The Sheikh's Baby Omnibus Read Online Free Page B

her dream!
    ‘Let go of me,’ she demanded chokily, pushing him away. ‘Don’t touch me...’
    ‘Don’t touch you?’
    Now that she was on the ground she realised just how far she had to look up to see the expression in his eyes.
    ‘From what I’ve heard it isn’t often those words leave your lips.’
    Instinctively Mariella raised her hand, taking refuge in an act of female rebuttal and retaliation as ancient as the land around her, but immediately he seized her wrist in a punishing grip, his eyes glittering savagely as he curled his fingers tighter. ‘Hell cat!’ he taunted her mercilessly. ‘One attempt to use your claws on me and, I promise you, you will regret it.
    ‘You can’t go anywhere tonight,’ he told her bluntly. ‘There’s a sandstorm forecast that would bury you alive before you could get even halfway back to the city. In your case it would be no loss, but for the sake of the child...’
    The child...Fleur!
    An agonised sound of distress choked in Mariella’s throat. She could not stay here in this wilderness with this...this...savagely dangerous man, but her own common sense was telling her that she had no other option. Already the four-wheel drive was buried almost axle-deep in sand. She could taste it in her mouth, feel it on her skin. Inside the vehicle, Fleur had begun to cry again. Instinctively Mariella turned to go to her, but Xavier was there before her, lifting Fleur out.
    The baby looked so tiny held in his arms. Mariella held her breath watching him... He was Fleur’s father after all. Surely he must feel something? Some remorse, some guilt...something... True, he did pause to look at her, but the expression on his face was unreadable.
    ‘She has your hair,’ he told Mariella, before adding grimly, ‘The wind is picking up. We need to get inside the tent. Where are you going?’ he demanded as she turned back to the vehicle.
    ‘I want to get Fleur’s things,’ she told him, tensing as he gave a sharp exclamation of irritation and overruled her.
    ‘Leave them for now. I shall come back for them.’
    Mariella couldn’t believe how strong the wind had become! The sand felt like a million tiny particles of glass shredding her skin.
    By the time they reached the safety and protection of the pavilion, her leg muscles ached from the effort of fighting her way through the shifting sand.
    Once inside the pavilion she realised that it was much larger than she had originally thought. A central area was furnished with rich carpets and low divans. Rugs were thrown over dark wood chests, and on the intricately carved tables stood oil lamps and candles. In their light Mariella could see two draped swags of cloth caught back in a dull gold rope as though they covered the entrance to two other inner rooms.
    ‘Fleur needs something to eat, and a change of clothes,’ she announced curtly, ‘and I want to ring the Beach Club to tell them what has happened.’
    ‘Use a telephone—in this intensity of sandstorm?’ He laughed openly at her. ‘You would be lucky to be able to use a landline, never mind a mobile. As for the child...’
    ‘The child!’ Mariella checked him bitterly. ‘Even knowing the truth you still try to distance yourself from her, don’t you? Well, let me tell you something—’
    ‘No, let me tell you something... Any man could have fathered this child! I feel for her that she should have a mother of such low morals, a mother so willing to give herself to any and every man her eye alights on, but let me make it plain to you that I do not intend to be blackmailed into paying for a pleasure that was of so little value, never mind paying for a child who may or may not be the result of it!’
    Mariella went white with shock and disbelief, but before she could defend her sister, Fleur started to cry in earnest.
    Ignoring Xavier, Mariella soothed her, whispering tenderly. ‘It’s all right, sweetheart, I know you’re hungry...’ Automatically as she talked to her