The Sheikh's Destiny (Harlequin Romance) by Melissa James Page A

assert my authority over you.’ Stiff words from a man unused to apologising for anything—but it felt surprisingly good when it was out there.
    Flakes of dried mud fell from her forehead as her brows lifted. ‘Did that hurt?’
    He sighed. ‘You really are Australian in your outlook, aren’t you? You bow to no man. Your father must have had a really hard time if he was the traditional kind—’
    He closed his mouth when he saw the look in her eyes. Devastated. Betrayed. A world of pain unhealed. And hidden deep beneath the pain was defiance. She was fighting against odds he couldn’t see, and he sensed she’d refuse to show him if he asked.
    If she’d pushed his buttons, she hadn’t once pried into his life. He’d done both without even thinking about it. ‘Hana…’
    She slipped down to lie on the uneven ground. ‘I’m going to sleep. I suggest you do, too. We have to go faster tonight.’ Her body flipped over as she turned her back on him.
    It was another unwanted first in his life—yet it didn’t rouse his fierce competitive instincts, but filled him with remorse. She didn’t want his apology, because he’d hurt her, a woman who’d risked her life and given up her home for him, a man she’d met less than a day ago.
    Aching to reach out and touch her, he contented himself by touching her with words…and this time it wasn’t hard. ‘Hana, it was a silly joke, but I hurt you. I’m sorry. I won’t pry again.’
    After a moment, she nodded. ‘I’m going to sleep now.’ Her voice was thick.
    â€˜Goodnight,’ he said quietly, feeling an emotion once totally foreign to him, but now all too familiar. Shame.
    He didn’t sleep for a long time, and he suspected she didn’t either.
    Â 
    Hana awoke to the heavy warmth of Alim’s arm around her.
    It was comforting. It was arousing and it was beautiful. For the first time in years, she didn’t wake up feeling so utterly alone…
    It was a prison trapping her beneath the will of the man, choking her. Giving in to a man’s wants and desires had subjugated her until she’d had no life left.
    â€˜Get off me.’ She fought to make the words calm. This was Alim, not Mukhtar, whose criminal acts, blind obsession and selfish needs had ruined her life; but she could feel the rising panic, the memories of the night he’d tried to make his lies come true.
    â€˜Hmm?’ He moved in closer, holding her. He was aroused, moving against her bottom as though he had the right.
    â€˜I said get off .’ It wasn’t a half-request any more. She was almost yelling in her fury and panic to get away.
    She felt him stir, this time in wakefulness. ‘Huh, what? Oh.’ Too slowly, still half asleep, he lifted his arm and moved away. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t awake,’ he mumbled in Gulf Arabic.
    Hana struggled for a semblance of serenity, breathing deep, closing her eyes. I am in control of my life, my decisions. I am—
    I am alone. No man controls me.
    There. She’d done it. She opened her eyes and said gently, ‘It’s all right. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.’ Her nose wrinkled, and she forced a smile. ‘Especially with the way I smell at the moment.’ She spoke in English, with a marked Australian accent.
    â€˜It’s not just you, Sahar Thurayya,’ he replied in a strange mixture of English and Arabic. ‘I currently offend myself. Alim from the Pigpen.’ He chuckled, wrinkling his nose in turn.
    Hana had to wrench her gaze from him. His laughter highlighted his scars, taking the handsome face a level higher, to a dark, dangerous male beauty. Combined with his poetic turn of conversation, it was no wonder women fell at his feet. It was a wonder she hadn’t already—
    Fallen for him. Two days and she was already in way over her head, lost in stormy seas