The Desert Castle Read Online Free Page B

his arms, kissing her as warmly as he had his niece. ‘ Ahlan wa sahtan ! Welcome to Jordan! ’ he laughed at her.
    ‘ Ah lan bekum ! ’ Lucasta roared back at him.
    F lustered, Marion stood back from them both, her eyes wide with indignation. ‘ I don ’ t think we ’ re on these kind of terms— ’ she began angrily.
    G regory Randall put out a hand and pushed her hair back out of her face the better to see her furious expression.
    ‘ No? Didn ’ t your mother tell you we have adopted one another? We can hardly go on pretending to be strangers after that, can we ? ’
    V ery easily, Marion mentally assured him. She raised her chin and glared at him, bitterly aware that her lack of inches made it all the easier for him to dismiss her protest. ’
    ‘ That is between my mother and you, ’ she said in frozen tones.
    ‘ Miss Shirley, he was only being friendly, ’ Lucasta put in, her eyes as mocking as her uncle ’ s.
    ‘ Strangers don ’ t kiss one another, ’ Marion said primly.
    G regory Randall threw back his head and laughed.
    ‘ You ’ re far too pretty to believe any such thing, ’ he chided her. ‘ Come on, Marion, forget it! Your objection to my taking liberties has been duly noted and I ’ ll do my best to comply. ’
    ‘ T hen you can start by not calling me Marion ! ’ she flashed back at him, and was immediately sorry that she should have sounded so petty. ‘ Oh, call me what you like, but I ’ d be glad if you ’ d remember that my mother makes her friends and I make mine ! ’
    G regory gave her cheek a warning tap. ‘ Your mother would be ashamed of you, ’ he told her. ‘ I fancy you ’ re more like your father, Marion Shirley. He was apt to make mountains out of molehills too. I expect you ’ re tired after the flight or you wouldn ’ t be making such a fuss about nothing. ’ He smiled slowly. ‘ It ’ s all right, I ’ m not expecting an apology— ’
    ‘ I ’ ve got nothing to apologise for ! ’ Marion declared, stung. ‘ It was you who kissed me, if you remember ! ’
    H is eyes travelled over her face in open amusement. ‘ Since you mention it, I don ’ t remember it quite like that, ’ he told her. He took a long, last look at her mouth and then turned away, obviously dismissing her from his mind. He barked out a command in Arabic to the porter and followed him out of the building to oversee the luggage being put in the back of the car, leaving the two girls to follow in their own time.
    ‘ You ’ ll never get the better of Gregory, ’ Lucasta said in a loud stage whisper. ‘ Not even Mother gets the last word with him ! ’
    M arion set her mouth in a firm line and forbore to answer. She preferred not to think of that moment of delicious panic when he had lifted her high against him and had kissed her with firm, warm lips that had set her blood on fire and had deprived her of breath. It was outrageous that he should sweep her off her feet —Sweep her off her feet ? He had done nothing of the kind. Oh, literally, he might have lifted her clear of the floor, but she refused to admit that her heart was only now settling down to a normal rhythm, or that he had had any lasting effect in undermining her hard-won naturalness of manner in his presence. He was flattering himself if he thought his kiss had been anything more than a temporary annoyance to her.
    H e put the two girls in the back of the car, getting in himself beside the driver. Marion was surprised to see that it was already dark except for a rim of red over the untidy, dusty desert capital of the Hashemite Kingdom. She stared out of the window taking in as much of the scene as possible while the light lasted and they had been moving for some time when she realised that Gregory had turned in his seat and was studying her as hard as she was the scenery.
    ‘ Do you — do you live far from here? ’ she asked him politely.
    ‘ Too far to go tonight. I ’ ve booked rooms for us at an hotel for the