Sheikh's Forbidden Conquest

CHAPTER FOUR

KADIR WATCHED LEXI HOWARD across the ballroom and felt a slow burn of desire in the pit of his stomach. She was startlingly beautiful, and he noticed that many of the other party guests glanced at her more than once. There was something almost ethereal about her ash-blonde hair, swept up into a chignon tonight, and her peaches and cream complexion. Her fine bone structure, with those high cheekbones, was simply exquisite. She was an English rose, combining cool elegance with understated sensuality in her short black dress and her endlessly long legs and high-heeled black shoes.

If he was a betting man he would lay money that she was wearing stockings. Kadir’s nostrils flared as he visualised her wrapping her legs around his back, wearing the stockings and stilettos—and nothing else!

He frowned and altered his position in an effort to ease the hard throb of his arousal. It was a long time since he’d felt so intensely turned on by a woman, especially by a woman who clearly disliked him. In fact it had never happened to him before. Since his youth, women had thrown themselves at him.

Perhaps it was simply the novelty of Lexi Howard’s frosty attitude that intrigued him. His mind flew to those few moments in his hotel room when he had nearly kissed her. What had started out as an amusing game had quickly and unexpectedly turned into something darker and hotter when he’d seen the invitation in her eyes.

He wondered what would have happened if the teenager Tania Stewart, who had followed him around like a lovesick puppy while he had been staying at her father’s hotel, had not made her spectacular appearance. Kadir knew he would have covered Lexi’s mouth with his and tasted her—and she would have let him. Instead, she had treated him like a pariah. His jaw clenched. The scalding fury that had been responsible for him gunning his sports car up the motorway still simmered inside him like the smouldering embers of a fire.

‘I see you’re looking at my future sister-in-law.’

Kadir’s bland expression gave away none of his thoughts as he turned his head towards the man standing beside him. Charles Fairfax’s face had the ruddy hue of a man who was on his fifth gin punch, even though it was still early in the evening. ‘I’d better warn you, old man. You won’t get any joy there. A couple of my friends have tried and reported that Lexi Howard is a frigid bitch. It’s no surprise her fiancé dumped her. The guy was lucky the ice queen didn’t freeze his balls off.’ Charles laughed, evidently finding his schoolboy attempt at humour funny.

Charles had always been a pain in the backside when they had been at school, Kadir mused, fixing a smile on his lips to disguise his temptation to rearrange Charles’s nondescript features with his fist. In truth, he was puzzled by his violent reaction to the Englishman’s crude comments, and his desire to defend Lexi Howard. At Eton College he had never considered Charles Fairfax to be a close friend but, thanks to social media, he had remained in touch with many of his fellow students from his school days. Networking was always useful, and when Lexi had mentioned her sister’s engagement party Kadir had known that there was only one Lord and Lady Fairfax living in Henley-on-Thames.

His eyes strayed across the room to where Lexi was chatting to a petite woman with a mass of dark brown hair and wearing a dress in an unflattering shade of acid-yellow. It was curious that the Howard sisters were so unalike, he thought.

He saw Lexi glance around the room and stiffen when she noticed him. From across the ballroom he felt waves of hostility emanating from her, challenging him, exciting him. Kadir felt his heart jolt against his ribs. He held Lexi’s gaze as he raised his glass to her, before he sipped his Virgin Mary, feeling the peppery warmth of the drink heat his blood.

* * *

‘Do you think I look fat in this dress? I wish I could wear black like you but it makes my skin look sallow.’

Lexi forced her mind from the humiliating spectacle that had taken place in Sultan Kadir of Zenhab’s hotel suite earlier and concentrated on her sister. ‘You look lovely,’ she said, in what she hoped was a convincing voice.

Athena’s face brightened. ‘Lady Fairfax helped me to choose my dress. She said the colour suits me.’

‘Did she?’ Lexi suspected that Charles Fairfax’s mother had her reasons for persuading Athena to wear the ghastly yellow satin dress. Charles was her only son and would eventually become the next Lord Fairfax, and Lexi had overheard several party guests comment that Charles’s parents wished him to marry a woman with a title.

