Page 23 of Kismet

“Do you think to refuse me?”

“My skills, monsieur, are reserved for the men I choose to be with. I do not choose to be with a barbarian.” Her words elicited a sharp inhalation of what she was certain was pure rage. God, she was a fool for carrying her independence to this extreme. Perhaps she should simply give the man what he wanted. It was a disgusting thought.

“You seem oblivious to your situation, ma chérie.”

“Then perhaps you will explain it to me.” She kept her gaze focused on his angry face.

“You are far from home, without friends and without hope of rescue,” he said coldly as he began to circle her as a predator might its prey before pouncing. “You have no choice.”

“There are always choices, and I choose to say no.” Her heart pounded with fear at her words. She was mad. All she had to do was sleep with the man. When he tired of her, surely he would return her to Marrakech.

“You will change your mind. And you will do well to remember that I am the one in control here, not you.” He glared at her, his mouth thin with anger.

“Control is nothing more than a small man forcing his will on others.”

She didn’t realize she’d spoken the words out loud until his hand struck out like a cobra to grab a large quantity of her hair. Caught unprepared, she cried out as her scalp protested the harsh treatment. Jerking her head backward, he forced her to the look up at him, and the cruelty in his smile made her mouth go dry. He enjoyed hurting her. With a rough twist of her head, he forced her to look at the men watching their exchange.

“Look at them, Allegra,” he whispered, his lips brushing across the edge of her earlobe. “They’re eager to see who will win our little war. I have whipped men for less than your insolence. Perhaps the idea of seeing me discipline you in such a way excites them. They’re wondering if I’m really willing to mar that creamy skin of yours with my whip. Then again, they might be hoping I’ll offer them a taste of your body.”

“You’re not the type of man who’s willing to share his prize,” she said quietly, wincing as he tugged her hair tighter in his fist.

“I confess that the idea of sharing your charms is not a welcome one, but then again, I might enjoy seeing you naked with all of these men tasting your body one after the other. I think it would excite me very much. Would you enjoy it? The taste of one man’s seed in your mouth while another man fucks you?”

Sickened by his words, she remained silent. Despite the intense desire to rebel, it was clear her resistance only brought him enjoyment.

“It seems you finally understand the nature of your situation.” He laughed softly, the sound chilling her skin. “A pity, I was just beginning to enjoy myself.”

He released her with a wordless sound of anger. With a gesture in her direction, he snapped an order to several women standing nearby then turned away from her. In seconds, she was quickly surrounded, and one of the women gave her a hard shove in the direction of a large tent.

Without a second thought, she rebelled against the rough treatment and pushed the woman back, refusing to move. The shrill scream of anger coming from the woman caused Sheikh Nassar to turn around. Striding back toward them, he stopped in front of the woman who was angrily gesturing toward Allegra as she spat out words of anger. The Sheikh frowned as he listened to the woman. Annoyance furrowed his forehead as he turned toward Allegra.

“It appears Rana believes you mean to harm her.”

“Then Rana’s mistaken,” she said quietly.

“She said you pushed her.”

“Yes.” She directed a steady look at the woman before turning back to the Sheikh with a look of defiance. “I assumed because she pushed me it was a native greeting of some sort, so I pushed her back.”

Nassar stared at her in stunned amazement for a long moment. Then, tipping his head back, he laughed out loud. She released the deep breath she was holding as she realized what a gamble her response had been. The Sheikh could have easily taken her words as an insult, and the end result might have been much different. In silence, she watched him turn toward the Bedouin woman. Rana tried to argue with him, but he silenced her with a sharp word. With a sound of fury, the woman whirled around and stalked away. He turned back to Allegra and wagged his finger at her.

“You must not tease Rana too much, she can be quite spiteful.”

“I shall remember that, monsieur.”

Stepping toward her, Nassar caught her chin in a firm grip and tilted her face upward. “See that you do. I don’t want this pretty face marred by Rana’s knife.”

The words crawled across her skin like a hive of bees and her stomach lurched with fear as he released her from his bruising grip. For the first time in years, she was no longer in control of her destiny, and it terrified her.