Read Online Sheikh's Castaway by Alexandra Sellers - Free Book Online Page A

passing,” she said, wrapping herself securely in the rustling golden foil again. “I think I saw land.”
    He nodded without looking up. He was still working the air pump, and the floor was slowly inflating.
    â€œMay I have a drink of water?”
    He tossed her the little plastic cup he had been bailing with. “Catch some rainwater in that.”
    Noor bit back an indignant response. She supposed his caution was appropriate, even praiseworthy—if they were going to be lost for any length of time the water conservation started now, even if that was land she had seen.
    But he could have been less rude about it.
    â€œI see we aren’t going to be bound by any silly code of polite conduct while we’re stuck here,” she rashly remarked.
    Leaving herself wide open, of course, and she realized it as soon as it was too late to call the comment back. Bari lifted an eyebrow, and though his face was in shadow, she could guess the expression in his eyes.
    â€œYou are speaking, of course, as someone who isn’t bound by any code of conduct at any time.”
    There was no winning that one. Noor lifted the cup up to the sleeve as she had seen him do, but he had pushed it inside out. She fiddled with it for a moment, without discovering the trick. She glanced over at Bari, but he was working the air pump, his head bent.
    Fine! She wasn’t nearly as helpless or stupid as he obviously believed, and she’d be damned if she would ask for his help!
    After a few moments she was rewarded with the sound of water dripping into the cup. Nyaaa, she told him in her head, but not by so much as the tip of her tongue did she let him see her triumph.
    The rain funnelled down more slowly than before, and she suddenly realized how the rain had slackened, and how far away the thunder was. She filled the cup three times and drank the curiously tasteless liquid, then glanced at Bari.
    â€œDo you want a drink?”
    He looked up, surprised. “Yes, thanks.”
    Noor bit back a resentful remark—did he really think she was incapable of putting herself out for someone else even in a situation like this?—and passed the filled cup to him without comment. He tossed off the water in one gulp and gave it back to her with a murmur of thanks. She filled it again, and he drank again.
    The transaction felt strange and awkward to her, because she felt uncomfortable with him now. No doubt Bari would say it was because she was so unused to doing even the simplest things for other people. But what did he know about her?
    â€œI suppose it has never occurred to you,” she remarked to the cup as she filled it for him for the third time, “that you have seen me in a very limited set of circumstances—namely, when I was (a) effectively on holiday, (b) had just learned, among other things, that my family owned a palace and (c) was suddenly being treated as a princess by everyone around me? How many people you know would have kept their heads in a situation like mine?”
    Her eyes met his as she passed him the cup again. “You think a person should not be judged by their behaviour when life is going well for them?”
    â€œWelcome to The Kangaroo Courtroom of the Waves,” Noor announced bitterly. “Forget I spoke.”
    Bari drank and handed her the empty cup, signalling that he didn’t want any more. Noor filled the cup one last time and then picked up the pack of seasickness pills and pressed one out into her palm.
    Her broken fingernail caught as she did so, and after swallowing the pill she reached for the first aid kit again, located the scissors, and cut the three torn nails offshort, as neatly as she could. She spread out her hands. If her nails were going to keep on breaking at the current rate it would be smarter to cut them all down now. On the other hand, if rescue were near…
    Something made her lift her eyes, and she found Bari watching her, a cynical gleam in his