Crowned At The Desert King's Command (Mills & Boon Modern) by Jackie Ashenden

Author:Jackie Ashenden [Ashenden, Jackie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mills & Boon Modern
Published: 2020-01-23T14:42:37+00:00

‘I don’t like it, Charlotte.’

Her father’s voice sounded cracked and tinny down the phone.

‘I don’t like it at all.’

Charlotte gripped the phone Tariq had handed to her hard and tried to ignore her future husband, standing on the other side of the desk, his face impassive.

He’d been as good as his word in arranging the call, though he’d offered no explanation for his sudden change of heart. She thought it might have something to do with what had happened between them in the baths the day before, but she wasn’t sure.

She was trying very hard not to think about that herself. Though it was difficult when he’d insisted on remaining in the room while she spoke to her father, watching her with his intent golden stare.

‘It’s okay, Dad,’ she said, trying to be reassuring. ‘Like I was saying, we met and...f-fell in love, and he asked me to marry him. And I said yes.’

‘But it’s only been three days,’ her father pointed out, sounding cross.

‘Isn’t that how long it took you to decide to marry Mum?’

Her parents had had a mad, passionate, whirlwind romance—at least that was what her father had said, always bitterly—followed by a quick wedding. And then, years later, an acrimonious divorce.

With her in the middle.

She was suddenly even more conscious of Tariq, just on the other side of the desk, staring at her intensely. His presence was intimidating, pressing in on her, making her skin prickle with heat at the memory of his mouth on hers, the feeling of his hand cradling the back of her head, his body tall and powerful and so achingly close.

Speaking of mad and passionate...

That had been her yesterday, at the baths. Her heartbeat had been frantic, her skin too tight and too hot. She’d been overwhelmed by him, by the taste of him—something indescribable that reminded her of dense, rich, hot chocolate. Sweet and decadent and dark.

She should have stopped him, but when he’d touched her she hadn’t even been able to remember why it was wrong to want him anyway. He’d told her that physical desire wasn’t anything to be afraid of and in that moment, with the way he’d held her and the gentleness with which he’d explored her, fear had been the last thing she’d felt. All she’d been conscious of was her hunger. For him.

Her pulse was beating hard now, almost drowning out her father’s voice.

‘Yes, that’s true,’ he was saying. ‘But look what happened there. That woman ruined my life and nearly destroyed my career, while she got to swan off with her divorce settlement, footloose and fancy-free.’

Meaning without the millstone of her daughter hanging around her neck, presumably, though Charlotte didn’t ask him that. She knew his thoughts on the matter. If she hadn’t got so afraid and run off during one of their more bitter arguments, staying out the whole night while her parents called the police, trying to find her, her mother might have continued to fight the custody battle and would probably have won.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.