Never Resist a Sheikh (International Bad Boys) by Jackie Ashenden Page A

thinking of going out and demanding to be brought to thesheikh anyway, when it opened again, a huge figure filling the doorway.
    Speak of the devil.
    The sheikh stepped into the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He was in the black combat pants and desert boots he’d been wearing earlier, but this time he also wore robes of a dark, deep blue swathed around him. A heavy black belt sat low on his waist and there was an honest to God sword hangingon his hip.
    He didn’t look much like a king. He looked more like some kind of desert warrior.
    His dark eyes gleamed beneath the blue cotton of his head-covering, the harsh lines of his face expressionless.
    For some reason she couldn’t possibly fathom, the room that had once seemed so large, now felt as small as a closet. As if by the very action of stepping through that doorway, he’d somehowchanged the fabric of the space-time continuum. He’d even managed to do something to the oxygen in the room because it now felt as if she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. Like he was taking all of it just by being there.
    She couldn’t stop herself from looking down his massively built frame, remembering how he’d looked by the pool, when he hadn’t been wearing anything at all. Bare bronzeskin. Heavily muscled as a gladiator. Power in every line of him. Quite awe-inspiring and… beautiful…
    “I was told you wanted to speak to me?”
    Felicity jerked her head up to meet his gaze, feeling the inevitable blush sting her cheeks. Which was weird. Why did she keep blushing around him?
    She’d never met a man she’d been all that attracted to. Her school had been a prestigious all girls schooland even back then she’d found her friends’ obsession with boys annoying and inexplicable. Especially when there were so many more interesting things in the world to think about.
    In fact, she found most men dull. Many of them found her way too intimidating intellectually and she had no interest in dumbing herself down to make them happy. She wasn’t in the business of adjusting herself to meetother people’s expectations and she’d never regretted that decision, not once.
    Except maybe now. Because maybe then she’d understand why she couldn’t take her eyes off this particular man.
    Really? You’re attracted to him, idiot.
    But no, that couldn’t be. He’d kidnapped her. You weren’t supposed to be attracted to your kidnappers.
    She swallowed, suddenly dry-mouthed for reasons she couldn’texplain. “Yes. I…did. That was quick.”
    “I was passing by.” One black brow lifted imperiously. “This had better not be about returning you to Al-Harah. I have already had that discussion with you.”
    Pulling herself together, Felicity lifted her chin. “No, it isn’t. You told me that all my needs would be met. But they haven’t been.”
    That brow rose higher. “You have had food and drink deliveredto you. There are items of clothing in the closets should you need them. Books on the shelves. What more could you possibly want?”
    Clothes, books, and food. Did he really think she was that simple? Felicity bit back the sarcastic comment that nearly came out, deciding on something a bit more conciliatory instead. “Well, as it happens, I would like an internet connection. You must have Wi-Fi,at least, in this place?”
    There was a silence.
    His gaze narrowed. “Wi-Fi?” He said the word like it was a foreign term he wasn’t familiar with.
    Felicity folded her arms. “You know what it is, don’t you? It’s a facility that lets—”
    “I know what it is.” His voice was flat, the edge of it sharp as a blade. “Why do you want it?”
    “I don’t just want it. I need it. Remember that company I told youabout? I wasn’t kidding when I said I needed this deal. If I don’t show at this meeting, my employees’ jobs will be at risk. They depend on me. I have to make contact with them at least and I can’t do that without an internet connection.” She