Arianna looked around, trying to calm down and focus. Her determination to confront this man, this horrible person who thought…
She stopped, taking several deep breaths as she tried, again, to calm her anger because she needed his help. She’d tried to do this on her own, not wanting to be within five hundred feet of the man ever again, but that wasn’t to be. The past several days had shown her that cooperation came at a price, a price she couldn’t afford.
But oh, the anger felt good. Rejuvenating even! For too long, she’d avoided the man, but no longer, she needed his help and…
The stranger sitting across from her smiled, another person waiting on a different stone bench, obviously trying to reassure her. Or maybe he was making a pass at her. Arianna wasn’t sure, nor did it really matter. She pulled her eyes away from the stranger and looked back down at her knees, hoping they would stop trembling when the time arrived for action.
An action she seriously didn’t want to take, but at this point, she had no alternative.
Her angry gaze moved up to the dais, looking at the powerful man as he benevolently listened to yet another person who had been waiting for hours just to speak with the illustrious jerk. Her wavering determination solidified as she watched all of the people here and the irritating reverence they showed him. Granted, the man had been doing this for hours but…well, there was just something about him, the blank expression in his eyes perhaps or maybe the long fingers that were resting against the arm of the gilded chair. She didn’t know him well enough…okay, so she’d only had a few “dates” with the guy…and their interactions really shouldn’t be considered dates as much as just meetings. But she knew that blank expression too well. Six months ago, she’d experienced those blank stares, the mental challenge of trying to determine if she was boring him or amusing him during their meals. Until that one night…that one kiss….there had been nothing “blank” at that point. The shocking heat in that kiss, the sizzling, the strange need it had produced inside of her…had he felt it too? Or had he…?
Shaking her head as she tried to stop the ridiculous need to define what the man had experienced. She’d been visiting with her father and…. That was in the past and, obviously, it hadn’t meant as much to him as it had to her or he would have…Arianna stopped, not sure what he should have done. He was ruler of Triar, a fabulously powerful country, they’d had dinner twice and that kiss on their third evening together.
That third night. That kiss. His laughter.
Arianna sighed, shaking her head. They weren’t lovers…and she ignored the sensual shiver at the mere idea of being the lover to a man like the one on the dais. Just a glance reminded her of his power, his strength. The heart-stopping…something…that he generated inside of her.
Taking a breath, she banished the memories. They were simply acquaintances who had kissed.
Looking back up at the man, she sensed that he was impatient with the current conversation. To a casual observer, he appeared to be listening intently to whatever the speaker was saying, but…somehow, she knew that he was frustrated and bored.
Turning away, Arianna looked up at the ceiling, ignoring the amazing painting that some artist had painstakingly created for that space. Her anger and resentment over this man and her reaction to him, to that one, shocking kiss, was making her crazy. For the past several months, months of silence on her part, she’d told herself that she was over him. Repeatedly reminded herself that she’d only imagined her feelings for the man.
Even during the dark hours of the night when she’d been staring up at the ceiling, thinking about what it would be like to have his hands…
She blinked and shook her head again, taking a deep, cleansing breath.
Rhys Sabad del Isolm, Sheik of Triar, was simply another guy she’d dated and things hadn’t worked out.
But the truth was…she hated him! She hated his blank expression and the crazy sensations she felt throughout her body when she looked up at him. She hated the power he wielded, the power he held over her – even now! She hated that he acted as if he owned the world but…!
Okay, so maybe he did own the world – or at least a very large chunk of it, but His Highness Rhys Sabad del Isolm …he was her last hope and letting thoughts of anger and resentment flit through her mind wasn’t going to put her in the right frame of mind to ask him for help. And yeah, she truly needed his help. The past few days, trying to find her missing father on her own had proven that she couldn’t do this by herself. Arianna accepted that she needed the power of his office, his title or…whatever…to get the people “in the know” to take her seriously.
Once again, Arianna mentally lectured herself on patiently presenting her case to the man and…politely asking him for his assistance.
And ignoring the gut clenching desire to kiss him again. Forgetting all of those dreams where he’d made love to her or she’d made love to him, touching him, exploring…
Closing her eyes, she fisted her hands at her side, reminding herself that she was over this guy! So completely over him!
Although, as she looked around at the intimidating marble and stone receiving room, Arianna acknowledged that her courage was failing fast.
“Fifty-four!” a voice bellowed.
Arianna jerked, glancing down at the piece of paper she’d left on the marble bench beside her. Fifty-four was her number! It was her turn?
Oh my! She wasn’t ready. Not even close. In an abstract way, Arianna completely acknowledged that three dates and one kiss should not have affected her this much. But they had. And that was the issue. Or maybe the issue was that they hadn’t affected him in the same way. Shaking her head, she once again stopped her mind from trying to muddle through a problem that she’d spent way too many hours trying to resolve.
Nervously, she glanced up at the throne, relieved when the tall, terrifyingly handsome man in question appeared to be speaking with an aide. Quickly, she shook her head and waved to the man sitting on the stone bench next to her, holding the next number. “Go ahead,” she told him and grabbed his number, handing him the piece of paper with number fifty-four on it. Arianna needed just a few more moments to regroup before she faced the Rhys again. Uh…His Highness or…whatever she was supposed to call him.