Athena fiddled with the large satin bow on her shoulder. ‘I wish I looked elegant and sophisticated like you,’ she blurted. ‘You would be a much better wife for Charlie than me. You would know how to talk to people at dinner parties, and you’d never spill your wine or drop your spoon into the soup. I’m so clumsy. Sometimes I think Charlie finds me an embarrassment.’

Lexi frowned. ‘You can’t help being short-sighted. Charlie should be more supportive. Presumably he asked you to marry him because he loves you, not because he wants you to be his unpaid social hostess.’ She gave her sister an exasperated look and was tempted to ask Athena why she had agreed to marry Charles, who was a wimp with a distinctly spiteful side to his nature. ‘To be honest, I’m not convinced that he’s the right man for you.’

‘Maybe you’re jealous that I’m getting married and you’re not.’ Athena bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry, Lexi. That was a horrible thing to say. It’s just that since you broke up with Steven you’ve pushed people away more than ever, including Mum and Dad...and me.’

‘I was over Steven a long time ago,’ Lexi said curtly. ‘I don’t push people away.’ She remembered the coastguard commander Roger Norris’s comment that she came across as intimidating. ‘I admit I’m independent, but I had to be when I was growing up. I always knew I had been adopted, but you are Marcus and Veronica’s own daughter and it was natural that they doted on you.’

Athena looked as though she was going to cry and Lexi silently cursed her runaway tongue. It wasn’t her sister’s fault that she had been the favourite child.

‘Mum and Dad are really proud of you, and they’re always telling people that you were a pilot in the RAF and received an award for bravery for your work in Afghanistan. They wanted to catch up with you tonight, but they couldn’t make the party because their cruise was booked ages ago.

‘I’m sure Mum and Dad wish I was as clever as you,’ Athena admitted. ‘They are both doctors and I suppose they naturally assumed I would be academic like them. They even named me after the Greek goddess of wisdom, for heaven’s sake! I know they were disappointed when I failed to get the grades to go to university. At least they’re pleased that I’m going to marry Charlie and I’ll be Lady Fairfax one day.’

‘You can’t marry him just to win parental approval.’

‘I’m not... Of course I love him,’ Athena insisted, too earnestly, in Lexi’s opinion. But she did not voice her concerns. Her sister was an adult and perfectly able to decide who she wanted to marry. In truth, Lexi was surprised that Athena had confided in her. The close bond they had shared as children had faded when Lexi had been sent away to boarding school.

She looked around the room. ‘Where is Charlie, anyway? This is your engagement party but I haven’t seen him all evening.’

‘Oh, he’s with one of his old school friends from Eton. Charlie was so surprised when Earl Montgomery phoned out of the blue earlier this evening and said he would like to catch up on old times. Naturally, Charlie immediately invited him to the party. I think they must still be in the library.’ Athena squinted around the room. ‘Oh, look, they’re over by the bar. The Earl is very good-looking, don’t you think? But don’t tell Charlie I said so, will you?’ she said worriedly.

Lexi could not reply. She felt as though her breath had been squeezed out of her lungs as she stared across the room and saw Sultan Kadir Al Sulaimar’s mouth curl into a mocking smile. What the hell was he doing here at her sister’s engagement party, pretending to be a member of the British aristocracy? She frowned. He couldn’t be an imposter because Athena had said he had been at Eton with Charlie. But it was too much of a coincidence that the Sultan, or Earl or whatever he was, had decided to call up his old school friend tonight of all nights.

It was impossible not to compare the two men as they approached. Charles, sandy-haired and weak-chinned, was at least five inches shorter than his companion. But it wasn’t only Sultan Kadir’s height that set him apart from every other man in the room. He was like an exotic bird of paradise among a flock of pigeons, Lexi thought. His olive-gold skin gleamed beneath the sparkling chandeliers, and his hot chocolate eyes were slumberous and sensual, promising wicked delights that turned Lexi’s insides to liquid. The last time she’d seen him he had been half-undressed, but he was no less devastating wearing a black dinner suit that had been expertly tailored to sheath his muscular body.

