The Sheik and the Runaway Princess (7 page)

“Sabrina,” he breathed against her mouth.

The sound of her name in that husky voice did odd things to her stomach. Her chest felt tight and there was a faint pressure between her legs. Nothing sexual, she assured herself.
Probably just some issues with her lunch.

He tilted his head and kissed her again.
This time his tongue swept against her lower lip.
She jumped slightly but didn’t pull back. Her fingers curled into her palms. She felt stupid, standing there with her hands at her sides. When he moved his hand from her waist to her shoulder, she lightly pressed her right hand against his side.

His tongue continued to stroke her lip. Sabrina understood this part. He wanted to deepen the kiss.
Which was all right with her.
She’d never found that particular act especially exciting but it wasn’t too awful, either. She opened her mouth slightly. He slipped inside, teasing the inside of her lip before touching the tip of her tongue with his.

A jolt of electricity shot through her. She jumped, not sure what had just happened. Her bare toes curled toward the floor and she rested her left hand on his chest. Kardal cupped her face in his strong hand and swept his tongue over hers.

The reaction in her body startled her into forgetting to breathe. It was like being on fire, but in a really good way. Heat filled her.
Heat and pressure.
She ached all over and the tightness in her chest increased until it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d remembered to breathe because she couldn’t physically do it anymore. She was going to die right here in Kardal’s arms and she found she didn’t really mind. Not if he kept on kissing her.

She shifted so that she could wrap her arms around him and hold him close. When he retreated, she followed him, liking the feel of him, the heat and the taste. He pulled her to him so that they touched intimately. Her breasts flattened against his chest. His thighs pressed against hers. She wanted…The exact “what” wasn’t clear, but there was a hunger in her she’d never experienced before.

He broke the kiss so that he could press his mouth against her neck. The contact both tickled and made her cling to him. He licked her ear,
then
bit the lobe. Breath returned as she gasped.

Hesitantly she opened her eyes and found him staring down at her. She saw bright fire in his dark irises. Tension tightened the lines of his face.

“Do you still want to fly away, my desert bird?” he asked, his voice sounding husky.

Yes, of course, she thought, but wasn’t able to form the words. Her plan of kicking and running suddenly didn’t seem so necessary. Not if he was going to kiss her again.

He rested his hands on her shoulders,
then
moved them lower. Still dazed from his passionate kisses, she wasn’t prepared for him to cup her breasts. His thumbs swept against her suddenly tight nipples.

Desire poured through her but with it, icy shock. Sanity returned. She pushed his hands away and shoved until he took a step back.

“You can’t do that,” she told him, barely able to catch her breath. “It’s one thing to kidnap me, but it’s quite another to defile me. My father may not care about me, but he will kill any man who touches me. As will the troll prince. He’s expecting a virgin.”

She braced herself for his laughter. “
defile
” was a pretty old-fashioned word. Besides, Kardal didn’t seem to have much respect for her or her family.

But he wasn’t smiling. Instead he frowned at her, as if she’d just become a puzzle he couldn’t solve.

“It is not possible,” he said more to himself than her.
“A virgin?”

She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Have you been listening to me?” she demanded, speaking loudly and directly into his face. She wanted to shake him but he was about as unmovable as a mountain.

“I did not know,” he said quietly.

She released him. “Yeah, well, I’ve been trying to tell you. Next time pay attention.”

He wasn’t even listening, she thought in disgust as Kardal continued to stare at her. Then he turned on his heel and stalked from the room, leaving her standing by the wall, out of breath and still trembling from the power of his kiss.

Sabrina pressed her back against the castle hallway wall and tried to hear if anyone was approaching. For the first time since she’d arrived five days before, she’d found her bedroom door unlocked after breakfast. Not knowing if Adiva had simply forgotten to secure it after delivering the meal or if Sabrina was now allowed to roam at will, she’d taken the opportunity to leave her room while trying not to be seen.

At this point she didn’t care if Kardal would be furious if she was caught. She couldn’t stand to stay inside those four walls for another second.

Sabrina drew in a deep breath and listened. There was only the sound of distant voices and the rapid pounding of
her own
heart.

