The Sheik's Rebellious Mistress (3 page)

“Boyfriend?” he questioned.

“No. No one,” she said, her eyelids lowering in an effort to cover the anger in her eyes at that status.

She heard the soft chuckle at her reply. “Gauging from the expression you are trying to hide, there"s more to the story. Perhaps you have just broken up with your boyfriend?”

Electra was stunned by the man"s perceptiveness. “No. Nothing like that,” she said, but not going further to explain that she"d never had a boyfriend. Creamy, sweet coffee and absolutely no experience with men would not create the sophisticated woman of the world image she was hoping to project. “Are you married?” she asked tentatively.

He smiled slightly. “Alas, no woman will have me,” he teased.

Electra laughed, her eyes skimming over his dark, handsome features and his tall, athletic body and shook her head. “As you said, I"m guessing there"s more to that story than you"re probably willing to talk about. Am I correct?”

Instead of answering her, he took her hand and turned it over. “You"re hands are soft, so you don"t work with them too often. What does a lovely woman like you do during the daytime hours?” he asked.

She raised her eyebrow in challenge. “Perhaps I work nights,” she suggested, then blushed at the suggestion that she might be a prostitute. “I mean…” she stammered, “I don"t…that is…” she stopped when he laughed softly.

“I know you aren"t,” he assured her suavely.

She pulled her hand away, miffed for some bizarre reason. “How can you be so sure?” she asked, her chin going up a notch defiantly. “I could be,” she said. “Are you saying I don"t have what it takes to lure men into my bed?” she asked, cursing her lack of experience and the blush that crept up her neck to her cheeks.

He held her gaze for a long time, amusement lighting his eyes. Finally he leaned back and said, “If you were a prostitute, you would not be in this hotel,” he explained. “Secondly, ladies of the night don"t wear pretty pink suits. Pink implies romance and femininity. Women who sell their bodies wear red or black to promote sexual awareness or mystery.”
Sighing, she shook her head in defeat. “I suppose you"re right. Well, live and learn,” she said with resignation. She hated being wrong, and it cut deeply right now, with this dynamic man who obviously knew so much about the world.

He threw back hishead and laughed. “Are you saying you will rise to the challenge of selling your beautiful body to the highest bidder?”

Electra smiled, feeling as if his laughter were a rare gift. “No. I don"t think I could do that to my grandmother. Her Anglican upbringing would be horrified.”

He chuckled again. “I don"t imagine many parents are proud of their children aspiring to become a paid woman. I believe it is done out of a sense of desperation or other factors that don"t seem to apply in your case.”

“Youhave a point,” she conceded, but her past made the admission somewhat depressing.

“So now that we"ve established that you"re not headed into the oldest profession, what direction are you headed, careerwise?” he asked. He knew which direction he was going to head her, straight to his bed, he thought. The more he talked to her, the more enchanted he was. Prostitute, indeed! Inwardly, he was still laughing at this tiny female"s audacity.

“I would love to teach children,” she said.

Her admission surprised him. She was exceptionally beautiful but he knew that if he"d had a teacher this lovely, he would have studied much harder, just to impress her. “What"s stopping you?” he asked.

Electra smiled broadly. “A stupid, irritating, overbearing jerk who wants to rule my life and make me absolutely miserable,” she said then bit her tongue, wishing those bitter words hadn"t been uttered. An explanation would reveal too much and this man was probably only after one thing, the same exact thing she was after, she thought. A night of passion. She suspected that making love with this man would be spectacular but she couldn"t diminish the potential by being silly and childish, she reminded herself.

“Since you don"t have a husband or a boyfriend, that comment can only be directed towardyour father,” he assumed.

Electra didn"t contradict him and ignored the pain that slanted through her heart at the mention of her father. After more than twelve years, she still missed him terribly. It was just another point against the obnoxious king who had ruined her life.

“What do you do?” she asked. “Maybe I should get into that business.” “Why would you want to get into my profession?” he asked, sidestepping the question out of habit.That didn"t stop his surprise that she didn"t recognize him though. It further intensified his interest.

