His Defiant Desert Queen by Jane Porter

Author:Jane Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-02-05T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

SHE WAS TO dress for dinner.

That’s what the card attached to the garment bag instructed: Dress for dinner. I will collect you at nine.

Jemma unzipped the bag, and pushed away tissue to discover a sumptuous silk gown the color of ripe peaches. Ornate gold beading wrapped the hem and the long sleeve of the asymmetrical gown. The gown gathered over one shoulder creating a full flowing sleeve, while leaving the other shoulder and arm bare.

It was beautiful. Exotic. A dress for a desert princess.

There was a jewelry box in the bottom of the garment bag containing gold chandelier earrings studded with diamonds and pearls. They looked old, and very valuable.

She lifted an earring, holding it to her ear and looked in the mirror. The delicate gold and diamond earring was stunning against her dark loose hair. She’d wear her hair down tonight, dress like a desert princess. She hoped Mikael would not be angry this evening. The morning had been fun. He’d been a great companion. For a couple hours she’d forgotten why she was here.

He arrived at her door promptly at nine. Jemma had been ready for almost an hour. Opening the door she discovered he was dressed in his traditional robe again and she felt a stab of disappointment, preferring him in Western clothes. She felt more comfortable when he looked familiar, and not like the foreign sheikh he was.

“You look stunning,” he said.

She smiled, hiding her nervousness. “Thank you.”

“Do you know what we are doing for dinner?” he asked, leading her from the room, and down the outer corridor.

“No.”

He smiled down at her. “Good.”

He escorted her all the way to the front of the Kasbah, and out through the grand wooden doors. A car and driver waited for them.

The driver opened the back door of the black sedan. Jemma glanced at Mikael before climbing in. But he said nothing and his expression gave nothing away.

With Mikael seated next to her, the driver left the walled Kasbah. Soon they were driving through the desert, the car flying down the ribbon of asphalt. Moonlight bathed the miles of undulating sand.

Mikael pointed to the landscape beyond the tinted window. “This, my queen, is all yours.”

She looked out the window, at the vast desert, and then back at Mikael, struggling to keep a straight face. “It is truly lovely sand.”

“Are you making fun of my desert?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Good.” His eyes gleamed. “Because I value every single grain in this desert.”

She smiled, and he smiled back and then his smile faded. He reached out and lightly touched the ornate gold chandelier dangling from her lobe. “These look beautiful on you.”

“They are exquisite,” she agreed.

“But you said you do not value jewels.”

She looked at him warily. “Not as much as some women, no.”

“But you value...talking.”

He sounded so pained that her lips curved and her heart turned over. “Sharing,” she explained.

“How do you feel about apologies?”

She lifted her brows. “In my experience, women love them. Men tend to hate them.”

He smiled faintly. “That seems true in my experience as well.

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