The Sheikh's Impetuous Love-Slave Read Free Page B

threw her off balance. For some reason, it made her blush. ‘I warn you, if you lay a hand on me…’ She faltered, first because she had no idea what she would do, and second because the idea of his laying a hand on her was, just for the tiniest fraction of a second, alluring.
    â€˜You will what?’ Khalid asked, doing just exactly that. One hand reached out for her hand, pulling her towards him. The other arm snaked round her back, effectively preventing her from moving. The length of his body was hard against her own. The hilt of his scimitar dug into her belly. ‘What will you do, Juliette de Montignac?’ he asked. ‘Scream?’
    Grey eyes clashed with blue. Khalid smiled. There was no humour in that smile, only victory. Juliette opened her mouth wide to scream, not because she was afraid, but because that was the last thing he expected her to do. She took a deep breath, but just as she began to release it, his mouth descended on hers, and his kiss knocked the breath from her.
    Warm and hard, his lips were on her. Warm and hard, his hands were, too. No one had ever dared. No one had ever tried. Try as she might, in the dark of night, fired by the erotic pictures glimpsed in some ancient and forbidden book, or painted on a temple wall, she had never been able to imagine what a kiss would be like. Pleasant, she had conjured, but not much more. This was not pleasant. It was passionate and masterful. His mouth commanded hers; his hands ordered a response from her body. She should fight, but she wanted to submit, just as she had yearned to, deep in her darkest dreams. Shock gave way to an astounding surge of pure, unadulterated pleasure. For one delightful moment, Juliette surrendered, her mouth blossoming under his caress, her blood coursing rapidly through her veins, her heart pounding. For one delightful moment she had a glimpse of the pleasures of the senses, then Khalid wrenched himself free of her and the colours, the textures, the heady delights she had almost tasted melted away like shadows.
    Juliette staggered back, only just managing not to collapse onto her knees. Totally taken aback by her own response, horrified by the extremely unwelcome suspicion that, had he not stopped she would not have stopped him, she wanted at all costs to prevent Khalid from seeing the effect his kiss had had on her. With her defences breached, she had no option but to attack. Quite deliberately wiping her hand over her mouth, she cast Khalid a contemptuous look. ‘ Merci du compliment, but I have no wish to become your concubine, Highness,’ she said, dropping a shaky curtsy.
    Khalid, as astonished by his actions as Juliette appeared, had been on the verge of apologizing, but he had been taught to counter attack with attack. ‘You have much to learn before you could even aspire to such a position, mademoiselle. Concubines are rather more skilled in the arts of pleasing men than you.’ In truth, her innocent response to his kiss had been more rousing to him than the experienced touch of an odalisque.
    â€˜I demand that you release me,’ Juliette said, more for lack of anything else to say than a desire to go.
    It was what he had intended, but once again her refusal to back down made him behave contrarily. ‘No one makes demands of me!’ Khalid exclaimed. ‘You forget that you were given to me as a gift. In the eyes of my people, in the eyes of the law, you are now my property to do with as I wish.’
    â€˜I am a citizen of France, you cannot….’
    â€˜You are in my kingdom, under my jurisdiction. There is nothing I cannot do,’ Khalid interrupted ruthlessly, so thoroughly enjoying his unwonted release from self-control that he conveniently forgot he believed no such thing. ‘What is more, you should consider yourself fortunate to be here with me. You should ponder, mademoiselle, the eventual fate which would have awaited you at the hands of my tribesmen.