She shrugged delicately and her eyes noticed that his dropped to the small V in her suit jacket. The realization sent a small thrill down through her entire body. “If you"re in this hotel, you"re doing well so it must be lucrative.”

“Is that all you want? Money?” he asked gently.

Electra laughed, thinking about the bank account that was now into the millions since she hated touching the income from the king. Her monthly allowance was blood money, sent each month to absolve a man of his guilt for killing her father. “It doesn"t motivate me, if that"s what you"re asking.”

“But you"re looking for something lucrative as a career choice.”

Electra smiled but it was more self-deprecating. “No, actually, I"d like to teach. That means that I"ll never be wealthy in a financial sense.”

He nodded his head, hiding his concern. He didn"t want this lovely, luscious woman to have principles. It would be that much more difficult to get her to agree to become his mistress. He had preferred the more monetary approach. It was always more straightforward and easy. But he didn"t back down from the challenge. Somehow, the idea that she wanted to teach children only made him want her more. And he always got what he wanted.

“Perhaps there is more to life than money,” he said.

“That"s what all the teacher"s I"ve spoken to have said. They are in it for the success of their students and the achievement in helping each of them learn something new. Monetary rewards are way down the list.”

He raised an eye at her response. “Doesn"t that daunt you away from the career?”

She tilted her head to the side as she responded.“No. In fact, the more I talk to teachers who work in the field, the more I want to teach.”

“You seem very passionate about the idea,” he said and his awareness of the woman increased when he saw her eyes flare with his words. Good, she wanted him. The idea was never in doubt. Women never turned him down. He wasn"t vain, he just knew that the power of his title and his enormous wealth were a powerful aphrodisiac. He didn"t consider himself all that tough on the eyes either.

“Yes. I"m passionate,” she said, leaving it at that without any further explanation. Let him take her statement as he wanted to.

“What else are you passionate about?” he asked, rising to the bait.

Electra stifled a giggle. This was her first attempt at seduction and she didn"t want to blow it. Perhaps this one man, with his toughness and aura of danger and mystery, would ignore the intimidation tactics of Micha, Jamil and Gerrard. Instead of stating the obvious, she bit her lower lip enticingly, looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then glanced back down at him. “Romans,” she said emphatically.

She was glad to see him blink, surprised at her answer.

“Romans?” he repeated, obviously caught off-guard.

“Yes. I love Roman history. Greek history is also amazing but I love Roman history the best. The gods and goddesses, the wars, the conquering heroes, the passion of the people for learning and all the horrible and amazing discoveries and inventions that came out of that period simply inspire me.”

The slow smile that spread across his mouth made her breath catch in her throat. And when he started to discuss the various Greek and Roman gods and goddesses with her and their contributions and impacts on today"s world, she could barely contain her enthusiasm. She had no concept of the passing of time, only of this man and the incredible amount of knowledge he held inside of him. He presented ideas she"d never considered about history and he made her mind scramble to keep up with him. She was challenged as she"d never been in her dry university classes and she was more thrilled than she could ever imagine being.

When a gray suited man slipped a note to her companion, she glanced down at her watch and gasped. “Oh, no! Is it really already passed two o"clock?” she gasped. Her appointment with her guardian had been over an hour ago. “I have to go,” she said and quickly stood up, grabbing her purse, forgetting the list of job openings by her chair. Sticking out her hand, she offered it in a half hearted attempt at the social niceties, but her mind was already on an argument to present to her guardian for her unforgivable tardiness for their meeting. It had taken over a year to manage getting this appointment. How long would it be before she could wrangle another one into his painfully busy schedule.

