The Desert Lord's Baby Read Online Free Page A

her…
    But no. No. Not even he could take a baby away from her mother. This wasn’t Judar, where he was the law. This was America.
    But how did he find out? Had he had her investigated, found out she’d had a baby, done the math and come to the conclusion Mennah might be his? Why would he want her even if he realized she was? He couldn’t consider her anything but a disastrous mistake.
    That first night he’d had no protection, and even in the inferno of arousal, he would have stopped if she hadn’t assured him she was safe. She’d been certain she was. She’d had a dozen reports from as many specialists declaring her infertile.
    He’d told her in blatant detail how he wanted to invade her, feel his flesh inside hers without barriers, to pour himself inside her. It had sent her up in flames in his arms…
    Stop. Stop. She couldn’t let those memories assault her now. He hadn’t been risking repercussions, had believed her assurances. That was why she’d known his reaction would be violent if he found out about her pregnancy. He would have looked upon it as an ultimate breach of the trust he didn’t give easily. Most important, she couldn’t have projected how damaging it would be to him, a prince in line to the throne of one of the world’s most conservative and richest oil states, to have an illegitimate child.
    Suddenly her heart nearly fired out of her ribs.
    Could he be here to make sure Mennah disappeared, so she’d never compromise his position?
    Out of her mind with dread, she asked, “What makes you even think my daughter can be yours?”
    His answering stare was long and pitiless, lava coursing beneath the dark, hard surface.
    Then he dipped one hand inside his jacket, as if he were extracting a gun.
    Next moment she wished he had pulled one out, had shot her straight through the heart with it.
    He pulled out a photo instead. Of Mennah.
    A photo of Mennah sitting in strange surroundings. Holding an unfamiliar toy. Wearing unknown clothes. Mennah was laughing at the camera, secure, pleased, knowing how to please.
    Mennah was only like that around her.
    In the few times she’d seen other people, she’d clung to Carmen, fearful, tearful. If someone had managed to get her alone…
    Was she losing her mind? How could she be wondering that?
    She’d never left Mennah alone, except when she was sound asleep in her crib, like now. She’d diverted her career to work from home so she could be with her daughter at all times.
    How had he gotten his hands on Mennah?
    “I—I’ve never left Mennah. When—how did you get the chance to—to—”
    “I didn’t.” His voice slashed across her babbling. “This isn’t a photo of your…of my daughter. This is a photo of my sister, Jala, at Mennah’s age. Mennah is also my feminine replica at that age. That Mennah is mine is indisputable. So let’s drop the hysterics and get to the point of all this.”
    “Wh-what is that?”
    “That I’ll never forgive you for keeping her from me.”
     
    Farooq’s gaze clung to Carmen as she flinched as if at the lash of a whip, his fascination beyond his control.
    But that was an improvement on what had happened when she’d opened her door with that smile ready on her lips. Everything had stilled then. Thought, heartbeats. Time itself had seemed to stop.
    Then it had hit a screeching reverse, catapulting him to the moment he’d first laid eyes on her in that conference hall a year and a half ago.
    As a tycoon and a prince, he had the world’s most spectacular beauties flaunting their assets and practicing seduction for his benefit. His attention had to be worked for extensively, was held with utmost effort for periods never surpassing days.
    Then she’d come forward, hesitant, prim, and his focus had been captured and his lust aroused, effortlessly. Absolutely. A surge of something he’d never entertained feeling—possessiveness—had followed.
    He’d wanted to banish every male around, shield her from their