She hid her fierce tension behind a cool smile as Charlie made introductions, but the glint in Sultan Kadir’s eyes told her he was aware of her reluctance to shake his hand; he clasped her fingers for a fraction too long and watched with interest the jerky rise and fall of her breasts as she sucked in a breath.

Lexi could not bring herself to allude to their earlier meeting at his hotel. She shuddered at the memory of how she had swayed towards him and practically begged him to kiss her. She wanted to believe that even if Tania had not interrupted them she would have come to her senses before anything had happened, but her pounding heart mocked that idea.

She affected a puzzled expression. ‘I’m sure I recognise you from the newspapers and have read of your many exploits, but your name is not familiar.’

Charlie was quick to explain. ‘Earl Montgomery is His Royal Highness Sultan Kadir Al Sulaimar of Zenhab.’

Lexi ignored her future brother-in-law as her eyes locked with the Sultan’s. ‘Should I address you as Your Royal Highness or My Lord?’ she asked, mockingly deferential. She saw amusement and something darker and more dangerous in his intent gaze. The air between them was charged with an electrical current that made every nerve ending on Lexi’s body tingle.

‘I insist that you call me Kadir, Lexi.’ His sexy accent lingered on each syllable of her name. He smiled, showing his white teeth, and a quiver shot through Lexi as she imagined him nipping her throat and the soft flesh of her earlobe. ‘I find it is unwise to believe everything printed in the newspapers,’ he murmured. ‘So often, stories are reported incorrectly or are blatantly untrue.’

‘That’s a little unfair to journalists. I’m sure most press reports are properly researched and presented.’ She thought of all those women who had revealed intimate details of their affairs with His Royal Hotness. Some of the stories must be true.

The sound of a gong rang through the ballroom, shattering the tense atmosphere.

‘Charlie and I are supposed to lead everyone into the dining room for the buffet,’ Athena explained. She slipped her arm through her fiancé’s and promptly tripped on the hem of her long skirt, earning an impatient tut from Charles Fairfax.

Kadir offered his arm to Lexi. ‘May I escort you to dinner?’

It was impossible to refuse without causing a scene, but she glared at him as she placed her hand stiffly on his arm and he drew her closer so that her thigh brushed against his as they walked into the dining room.

‘How dare you...infiltrate my sister’s engagement party,’ she hissed.

His wide shoulders shook with laughter. ‘It would have been bad manners to refuse an invitation from an old school friend.’

‘You didn’t worry about manners when you came on to me while your girlfriend—with emphasis on the word girl—was in the next room.’ That wiped the smug smile from his face, she noted with satisfaction.

He dipped his head close to hers. ‘Let’s get something straight.’ His voice was suddenly harsh. The charismatic playboy prince had disappeared and Lexi had a sense that Sultan Kadir Al Sulaimar was a powerful man and a dangerous threat to her peace of mind. ‘I did not invite Tania Stewart to my suite and definitely not into my bed. I was as surprised as you were when she walked out of the bedroom.’

Lexi wondered why she believed him. ‘Not that I care how you conduct your private life, or with whom, but, out of curiosity, how was Tania in your room if you didn’t invite her in?’

‘She admitted she’d taken the pass key from the cleaner’s office. Her father owns the hotel and she knows where things are kept. When you saw her you immediately leapt to the conclusion that she and I were lovers.’

‘She was naked under that sheet,’ Lexi defended herself. She found she was unable to tear her eyes from Kadir’s smouldering gaze.

‘Forget Tania. This is about you and me.’

‘There is no you and me!’ She wished she could control her racing pulse. ‘I’m not the slightest bit interested in you, Earl Montgomery, or Sultan of Zenhab, or whatever other fancy title I’m supposed to call you.’

‘Kadir,’ he said softly. ‘Why are you uptight about saying my name?’