The stranger looked at the piece of paper, then back up at her as if she were crazy, but it took him only moments before he jumped up and hurried to the dais.
Arianna jumped up herself, but moved in the opposite direction. She had to get a grip! This was too important. Glancing at her cell phone, she saw messages from her friends, Hayden and Natalie and…while she was looking, another text message popped up, this one from Kate…no, she was actually Katia! Good grief, that was a story she’d like to hear more about. Kate…Katie…had left a month ago to confront her father.
The three women weren’t here in Triar, they were safely back in Virginia, a world away from this place and her desperate search for her missing father.
If it weren’t for those three women, she wasn’t sure how she could have dealt with the past six months and her humiliation at the hands of Rhys. Oh, if only she could go back in time and stop herself before that kiss! She’d made such a fool of herself! Natalie, Hayden, and Kate…uh…Katia, hadn’t judged her in any way.
But then her father’s phone calls had stopped! No texts. No phone calls. No e-mails. After three days, Arianna knew that something was very wrong.
Arianna and her father were very close, they texted at least once a day, her father checking in with her or sending her a joke. Often, he’d e-mail her about his day and ask her about what she was working on. Because of the time differences, Arianna knew that she could wake up each morning to either a text or e-mail from her father and she was careful to do the same.
Then nothing. For over a week, there hadn’t been any communications at all! In a panic, she’d flown here to Triar and tried to find him, but no one would tell her anything! Every time she asked about her father’s whereabouts, or
his actions last week or where he might be…the world clammed up. One of the security guards at the oil rigs site where her father spent a great deal of time actually told her to leave the area!
She pressed the power button on her cell phone, turning it off. She couldn’t answer her friends’ inquiries about her well-being because…well, Arianna was pretty sure that her actions over the next few minutes would put her in the “not well” category. Facing the man who had kissed her so passionately and then laughed uproariously, a humiliating fact which she was just going to have to deal with, was not going to make this into a skippedy-do-dah day.
Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and reminded herself about why she was here. She also reminded herself that it was silly to have been affected so intensely by one kiss. One simple kiss. One amazing, mind-blowing, incredible kiss.
“Stop it!” she whispered and turned around, trying to focus.
She just hoped that…well, looking up at the man, his dark hair and those dark, forbidding eyes…she hoped that she’d find…maybe if he could just…Arianna, sighed, not sure what she wanted to find. An absence of humiliation?
Sighing, she sat down on the hard, stone bench, staring at her fingers. Arianna wasn’t here to relive that kiss. No way! She wanted her father back and she couldn’t do it on her own. No one would talk to her and…and she was scared. Frightened for her father’s welfare.
She had to do this. She had to talk to Rhys and get him to put his title behind her investigation. Maybe he could call someone, someone in his government who would take her seriously and force others to answer her questions. Because right now, not even the police would help her, telling her that she was worrying for no reason, that her father was probably just on vacation.
Arianna knew that wasn’t the situation. Her father wouldn’t just up and go on vacation without telling her. Something bad had happened and she had to find him!
Standing up, she paced back and forth several more times as she mentally banished images from the last time she was with Rhys, the way she’d reacted to his kiss had been completely out of character. She’d never moaned like that before, she’d never…cried out when a man touched her.
Taking yet another deep breath, she closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. That was all in the past! She was more in control now. She wouldn’t fall for his seduction this time around. Nope, she understood that she was simply an amusing distraction for him.
Arianna looked up and suddenly realized that there was only silence in the large room when, before, there had been a low, constant hum of nervous conversation. Looking around, she found herself alone in the huge, elaborately decorated room. The silence almost echoed against the marble walls and Arianna swallowed, painfully aware of her isolation. Where had everyone gone? Everyone had disappeared!
She didn’t want to be alone with him! The last time they’d been alone…well, she didn’t want to go there! She couldn’t handle his amusement at her expense again. Not like that!
Panic seized her and she hurried back to the receiving room. Where was…?
There he was, looking tall and gorgeous and amazing! He stood in the center of the empty room watching her. Alone.
“Welcome back,” he greeted. His deep voice was even sexier than she remembered.
Arianna looked behind her, around to her right and left, desperately searching for someone, anyone, to buffer this man’s impact on her senses. Just his look was making her warm and…gooey feeling.
“Something is troubling you, zahrat saghira,” he observed softly.
Arianna’s shoulders stiffened, horrified to be addressed in that manner. And by him? Oh no! “I’m not little and I’m not a flower,” she replied tersely, her hands fisting by her sides as anger flowed through her.
Yes, she knew her anger was just a defense mechanism, but whatever worked, she told herself.
The man walked closer, his robes flowing around his body and she gasped when he was less than a foot away. Maybe he was right – maybe she was little, but only in a relative sense. Compared to this behemoth, she was small. Tiny! His height and breadth made her feel small and, somehow, fragile and feminine when she usually thought of herself as strong and confident.
