âYouâre beautiful.â
She raised an eyebrow. âIâm still not entering into some arranged marriage.â
âNobody arranged anything for us. We should both choose this marriage because itâs the right thing to do. It is the only honorable course of action. My country and my people expect no less from me.â
âMarrying for protocolâs sake? Living some happy royal farce for the media?â
Her face had been on his mind every day since sheâd left him. Her bodyâsans clothesâhad been a major player in his dreams.
âIf I married for protocol, according to the wishes of the Council, I would marry for alliance. I would marry a princess for her fatherâs wealth and influence,â he informed her.
âSounds good to me. You should try and keep this
Council happy. They sound important.â
âTheyâll be happy that I finally secured an heir. This might not be the marriage they had in mind, but they wonât protest it.â
âI protest it. Iâm not entering into a fake marriage so you can parade my son around as your heir.â
âNothing about our marriage would be fake, I promise you that, Isabelle,â he told her before he kissed her.
Dana Marton is the author of more than a dozen fast-paced, action-adventure romantic suspense novels and a winner of the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence. She loves writing books of international intrigue, filled with dangerous plots that try her tough-as-nails heroes and the special women they fall in love with. Her books have been published in seven languages in eleven countries around the world. When not writing or reading, she loves to browse antiques shops and enjoys working in her sizable flower garden, where she searches for âbadâ bugs with the skills of a superspy and vanquishes them with the agility of a commando soldier. Every day in her garden is a thriller. To find more information on her books, please visit www.danamarton.com. She loves to hear from her readers and can be reached via email at [email protected].
Amir Khalid âThe black sheep sheik of Jamala has just taken on the burden of ruling his country and isnât looking for additional commitments. But when he finds out that the American woman he could never forget is carrying his child, he needs every weapon at his disposal to convince her to commit to him.
Isabelle Andrews âThe stubborn sheik of Jamala who wonât take no for an answer becomes the least of the beautiful doctorâs problems when sheâs kidnapped just as sheâs about to go into labor.
Darek, Prince of Saruk âHis father had been an enemy to Amir, but Darek wants friendship. Or does he?
Jake Wolfe âSheriff of Wind River County. Although the previous administration had been corrupt, Jake Wolfe seems firmly on the royalsâ side. At least Amir hopes he is, since Jake is set on marrying his sister.
Sheik Efraim âAmirâs best friend. Heâs frantic with worry when Amir goes missing, then rushes to the rescue when heâs needed.
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
He looked up at the wood beams of the rustic cabinâs ceiling and, for one bewildering moment, couldnât remember anything. He didnât know how heâd come to be there, in the out-of-place hospital bed, hooked up to machines. He didnât even know his own name.
All he knew was that he was in danger. And choking.
He yanked out the tubes that obstructed his airway and drew a ragged breath. As he breathed, in great heaving gulps, everything rushed back in a dizzying flood of information. A car explosion. Fire. Somebody trying to kill him.
Then a name: Amir Khalid.
He was Sheik Amir of Jamala, ruler of a small Mediterranean island nation. But this wasnât home, far from it. He was in Wyoming for a business summit and to find the American doctor who, for months now, had haunted his dreams.
He squinted against the late-afternoon sun that streamed in through the windows, still plenty hot in the middle of summer. Nothing but open land out there and a stand of trees in the distance. If heâd been rescued from the explosion, he would be in a hospital. That he was in the middle of nowhere could mean only one thing.
Kidnapped.
A car door slammed outside.
He tugged off the medical attachments from his chest and arm, then sat up, a wave of dizziness hitting him. He held on to the edge of the bed. Anger swept through him, his hands fisting at the thought of being incapacitated and at the mercy of his enemies.
Get going. Get out.
He put his feet to the floor and pushed to standing, but his legs couldnât remember how to walk. His knees buckled.
Move. Escape.
He swallowed the bitterness bubbling up his throat. Not that long ago, his first thought wouldnât have been running. It would have been confronting his enemies, defeating them or going out in a blaze of glory. Now his first priority had to be his safety. The fate of a whole country depended on him; the lives of millions were in his hands. He had to let his security force handle the bastards who had put him in this shape, no matter how much beating a retreat went against his grain.