Master of the Desert. Susan Stephens

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СКАЧАТЬ lips curved as he propped his hip against the bench where she was sitting. ‘So you helped yourself to whatever you felt like?’

      ‘I didn’t touch anything outside the galley.’ Must he move so close and tower over her?

      ‘And that makes it right?’

      ‘I’m sorry.’ She sounded childlike—plaintive, even—but was lost for something else to say.

      ‘Next time I’m in Ascot, I’ll wander into your house and see what I fancy taking, shall I?’

      ‘I don’t live in Ascot.’ The angry words shot from her mouth without any assistance from her brain and her reward was an ironic grin.

      ‘So, we’ve ruled out Ascot,’ he said.

      Before he could delve any further, she swayed and clutched her throat.

      ‘Feeling faint?’ he demanded caustically, refusing to be fooled by her amateur dramatics for a single moment.

      ‘I’m fine,’ she assured him, matching him stare for stare. Whatever it took, she wasn’t about to let him see how badly he affected her.

      ‘You’re not fine,’ he argued, narrowing his eyes. ‘You’ve had a shock and need time to get over it.’

      She hoped that meant a reprieve, and shrank instinctively from his intense maleness as he eased away from the bench.

      ‘Relax.’ His lips tugged with very masculine amusement. ‘You’re safe with me.’

      Did he mean that to be reassuring, or was he insulting her? And was she safe? Could he be trusted? For once, she didn’t know what to think. The man’s manner was dismissive and abrupt, and his appearance…Well, that was rather more intimidating than the pirates.

      There could be no guarantees, Antonia concluded, even if he had bathed her wounds. So was the flutter inside her chest a warning to be on her guard, or awareness of his sexuality?

      ‘Are you travelling alone?’

      A shiver of apprehension coursed through her as she stared into his eyes. Why would he ask that? ‘Yes,’ she admitted cautiously. ‘I’m travelling alone—but people know where I am.’

      ‘Of course they do,’ he said sarcastically. ‘So your family allows you to wander the world without their protection?’

      This time she couldn’t hold back. ‘They trust me.’ She was not defending herself now, but Rigo, the older brother who had cared for her since her mother had died six months after giving birth to her, her father having passed away shortly after that.

      But the man pursued her relentlessly. ‘And breaking the law is how you repay your family for their care?’

      ‘I’ve already apologised to you for coming on board,’ she fired back. ‘I explained I had no option but to board your yacht.’

      His hands signalled calm as her voice rose. ‘Lucky for you I was moored up here.’

      She balled her hands into fists as a last-ditch attempt to keep her temper under control, but all it gained her was another mocking stare. But what a stare…She couldn’t help wondering how it would feel to have that stare fire with interest, or darken with desire.

      ‘I hope you’ve learned your lesson,’ he snapped, shattering that particular illusion.

      ‘Oh, I have,’ she assured him meekly. It was time to stop dreaming and accept the facts. She was far too young and inexperienced to interest a man like this. He thought her fragile and foolish, and couldn’t know her determination. She wasn’t fragile, and this trip was her chance to prove she wasn’t foolish. To prove to the brother she adored—who protected her, perhaps a little too much—that she could survive without his supervision. Not that she’d made the best of starts, Antonia conceded as the man held her gaze.

      ‘Tell me more about your family,’ he prompted.

      Being the object of such an intense stare was both alarming and seductive, but she wouldn’t tell him anything that might risk her mission. She hadn’t come to Sinnebar on her own behalf, or as part of some ill-thought-out adventure, but to persuade the authorities in the country to open a branch of her brother’s children’s charity. Rigo’s work had already helped so many sick and disadvantaged children, and she had pledged to help him expand the reach of his charity across the world.

      And there was a second reason, Antonia conceded silently. Coming to Sinnebar would give her the opportunity to track down information about the mother it broke her heart to think she couldn’t remember—not her voice, her touch, what she looked like or even the scent of her hair. She knew nothing at all about the woman who had given birth to her, beyond the fact that her mother had been very young when she’d died, and that before marrying Antonia’s father and moving to Rome she had apparently spent some time at the royal court in Sinnebar.

      ‘I’m waiting to hear about your family,’ the man said, slicing through her thoughts.

      Antonia composed herself before replying, knowing it was important not to let anything slip. Rigo had drummed it into her from an early age that the truth was non-nego-tiable, though she might have to get used to twisting it where this man was concerned. ‘My family don’t know I’m here,’ she admitted, which was true in part, at least.

      ‘Your family don’t know you’re here?’ The man picked up the radio phone and held it out to her. ‘Don’t you think you’d better call them?’

      No. Men like this, men like her brother Rigo, shared a common understanding. They would demand she return home immediately. Rigo might even insist on coming to fetch her, so once again she would be no more effective than a balloon, weightless and directionless as they batted her between them.

      ‘I’ll ring them if you don’t,’ he threatened.

      ‘No, please don’t.’ She reached out and then withdrew her hand, thinking better of touching him. ‘I don’t want to worry them.’ She mustered a steady stare. ‘Better to call them when I’m safely in Sinnebar and settled in a hotel, don’t you think?’

      Worry them? Rigo would be down on her like a ton of bricks. Her brother only had to file a flight plan and he’d be over here. And what would that prove—that she was as headstrong and reckless as Rigo believed her to be? Her brother would never let her work for his charity then. And she had begged him for this chance to do a real job instead of accepting her brother’s generous allowance. It was a chance to do something for others instead of for herself. ‘The moment I’m safe on the mainland, I’ll ring them—I promise.’ She was taking a lot for granted by assuming the man would take her anywhere, but she had no option when there was everything to play for.

      His eyes remained narrowed with suspicion, and then to her relief he shrugged. ‘You know your family better than I do.’

      Yes, she knew Rigo. He could be a pain sometimes, but it was thanks to her brother she had enjoyed such a privileged childhood, which in Rigo’s language meant she could ride, ski, sail, fence and swim. More importantly, living with him had taught her how to survive a man like this.

      As she watched him clear up the debris from the recent triage session, she СКАЧАТЬ