The Desert Rogues Part 1

by Susan Mallery

  There was information that would fill a pinhead, she thought grimly as he moved closer and closer until his mouth was less than an inch from hers.

  “I don’t know anything,” she insisted, pressing her hands against the wall, as if she could scratch her way to safety. “Not about men or sex or any of that.”

  “We shall see,” he breathed and pressed his lips to hers.

  Sabrina steeled herself against the contact. It was going to be gross. She would endure, but if it went on too long, she would kick him in the shin and bite his lip until he screamed. Then she would run out of the room and find a way to escape.

  His mouth touched hers as lightly as a feather. His breath smelled of strawberries and the heat from his body seemed to settle over her.

  “How was that?” he asked.

  “Awful.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll add liar to your list of sins.”

  She bristled. “I don’t have a list. I would like to point out that I’m the innocent party here—in more ways than one.”

  “Prove it,” he said and settled his mouth on hers.

  Prove she was innocent while he was kissing her? What was she supposed to do?

  Sabrina was still trying to figure out what he’d meant when she became aware of him moving back and forth, his lips rubbing lightly against hers. It was not the contact she’d expected. She’d thought he would be rough as he took, attacking and acting like a macho jerk. Instead Kardal was almost tender.

  Despite the stories in the papers, she’d had remarkably few boyfriends. She’d been determined not to be like her mother, so she’d waited until someone really engaged her heart before she went out with him. Unfortunately she’d told two of her boyfriends the truth about her parents, especially her father, and the fact that it was a big deal for her to have sex before she was married. They’d been so terrified of what her father would do to them, they’d dumped her. Her third significant boyfriend had turned out to be a two-timing jerk. So they’d never gotten as far as the “why I can’t have sex” conversation.

  Despite being twenty-three, she hadn’t had much experience at all. It was humiliating. It also made her nervous about Kardal’s kiss.

  Fortunately he wasn’t moving very fast. He kept one hand on her waist while the other continued to touch her face. He traced the shape of her jaw and tickled her ear, which was actually pretty nice. His lips were firm, but not pushy. She found herself enjoying the light contact. When he drew back, she sort of leaned forward because, well, it seemed the thing to do.

  “Sabrina,” he breathed against her mouth.

  The sound of her name in that husky voice did odd things to her stomach. Her chest felt tight and there was a faint pressure between her legs. Nothing sexual, she assured herself. Probably just some issues with her lunch.

  He tilted his head and kissed her again. This time his tongue swept against her lower lip. She jumped slightly but didn’t pull back. Her fingers curled into her palms. She felt stupid, standing there with her hands at her sides. When he moved his hand from her waist to her shoulder, she lightly pressed her right hand against his side.

  His tongue continued to stroke her lip. Sabrina understood this part. He wanted to deepen the kiss. Which was all right with her. She’d never found that particular act especially exciting but it wasn’t too awful, either. She opened her mouth slightly. He slipped inside, teasing the inside of her lip before touching the tip of her tongue with his.

  A jolt of electricity shot through her. She jumped, not sure what had just happened. Her bare toes curled toward the floor and she rested her left hand on his chest. Kardal cupped her face in his strong hand and swept his tongue over hers.

  The reaction in her body startled her into forgetting to breathe. It was like being on fire, but in a really good way. Heat filled her. Heat and pressure. She ached all over and the tightness in her chest increased until it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d remembered to breathe because she couldn’t physically do it anymore. She was going to die right here in Kardal’s arms and she found she didn’t really mind. Not if he kept on kissing her.

  She shifted so that she could wrap her arms around him and hold him close. When he retreated, she followed him, liking the feel of him, the heat and the taste. He pulled her to him so that they touched intimately. Her breasts flattened against his chest. His thighs pressed against hers. She wanted…The exact “what” wasn’t clear, but there was a hunger in her she’d never experienced before.

  He broke the kiss so that he could press his mouth against her neck. The contact both tickled and made her cling to him. He licked her ear, then bit the lobe. Breath returned as she gasped.

  Hesitantly she opened her eyes and found him staring down at her. She saw bright fire in his dark irises. Tension tightened the lines of his face.

  “Do you still want to fly away, my desert bird?” he asked, his voice sounding husky.

  Yes, of course, she thought, but wasn’t able to form the words. Her plan of kicking and running suddenly didn’t seem so necessary. Not if he was going to kiss her again.

  He rested his hands on her shoulders, then moved them lower. Still dazed from his passionate kisses, she wasn’t prepared for him to cup her breasts. His thumbs swept against her suddenly tight nipples.

  Desire poured through her but with it, icy shock. Sanity returned. She pushed his hands away and shoved until he took a step back.

  “You can’t do that,” she told him, barely able to catch her breath. “It’s one thing to kidnap me, but it’s quite another to defile me. My father may not care about me, but he will kill any man who touches me. As will the troll prince. He’s expecting a virgin.”

  She braced herself for his laughter. “defile” was a pretty old-fashioned word. Besides, Kardal didn’t seem to have much respect for her or her family.

  But he wasn’t smiling. Instead he frowned at her, as if she’d just become a puzzle he couldn’t solve.