“Thank you for a great afternoon but I must go,” she said and almost pulled her hand back when he didn"t immediately take it in his. But his warm, strong fingers wrapped around her smaller one and all her panic disappeared. The rest of the world receded and she looked up, and up again, into the man"s dangerous eyes. She couldn"t pull her hand away, and now, she didn"t want to. Her whole body had forgotten her missed meeting and was now focused on her previous intent of seducing this man, having him initiate her into the world of love making. Her hand tingled and her body seemed to be shaking and he wasn"t touching anything but her fingers with one hand and her wrist with the other. “Have dinner with me tonight,” he said and she heard the order in his voice. It wasn"t a question, it was a command. She suspected this man was always obeyed and a part of her, the rebellious side that had fought almost constantly against her protectors for the first several years, rose up and started to say no simply because it was an order instead of a request. But the side of her that was intrigued beyond measure by the man"s touch, his gaze, the promise behind his eyes, overrode her rebellion and accepted his command.

“Yes,” she replied.

“Good. Give me your address and I"ll have a car pick you up,” he said.

Electra floundered. He couldn"t show up at her place, the guards would follow and she was hoping, just this once, she could outsmart them and be alone tonight. Sure, Dharr was strong enough and confident enough that he probably wouldn"t be intimidated. But did she want to take that chance? Glancing down at the man"s magnificent physique, she knew the answer was no. This was her chance at a glorious introduction and she was going to take it.

“Um…” she thought quickly. “How about if I meet you somewhere?” she suggested. Maybe the old bathroom trick would work this time. She hasn"t tried to slip away from her guards in years. Maybe they were lulled into a false sense of security.

Everything inside Dharr fought against releasing control of this situation and this slender beauty. If she would give him her address, he would know how to move forward, could have her investigated and find out her strengths and weaknesses. He was more determined than ever to have this woman in his bed. What was more intriguing than just his sexual desire for her, he wanted to learn all about her personally. That was definitely a first. So far, he knew several things. She hated her coffee black but hewasn"t sure why she drank it that way, she loved history, she had a rebellious streak that would be exciting to tame and she was physically attracted to him. Usually, this was more than he knew of his other mistresses and he preferred it that way. This would be a different situation on many levels, he suspected.

“Give me your address, Ellie. I"ll send a car for you,” he said and moved closer, a hand reaching out to touch her elbow and his shoulders blocked off the rest of the room. He wanted all of her attention focused on him.

Electra looked up at him, sure the desire she felt for him was evident in her eyes but unable to control it, this overwhelming feeling being new to her. “I can"t give you my address.” She pulled an old receipt from her wallet and a pen, then wrote down her cell phonenumber. “Here. Tell me where to meet you and what time and I"ll be there. I"m sorry,” she said, genuine regret emanating from her eyes as she took a step back, “I must go. I"m very late for an important meeting.”

Dharr watched as she walked through the restaurant, his body reacting to the gentle sway of her hips as she weaved through the tables. He felt more than he saw, his aide standing next to him. Handing the receipt to him he said, “Find out who owns this cell phone number quickly and get all the information on her. Her first name is Ellie.”

“And her last name?” Jamil said, his pen hesitating above the piece of paper.

Dharr cursed under his breath. “I don"t know,” he said viciously, his eyes still watching as she walked out of the hotel lobby, already talking on the cell phone. How could he have forgotten to get her last name?“I don"t know. Find out for me.”

The man nodded and wrote down some information before looking back up at him. “Perhaps I have some good news, Your Highness.”

Dharr walked out of the hotel, impatient to move on to the rest of his meetings so he could relax for the evening. His mind was already planning her seduction and he only allowed half his mind to listen to Jamil while the more important half was slowly stripping the sexy woman"s clothes off her body. “What"s that?” he asked impatiently, stepping into the waiting limousine, completely unaware of the body guards slipping into the front seat and into the black SUVs in front of and behind the limousine.

“Ms. Knight apparently did not show up for her appointment with you,” Jamil said, aware that his boss"s mind was not focused on the present. Although he wasn"t sure what it could be focused on, which confused the aide. His employer was extremely conscientious of his duties and never let his personal life interfere with more important priorities. There had only been the one woman for the past hour, so what could be breaking his attention? King Abbas would never let his concentration slip for a mere woman, Jamil thought to himself.