Read To Tempt a Sheikh for Free Online Page B

Harres.”
    â€œYeah, I heard you the first time. But just Harres, huh? Like you’re Elvis or something!”
    â€œAround here? I’d say I’m more Captain Kirk. And you really have no idea, eh?”
    Her eyes narrowed on him. “So you’re some big shot?”
    He huffed, the last traces of elation snuffed. “The third-biggest shot around, yes.”
    He saw that lightning-fast mind of hers reach the conclusion. She still stared at him, as if expecting him to say something else to negate his declaration and her deduction.
    He quirked a prodding eyebrow at her. He wanted to reach the new status quo his identity always triggered and be done with it.
    She shook her golden head dazedly, her lips opening and closing on many aborted outbursts, before she finally managed to voice one.
    â€œYou’re that Harres Aal Shalaan?”
    â€œYou mean there are others? And here I thought I was the one and only.”
    â€œAnd here I thought the dumb-blonde stereotype had been long erased. Clearly not in Zohayd, if you think I’ll believe that .”
    â€œActually I think you’re superiorly intelligent and extensively informed. In general. In this specific case, I think you’re suffering from severe and very damaging misinformation.”
    â€œFine. One of the hallmarks of superior intelligence is an open mind. So here’s my mind, wide as the desert and ready for amending info. What is the king’s second son and Zohayd’s worshipped minister of interior doing on a hostage-retrieval mission?”
    â€œYou see? Brilliant. You cut to the core of logic in any situation like an arrow. And as the question is the only one to be asked, the answer is as singular. I couldn’t entrust anyone else with retrieving you. I had to be here myself. And I thank the circumstances that necessitated my presence.”
    She cracked a bitter laugh. “Sure, because it turned out to be me, and I’m unique, magical, and our meeting under these circumstances is an unprecedented and unrepeatable act of munificent fate, and all that over-the-top drivel.”
    His hands itched with the need to capture that proud, obstinate head, subdue her resentment, resurrect her hunger.
    But he knew that would backfire. He was finally realizing the gravity of the situation. The depth of her prejudice. He had no idea what had formed such an iceberg within her, but if he wasn’t careful, all his efforts to win her trust would be wrecked against it.
    He let the last trace of the smile go. This needed to be serious, heartfelt. That would be easy. He didn’t have to act either sentiment. “A few minutes ago, before learningmy identity turned you from an ally into an enemy, you would have agreed with all that you now consider devious nonsense.”
    Her eyes lashed him with more vexation. He realized that her belief that she’d been taken in was exaggerating her anger. “Sure I would have. I was being worked by a master manipulator. But then, after I escaped being interrogated to death by a gang of desert hooligans, anyone would have seemed a knight in camouflage to my fried mind and senses. But you’re not being very clever. Telling me who you are was the worst mistake you could have made. You would have served your goal far better if you’d let me believe you were small fry, one of the hundreds of ‘princes’ with the odd drop of Aal Shalaan blood. Exposing yourself as the premium pure brew only makes you more accountable for the crimes your family perpetrated. It makes you the enemy I’m here to bring down.”
    Â 
    Talia watched her words sink into Harres Aal Shalaan.
    She’d managed to wipe away that indulgent smile that had seemed permanent on his face a couple of minutes ago. Now she’d gone a dozen steps further, causing his expression to be engulfed in a tide of grimness.
    She almost bit her tongue, but she might get poisoned by the venom flowing