‘I’m not uptight.’ Glancing around her, Lexi flushed when she realised that her raised voice had attracted curious glances from the other guests.

The amused gleam in his eyes told her he was aware that she felt churned up inside and quite unlike her usual self. ‘Perhaps later tonight we will have a chance to discuss my proposition.’

‘I’ve told you I’m not interested in your proposition.’

‘How do you know, when you don’t know what it is?’

‘Knowing of your reputation as a playboy, I have no qualms about turning down your proposition without hearing any of the sordid details,’ Lexi said tartly.

Satisfied that she’d had the last word, she turned her back on him and began to select food from the buffet even though her appetite had disappeared. To her relief, Charlie returned to monopolise Kadir’s attention and she was able to slip away to a quiet corner and forced down a couple of vol-au-vents filled with a cream cheese mixture that tasted overpoweringly of chopped herbs.

She brooded on her conversation with her sister. Athena—like the coastguard commander, Roger Norris—had accused her of putting up barriers to prevent people getting too close to her. It wasn’t deliberate, but subconsciously, perhaps, her wariness of being rejected did make her appear remote and self-contained, Lexi acknowledged. She had learned from a young age that the only person she could rely on, the only person she could trust, was herself. When she had served with the RAF she’d learned to trust the professionalism of the people she worked with. But when she had lowered her guard with Steven Cromer and followed her heart instead of her head, his rejection had been hurtful and humiliating; she was in no hurry to experience either of those emotions again.

Waiters were circling the room offering glasses of champagne to toast the newly engaged couple. Lexi opted for iced water, hoping she would soon be able to slip away from the party and drive to West London, where she had arranged to stay at a friend’s flat while she looked for another job. She sipped the water, but her throat still felt dry and scratchy and the headache that had started five minutes ago was rapidly becoming worse.

Lord Fairfax called for silence and proceeded to give a lengthy speech about how delighted he and his wife were to announce their son’s engagement. Lady Fairfax’s delight was not apparent on her haughty features, Lexi noted. Charlie looked bored and Athena was tense and had spilled something down the front of her dress.

‘What does your sister see in an oaf like Charles Fairfax, apart from his money and title?’ The husky drawl close to her ear brought a flush of heat to Lexi’s face. She shot Kadir a glowering look and winced as the sudden movement sent a shooting pain through her skull.

‘Athena isn’t like that,’ she said curtly, not about to admit to a stranger her own doubts about her sister’s choice of husband. ‘She loves Charlie.’ She frowned. ‘I thought he was your friend. Why else would you accept an invitation to his engagement party?’

‘I knew you would be here.’

He was serious, Lexi realised. The smouldering sensuality in Kadir’s eyes made her catch her breath. She looked away from him and tried to control her frantic heartbeat. But her chest felt constricted and her shortness of breath was not entirely down to her acute awareness of him. In the last few minutes she had begun to feel nauseous and strangely light-headed, as if she was drunk, except that she hadn’t had a drop of alcohol all evening. She swayed on legs that suddenly seemed unable to support her.

‘Are you all right? You’ve gone a strange colour.’ Kadir’s voice sounded from a long way off. Lexi closed her eyes to stop the room from spinning. She could feel beads of sweat on her brow, and she suddenly knew what was wrong with her. To her horror, she realised that she was going to be sick in front of a room full of onlookers.

She blinked and Kadir’s handsome face swam before her eyes. He was the last person she would turn to for help, but she was feeling worse by the second and she had no choice but to abandon her pride. ‘Please,’ she muttered. ‘Please...get me out of here.’

He gave her a sharp look and growled something beneath his breath, then the room spun, Lexi’s head spun, as he scooped her up into his arms. She sensed everyone was watching them as Kadir strode past the curious guests and she heard Charlie Fairfax say loudly, ‘She’s obviously had too much to drink.’ Kadir tightened his arms around her and Lexi, who had never been carried by a man in her entire adult life, rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady thud of his heart.