Usually she enjoyed being by herself, she thought as she continued down the hallway. There were plenty of wonderful books to read and Adiva brought her newspapers and magazines every day. But ever since two nights before when Kardal had kissed her, Sabrina had found her world had shifted on its axis.

She couldn’t forget the way she’d reacted to his kiss and his touch. She’d enjoyed everything he’d done and found herself longing to repeat the experience. Although there hadn’t been many men in her life, she had kissed a few and not one of them had left her so aroused and shaken. Was her reaction specifically about Kardal or was it something more sinister?

Ever since Sabrina had begun to understand her mother’s relationship with men, she’d feared turning into the same kind of woman. She didn’t want to be driven by passions, making bad choices because of a man’s ability to please her in bed. If she were to fall in love, she wanted it to be because of a meeting of the minds and an understanding between souls. She wanted to respect her lover and have him respect her. Passion appeared to be both fleeting and dangerous.

She came to a set of stairs leading down to the left. The corridor in front of her stretched on for several feet before bending to the right. Sabrina paused. If she continued on her current path, she might find her way out of the castle. If she went down, she was more likely to find the treasure stores. As much as she wanted to get away from here and stop thinking about what had happened with Kardal, she wanted to see the plunder more. Telling herself she was an idiot, she hurried down the stairs.

Since the kiss, she’d seen Kardal twice, once when he dined with her for lunch and once late last night when he’d invited her to watch a movie with him and several of his staff. She’d refused the latter invitation because she felt strange about being seen as his slave.

Just being in the same room with Kardal was enough to get her heart racing. She wasn’t sure how she managed to have sensible conversation when her brain could only focus on how his mouth had felt against hers and was he planning to do that again?

“I need a vaccine,” she murmured to herself, taking another staircase down,
then
pausing to study a beautiful seventeenth-century tapestry showing an elegant Queen Elizabeth greeting a visiting Spanish delegation.

She raised her fingers toward the intricate work but didn’t touch it. There was a slight fraying at the edges and more dust on the cloth than she would like.

“It needs to be cleaned,” she said aloud. “Then put under glass and protected from the elements.”

What Kardal was doing here was a crime, she thought as she continued moving down the stairs. The dry desert air offered a measure of protection but so many of the stunning artifacts needed to be protected. She would take him to task the next time she saw him.

She turned at the bottom of the stairs. In front of her was an open area leading to several rooms. All the rooms had thick wood doors and massive locks. The good news was she’d found the treasure of the City of
Thieves
. The bad news was she’d never learned to pick a lock.

“Visiting or stealing?”

The voice came from behind her so unexpectedly that Sabrina screamed. She turned and saw a tall, blond man in a dark uniform standing on the bottom stair. He loomed nearly as well as Kardal. Despite being as fair as a
California
surfer, there was something spooky in his midnight-blue eyes.

She touched her fingers to her chest and tried to catch her breath. “I’m visiting. I’d hoped to see some of the treasures of the city. I have a great interest in the city’s past. Who are you?”

The man stepped down on the stone floor. “Rafe Stryker. I’m in charge of security here in the City of
Thieves
.”

“You’re American,” she said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Prince Kardal hires the best.”

“And that’s you?”

Rafe nodded.

He was good-looking but in an icy way that made her think twice about making this man angry. Kardal could be dangerous but there was fire in his blood and she understood heat far more than cold.

His steady gaze never left her face. “I understand that you’re the princess Kardal found wandering in the desert.”

She couldn’t help smiling. “That’s one interpretation of the events.” She glanced at the gun holstered at his waist. “Are you here to escort me
back
to my room?”

“Not at all.”
Rafe moved toward the first of the heavy doors and drew a key from his trouser pocket. “My instructions are to show you your heart’s desire.”

She thought about telling him that seeing the treasure inside wasn’t her heart’s desire so much as fulfilling an intellectual curiosity. However, when the door swung open and she saw inside, she couldn’t speak.

Her body trembled the way it had when Kardal had kissed her, but this time for a different reason. At least a dozen cases stood in a darkened room. Electrical light illuminated the insides of the glass containers. There were no labels, no explanation, but she recognized many of the pieces and stones.

Exquisite Fabergé eggs sat in satin nests in one case. She gasped over the perfection of the workmanship, while itching to hold at least one of them in her hand. But before she could ask, a glitter of diamonds caught her attention. A dozen tiaras filled the next display.

