Read Online The Sheik's Safety by Dana Marton - Free Book Online Page A

be back with Salah,” she said.
    He turned his intense blue eyes to her. “Do not,” he said, his voice cold now, “use my son to try to manipulate me.”
    â€œI’m sorry.” And she was. He obviously cared deeply for the boy.
    â€œHe’ll be safe with Nasir,” he said, but she could hear the worry in his voice.
    â€œI’m sure the tribe would give their lives for him.”
    He nodded. “They would.”
    â€œHe looks a lot like you.”
    He took a slow breath and his shoulders relaxed a little. “He’s a brave little man. He learned to ride a camel when he was three.”
    His deep fatherly love and pride, evident on his face and in his words, tugged at her heart. Snap out of it. She turned from him to scan the desert. She was here to guard the sheik, not to fall under his charm.
    Â 
    â€œI S ANYTHING WRONG ?”
    â€œI didn’t expect a palace.” Dara eyed the marble floor and the priceless artwork on the walls, as Saeed gave orders to the servants.
    â€œMy father was once king,” he said to her when he was done with them.
    â€œHe sure was.” She stared at an ornately decorated golden bowl, the size of her kitchen sink back home, displayed on a carved pedestal.
    And all of a sudden she felt a wide schism open between them. In the car, during the gunfight, for a few brief moments they were partners, teammates. There was nothing like walking into his palace to drive home the point that someday very soon he would be king. And she’d be… She’d be on the first flight to wherever the Colonel was sending her next.
    â€œThis way.” He showed her down the hall, walking tall and comfortable, barely sparing a glance for their surroundings while she gawked. He belonged here.
    â€œThe doctor will arrive shortly. The servants will help you clean up.” He stopped and waited for her to catch up with him.
    Naturally. The servants. Who else? She wondered what “help you clean up” meant. Was somebody going to come to wash behind her ears? That’d be interesting.
    She was used to lack of privacy in her line ofwork. It was a fact of life for women in the military—her shyness had worn off long ago. Whatever they would dish out for her she could take it. She was determined to follow the customs and blend in. She had to gain not only his cooperation but the entire household’s if she was to guard him successfully.
    They passed through a gorgeous gilded archway, more artwork gracing the hall on the other side. The palace was a far cry from the military housing where she had grown up. Where the hell was he taking her anyway? And then it occurred to her. She stopped. She was willing to follow his country’s customs, but only to a point.
    â€œTo do my job effectively I need to be near you. I’m not going to…” She hesitated to say the word.
    He raised a black eyebrow and waited.
    â€œI will not be stashed away in some harem,” she said with righteous indignation. “This is the twenty-first century, for heaven’s sake.”
    A slow grin split his face, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth.
    â€œWould that be a general dislike of harems or just mine?” His voice was way too smooth.
    He was toying with her. She threw him a look that would have made veteran commando fighters back down.
    It didn’t faze him at all. “I don’t suppose I could change your mind?”
    Oh yeah, he probably thought he was good at the harem thing. She looked away. He probably was.
    â€œGo pester your wives,” she said. “I’m here to do a job.”
    â€œMy wife has been dead for five years.” The smile slid off his face. “I never really had a harem. Sorry to disappoint.”
    God, she was an idiot. Of course, he didn’t have a wife. That’s why his sisters were taking care of his son. She thought of her own childhood for a moment, her mother coming and going