Master of the Desert(18)

His expression remained unchanged. It was as hostile as ever. It  wouldn't be so easy this time to build a bridge between them, Antonia  realised, but she was as determined to push her proposals for the  charity through as she was determined that her child would know its  mother. Ra'id might be all ruthless, barbaric force, while she only had a  dream to sustain her, but she had a store of stubbornness she hadn't  even begun to draw on yet. 'I'll need planning permission.'

'To do what?' he demanded.

'Having read through this document, I see there's an old fort on the  land I have inherited.' Ignoring his darkening expression, she went on.  'I shall restore that.'

'So you persist in this fantasy?' he interrupted.

'Obviously I would consult you first where any changes were concerned,' Antonia rushed on, determined he would hear her.

'You should know the land your mother left you lacks its own water supply.'

She made the mistake of staring into his eyes in confusion, only to see  that the mockery she expected was mixed with slumbering passion in his  gaze. 'You're enjoying this,' she said faintly, shocked to think that  Ra'id could still want to bed his prey when he was so obviously  relishing this opportunity to destroy her.

'The water course is on the wrong side of your border-and, unfortunately, you have no access to it.'

'Unless you permit it?' she guessed.

'And I won't permit it.' Ra'id's dark gaze glittered with triumph.

'So my land is … ?'

'Worthless,' Ra'id confirmed.

'But not to me,' Antonia insisted, remembering her plans. 'The land is not worthless to me.'

'Arid desert? What will you do with it-offer camel rides?'

'That's cruel and unnecessary, Ra'id, especially with the prospect of  you opening a branch of my brother's charity here in Sinnebar.'

'Only if I head up the ruling council of that charity.'

'Is there anything you don't rule?'

There was one thing-or rather one person-Ra'id reflected as Antonia  pursued her argument. He had forgotten how persistent she could be. How  irritating.                       
       
           



       

How desirable …

He watched her closely, noticing how her gaze softened when she spotted  some ancient artefact, or when she stared dreamily into the middle  distance as she formulated her plan, only for that gaze to harden and  grow anxious when he'd mentioned the drawbacks to the old fort she had  inherited. Would she fight for it? Remembering the girl who had swum  through a storm to reach land, he had no doubt she would. Although she  could only find the idea of visiting an ancient citadel where her mother  had spent her last few months in Sinnebar incarcerated intimidating,  rather as if the ancient building had the potential to become Antonia's  prison too.

She had not yet broken free from her safe cocoon at home, though she  badly wanted to, he concluded. So what was holding her back? Was it him?  Was she frightened of him? Or was Antonia more frightened by the secret  she was hiding from him?

As if sensing the way his thoughts were turning, she met his gaze, and that briefest of stares told him all he needed to know.

When Ra'id took a step closer Antonia's throat closed, and her gaze  fixed on the jewelled belt on his robe. The rampant lion worked in gold  thread clutching a very large sapphire in its deadly paws was exactly as  she had pictured it, and she though it a perfect illustration of his  power. But she had a small child sheltering inside her, and was  responsible for other children who couldn't help themselves. She had to  ignore her own fears and press on. 'If the old fort is habitable, I  could live there myself and supervise the renovations.'

'Are you mad?' Ra'id thundered.

Mad? Yes, and very frightened, at the thought of taking a baby into the  desert-a baby who hadn't even been born yet. But if she turned around  and went home she felt sure she would never be allowed back into  Sinnebar and everything she had set out to achieve would fail.  'According to those documents you showed me, I am entitled-'

'You are entitled to nothing without my permission,' Ra'id assured her in a deadly quiet voice.

He was very close to her, and his intoxicating scent was scrambling her  brain. She had to forget everything they had ever been to each other.  Ra'id must know she hadn't changed or weakened just because he was a  king, and that she was as determined as she had ever been to carry all  her plans through. 'So the rule of law means nothing in Sinnebar?' she  challenged boldly.

She might not have spoken for all the good it did her. 'I will pay you  for the land,' Ra'id told her coolly. 'Money is no object. Name your  price.'

Her body shook with a tremor of revulsion. 'I don't have a price,' she  said fiercely, searching for some semblance of the man she had known in  Ra'id's eyes.

'I will buy the land from you,' he explained as if he thought her mind had failed her.

'It isn't for sale.'

This was truly a man she didn't know, Antonia thought as Ra'id's eyes  narrowed. This fearsome ruler of Sinnebar bore not the slightest  resemblance to the tender lover she had spent one glorious day and night  with three months ago. This man was hard and brutal, and he didn't have  a heart-or, if he did, it was as cold as the gleaming sapphire on his  belt. Ra'id al Maktabi was a warrior forged from steel; a man she  considered had nothing to offer the child she already loved so deeply  and completely. But, with a mission to complete, she could allow no time  for sentiment. 'Before I leave for the property I have inherited,' she  said firmly, 'I would like to see my mother's room.'

The silence crackled with tension as they faced each other. Both of them  were rigid with resolve. Ra'id was clearly astonished that anyone would  challenge his authority, while Antonia was equally determined not to  back down. It was an impasse from which there seemed no escape until, to  her surprise, a faint smile tugged at his lips.

'I see no reason why you should not be taken to see Helena's room,' he said.

'By you?' Antonia demanded, feeling her confidence seep away.

'Who better to show you round? I am more than happy to take you to see  your mother's room,' he said. 'And tomorrow morning I will take you into  the desert to see your land.'                       
       
           



       

Even as Antonia's eyes widened and her lips parted with surprise, she  wondered why she felt so sure that the granting of a wish had never  carried greater danger. It wasn't just the thought of taking her unborn  child into dangerous territory, she realised, but the very real threat  radiating from Ra'id. Then she reasoned that the desert was not an  environment to enter lightly, especially now she was pregnant, and who  better to guide her than Ra'id?

But if she hoped to soften him …

Hope springs eternal, Antonia remembered, gazing up into Ra'id's cold  eyes. But he held the key to turning her dream for the charity into  reality. The old fort could only live again with Ra'id's water supply,  and that was one dream she wasn't letting go of. And how better to find  the chance to tell him the news about their baby than spending time with  him?

No, she had no option. If she was to have a chance of success she must be as committed to her purpose as Ra'id was to his.

'Your mother's room?' he prompted.

'I'm ready,' she said.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

HE COULD feel Antonia's suppressed excitement as he led the way down  gilded corridors to the east wing of the palace, where the shutters had  remained drawn for years, and the rooms were neglected and cast in  shade. He could feel her fear and apprehension too. He could feel  everything Antonia was feeling in the same unspoken transfer of energy  he'd felt between them on the desert island, when he had been Saif and  Antonia had gone by the name he'd given her. But there had been a change  in Antonia since then. She had matured. She might have trembled at her  first sight of him, but the flame of purpose had returned to her gaze.  This wasn't the adolescent who had ransacked his yacht to claim her  piece of bread and cheese, but a woman who would not easily be  dismissed. Perhaps the sight of her mother's room would change that, he  mused as they reached the door.

Antonia could hardly believe she was really here, within touching  distance of her mother's room. It was hard to catch her breath when  Ra'id halted outside the golden door. The workmanship on the  jewel-studded panelling was more fabulous than anything she could have  imagined. 'Is it real gold?' she asked naively as she admired the  intricate workmanship.

'Everything you see that looks like gold is gold,' Ra'id informed her with no emotion in his voice. 'Shall we go in?'

'Oh, yes please!' she exclaimed, hardly daring to blink in case she  missed anything. Her sense of anticipation was indescribable, and she  put all thoughts of Ra'id knowing something she didn't-something  unpleasant, maybe-out of her mind.