The Sheikh and the Bought Bride. Susan Mallery

      

       “No!”

      Victoria grabbed his arm with both hands. “No. You can’t. Please. I’ll do anything.” Tears filled her eyes. “I beg you. Don’t lock him away. Take me instead. He offered me in the game. Did you tell him no or did you accept? Was I in play? Did you win me?”

      Kateb narrowed his gaze. “I knew he didn’t mean it.”

      “You’ve spoken with him. You know he did. You took the bet. You played the hand. You won me. So take me instead.”

      “As what?”

      “As whatever you want.”

      The Sheikh and The Bought Bride

      By

      Susan Mallery

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      SUSAN MALLERY is a New York Times bestselling author of more than ninety romances. Her combination of humour, emotion and just-plain-sexy has made her a reader favourite. Susan makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her handsome husband and possibly the world’s cutest dog. Visit her website at www. SusanMallery.com.

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       Available in July 2010 from Mills & Boon® Special Moments™

       From Friends to Forever

      by Karen Templeton

      &

       The Family He Wanted

      by Karen Sandler

       Baby By Surprise

      by Karen Rose Smith

      &

       Daddy by Surprise

      by Debra Salonen

       A Kid to the Rescue

      by Susan Gable

      &

       Then Comes Baby

      by Helen Brenna

       The Sheikh and the Bought Bride

      by Susan Mallery

       A Cold Creek Homecoming

      by RaeAnne Thayne

       A Baby for the Bachelor

      by Victoria Pade

       The Baby Album

      by Roz Denny Fox

      To my editor, Susan Litman, who let me write the book of my heart.

      Chapter One

      When Victoria McCallan woke to find five armed and burly palace guards standing around her bed, she had a feeling this might not turn out to be her best day.

      She was more curious than concerned about the intrusion, mostly because she hadn’t done anything wrong. Well, unless she counted the extra brownie she’d had at lunch, not that anyone but her would care about her skirts getting tighter. So this had to be a mistake.

      Careful to keep the sheet pulled to her shoulders, she sat up and turned on the lamp on the nightstand, then blinked in the sudden brightness.

      Yup, burly guards, in uniform. She frowned as she noticed their hands seemed to be hovering by their side arms. That couldn’t be good.

      She cleared her throat and looked at the guy with the most ribbons on his jacket. “Are you sure you have the right room?” she asked.

      “Victoria McCallan?”

      Damn. Curiosity and concern flowed away, leaving a good dose of fear in their place.

      Not that she would let the guards know. She’d always been good at acting as if everything was perfect, even as her world crumbled around her.

      She raised her chin and did her best to speak without letting them see she was shaking. “That’s right. How can I help you?”

      “Prince Kateb would like to see you right away.”

      “Prince Kateb?”

      She’d met him, of course. As personal assistant to Prince Nadim, she knew all the members of the royal family. Kateb rarely came into town, preferring to live in the desert. Much to the annoyance of his father.

      “What does he want with me?”

      “That is not for me to say. If you’ll come with us?”

      The guard might be asking a question, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to be allowed to say no.

      “Of course. If you’ll just give me a moment and some privacy to get dressed, I’ll—”

      “That won’t be necessary,” the guard told her. He tossed her the robe from the foot of the bed, then motioned for the other guards to turn around.

      Victoria blinked at him. “I’m not meeting the prince in my robe.”

      The head guard’s steely gaze told her that she just might have that one wrong.

      What was going on? she wondered, as she pulled on the silk robe and then scrambled to her feet. She jerked the fabric closed and fastened the tie before slipping into her matching, lavender marabou slippers.

      “This is crazy,” she muttered, as much to herself as to him. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

      She was a good assistant, who kept track of Prince Nadim’s appointments and made sure his office ran smoothly. She didn’t have parties in her room or run off with the royal silver. Her passport was up-to-date, she was friendly with the other palace employees and she paid her taxes. What on earth would cause Prince Kateb, whom she barely knew, to send guards to her room? There weren’t any—

      She came to a stop. The head guard motioned for her to keep walking, which she did, but she wasn’t paying attention to where they were going. She’d figured out the problem—and it was a big one.

      A month ago, in a moment of weakness, she’d e-mailed her father. She knew better, knew that getting in touch with him would be a huge mistake. Once he’d answered, it had been too late to change her mind. He’d been delighted to discover she was living in the royal palace in El Deharia and had quickly flown out for a visit.

      The man had always been nothing but trouble, she thought grimly as she was taken into an elevator and the basement button pushed. Palaces didn’t actually have basements…they had dungeons. She knew enough about El Deharian history to know that nothing good ever happened in the dungeon.

      The doors opened onto a long corridor.