Read Online Never Resist a Sheikh (International Bad Boys) by Jackie Ashenden - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jackie Ashenden
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kind of firewall.”
Once again he found himself amused by her candor. “Any other suggestions in that case?”
“What if I promised I wouldn’t?”
“That would mean trusting you. And I don’t.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, biting her lip. “What do you want then? Apart from my surrender, of course.”
A woman. Warm and soft and willing. Strong enough to take him. Who wouldn’t break.
Thethought crept through him, sliding under his defenses, curling out of the darkness. He shoved it away. That was not what he wanted. Not anymore.
“A wife,” he said aloud. “To help me modernize my nation, to give my people hope for the future.” Wipe the stain from the Al-Nazari name. “To give me heirs.”
The creases in her brow deepened. Almost absently she reached out to the basket of fresh, whitecrusty bread on the table and took a piece of it, buttering it and slathering it with the fresh honey that had come from the palace beehive.
“Modernize your nation,” she murmured, taking a bite out of her bread and chewing thoughtfully. “What if I told you I could help you with that without the need for a wedding?”
Something clenched inside him, but he couldn’t quite decide what it was. Disappointment?Excitement? Curiosity?
He studied her.
The sun had crept higher, shining down on the awning, the heat deepening. The ancient stone of the walls around them absorbed that heat, radiating it outwards. A cool breeze blew but it was still very, very hot.
Beyond the stone parapet, the few skyscrapers of his city towered, some of them partially built. There were more on the way, signs of new businessconfidence, but it was slow. The country needed more investors, more everything. It needed more of the vigor that neighboring Al-Harah had, the life that had been injected since the lost princess had returned to the throne.
But his country had no lost princesses. It only had him and a legacy of blood and madness.
“Tell me more,” he ordered, watching her. He had no intention of changing his mind,but it would be useful to hear what she had to say all the same.
Felicity brushed the bread crumbs from her fingers and leaned forward, her smoke-gray eyes glinting. “Well, that’s why I was in Al-Harah. To present this new software that Red Star has developed. It basically utilizes the existing mobile communication network to deliver internet to anyone who can get a signal. And it does it muchfaster and enables more data than any other existing software.” The sparks in her eyes got brighter, her expression becoming excited. Proud. “Pretty great, huh? We can also use existing electricity infrastructure too, so you don’t need to build a whole lot of new cell phone towers. It’s aimed at helping developing nations get easy, simple internet access.” She grinned at him, inviting him to shareher pride in her creation. “It took me months. I knew there were another couple of companies also working on this thing because the tech is based on some shareware code. But I just pushed myself, made a few leaps that I don’t think anyone else would have, and bam!” Her hand came down unexpectedly on the table, making the cups and plates jump. “I basically turned it out way before anyone else.”Her face shone, her eyes bright as summer lightning. “You might even want a piece of that yourself, right?”
You do want a piece of that. Except it’s her you want a piece of.
His heart was beating faster than it should have, and he couldn’t seem to drag his gaze from the brightness of her face. It had been a long time since he’d seen pride and genuine pleasure light up a person in quite thatway. A long time since anyone had shared it with him.
Sometimes it felt like he lived in darkness, surrounded by violence and death. With hard men who found pleasure in nothing but killing. Who lived for nothing but war. He was one of those men himself.
Yet Felicity wasn’t. Right in this moment she was a flash of sunlight
Once again he found himself amused by her candor. “Any other suggestions in that case?”
“What if I promised I wouldn’t?”
“That would mean trusting you. And I don’t.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment, biting her lip. “What do you want then? Apart from my surrender, of course.”
A woman. Warm and soft and willing. Strong enough to take him. Who wouldn’t break.
Thethought crept through him, sliding under his defenses, curling out of the darkness. He shoved it away. That was not what he wanted. Not anymore.
“A wife,” he said aloud. “To help me modernize my nation, to give my people hope for the future.” Wipe the stain from the Al-Nazari name. “To give me heirs.”
The creases in her brow deepened. Almost absently she reached out to the basket of fresh, whitecrusty bread on the table and took a piece of it, buttering it and slathering it with the fresh honey that had come from the palace beehive.
“Modernize your nation,” she murmured, taking a bite out of her bread and chewing thoughtfully. “What if I told you I could help you with that without the need for a wedding?”
Something clenched inside him, but he couldn’t quite decide what it was. Disappointment?Excitement? Curiosity?
He studied her.
The sun had crept higher, shining down on the awning, the heat deepening. The ancient stone of the walls around them absorbed that heat, radiating it outwards. A cool breeze blew but it was still very, very hot.
Beyond the stone parapet, the few skyscrapers of his city towered, some of them partially built. There were more on the way, signs of new businessconfidence, but it was slow. The country needed more investors, more everything. It needed more of the vigor that neighboring Al-Harah had, the life that had been injected since the lost princess had returned to the throne.
But his country had no lost princesses. It only had him and a legacy of blood and madness.
“Tell me more,” he ordered, watching her. He had no intention of changing his mind,but it would be useful to hear what she had to say all the same.
Felicity brushed the bread crumbs from her fingers and leaned forward, her smoke-gray eyes glinting. “Well, that’s why I was in Al-Harah. To present this new software that Red Star has developed. It basically utilizes the existing mobile communication network to deliver internet to anyone who can get a signal. And it does it muchfaster and enables more data than any other existing software.” The sparks in her eyes got brighter, her expression becoming excited. Proud. “Pretty great, huh? We can also use existing electricity infrastructure too, so you don’t need to build a whole lot of new cell phone towers. It’s aimed at helping developing nations get easy, simple internet access.” She grinned at him, inviting him to shareher pride in her creation. “It took me months. I knew there were another couple of companies also working on this thing because the tech is based on some shareware code. But I just pushed myself, made a few leaps that I don’t think anyone else would have, and bam!” Her hand came down unexpectedly on the table, making the cups and plates jump. “I basically turned it out way before anyone else.”Her face shone, her eyes bright as summer lightning. “You might even want a piece of that yourself, right?”
You do want a piece of that. Except it’s her you want a piece of.
His heart was beating faster than it should have, and he couldn’t seem to drag his gaze from the brightness of her face. It had been a long time since he’d seen pride and genuine pleasure light up a person in quite thatway. A long time since anyone had shared it with him.
Sometimes it felt like he lived in darkness, surrounded by violence and death. With hard men who found pleasure in nothing but killing. Who lived for nothing but war. He was one of those men himself.
Yet Felicity wasn’t. Right in this moment she was a flash of sunlight
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