Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 30190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
She blinked up at him in bemusement. “Briar?”
“You remind me of the fairy tale,” the sheikh heard himself say, “the girl who pricked her finger with a needle. That Briar.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh. Sleeping Beauty.”
He watched her absently touch her wounded finger as she spoke, and the sight had his thoughts drifting to dangerous places.
She was so close. So temptingly close that he had to clench his fists against the urge to reach for her.
“I like it,” Aurora said after a moment.
When she made a move to stand, the sheikh swiftly rose to his feet and offered his hand to help her up. “You are done for the day then?” Mik’hail asked.
“If you don’t mind me leaving first?”
“Of course.”
“I’m bad at handling pain,” Aurora admitted with a grimace. “This tiny prick alone makes me want to cry.”
The innocent words conjured images that were anything but, and Mik’hail had to look away before she could read his face.
He managed a brief smile and nod as Aurora waved to him before leaving, but as soon as she was gone, the sheikh didn’t waste time sending another text to Aretha.
Mik’hail: If you still want the right to wear the crown of Layla, I want you back in the kingdom tomorrow. We will set a date then.
But tomorrow came and went, and Aretha didn’t return. The car that bore the future queen and her parents had met an accident, falling over treacherous cliffs before crashing into the sea.
Aretha’s body was never found.
Chapter One
“BRIAR.” The glitter in the sheikh’s eyes was unmistakable, and my throat dried at the sight of it.
He wanted me.
The knowledge had me trembling, and I could only stare at him, trembling but unmoving, as Mik’hail slowly reached for me. He ran his knuckles ever so carefully down my cheek, and I had to suck my breath in an effort not to cry out. It wasn’t even the way a man would caress his lover, with his touch more tender than erotic. But because I was so starved for his touch, even the most fleeting contact from the sheikh was enough to have me burn.
He had always been kind and affectionate to me, his gaze ever gentle every time he looked at me. But now, it was different.
The way he was staring at me made me feel bare despite the scrap of silk that covered my body, and when his hand began moving down, I felt even more exposed and vulnerable.
His fingers drifted down my neck, leaving in its wake a blazing trail of heat that had me biting my lip hard.
He was so good at this.
I felt his fingers change direction, and I couldn’t help but glance down, helplessly mesmerized at the way his lean, brown fingers traced the bare slope of my shoulder. His touch came to a brief halt when it encountered the flimsiest of obstacles: a string-thin strap of my nightgown.
My gaze flew to him.
Would he or wouldn’t—
Oh.
He would.
He did.
His fingers took careful hold of the strap before pushing it down bit by bit until I felt it fall over my shoulder. And still his fingers went on pushing, down, down, down until the silk slipped lower and lower and—
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
I woke up.
My eyes flew open, and I jerked up to a sitting position on my bed. For more than a few seconds, I could only stare blankly around me, unable to comprehend why the other half of my bed was empty.
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
The heavy sound of knocking on my door tore through the haze that still clung to my mind, and I nearly gasped out loud.
I had dreamt about the sheikh that way.
Again!
KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!
This time, the heavy but rapid rapping on the door was followed by the sheikh’s voice, which was tinged with exasperation.
“Aurora?”
The sound of his voice, even tinged as it was with exasperation, made me cringe and blush at the same time, and I had to clear my throat before I could trust myself to speak. “I’m comi—” I stopped abruptly.
Eep.
The words ‘I’m coming’ suddenly had a whole new meaning, but while I was still struggling to find something else to say, the door had already opened, and an impatient-looking Mik’hail was striding inside my room.
“I’ve been knocking for five minutes, brat.”
I couldn’t answer. I was too busy making sure that my expression didn’t give me away. I knew I should be used to his looks by now, but I wasn’t. It was almost like he grew even more gorgeous in my eyes with every day that passed, so much so that there were times the sheer gorgeousness of him almost felt unbearable.
He was dressed, like always, in the kingdom’s traditional robe, with the loose flowing cloth emphasizing the impressive breadth of his shoulders and the muscular expanse of his chest. I loved him most when he was like this, and by the time he reached my bed, I could barely breathe.