  “It is not possible,” he said more to himself than her. “A virgin?”

  She grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “Have you been listening to me?” she demanded, speaking loudly and directly into his face. She wanted to shake him but he was about as unmovable as a mountain.

  “I did not know,” he said quietly.

  She released him. “Yeah, well, I’ve been trying to tell you. Next time pay attention.”

  He wasn’t even listening, she thought in disgust as Kardal continued to stare at her. Then he turned on his heel and stalked from the room, leaving her standing by the wall, out of breath and still trembling from the power of his kiss.

  Sabrina pressed her back against the castle hallway wall and tried to hear if anyone was approaching. For the first time since she’d arrived five days before, she’d found her bedroom door unlocked after breakfast. Not knowing if Adiva had simply forgotten to secure it after delivering the meal or if Sabrina was now allowed to roam at will, she’d taken the opportunity to leave her room while trying not to be seen.

  At this point she didn’t care if Kardal would be furious if she was caught. She couldn’t stand to stay inside those four walls for another second.

  Sabrina drew in a deep breath and listened. There was only the sound of distant voices and the rapid pounding of her own heart.

  Usually she enjoyed being by herself, she thought as she continued down the hallway. There were plenty of wonderful books to read and Adiva brought her newspapers and magazines every day. But ever since two nights before when Kardal had kissed her, Sabrina had found her world had shifted on its axis.

  She couldn’t forget the way she’d reacted to his kiss and his touch. She’d enjoyed everything he’d done and found herself longing to repeat the experience. Although there hadn’t been many men in her life, she had kissed a few and not one of them had left her so aroused and shaken. Was her reaction specifically about Kardal or was it something more sinister?

  Ever since Sabrina had begun to understand her mother’s relationship wi
th men, she’d feared turning into the same kind of woman. She didn’t want to be driven by passions, making bad choices because of a man’s ability to please her in bed. If she were to fall in love, she wanted it to be because of a meeting of the minds and an understanding between souls. She wanted to respect her lover and have him respect her. Passion appeared to be both fleeting and dangerous.

  She came to a set of stairs leading down to the left. The corridor in front of her stretched on for several feet before bending to the right. Sabrina paused. If she continued on her current path, she might find her way out of the castle. If she went down, she was more likely to find the treasure stores. As much as she wanted to get away from here and stop thinking about what had happened with Kardal, she wanted to see the plunder more. Telling herself she was an idiot, she hurried down the stairs.

  Since the kiss, she’d seen Kardal twice, once when he dined with her for lunch and once late last night when he’d invited her to watch a movie with him and several of his staff. She’d refused the latter invitation because she felt strange about being seen as his slave.

  Just being in the same room with Kardal was enough to get her heart racing. She wasn’t sure how she managed to have sensible conversation when her brain could only focus on how his mouth had felt against hers and was he planning to do that again?

  “I need a vaccine,” she murmured to herself, taking another staircase down, then pausing to study a beautiful seventeenth-century tapestry showing an elegant Queen Elizabeth greeting a visiting Spanish delegation.

  She raised her fingers toward the intricate work but didn’t touch it. There was a slight fraying at the edges and more dust on the cloth than she would like.

  “It needs to be cleaned,” she said aloud. “Then put under glass and protected from the elements.”

  What Kardal was doing here was a crime, she thought as she continued moving down the stairs. The dry desert air offered a measure of protection but so many of the stunning artifacts needed to be protected. She would take him to task the next time she saw him.

  She turned at the bottom of the stairs. In front of her was an open area leading to several rooms. All the rooms had thick wood doors and massive locks. The good news was she’d found the treasure of the City of Thieves. The bad news was she’d never learned to pick a lock.

  “Visiting or stealing?”

  The voice came from behind her so unexpectedly that Sabrina screamed. She turned and saw a tall, blond man in a dark uniform standing on the bottom stair. He loomed nearly as well as Kardal. Despite being as fair as a California surfer, there was something spooky in his midnight-blue eyes.

  She touched her fingers to her chest and tried to catch her breath. “I’m visiting. I’d hoped to see some of the treasures of the city. I have a great interest in the city’s past. Who are you?”

  The man stepped down on the stone floor. “Rafe Stryker. I’m in charge of security here in the City of Thieves.”

  “You’re American,” she said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

  “Prince Kardal hires the best.”

  “And that’s you?”

  Rafe nodded.

  He was good-looking but in an icy way that made her think twice about making this man angry. Kardal could be dangerous but there was fire in his blood and she understood heat far more than cold.

  His steady gaze never left her face. “I understand that you’re the princess Kardal found wandering in the desert.”

  She couldn’t help smiling. “That’s one interpretation of the events.” She glanced at the gun holstered at his waist. “Are you here to escort me back to my room?”

  “Not at all.” Rafe moved toward the first of the heavy doors and drew a key from his trouser pocket. “My instructions are to show you your heart’s desire.”

  She thought about telling him that seeing the treasure inside wasn’t her heart’s desire so much as fulfilling an intellectual curiosity. However, when the door swung open and she saw inside, she couldn’t speak.

