Read Online Taken by Storm (ROMANTIC REALMS COLLECTION) by M.J. Schiller - Free Book Online

the cold. “He didn’t sleep well,” Radeem commented.
    The girl followed his gaze. “He didn’t?”
    Radeem turned to stare at her. “Coming across your father with his throat slit, and then holding your dying mother in your arms will do that to you.” He got up, disgruntled, angered at Boltar and his men and sore from sleeping on the ground. He was ravenous, having found only a small amount of dried meat in their packs, and all that made for a grumpy captain. Radeem rarely missed a meal.
    He strode off to the horses to search the packs some more. He glanced up, catching the girl as she gazed at Tahj. There was something going on there, he was sure of it. The concern on Tahj’s face when he found out she was hurt, the way she was looking at him now—there was definitely something going on. It amused him—he’d never seen Tahj with a woman—and irritated him. She was a beautiful girl, after all, and had no idea he was married, yet she chose Tahj over him. He fished an apple, which he had overlooked, out of a pack and then strode back over to her with purpose and sat down, chomping on his find it noisily.
    “So,” Radeem began uncertainly, “where is your home?” He turned toward her, resting a forearm on his knee, holding the apple loosely, in what he hoped was a casual position, not bothering to tie his shirt so she could see his massive chest. With his free hand he reached over to play with her hair.
    She narrowed her eyes, but didn’t pull away. “Tamook, at the foot of Mt. Sabalan.”
    He gestured to her bandaged shoulder. “Tahj do that?” he asked, with just a hint of accusation.
    She nodded, but didn’t elaborate.
    “What’s your name, Ziba ?” he queried, using his best, honeyed tone, looking into those fathomless eyes and letting himself get lost for a moment with a stupid grin on his face.
    “Bashea,” she answered through clenched teeth.
    “Bashea…pretty, like you.” Radeem ran a finger down the girl’s cheek, giving her his most charming smile, but in exchange he got a death stare meant to put him in his place.
    Out of nowhere, a pack landed at Radeem’s feet. He jumped in surprise. He had been so engrossed with Bashea, he hadn’t noticed Tahj rising. “We need to leave,” Tahj said coldly.
    If Radeem had thought something was going on between them before, this only confirmed it. Oh, yes, he’d bet a silver coin on Tahj being jealous just now. Radeem smiled up at him. “You’ve got it, Your Highness.” He rose and offered the girl his hand. She looked from him to Tahj, but the prince was walking away. She placed her hand in Radeem’s, letting him help her to her feet. But when Radeem pulled Bashea in close she gave him the same icy stare. He backed up, holding his hands out as if offering her his surrender.
    Tahj had stormed past them to the horses and now came back, squatting to roll up Bashea’s blanket. She bent to help him, but he whipped the end out of her hand. “I’ve got it,” he snapped, not looking up at her. He continued to roll the blanket up roughly and she backed away, rubbing a hand where the blanket must have burned as it was jerked from her grip.
    Tahj would have felt bad about that if he wasn’t too busy fuming over what he saw when he opened his eyes after a horrible night’s sleep. Just as the bright sunlight chased away his nightmares, he heard their voices. He sat up just as Radeem was reaching out to touch her hair. She did not flinch at his touch. From Tahj’s angle, he couldn’t see Bashea’s face, just Radeem’s big, fat, foolish one, smiling at her like he was about to eat her up for dessert, and Tahj was angry.
    It was perfectly reasonable to be angry with her. She sat there and flirted with Radeem, who was a complete stranger, and she shrunk away from Tahj’s touch like he was diseased. Who wouldn’t be angry? And then when Radeem touched her face, that was too much. Tahj thought about it as he threw the pack onto Ballamore’s back,