’

‘Because Zangrar is a ten-hour flight.’

‘And you have slept for ten hours.’ And for most of those ten hours she’d been wrapped around him. Trying to calm the vicious throb in his body by moving his thoughts as far from seduction as possible, Karim flexed his shoulders. ‘It was the middle of the night when we left. It is hardly surprising that you were tired.’

She looked shocked. ‘I’ve slept for ten hours?’

‘Without waking.’

‘But I’ve never—’ Without bothering to finish her sentence, she chewed her lip and glanced out of the window. ‘So, if this is Zangrar, then how far is it to the Citadel?’

Karim gave a cynical smile. For single-minded focus, you couldn’t fault her. She’d barely rubbed the sleep from her eyes, but already she could see the flash of gold across the desert. He only wished that half the people he worked with were even a fraction as driven. ‘I’m sure the Sultan will be most flattered by your eagerness to begin married life.’

It was a moment before she replied, and he wondered whether she’d even heard his comment. Then she looked at him, her face blank of expression. ‘I need somewhere to change. I can’t wear this.’

‘This’ was the pair of dark trousers and black jumper that she’d worn to leave the palace, presumably chosen to disguise her identity. Clearly she wanted to change into something more glamorous before she met the Sultan.

‘The Sultan is going to be far more interested in the person than the clothes. In Zangrar we have a tradition,’ he said softly. ‘When a woman marries, she dresses in a very simple gown, and that simplicity is of great significance. It means that she is offering herself to her man, all that she is, unadorned and exposed. It is symbolic of the fact that truth can be concealed, and that the marriage of a man and a woman should be about openness and truth.’

‘Truth?’ Her eyes fixed on his face. ‘You’re suggesting that I’m not being honest?’

‘I’m saying that when a woman gives herself to a man there should be nothing concealed.’

‘And what about when a man gives himself to a woman? How much concealing is allowed then? Or is this honesty onesided?’ Disillusionment rang in her voice, and the expression in her eyes was bleak. ‘You still haven’t answered my question. How far is the Citadel from here?’

‘It’s a four-day drive through the mountains and the desert.’ Omitting to tell her that a helicopter could make the journey in a matter of hours, Karim watched with satisfaction as something close to horror flickered across her beautiful face. ‘Zangrar, as a country, is still comparatively underdeveloped. The terrain is a mixture of sand and rock. When it came to building an international airport, the options were somewhat limited. The fortress city is several days’ drive away from here, across harsh desert.’

‘No!’ Clearly horrified by his announcement, she shook her head vigorously and moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘I studied a map. It looked like a short drive.’

‘Distances in the desert are deceptive.’

‘I can’t do a four-day journey—the desert isn’t safe.’

No, it certainly wasn’t.

More than content with her reaction, Karim relaxed in his seat. As he’d intended, the princess was clearly afraid of the prospect of a journey through the desert. All he needed to do now was ensure that she spent long enough in those surroundings to convince her that life in Zangrar was not going to be to her taste. Once she was exposed to those elements of desert life guaranteed to make a delicately brought-up princess run hard and fast in the direction of the nearest shopping mall, his mission would be virtually complete.

Her eyes were still fixed on his face. ‘We have to drive? There is no other way?’

‘Four-wheel drive is best.’ Pausing, he decided that a little elaboration could only help his cause. ‘Camels are equally effective, but obviously not so speedy, and I know that you are desperate to reach the Sultan as fast as possible.’

Apparently missing the irony in his tone, she sank back onto the seat, her breathing rapid as she struggled to control her anxiety.

Karim gave a cynical smile. It wasn’t hard to guess the direction of her thoughts. For a girl used to dressing in silk and partying until dawn, a prolonged trip through the desert held little in the way of attractions.

And she was right to be afraid.

By the time she arrived at the Citadel she would, with a little outside assistance, have decided that marriage to the Sultan was not for her. ‘Why don’t you change your clothes?’ She would doubtless select something feminine and unsuitable, and the more unsuitable the dress the more uncomfortable the journey.

And, the more uncomfortable the journey, the faster she would decide to rethink her matrimonial intentions.

Convinced that the success of his mission was already assured, Karim gave a faint smile. ‘Welcome to Zangrar, Your Highness,’ he drawled softly. ‘Welcome to the desert.’