There were gems and set jewels, treasures from El Bahar, Bahania, France, England, Russia and the Far East. A ruby the size of a small melon glittered in a case of its own.

There was too much to take in and this was only one of the locked rooms.

“This can’t be possible,” she breathed, facing Rafe who continued to watch her with his cold eyes. “Kardal must return these at once.”

Rafe shrugged. “You’ll have to take that up with the boss. My job is to make sure no one takes any of it without his permission.”

“I see. We mustn’t steal from the thieves, is that it?”

“On this one, I agree with Kardal.” He flicked his wrist in dismissal. As he did so the sleeve of his dark jacket rose far enough for Sabrina to see a small mark on his right wrist.

Involuntarily she gasped. Without thinking she reached for his wrist, capturing it in her hands. Rafe didn’t stop her, nor did he offer an explanation.

“The mark of the prince,” she breathed.

A small tattoo of the City of
Thieves
coat of arms stood out against his tanned skin. She touched the desert lion, the castle, all perfectly rendered in their miniature form. While she understood the significance, she’d never seen such a thing outside of history books.

She stared into fathomless blue eyes. “You speak for the prince,” she said, not asking a question. “You bear on your body a scar—proof of a death blow meant for Kardal. You are trusted above all and have been made a sheik.”

Rafe tugged his wrist free. “You know your history.”

“Yes.”

An American speaking for the prince?
Who had ever heard of such a thing? “You have land?”

He shrugged. “Some.
A few goats and camels.
I was offered a couple of wives, but I declined.”

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Someone who does his job.”

He was obviously much more than that. A shiver rippled through her. Without saying anything more, she walked out of the vault, still reeling from all she had seen and learned. Something had to be done, she told herself as she headed back to her room. The next time she saw Kardal, she would insist that he see sense in the matter. She would also ask him several pointed questions about his second-in-command.

Kardal left his office shortly after six that evening. He generally worked later but since Sabrina had arrived at the castle, he’d found himself stopping earlier and earlier.

It was simply a matter of wanting to train her, he told himself as he walked along the stone corridors of the castle. The more clearly she understood what would be expected of her, the better chance of success for their marriage.
If he married her.
He still hadn’t decided.

Their kiss earlier in the week had showed him that physically they got along exceptionally well. He’d hoped for passion, but that single word didn’t begin to describe what had occurred between them. It had been more of an explosion. He’d been seared down to his soul by a need he’d never experienced before.
All that from a kiss.
What would occur if they became intimate?

His initial plan had been to find that out for himself…if he decided to continue the engagement. But now he wasn’t so sure. From the first Sabrina had claimed to be innocent. He hadn’t believed her but now he wasn’t so sure she lied. There had been
a hesitancy
when he’d touched her.
An awkward eagerness.
While she could fake shyness, her blushes had been real, especially those during his bath. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she’d never seen a naked man before.

A virgin.
He shook his head as he approached the door to her room. How could that have happened, given the life she’d lived? Yet he was more and more convinced she was untouched.
Which meant he had no right to claim her as his own until they were married.
Doing so before, even with the betrothal, invited the well-deserved wrath of her father.

Kardal pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into Sabrina’s quarters. As usual, she was waiting for him, but this time she did not greet him with a smile.

“I can’t believe it,” she announced, darting toward him, her hands clenched in fury, her eyes flashing with fire. “They’re not yours and you have no right to keep them.”

“Them?” he questioned. “I thought you were the only slave in the castle.”

“I’m not talking about myself. I’ve seen some of the treasure. You can’t mean to keep it. That would be unconscionable. It must be returned.”

“Ah, yes.
The treasure.
Rafe told me about your wanderings in the dungeon.”

He walked to the tea cart by the window. Adiva had already been by to leave a tray of drinks. Kardal had been raised to respect the ways of his people, so he did not drink alcohol when he was among them. When he was with someone from the west, he occasionally indulged. Around Sabrina, he seemed to drink more than he ever had.

“They have to be returned,” she told him, planting her hands on her hips. “They belong to their respective nations. They’re a part of the country’s heritage.”

He poured scotch over ice and took a grateful sip.
“An interesting notion.
But to whom should I return them? The nations in question have changed.”

