The Playboy Sheikh's Virgin Stable-Girl by Sharon Kendrick Page B

that not be seen as an insult to his hospitality? And anyway, not a morsel had yet passed his lips, though he was looking at her expectantly.
    ‘But a man must always eat first and take his fill before a woman,’ she protested as she tried and failed to imagine her father letting her have first choice of any food.
    Kaliq frowned. And that, he realised—with a start—was the downside of inequality. He had never considered it before and for the first time in his life he saw that his late stepmother’s fight to end sexual discrimination in Calista might not have been a bad thing. ‘Eat,’ he said softly. ‘For your sheikh commands it.’
    And didn’t everyone know that a sheikh’s wishes must be met? Self-consciously picking up a piece of fish, Eleni wrapped it in an edible leaf and began to eat and suddenly all her doubts and fears melted away in the wake of such a delicious explosion of tastes and flavours in her mouth. The sheikh had been right—she had ridden and worked since sunrise with nothing more than a handful of fruit in her belly. And this was like the food of the gods.
    ‘It’s good?’ he questioned, almost indulgently.
    ‘It’s…it’s wonderful.’
    He watched while she ate, his eyes drawn to her with a rare fascination—thinking that everything she did was with a certain kind of grace.
    But he was not employing her for her grace.
    He was employing her for her prowess with horses—but now Kaliq could see for himself that Eleni had other very commendable attributes, too. And surely it would be a crime not to avail himself of them? As the silvery silk rippled over her firm, young arm, he felt the first soft beat of anticipation.
    Forcing himself to wait until she had finished eating, he clapped his hands and the dishes were removed—and then he dismissed the last of the guards and other servants who always lingered in the darkened alcoves in case he wished for something on a whim.
    ‘Now,’ said Kaliq softly.
    Eleni’s senses were alerted—but to what she knew not. Almost without meaning to, she shrank back slightly against the silken mound of cushions, stared up into the harsh yet beautiful face with its cruel curve of a nose and glittering black eyes.
    ‘You wish to discuss horse welfare?’ she questioned nervously.
    Kaliq almost laughed—but he knew that laughter had no place in the bedchamber. Horse welfare was the very last thing on his mind right now! So was she being prim, or merely cowed by his royal presence? He leaned towards her, seeing her green eyes darken. ‘How old are you?’ he questioned softly.
    ‘Tw-twenty-five.’
    Older than he had thought! ‘Ah, that is good,’ he purred as he lifted one of the braids of hair and rubbed his fingers experimentally over the thick, silken rope. ‘Yet heading towards thirty and you’ve never had a husband?’
    ‘Why, no, Highness.’
    ‘Never wanted one?’
    Eleni clamped her lips together. These were very personal and rather hurtful questions for her ruler to be asking—though she suspected that he wasn’t really interested. She doubted whether he wanted to hear that the young men who had attempted to woo her had either been oafish, or had been chased away by a father reluctant to lose his unpaid servant. And why was he touching her hair like that? ‘My life has been my horses,’ she answered truthfully.
    ‘How very commendable,’ he murmured. ‘But there is so much more to life than horses.’
    There was absolutely nowhere to look but into the gleam of his eyes, which were dazzling her with ebony fire, seeming to suck away all the strength in her body, leaving her feeling defenceless beneath its powerful searchlight.
    ‘Isn’t there, Eleni?’ he continued softly.
    ‘I…’ But Eleni had no time to put together a sentence—even if her brain hadn’t just turned to honeycomb—because the unbelievable was now happening. Prince Kaliq Al’Farisi was lowering his dark and beautiful head and those mocking lips were