The Royal House Of Karedes Collection Books 1-12. Кейт Хьюит

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ assurance that she would be able to jump his powerful horse—a provocation made more sensual still by the fact that it was completely unintended.

      Kaliq’s mouth dried. ‘Not now,’ he said huskily. ‘Dismount.’

      Something dark which underpinned his aristocratic voice reminded Eleni exactly where she was. And that what she had just done surely amounted to a punishable offence… for she had been speaking to the Prince Kaliq Al’Farisi as if he were an equal!

      It was as if the world had suddenly changed from safe to danger in the blinking of an eye. Aware of a strange and sudden tension hovering around them, Eleni slid to the ground. With trembling fingers she tied the stallion to a post and then stared up at the sheikh, dreading what he would think of her behaviour.

      Kaliq stared at her, the pulsing of blood thick in his veins. ‘You have a gift,’ he said simply.

      Eleni let out a low sigh of relief. So he wasn’t angry that she had spoken to him as if she had been speaking to a stable lad! ‘Thank you, Highness.’

      A gift he must utilise, he thought, and then ran his eyes over her again—this time trying to ignore the soft swell of her hips and the lush pertness of her breasts. Despite the sheen of her newly washed hair—how could he take her anywhere when she still looked like the scruffy urchin he had found in her hovel of a desert home? ‘You have settled into your quarters?’ he questioned acidly.

      ‘Yes, Highness.’

      ‘And?’

      ‘They are indeed the most beautiful—’

      He cut across her words with an impatient wave of his hand. ‘Please do not state the obvious,’ he snapped. ‘I have a whole palace of people who do that constantly—and it bores me. I ordered that new clothing was to be left there for you—yet today you appear before me dressed in this lowly apparel. Why is that? Do you reject my generosity?’

      ‘No, Highness.’

      ‘What, then?’

      Inwardly, Eleni squirmed. ‘It was just…’

      ‘Just what?’

      The ebony light from his black eyes was piercing. How could she tell him that the feel of fine silk brushing against her skin had made her feel peculiar—and not like herself at all. Just as he did. ‘Habit, I suppose,’ she answered instead.

      ‘Then break it,’ he ordered softly. ‘When you work for a prince, you will dress accordingly, is that understood?’

      ‘Yes, Highness.’

      Idly, he ran the flat of his hand over his narrow hip. ‘Really, you should be wearing jodhpurs,’ he mused. ‘Like these.’

      It was impossible to avert her eyes from the cream-covered fabric which stretched almost indecently across his narrow hips and hugged the muscular thighs, but Eleni’s natural modesty and fear made the words tumble out of their own accord. ‘I could not possibly wear such garments as those, Highness!’

      ‘No?’ He thought that the soft rose flush of her cheeks made her green eyes look even more magnificent. Would she be as good in bed as she was in the saddle? he wondered, and was punished with another sharp spear of desire. ‘Maybe not,’ he agreed, on a sultry murmur, and felt his throat dry with lust.

      Trying to dispel the image of how her bottom might look when hugged by a snug pair of jodhpurs, he forced his thoughts back to the present. ‘Now listen to me. I have matters which I wish to discuss with you,’ he said huskily. ‘You will be brought to me later this evening.’

      Brought to him? Eleni shifted from one foot to the other. ‘Could we not… discuss it now?’ she ventured, suddenly nervous.

      He slammed her a chilly look. ‘I said tonight, not now. You will follow my timetable,’ he clipped out. ‘Not your own. Do you understand?’

      ‘Yes, Highness.’

      ‘Good.’ And with that, he untied the black stallion and leapt up onto its back, his hand tangled in its mane as he urged it forward with a swift clench of his powerful thighs.

      In a daze, Eleni watched as he galloped off in a cloud of dust, but for once her mind was far too preoccupied to be able to appreciate his amazing riding technique. Why did he want her brought to him tonight? And why had he made his summons sound not only imperious—but also, vaguely… Eleni swallowed. Not threatening, no—that would be too strong a description. But unsettling, yes—definitely unsettling—and she wasn’t quite sure why.

      But she didn’t have the luxury of time spent in careless thought. There was too much to do and learn and so she set about discovering as much as she could about her new place of employment.

      She was gratified to discover that the stable staff were far more welcoming than she had expected—though they seemed a little bemused at having a female in their midst. But then she was used to working mainly in isolation—with nothing but the occasional interference from a cruel and harsh father—and it made a welcome change to have a little company.

      A day spent with horses always flew as fast as the hunting falcon—but here there was the added bonus of having the very finest facilities imaginable. Eleni felt as if she had died and gone to heaven.

      She took Nabat out onto the gallops—accompanied by an eager young stable lad who, rather flatteringly, copied everything she did!

      But even as the hours slipped away in a satisfying stream of tasks, Eleni was aware of a slow build up of dread and as she walked back to her rooms her heart was beating fast. As she ran the tip of her tongue over lips which had suddenly grown dry the thought she had spent most of the day trying to suppress came swimming to the forefront of her mind.

      Tonight, she was to be brought to the sheikh, and she knew not why.

      Amina had run a scented bath for her and afterwards, with Kaliq’s critical assessment of her clothes still ringing in her ears, Eleni selected a gown from the stack hanging in the cupboard. Opting for the most unobtrusive shade she could find—a sort of quiet, silvery-grey—she slipped into the silky robe and braided her hair with a matching ribbon. But when she opened the door to Amina’s gentle tap, it was disconcerting to see the servant bite back a small gasp of astonishment.

      ‘Something is wrong?’ questioned Eleni anxiously.

      ‘No. Not at all. You look… Oh, you look beautiful, Eleni,’ breathed Amina. ‘You will indeed please the sheikh with your appearance.’

      ‘But… but that’s not what I intended!’ Eleni blurted out. ‘I mean, obviously I want to please him with my care of his horses, but not for anything else.’

      Amina looked at first startled and then faintly disapproving. ‘Do you not know that your own wishes are like breath on the wind?’ she queried softly. ‘Invisible to the eye and gone in an instant. The wishes of the Prince Kaliq are paramount in his palace—and he likes to look upon lovely things. Now come with me and come quickly—for one thing he does not like is to be kept waiting.’

      What an all-powerful and controlling tyrant he sounded, thought Eleni, with a sinking heart. Why, he sounded no different from her own father—just royal and СКАЧАТЬ