The Sheikh's Captive Mistress Read Free Page A

and primal in her, made her stomach flare with heat and other parts of her quiver. “I’m your husband. Sheikh Munir Yassin.”

Chapter Two
    Those words had a more powerful effect on Emma than a slap to the face, or a gun butt to the chin, as the case may be. She leapt off the bed or, well, she tried to. Her legs were caught in yards of thin silks and tumbled to the floor. Her apparent “husband” tried to come near her, and she pushed herself away, holding her hands up and growling in frustration when they were still bound by the cable ties.
    “Damn it! You can’t just steal people!”
    The sheikh – she wouldn’t deign to call him husband even in her thoughts – knelt beside her and pulled out a switch blade. Flinching, Emma curled into a ball and prepared for the worst. Instead, a surprisingly soft hand stroked her cheek. She glared up at him, but didn’t dare spit at him, even if a massive part of her wanted to.
    “Do you think so little of me, Habbibi ? I would never harm you,” he punctuated the statement by using his knife to cut her ties free.
    Still keeping her eyes trained on him, Emma rubbed at her wrists, enjoying the feeling of blood flowing freely again, even if pins and needles seemed to travel up her fingertips now with that rush. “What’s a habbibi?”
    “It means ‘beloved,’ and, in time, I hope that you will come to see that I mean that.”
    “You can’t mean anything. You stole me from my family, my friends. Hell! You took me away from my whole life.”
    “But I’ve made you a queen. In a few weeks, we’ll be officially married and you’ll rule all that you see, never want for anything.”
    Bile rose in her throat, and Emma shook a bit. “One-eye.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Um the tallest kidnapper, the one with the injured eye,” she corrected, feeling her cheeks flush with heat. That was beyond stupid. They had abducted her, ruined her life. She owed them nothing, least of all respect. “Anyway, he said it was a ransom.”
    “Yes, I told them that. I wasn’t sure that they’d listen to my actual request. My father still lives and my half-brother, as well. I wasn’t sure they’d understand what I wanted, that they’d endorse a Western bride. They were much more sold on the idea of a ransom for sweetening the treaty between Yoman and your country.”
    “But I can’t marry you!”
    “You will, believe me you will. I know my father will come around and this will solidify my power. Just keep away from my brother from now on. Kashif is a loyal soldier for the most part, but he’s never been kind to women.”
    She swallowed and it felt like shattered seashell shards falling down her throat. Kashif? The one who had already enjoyed striking at her? No, she’d never let him know anything, not that animal.
    “So he’s not as refined and advanced as you, what with kidnapping your bride from thousands of miles away!”
    “Do you shout everything you say, dear one?”
    “Don’t ‘dear one’ or habbibi me. You’ve ruined everything. I won’t marry you. I won’t do anything for you,” Emma said, standing and suddenly feeling tiny and small.
    Again, her guestimate had been correct and he had to have at least a foot on her, if not more. He towered over her, and she shuddered. If he wanted to hurt her, as muscular and imposing as he was, then Munir would have no problem with that at all.
    Sighing, he stroked her cheek again. “ Ha… Emma, you will see in time how much I love you, how much you have to gain from being my queen. However, make no mistake, you’ll never go home again. This is where you belong now – with me.”
    She didn’t notice until then how close he’d leaned into her with his speech. His lips were only a few inches from hers, and she was overwhelmed again by the scent of him, by the jasmine mixed with turmeric. Overwhelmed by that musk that drove a more primal and traitorous part of her wild. Emma forced herself to stand still, screamed in her own mind