The Royal Elite: Ahsan (Elite, Book 2) by Danielle Bourdon Page A

was like being in a mall without all the shoppers. Gold glinted everywhere. Marble gleamed. Statues stood in niches, most of an Egyptian theme, and heavy tapestries lined the walls. Alabaster columns were situated at intervals, as intricately carved as any she'd ever seen. The palace was so luxurious and opulent that Sessily couldn't wrap her mind around how many millions it must have cost to build.
    Despite the heat of the day, the interior was cool and comforting. Ahsan didn't look left or right, leading her straight toward a broad staircase to the second floor.
    “Did you make arrangements to have your steed delivered?” he asked.
    “I'm sorry, what?” Distracted to an impossible degree, she temporarily forgot about the race.
    “Your horse? Did you make arrangements?”
    Arriving on the second floor, she dragged her attention back to her host. “Oh, yes. They expect to be here tomorrow.”
    “Excellent. We'll have our race the day after.”
    “That's perfect. Is this...do you live here with family?” She'd decided just one person couldn't possibly own all this. Perhaps it was a compound where all the relatives visited from time to time.
    “No. This is my home. All the staff you see are just that, staff. I do host friends often, though.” He swerved in through an open door, one of many in the long hallway.
    Sessily stepped into the room behind him, pausing just past the threshold. It was a bedroom suite with multiple rooms, a canopied bed, marble columns and persian rugs thrown across the floor. The color scheme was delicate: peach, ivory, pale turquoise. Six floor to ceiling windows marked one wall with double doors leading to a large balcony.
    That was where Ahsan headed, to the double doors, which he opened. “You can see the stables from here.”
    “Your home—it's amazing.” She couldn't help herself. Never in her life had she experienced anything like it.
    “Thank you.”
    On the balcony, she discovered just how big the palace was. A large courtyard sat below, surrounded by more walls and buildings, all connected together. Not just a courtyard but an oasis, replete with a huge pool, tall palms and different levels of concrete and rocks that made up separate sitting areas. Flowers, greenery and more trees dotted the landscape, a lush contrast to the barren desert she could see beyond the walls. That was where she spied another building, lower than the palace with fenced pastures and several arenas. Shaped in an L, the stables could have housed more than a hundred horses. Could have, and probably did. It was his passion, after all.
    “Where will we race?” she asked next.
    He lifted an arm, pointing toward a specific area. “It's hard to see from here, but there's a place we run beyond that first, small dune. The sand is a little thinner there and winds through the landscape, a natural 'track' if you will.”
    “How many times have you ridden it?”
    “Too many to count,” he said with a raspy laugh. Bracing an arm against the thick rail, he brought his gaze up from the courtyard to her.
    With the exotic background behind him, he was the picture of a rich playboy. Sessily could have gotten lost in his intense, dark eyes.
    “I think it's only fair, then, that you allow me at least one pass over the track. You'll have an advantage, otherwise.” He had an advantage for more reasons than that. Sessily also wanted time in the saddle to acclimate. How embarrassed she would be if she fell off during the race.
    “Of course. Have two or three passes. We'll go out later, if you want to, when it cools off in the evening.”
    “How generous of you.”
    “Should I ride blindfolded, too?” he asked, a glint of amusement in his eyes.
    “Oh no. Because then I would never hear the end of your handicaps when I win fair and square.”
    “But if I beat you blindfolded, you'll still never hear the end of it,” he countered.
    She laughed, resting her hand on the railing. It was already hot under her palm.