His Christmas Conquest. Maisey Yates

a steady look. ‘I’m not going anywhere, Livvy,’ he said. ‘I want to be here.’

      She sucked in a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry, but I prefer to work alone.’

      ‘I don’t care. I want to be here,’ he repeated.

      She narrowed her eyes as if trying to weigh up whether there was any point in further argument, before obviously coming to the most sensible conclusion. ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘But I don’t want any distractions. You must keep very quiet and not interfere. I want you to stand over there out of the way, to keep very still and not say a word. Do you understand?’

      Saladin’s mouth thinned into a grim smile as her cool words washed over him. One thing he did understand was that nobody else had ever spoken to him like this before, not even Alya—especially not Alya, who had been the most agreeable woman ever made.

      Instinct made him want to march over to Livvy and pull rank and ask her who the hell she thought she was talking to. To remind her that he was the sheikh and he would damned well do as he pleased. Yet what alternative did he have but to accede to her demands, when the welfare of his beloved horse was of far greater importance than his own sense of pride and position?

      ‘Yes, Livvy,’ he said drily. ‘I think I get the general idea.’

      Afterwards he would try to work out exactly what she had done to Burkaan, but, apart from a vague impression of her laying her palms on the animal’s injured foreleg, her time with the horse seemed to pass in a blur. Maybe it was because for once Saladin got the distinct impression that her words had been true. She really didn’t want him there, and would have preferred it if he had gone back to the palace as she’d requested. It was certainly the first time in his life that he had been completely ignored.

      Because sheikhs were never ignored and people were always conscious of his presence. No matter how large an official function or social gathering, everyone always knew exactly where he was situated, although they often pretended not to. Nobody ever left a room while he remained in it, and nobody ever turned their back on him.

      But none of this seemed relevant as he watched Livvy whispering into Burkaan’s ear and running feather-light fingertips over the horse’s injured limb and then stroking their way over his back. To his surprise, the stallion seemed to tolerate almost every touch she made—only jerking back his head and showing his teeth on two occasions. Eventually, she straightened up and wiped the palms of her hands down over her jodhpurs, and he could see sweat beading her pale brow.

      ‘I’ve finished now,’ she said. ‘I’ll see him later. Make sure he gets some rest and is undisturbed until I do.’

      He saw her glance at her watch and realised that he had effectively backed himself into a corner. He had told her—quite correctly—that they would be occupying separate sections of the palace. He had told her that their lives would cross only at mealtimes and when she was hands-on with Burkaan. Yet now the thought of that did not please him—on the contrary, it positively rankled. He had found it necessary to lay out his boundaries during the flight over, in order to emphasise to her that the sex had meant nothing—and he had been expecting a host of objections from her, or maybe even a petulant sulk. Because women always tried to cling on to him when he rejected them—as reject them he inevitably did.

      But Livvy was showing no signs of clinging—or sulking. She had travelled separately to the palace without protest, and, on arriving at her suite of rooms, had apparently made some complimentary comment to one of the servants about the ancient tiled floors and the beauty of the palace gardens. And ironically, he had found himself curiously unsettled by her apparent acceptance of the situation in which she now found herself.

      ‘We have plenty of time before lunch,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you would care to ride with me?’

      For a moment, Livvy felt temptation wash over her as his suggestion brought back echoes of a life she had left far behind. She thought of being in the saddle again and the feeling of having all that impressive horse power beneath her. She thought of the warm, desert breeze against her skin and the incomparable sense of freedom that riding always gave her, but, resolutely, she shook her head. ‘I don’t ride anymore.’

      ‘Why not?’

      She met the question in his narrowed eyes. ‘Because riding demands time and commitment and money—and I’ve been too busy running my business to have any of those things.’

      ‘But you have time now,’ he pointed out coolly. ‘And money isn’t a consideration.’

      ‘It’s out of the question,’ she said. ‘I’m completely out of practice.’

      There was a pause. ‘And maybe you’re scared of getting back on a horse after so long away?’

      His unexpected insight caught her off guard. Was that why she answered him so truthfully?

      ‘Maybe a little,’ she agreed. But it wasn’t fear of the horse that frightened her. It was the thought of re-entering a world that had brought her pain and that now seemed so long ago it might have happened to another person.

      ‘Then, why not get back in the saddle?’ His voice deepened. ‘Kill your fear by confronting it. Don’t they say that the more you practise, the better you get?’

      And suddenly there was an undeniable sexual innuendo whispering in the air around them and whipping up an unspoken need inside her. She could feel sudden tension heating her skin, and the tips of her breasts had grown suddenly sensitive. She could feel it in the way her lips parted, as if silently inviting him to kiss them—and, oh, how she wanted him to kiss her.

      Livvy stared at Saladin as she tried to dampen down the rising tide of desire. To remind herself of the way he’d treated her since she had agreed to treat his horse. He had kept her away from him during the flight and ordered separate journeys to the palace, where she had been allocated quarters in the staff section. She didn’t have a problem with that—because she was staff. What she did have a problem with was his assumption that he could treat her like some kind of plaything. Act icy one minute and then flirt with her the next. Well, he had better learn that it didn’t work like that. She didn’t dare let it.

      ‘I don’t want it to come back,’ she said.

      ‘Why not?’

      She glanced down at the tips of her riding boots, which were covered in fine dust, before lifting her gaze to meet the jet-dark gleam of his eyes. ‘Because when I split with Rupert I walked away from riding. I bolted—and I shut the stable door behind me. I left my job, realising that I had no appetite to face the knowing looks and the knowledge that he’d been sleeping with my best friend.’

      ‘You could have found different stables.’

      ‘I could. But horse riding is a very small world, and gossip always follows you around. I wanted to be known as more than the woman who’d been involved in a spicy scandal. I wanted a clean break and that’s what I got. The old Livvy has gone and so has the world she lived in. I’m not looking to recapture something from the past—I’m here because I’m trying to take care of my future. So if you’ve finished with the interrogation, I’d like someone to show me back to my room because this palace is so big, I don’t trust myself not to get lost.’

      With a thoughtful look, he inclined his head. ‘Certainly. I will show you to your suite myself.’

      ‘There’s really no need. A servant will do.’

      ‘My servants don’t speak English.’

      ‘I’m quite happy to forego conversation.’

      ‘I will show you to your room, Livvy,’ he said, with silky insistence. ‘And please don’t oppose me just for the sake of it, or you will discover how quickly my tolerance limit can be reached.’

      His reprimand was stern and maybe it was justified, but as Livvy fell into step beside him she realised that even opposing him was making her feel things she didn’t want to feel. Desire was throbbing