Possessed by the Sheikh. PENNY JORDAN

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      It was the late afternoon sun that finally woke her as it shone in through the windscreen. The realisation of how long she had been asleep made her sit bolt upright in her seat and turn to Richard in consternation.

      ‘You should have woken me,’ she told him. ‘How much longer will it be before we reach the wadi?’

      It was several seconds before Richard answered her, the look in his eyes as he turned his head towards her making her feel sharply apprehensive. ‘We aren’t going to the wadi,’ he replied smugly. ‘We are going somewhere much more secluded and romantic…Somewhere where I can have you all to myself. Somewhere where I can show you…teach you…’

      Katrina stared at him in dismay, hoping that she had misunderstood him, but it was obvious from the look on his face that she had not.

      ‘Richard, you simply can’t behave like this! We have to go to the wadi. The others will be expecting us…’

      ‘They think that we’ve had to turn back,’ he announced calmly. ‘I told them that you weren’t feeling very well. It was a good idea, I think, to get you to drink that water, which had some sleeping tablets in it.’

      Katrina stared at him in horror.

      ‘Richard, this is ridiculous. I’m going to telephone the others right now and—’

      ‘You can’t do that, I’m afraid.’ He gave her a self-satisfied smile. ‘I’ve got your mobile. I took it out of your bag when I stopped to tell the others we were turning back.’

      Katrina couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

      ‘This is crazy! Let’s just go and join the others and forget—’

      ‘No!’ He silenced her passionately. ‘We are going to the oasis. I’ve been planning how to get you to myself for days, and this is the perfect opportunity and the oasis is the perfect place. It is in the empty quarter of the desert, a veritable no man’s land, and this should appeal to you, Katrina, with your love of this region’s history. It was once used as a stopping-off place by the camel trains.’

      Katrina stared at him. Her throat had gone dry and her heart was thudding uncomfortably hard with apprehension. It wasn’t that she was frightened of Richard exactly, but there was no denying that his behaviour pointed uncomfortably towards, if not an obsession with her, then certainly an unpleasant and unwanted preoccupation with her, just as Bev had shrewdly suspected.

      ‘Look, there’s the oasis,’ Richard declared unnecessarily as the dusty track wound between a rocky outcrop revealing a clutch of palm trees and other vegetation, beyond which lay the blue shimmer of water.

      As Richard stopped the vehicle Katrina acknowledged that in different circumstances—very different circumstances—she would have been entranced and fascinated by her surroundings.

      The vegetation surrounding the oasis was unexpectedly lush and thick, especially on its far bank. At one time surely a river must have run here, for what else could have carved a path through the steep rocky escarpment on the other side of the oasis? Perhaps even a waterfall had plunged down the smooth, sheer rock face.

      Certainly there must be an underground spring filling the oasis itself, or perhaps an underground river. But, undeniably beautiful though the oasis and its surroundings were, Katrina had no wish to remain there on her own with Richard.

      Somehow she doubted that he would be responsive to any attempt from her to persuade him to abandon his plans, which meant that if she was to escape she would have to find a way to distract him long enough to allow her to get her hands on the vehicle’s keys and drive off in it before Richard could stop her.

      ‘I’ve brought a tent with me and everything else we will need.’

      ‘Oh, how clever of you!’ Katrina told him, trying to sound impressed. ‘I’ll stay here, shall I, whilst you unpack everything?’

      Richard shook his head at her.

      ‘No, I’m afraid you can’t do that, my dear! I haven’t gone to all this trouble to have you do something silly like trying to run away from me!’

      He couldn’t make her move, Katrina comforted herself, but a few seconds later, after she had told him quietly that she was not prepared to get out of the vehicle, she realised she had under-estimated the lengths he was prepared to go to.

      ‘Well, in that case, my dear, I’m afraid you leave me no option but to use these.’ He reached into his pockets and produced a pair of handcuffs. ‘I really wish it wasn’t necessary to do this, but if you refuse to do as I ask then I am going to have to handcuff you to the door of the vehicle.’

      She had been wrong not to feel afraid of him, Katrina acknowledged as a cold sweat broke out on her skin. He had already locked the doors of the vehicle and if she allowed him to handcuff her inside it then she’d be trapped.

      ‘It would СКАЧАТЬ