  Her body trembled the way it had when Kardal had kissed her, but this time for a different reason. At least a dozen cases stood in a darkened room. Electrical light illuminated the insides of the glass containers. There were no labels, no explanation, but she recognized many of the pieces and stones.

  Exquisite Fabergé eggs sat in satin nests in one case. She gasped over the perfection of the workmanship, while itching to hold at least one of them in her hand. But before she could ask, a glitter of diamonds caught her attention. A dozen tiaras filled the next display.

  There were gems and set jewels, treasures from El Bahar, Bahania, France, England, Russia and the Far East. A ruby the size of a small melon glittered in a case of its own.

  There was too much to take in and this was only one of the locked rooms.

  “This can’t be possible,” she breathed, facing Rafe who continued to watch her with his cold eyes. “Kardal must return these at once.”

  Rafe shrugged. “You’ll have to take that up with the boss. My job is to make sure no one takes any of it without his permission.”

  “I see. We mustn’t steal from the thieves, is that it?”

  “On this one, I agree with Kardal.” He flicked his wrist in dismissal. As he did so the sleeve of his dark jacket rose far enough for Sabrina to see a small mark on his right wrist.

  Involuntarily she gasped. Without thinking she reached for his wrist, capturing it in her hands. Rafe didn’t stop her, nor did he offer an explanation.

  “The mark of the prince,” she breathed.

  A small tattoo of the City of Thieves coat of arms stood out against his tanned skin. She touched the desert lion, the castle, all perfectly rendered in their miniature form. While she understood the significance, she’d never seen such a thing outside of history books.

  She stared into fathomless blue eyes. “You speak for the prince,” she said, not asking a question. “You bear on your body a scar—proof of a death blow meant for Kardal. You are trusted above all and have been made a sheik.”

  Rafe tugged his wrist free. “You know your history.”

  “Yes.”

  An American speaking for the prince? Who had ever heard of such a thing? “You have land?”

  He shrugged. “Some. A few goats and camels. I was offered a couple of wives, but I declined.”

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “Someone who does his job.”

  He was obviously much more than that. A shiver rippled through her. Without saying anything more, she walked out of the vault, still reeling from all she had seen and learned. Something had to be done, she told herself as she headed back to her room. The next time she saw Kardal, she would insist that he see sense in the matter. She would also ask him several pointed questions about his second-in-command.

  Chapter Seven

  Kardal left his office shortly after six that evening. He generally worked later but since Sabrina had arrived at the castle, he’d found himself stopping earlier and earlier.

  It was simply a matter of wanting to train her, he told himself as he walked along the stone corridors of the castle. The more clearly she understood what would be expected of her, the better chance of success for their marriage. If he married her. He still hadn’t decided.

  Their kiss earlier in the week had showed him that physically they got along exceptionally well. He’d hoped for passion, but that single word didn’t begin to describe what had occurred between them. It had been more of an explosion. He’d been seared down to his soul by a need he’d never experienced before. All that from a kiss. What would occur if they became intimate?

  His initial plan had been to find that out for himself…if he decided to continue the engagement. But now he wasn’t so sure. From the first Sabrina had claimed to be innocent. He hadn’t believed her but now he wasn’t so sure she lied. There had been a hesitancy when he’d touched her. An awkward eagerness. While she could fake shyness, her blushes had been real, especially those during
his bath. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she’d never seen a naked man before.

  A virgin. He shook his head as he approached the door to her room. How could that have happened, given the life she’d lived? Yet he was more and more convinced she was untouched. Which meant he had no right to claim her as his own until they were married. Doing so before, even with the betrothal, invited the well-deserved wrath of her father.

  Kardal pushed open the heavy wooden door and stepped into Sabrina’s quarters. As usual, she was waiting for him, but this time she did not greet him with a smile.

  “I can’t believe it,” she announced, darting toward him, her hands clenched in fury, her eyes flashing with fire. “They’re not yours and you have no right to keep them.”

  “Them?” he questioned. “I thought you were the only slave in the castle.”

  “I’m not talking about myself. I’ve seen some of the treasure. You can’t mean to keep it. That would be unconscionable. It must be returned.”

  “Ah, yes. The treasure. Rafe told me about your wanderings in the dungeon.”

  He walked to the tea cart by the window. Adiva had already been by to leave a tray of drinks. Kardal had been raised to respect the ways of his people, so he did not drink alcohol when he was among them. When he was with someone from the west, he occasionally indulged. Around Sabrina, he seemed to drink more than he ever had.

  “They have to be returned,” she told him, planting her hands on her hips. “They belong to their respective nations. They’re a part of the country’s heritage.”

  He poured scotch over ice and took a grateful sip. “An interesting notion. But to whom should I return them? The nations in question have changed.”

  “Not all of them.”

  “Enough. What about the Imperial Eggs? The czars are long gone. The Russian government has changed several times in the past ninety years. Who owns the eggs? Do I find a long-lost relative of the czar? Or should I hand them over to the current regime?”

  Sabrina hesitated. “Okay, the eggs are a problem, but what about the tiara owned by Elizabeth the First, or gems you stole from El Bahar and Bahania?”