Read The Sheikh's Stubborn Lover (The Adjalane Sheikhs Series Book 2) for Free Online Page B

Adilan. “I don’t think it likes me.”
    “She.” He stepped forward and held out a date that the camel quickly found and ate. “This is Dena. And we are going to see the Zia oasis from her back.
     

Chapter 8
    Michelle gave him a sideways glance and stepped back. “Adilan, I don’t even know how to ride a horse.”
    It was the first time she had used his name. A surprising touch of something wrapped around his heart. He frowned. He did not know why it should matter to him how—or even if—she spoke his name, but suddenly he wanted to hear her say it again.
    He put a hand on her waist. “Never fear, we will be riding tandem.”
    She gave him another look that made him want to laugh—she was so suspicious, his American. Giving orders, he had soft boots brought to Michelle and for himself—good desert boots made of goatskin. He took the reins and stick from the boy who had brought Dena to the tent and he tapped the camel on her leg to ask her to lie down so they could mount.
    Dena complained as always, but it was a good sign that she had not spit at Michelle. Settling Michelle in front, Adilan swung his leg over the camel’s back, and gave Dena the command to stand. She did so, lurching up in front and then behind. Michelle gave a gasp, then a giggle.
    Adilan tapped Dena on the shoulder and then on the haunch and he steered her away from the tent.
    “You sure she’s safe?” Michelle asked.
    “More so than any car. She is a ship of the desert.” He set off to show Michelle the land.
    He wasn’t sure what part of good sense had come into play when he’d decided to take Michelle for a camel ride. She was sitting in front of him, her nicely rounded ass pressing against his groin. The rocking of the camel forced her against him and then away—all too stimulating a move.
    He wrapped his arms around Michelle so he could guide Dena, and that put him into even closer proximity to her. If he turned his head a fraction, he could nuzzle her ear, licking the skin beneath her earlobe.
    Ah, but he was playing with fire. With the fire in her hair, and in her eyes. He wanted her—but he was the one who was supposed to seduce her into doing his bidding. Instead, all he could think of was how to make her smile again. How to make her laugh—and how to make her say his name again.
    They spent a half hour touring the Zia oasis. He spoke of the dates palms that produced the sweetest fruit in all Al-Sarid, of the sweetness of the water. “There is a legend that if you bath in these waters, you will have great health, a long live, happiness, and true love.”
    Michelle gave a laugh and glanced back at him. “Very romantic, but I’m not certain how water could do all that. And, what, no wealth?”
    “In Al-Sarid, if a man has all the other things, he is considered very wealthy indeed. Do you care to put the legend to a test?”
    “Don’t tell me—you have swimsuits here.”
    He grinned. “I was thinking more that our skins are suits enough.” He swung down from the saddle and held up a hand to Michelle. “Come, there is no one other than me to see you and you cannot say you have fully experienced the oasis until you have bathed in the water.”
    She shook her head but she climbed down from the saddle. “And I also smell like camel now.” Glancing around, she asked, “Where did everyone go?”
    He waved a hand over the dunes. “My staff has gone back to the city.” Letting go of Dena, he allowed her to wander off. “Dena will also find her way home—or she may stay to graze. Now…what about a swim?”
    Michelle glanced at the cool waters. He could tell she was tempted, so he took her hand and led her to his favorite pool. The clear water was shallow enough to show the bottom of the springs. Letting go of her, Adilan turned his back. “I promise not to look—but you should bath. The waters are indeed special here, with minerals and warmed not just by the sun but by heat deep underground.”
    She bit her lower