The Sheikh's Untamed Bride. Jackie Braun

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       CHAPTER TWO

      HE’D BEEN PLANNING to do whatever was necessary to prevent her wedding to Hassan taking place. Yet he had not considered the option of marrying her himself, nor had any of those surrounding him dared to suggest it despite the fact it was the obvious solution.

      The tactician in him could see the benefit. The man in him recoiled.

      He’d thought there was no price he wouldn’t pay to fulfil his duty.

      He’d been wrong.

      Tension rippled down his spine. He felt as if he were being strangled.

      ‘No.’ He’d trained himself to shut down emotion but that skill suddenly failed him and his refusal came from somewhere deep inside him. Some dark part of himself he no longer accessed. ‘I had a wife. I don’t need or want another.’ His voice sounded strange. Thickened by a hundred layers of personal agony. One of the dogs growled, a threatening sound that came from low in the animal’s throat. He saw her gaze flicker to the dog and sensed her fear although he didn’t understand it.

      ‘I know about your wife.’ Her brief hesitation suggested she was about to say something else on that topic, but then she gave a little shake of her head. ‘Obviously I’m not suggesting myself as a replacement. This would be purely a political arrangement, advantageous to both sides.’

      Raz tried to detach his mind from the pain he carried around inside himself. ‘Political?’

      ‘Hassan’s position is precarious. Marriage to me is his way of securing his place as my father’s successor. He has no support in Tazkhan and has never taken the trouble to earn it. For him, ruling is about what he can gain rather than what he can give and that approach makes him neither popular nor secure.’

      Raz hid his surprise. He’d listened to men talk for hours on the problems facing Tazkhan and yet this girl had summarised the situation in four blunt sentences, devoid of emotion, exaggeration or drama.

      ‘Perhaps he didn’t expect your father to die so soon.’

      Again there was hesitation, and it was obvious she was being selective about what she told him. ‘Hassan knows that the only way he will be accepted is to marry me, and he is willing to do anything to make that happen. Do not underestimate him.’

      Her words were like the scrape of a knife over an open wound because he’d done exactly that. In his righteous arrogance he’d thought himself untouchable and as a result he’d lost someone he’d loved deeply.

      ‘You seem very familiar with the workings of his mind.’

      ‘I’ve studied him. I think there is a strong chance he is clinically disturbed. He demonstrates some of the elements of a sociopath, shows no remorse or guilt for any of his actions.’

      Her words were serious, those beautiful, almond-shaped eyes steady on his.

      ‘He has no care for the feelings or opinions of others and an overinflated idea of his own importance. He is a dangerous man. But you already know that.’

      ‘Yes.’ He did know. What surprised him was that she knew.

      Raz realised he’d made assumptions about her based purely on her bloodline. He also knew she was right that the marriage had to be prevented. He didn’t reveal that he’d had his own plans for making sure it didn’t happen.

      There was no doubt her plan was better. Permanent.

      And safer for all concerned.

      Except for him.

      For him, it meant breaking a vow.

      His tension levels soaring into the stratosphere, Raz paced the length of the tent.

      Whichever way he looked at it, it felt like a betrayal. It pulled him down and tore at him. ‘I cannot do it.’

      ‘Because I am the daughter of your enemy?’ She spoke in the same calm voice. ‘Aristotle said “a common danger unites the bitterest of enemies”. We have a common danger. I am proposing we unite. It is the right thing to do and you know it.’

      Raz turned with a snarl that drew the dogs to their feet. ‘Never assume to guess what I am thinking, Princess.’

      Her head was slightly bowed but he could see her eyes were fixed in terror on the two animals now crouched low on the floor of the tent.

      ‘I beg your pardon.’ She held herself absolutely still, her voice barely more than a whisper. ‘It seems a logical solution to me. I assumed it would seem so to you.’

      It did. The fact that his emotions defied logic frustrated him. ‘Do you apply logic to everything?’

      ‘I didn’t apply logic when I chose to steal a horse and point him towards the desert, so the answer СКАЧАТЬ