“Not all of them.”

“Enough. What about the Imperial Eggs? The czars are long gone. The Russian government has changed several times in the past ninety years. Who owns the eggs? Do I find a long-lost relative of the czar? Or should I hand them over to the current regime?”

Sabrina hesitated. “Okay, the eggs are a problem, but what about the tiara owned by
Elizabeth
the First, or gems you stole from El Bahar and Bahania?”

He put down his drink on the tray and held up both his hands. “I have not stolen anything. I am simply holding those items in trust. If the nations who let them go want them back, they should come steal them, as my relatives did.”

“Not everyone wants to be a thief.”

Color stained her cheeks. She looked even more attractive than usual when she was furious with him. Her chest rose and fell with each angry breath. He watched the movement of her breasts under her dress. While he had enjoyed seeing her in her silly harem costume, he preferred her in the conservative dresses he had provided. In some ways, imagining how she looked underneath was more interesting than simply being able to see it.

Today she wore her long red hair pulled back into a thick braid. A few curls brushed against her cheeks. Wide brown eyes glared at him. She had the most unusual coloring, he thought. The deep red hair, brown eyes and skin the color of honey. Not a single freckle marred her beauty. She would produce attractive children.

“Are you even listening to me?” she demanded.

“With bated breath,” he assured her. “My heart beats only to serve you.”

She turned to the window and stared out at the approaching twilight. “I hate it when you’re sarcastic. My point is illegally taking things isn’t a tradition to be proud of. It’s a disgrace.”

“It has been our way for a thousand years. In the past generation or so the thieving has stopped, but the legacy is still there. In time we can discuss returning some items, but not yet.” He took a sip of his drink. “Since you have so much interest in the treasure, perhaps you would like to begin cataloging it.”

She glanced at him over his shoulder. “No one’s done that? You don’t even know what you have?”

He shrugged. “I know we have enough.
But no.
There’s no detailed inventory. Also, I believe some of the items might require special treatment to prevent them from being destroyed as they age.”

“You’re right. There’s a tapestry in one of the halls that is turning to dust. It needs to be protected.” She turned to face him. “But you’re talking about thousands of items.
Jewels and paintings.
It would take years.”

“Perhaps your father will be slow to pay for you.”

He’d expected some kind of teasing response, but instead Sabrina sighed,
then
nodded slowly.

“I don’t doubt that he’ll be happy to have me out of his way,” she said. “I’ll begin in the morning.”

Kardal frowned. “I hadn’t meant to remind you of something unpleasant.”

“My lack of relationship with my father is hardly your fault.” She crossed to the tea cart and poured herself a soft drink. “At least working with the treasure will give me something to do. What about the royal watchdog? Is he going to trust me?”

“I will speak with Rafe.”

“I saw the mark.”

Kardal was not surprised. “Don’t worry. He will not speak for me in matters of slavery.”

She smiled slightly,
then
grew serious. “He nearly died for you.”

“And I rewarded his loyalty.”

“So now he’s a sheik.”

“You know the ways of the city. Rafe has a fortune of his own and my trust.”

She glanced at him. “He doesn’t strike me as the type of man who would be content watching over a bunch of vaults. What is he doing here?”

The newspapers and tabloids had given Sabrina many characteristics, but they’d never mentioned that she was intelligent.

“There’s more to running a hidden city than simply stealing from the neighbors,” he told her. “Rafe has many responsibilities.”

“
Which is a tidy statement, but doesn’t answer my question.
”

A knock on the door interrupted them. Figures, Sabrina thought. Kardal always seemed to have a lucky escape planned. He crossed to the door and opened it.

“Thank you for coming,” he said by way of greeting, then stepped back to let a beautiful woman enter the room.

She was a couple of inches taller than Sabrina, with dark hair swept up in an elegant chignon. She wore a dark purple pants suit with a gold-and-pearl pin on her lapel. Wide brown eyes twinkled with humor as she took in her surroundings.

“At least you put her in a nice, large room,” she said, glancing from Kardal to Sabrina. “I would hate to think you’d chosen one of the dungeons.”

“I’m difficult,” Kardal said, “not a barbarian.”

“Sometimes I can’t see the difference,” the woman murmured before turning her attention to Sabrina.
“How nice to meet you at last.”

