Scandal: His Majesty's Love-Child Read Free

jacket pocket had something in it. Slowly, so as not to black out from the pain, he slipped his hand in and found a water bottle.
    A muzzy memory rose, of him grabbing bottled water as he stumbled from the wreckage. How had he forgotten that?
    It took for ever to pull the bottle out, twist off the lid and lift it to his lips. The hardest thing he’d ever done was drag it away after one sip.
    Guzzling too much was dangerous. He risked another sip then lowered his hand. It felt like a dead weight.
    Something nudged him and he opened his eyes to see the goat curled up close. In the whole vast expanse of desert the beast had chosen this place to shelter.
    Gritting his teeth as he brought his left hand over his body, Tahir poured water into his palm.
    ‘Here you are, goat.’
    Placidly it drank, as if used to human contact. Or as if it too was on its last legs and had no room for fear.
    Tahir had just enough energy to recap the bottle before it slid from his shaking hands. His head lolled.
    Beside him the warmth of that tiny body penetrated his clothes, reminding him he wasn’t alone.
    It was that knowledge that forced him to focus on surviving Qusay’s notoriously perilous desert.
    Annalisa drew water up in the battered metal scoop and sluiced it over her face. Heaven.
    The huge sandstorm had delayed her journey into the desert. Her cousins had tut-tutted, saying it was proof this trip was a mistake. The sort of mistake she wouldn’t survive. But they didn’t understand.
    Just six months after her granddad’s death, and her beloved father’s soon after, it meant everything that she come here.
    Annalisa was keeping her last promise to her father.
    It was wonderful to be here again, though sadness tinged the experience as she remembered previous trips with her dad.
    She’d arrived this morning, spending the afternoon cleaning her camera and telescopic equipment. A day out here meant a day of heat and dust, and the luxury of having the oasis to herself was too much to resist.
    She lifted another scoop of water and tipped it over her head, shivering luxuriously as the water slid through her hair, over her shoulders and down her back. Another scoop sluiced over her breasts and she smiled, revelling in the feeling of being clean. She wriggled her toes in the sandy bottom of the small pool.
    The sun was setting and she should move to build up the fire before darkness fell.
    She was just turning to get out of the water when something on the horizon caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes against the setting sun.
    A shadow. More than a shadow. A man. She made out broad shoulders and dark clothes. Remarkably, for this place, he was wearing what looked like a suit as he took a step down the dune, letting the slip of sand carry him several metres.
    Automatically Annalisa reached for her towel and wrapped it close, her actions slowing when she registered his strange gait. He didn’t use his arms to keep his balance on the treacherously steep slope and his movements were oddly uncoordinated.
    Caution warned her to take no chances with a stranger.
    No local would harm her. But this man clearly didn’t belong. Who knew how he’d react to finding a lone female?
    But as she knotted the towel and watched his slow progress she realised something was wrong. Instincts honed by years of helping her father tend to the sick overrode her wariness. The stranger was no threat. He looked as if he could barely stay upright.
    Moments later she was racing up the other side of the wadi towards him.
    Her steps slowed as she neared and took in the full impact of his appearance.
    Her breath hissed in her throat. Disbelief filled her. She blinked, but the image was clear and unmistakable.
    A tall man, dark-haired, wearing a tuxedo and black leather shoes, was slipping down the dune towards her. His dress shirt was ripped open and filthy, revealing bronzed skin and the topof a broad chest. A dark ribbon, the end of a bow tie, fluttered against his