She made a move towards the door but lean, bronzed fingers closed around her wrist and she was held in an iron grip.
The prince gave a grim smile. ‘You won’t be returning home, Miss Kingston. You chose to come in your brother’s place and for the time being at least I intend to keep you. As insurance.’
There was a ghastly silence while she digested his words. ‘Keep me?’
‘Of course.’ His black eyes met hers, his gaze unflinching and totally devoid of sympathy. ‘I expected your brother, but you have offered yourself freely in his place. If your brother wants me to release you, then he must come here himself.’
Emily blinked. ‘You’re asking me to stay here?’
A ghost of a smile touched that hard mouth. ‘Not asking, Miss Kingston,’ he drawled softly, releasing her wrist and pacing around her slowly, like a predator sizing up a potential prey and deciding whether it was worth the kill. ‘It is my decision that you will stay here until such time as your brother comes in person.’
Emily gaped at him. ‘I’m your prisoner?’
‘I prefer the term “guest”,’ the prince replied, his voice silky smooth. ‘For as long as it pleases me, you will remain in the palace.’
For as long as it pleases me—
The air throbbed with tension and Emily felt an inexplicable heat spread throughout her body.
Just exactly what form was this pleasure going to take?
‘No! You can’t do that.’ Emily was so shocked that she forgot protocol for a moment and just glared at him. ‘I—I’ll contact the ambassador, or the consulate or the—the…’ Her voice tailed off as she realized that she actually didn’t have the first clue whom she should contact.
Zak al-Farisi surveyed her with maddening indifference, totally unmoved by her outburst. ‘You have broken our laws and will stay here until your brother decides to show up and face me in person,’ he responded, his tone dry and cynical as he stroked his fingers through the length of her tumbled blonde hair. ‘In the meantime I feel sure that we will find a mutually agreeable way of relieving the boredom. Welcome to Kazban, Miss Kingston.’
CHAPTER TWO
SUPERB actress, Zak thought to himself, watching as Emily’s cheeks paled and her deep blue eyes flew wide.
Suddenly she looked lost, scared and very, very young and had he not learned long ago to his cost just how convincingly women could act when they wanted something, he would have found himself taking her in his arms and reassuring her.
He gave a wry smile and reminded himself that she had travelled to Kazban in the place of her brother with the express intent of evading punishment for a serious crime. She was the sister of a criminal and he had no doubt that Emily Kingston wouldn’t know innocent if she fell over it.
Doubtless her mode of dress and innocent approach were all part of her plan to persuade him to release her but he had no intention of doing anything of the sort. He would keep her here as a bargaining tool and Miss Kingston could use the time to dwell on the consequences of greed and avarice.
Did she not care that thousands of innocent citizens of Kazban had lost their entire savings?
She pleaded for two more months and yet she must have been fully aware that even two more years would not have been enough to see the debt repaid. How could it, when his investigations had shown clearly that her brother was on the verge of bankruptcy and involved in some extremely shady dealings?
And how could one so beautiful be so greedy and morally corrupt?
He stared at her face in fascination, captivated by her wide eyes and lush mouth and by the gentle flush that touched her cheeks. He felt muscles tighten throughout his body, felt the powerful flame of arousal kindle and burn, and gritted his teeth in irritation, forced to concede that the mixture of sexy and innocent was having a shockingly powerful effect on his libido. Even knowing what she was, it seemed he was unable to control his body’s primitive response to her exceptional beauty and suddenly he found himself fighting a powerful impulse to strip her naked and spread her over his desk to await his pleasure.
For a brief moment black eyes clashed with blue and then he muttered something in Arabic and exercised the will-power for which he was renowned, stepping away from her and pacing once more towards the window. But that brief glance into her eyes had told him what he wanted to know.
That she was as aware of him as he was of her. The heavy throb of sexual awareness had hung in the air from the moment she’d stepped into the room and he recognized the same white-hot sexual excitement in her that he was experiencing himself.
But it made not an iota of difference to his plans.
Once before.
Once before he’d allowed his desire for a woman to overrule his common sense and he’d learned a painful lesson. He did not need to be taught that lesson twice.
Despite her pretence at innocence, he had no intention of releasing Emily Kingston until her brother arrived in person, no matter how much her lower lip trembled or how powerful his own arousal.
‘You can’t just keep me here against my will.’ Her voice was strangled. ‘What do you intend to do? Lock me in your tower?’
Despite the defiant lift of her chin her voice shook and Zak gave an amused smile. ‘You have been reading too many fairy stories, Miss Kingston. This particular prince has a much more contemporary approach to incarceration.’ His eyes swept her face. ‘You’ll find my bed much more hospitable than any tower and I promise that any form of bondage will only be with mutual consent.’
She gave a soft gasp of shock and Zak watched with interest as her breathing quickened and bright spots of colour appeared on her cheeks. She was obviously determined to keep up the innocent act to the last. He wondered idly whether she’d still be protesting innocence when she was stretched naked beneath him and decided to play her game for a little bit longer.
‘Y-you can’t be serious.’ She stammered the words out, the confusion on her pretty face interesting to watch. ‘I— you can’t possibly want me to—I mean—’
‘I can do anything I wish, Miss Kingston. You are in my country,’ he pointed out calmly, ‘and will remain so until your brother chooses to repay the debt.’
She shook her head and strands of that delicious blonde hair wafted around her heart-shaped face.
‘This is ridiculous. You have to let me go—’ There was a catch in her voice and Zak surveyed her with a mixture of admiration and amusement. He’d had endless experience of the application of feminine tears, but, even so, she was impressive. Her display was all the more effective for the fact that she didn’t actually let the tears fall, he reflected. Instead she lifted her chin and struggled for control so that she managed to make herself look brave.
‘Doubtless you were banking on that when you foolishly agreed to take your brother’s place. When he arrives, you are free to leave,’ he said shortly, turning away from her and striding over to the window, inexplicably irritated by the definite sparkle of tears in her eyes.
Women, he thought to himself, sucking in a breath as he fought to control the powerful and thoroughly unexpected reaction of his body to her award-winning performance.
‘But all he asks is for two months more to sort things out,’ she persisted. ‘Is it really too much to ask? Does the money really matter that much?’
He whirled round, deeply offended by her implication that he was the one at fault and by her repeated dismissal of the debt. His temper rising steadily, he paced around her like a caged tiger, searching for some evidence of remorse on her part.
She was so close that he could count every one of those thick lashes that