Kardal stepped between them. “Mother, this is Princess Sabra of Bahania.
Sabrina, my mother, Princess Cala of the City of
Thieves
.”

Sabrina blinked in surprise. She took in Princess Cala’s unlined face and youthful features. She was beautiful and couldn’t be more than thirty-five.

Cala laughed. “Your shocked expression makes me feel positively youthful. I was nearly nineteen when Kardal was born.”

“Practically an infant yourself,” Kardal said, urging both women toward the low table that had been set with their dinner.

For the first time Sabrina noticed that Adiva had provided three places. She waited until Cala was seated, then settled across from her. Kardal sat next to his mother. Cala sat on the cushions as if she’d been doing it all her life, which she probably had. Sabrina studied her, noticing the similarities between the two in the shape of their eyes and their smiles.

Cala motioned for Kardal to open the wine sitting at the end of the low table. She leaned toward Sabrina.

“I want you to know that I don’t approve of my son’s behavior. I would like to blame someone else for his bad manners, but I fear the fault is mine. I hope you can find some enjoyment during your stay in the City of
Thieves
, despite the circumstances.”

“She wants for nothing,” Kardal said firmly. “She has books to entertain herself during the day. I dine with her each evening and I have just agreed to let her catalog the city’s treasures.”

Sabrina traded a wry smile with Cala. “As your son points out, Princess, my life couldn’t be more perfect.”

Cala held out her glass to Kardal as he poured the wine. “Tell me,
Sabrina,
are you as much trouble to your mother as Kardal is to me?”

“Not really.” Sabrina thought about mentioning that her mother barely noticed when she was around, but didn’t see the point.

“I thought not.” Cala glanced at her son. “You could learn from that, Kardal.”

“You adore me,” he said, unruffled by his mother’s complaints. “I am the sun and moon of your world.”

Cala laughed. “No. You are an occasional light-bulb in a dim room.”

Kardal gave her a brief hug,
then
kissed her forehead. “You must not lie. Untruths damage the perfection of your soul. I am your world. Admit it.”

“You can sometimes be a charming son. Other times, I think I should have been far more firm with you.”

Sabrina watched the exchange between mother and son. They were obviously close and had great affection for each other. She envied that.

Kardal poured her wine and she took a sip. “I didn’t know you lived here, Your Highness,” she said.

“Call me Cala,” Kardal’s mother said, lightly touching her hand. “Despite my son’s highhandedness, I hope that we can be friends. I don’t usually spend much time within the city walls, but I have just returned and plan to spend a few months here.”

“Mother runs a large charity,” Kardal said. “It provides health care for children.”

Cala reached for the first serving dish and passed it to her son. “When Kardal left for school in
America
, I found I had too much time on my hands. I began to travel. Everywhere I went I saw need. So I started the children’s charity as a way to address that.” She smiled. “I was quite wicked. The initial funding for the charity came from some of the stolen treasure. I was careful to choose pieces that could not possibly be returned to a government or family. Still, I expected to be struck by lightning every time I sold something.”

Kardal passed the vegetable dish to Sabrina. “Sabrina believes the treasure should be returned.”

Sabrina glared at him. Figures he’d bring that up now. “I understand there are difficulties with some of the items, but not with all of them.”

“I agree,” Cala said easily. “Perhaps that will happen eventually. The city has not encouraged thievery for many years, but there are still those who remember and long for the old ways.”

“Oil is more profitable,” Kardal pointed out.

Cala passed her son another dish and leaned toward Sabrina. “He says that now. But when I insisted he go off to school, he protested for weeks.
Threatened to run away into the desert so that I couldn’t find him.
He didn’t want to learn western ways.”

Sabrina glanced at Kardal. “I understand that. When my mother took me from Bahania, I didn’t want to go, either. The transition was difficult. I had the advantage of having lived in
California
for nearly a year before I started school.”

Some of Cala’s humor faded from her eyes. She turned to Kardal. “You know I didn’t have a choice in the matter. You were to be ruler of the city. You needed an education.”

He smiled at her. “Mother, all of your actions
were
based in what was best for me. I do not regret my time in
America
.”

“But it was hard on you.”

He shrugged. “Life is hard. There were adjustments. I made them.”