Blinking up at him, she shrugged one shoulder slightly, dismissing his silent assertion. “Got it. I’m small compared to you,” she admitted.
The man chuckled and Arianna felt a shiver of awareness at that sound. It was deep and masculine, and yet, still gentle somehow. His hand reached out, running a finger down her cheek. “You are still beautiful, like a flower. I think zahrat saghira suits you perfectly.”
She gasped at the irritating heat his touch created on her skin, shocked by the sudden and insane desire to turn her cheek into his touch, to feel the warmth of his hand. When she realized where her mind had gone, she pulled back and straightened her shoulders. He was so close! So close she could…the trembling hit her once again, more intense this time.
But she couldn’t waste this opportunity. She was alone with the man. Not nearly as vulnerable as before because this time, she wasn’t here on a social agenda. Arianna had a mission and she needed his help.
The silence bothered her though. The lack of noise, lack of others, increased her nervousness. “Where is everyone?” she asked, glancing around even as she tried to figure out how to ask him for help.
“Open court is over,” he explained gently.
She heard the concern in his voice and rebelled against it. The softness in that deep voice was not enticing, she silently asserted. It was…she refused to define it at this particular moment. All she knew was that this man had laughed at her…and, unfortunately, he was her only resource for finding her father.
And then his words hit her, their meaning shocking her right to her core. “Over?”
“You are the last one, little flower,” he told her, moving forward. “Would you like to talk? Obviously, there was something you wanted to say to me or you wouldn’t have shown up so early in the morning.” He took her hand and led her over to the cushioned chairs. No hard marble benches for the Sheik, she thought with resentment as she tried to fight the trembling that enveloped her whole body now.
She realized that this was the perfect opportunity to ask him for assistance but, for some reason, she hesitated.
Standing up, she moved away from the bench, needing to be taller than Rhys. Unfortunately, he stood as well, once again towering over her. Arianna glared up at him, terrified, but determined. And determined to not make a fool of herself again.
“Please…!”
“Please what, Arianna?”
Oh, she was fed up with this…this toying! “What do you want?”
“You. But you already know that, which is why you have avoided me for the past several months.”
His statement made absolutely no sense after their last interlude. “No!” she snapped, her back teeth clenching so hard, she might crack a tooth.
“And you want me.”
That statement, spoken so simply, caused her to step backward, as if she could escape the intensity of the desire she saw in his eyes. It had been there before, but…
“I don’t.”
He silently dismissed her denial. “Regardless of your fears, tell me what’s wrong.”
She clenched her hands into fists by her side, her anger…or was it panic…almost a physical thing between them. “You always think you are bigger and stronger, more capable…”
“Arianna, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’m going to assume you are here only to see me in order to resume a relationship…”
He was right, Arianna realized. While she was focused on her reaction to him as a man, her father was still missing. She had to find him and she needed this man to give the order to his police officers.
“I need your help, Your Highness,” she blurted, glaring up at him despite the trembling in her knees and the horrible pounding of her heart against her ribs.
Okay, that wasn’t ne
arly as eloquent as she’d hoped. The words she’d practiced over the past several days were forgotten as she stared up at him, trying to remember the hurt and pain. She’d counted on that humiliation to give her the strength to ignore this silly trembling and remain professional now. But all of that assertiveness she’d gained during her working career was gone. At the moment, all she felt was a silly, feminine bubble as he stood there looking down at her.
“You…need help?” he asked, his tone prompting her for more information. “Help with what? And why so formal? I think we moved beyond formalities during your last visit,” he commented.
But when she glanced up into his eyes, she realized…was that amusement lurking in those dark depths?
Her eyes widened and her anger intensified, memories of the way he’d laughed at her the last time hitting her hard.
With a surge of anger, she whipped around, throwing her hands up in the air. “You’re laughing at me?” She gasped. “Again?!” Turning to face him once more, she couldn’t believe the fury that hit her all at once. “I ask for help and you mock me?”
He moved closer and she backed up, so he stopped. “Mocking you is such a harsh term, and was never my intention, Arianna. Perhaps if you explained, I might…”
Her knees were turning to jello in response to that sensuous look in his eyes. She had to stop it, to stop him from…whatever it was that happened whenever she got close to him. “My father has disappeared!” she blurted out. Seeing the surprise in his eyes, she continued, feeling better now that he didn’t look like he wanted to carry her off to his bed. “He’s been gone for over a week and I can’t get anyone to tell me anything! Your whole police force is corrupt and won’t help me.” The anger was back in full force and she squared her shoulders. “My father is one of your top engineers and worked closely with you and your team to build up your oil production infrastructure. I think someone kidnapped him, and you stand here laughing at me!”
Suddenly, all of her hurt feelings from their last time together filled her throat, choking her, and she lifted her hand, furious with him. Before her hand could move even an inch, her wrist was captured and, moments later, she was wrapped up by a strong arm, the two of them surrounded by guards and she was completely immobilized.
One Night With the Sheik (Friends Forever Book 4) Page 3