Read Online Forged in the Desert Heat by Maisey Yates - Free Book Online Page B

at his own insistence their kisses had been brief.
    He was everything she could have asked for.
    And yet suddenly it seemed like her eyes had just opened and she’d realized there was something more. Something more to men. To the way looking at a man could make her feel. And she wasn’t sure what the feeling was exactly. Attraction or something else, because it wasn’t attraction like she would have named it last week. Or even two days ago.
    But it was something. Something deep and visceral and completely disturbing. And it was holding hands, tightly, perversely, with fear. Perhaps that was why it seemed so intense? Adrenaline combined with attraction, the kind any woman would feel toward a man with such...testosterone-laden qualities. It was like a biological imperative. Strong man, producer of much sperm and good offspring. It was basic high school science, was what it was.
    She shook off that line of thinking and tried to focus on the conversation.
    “The end justifies the means?” she asked.
    “Yes. But the thing you have to understand is that I have a country to run and I must look acceptable while restoring order.”
    “Please tell me you aren’t a crazy dictator, because I don’t want to help install a man who’s going to turn this country into a military state.”
    “I won’t be any kind of ruler if I can’t get my people to accept me. A head is of no use without the body behind it. In two weeks time there is a reception planned, a party celebrating the new sheikh, a show of power for the rest of the world. All brought about by my adviser.”
    “One of the big dusty, sand-pirate-looking guys?”
    She thought he nearly smiled. “Yes.”
    “And what do they know about that sort of thing?”
    “A lot. Before he lost his family Rahm was the leader of the largest tribe in Al Sabah. But after...he couldn’t continue on. Needless to say, he is a man who understands power and how to obtain and maintain it.”
    “He lost his family?”
    Zafar swallowed hard. “Yes. Do you know what my uncle did in his time as ruler?”
    She looked away from him. “My Al Sabahan history is rusty.”
    “He raised taxes, most especially on the Bedouins. And trust me when I say it was collected. Even if it had to be taken from their herds. From their tents. Skins and other wares. He took it. He cut services. Mobile medical units, schools. People lost their lives because of the neglect, the poverty.”
    “Rahm...”
    “He suffered, as well. And unlike me...Farooq did have a harem. And when possible...he stole their daughters and brought them here. Unlike me...my uncle did like sweet innocent virgins.” His voice was rough, his manner filled with disgust. The rage radiating from him spoke volumes about what manner of man he really was. That at his core, no matter what he said, no matter what he claimed about the end justifying the means, he was a good man. A man who despised hurting the weak. A man who sought justice, no matter the cost.
    “Did you save Dalia from that fate?” she asked, her voice choked. She was starting to understand. Zafar had a collection of the broken in his country, surrounding him tightly, acting as his helpers, his staff. And in doing that, he was holding them together.
    “Yes,” he said. “Thankfully. She is one I was able to help before he managed to take her too far.”
    “How?”
    His expression turned cold. “The men who captured her did not walk away. Let us leave it at that.”
    She nodded slowly. “Okay.”
    “I told you, habibti ,” he said, “I have blood on my hands. I will fight for my people. To the death. To the end. But in order to do that...they have to trust me, and while I am confident in my ability to frighten enemies, to seek out justice and destruction for those who would seek to hurt us...I am not confident in my ability as a speaker. Or a diplomat. The guest at a nice dinner.”
    “If we play things right, maybe I can help you, and you can repair relations between Al