The Black Sheep Sheik by Dana Marton Read Free Book Online Page A

to mention that it was medically irresponsible. She was his doctor for the time being. He needed rest. Lots of it.
    She pulled back once again, although with a reluctance that she couldn’t hide from him. “You should lie down.”
    The roguish grin that split his face took her breath away. She knew that look. She’d seen that look on the prince of Persia’s face nearly nonstop for two days.
    He moved toward the rolled-up carpet in the corner, capturing her hand and drawing her with him.
    “Alone.” She dug her heels in and extricated herself, despite the thrill that ran through her. “If you overtax yourself, it will slow your recovery.”
    “Let me worry about my recovery.” But he let her go with a displeased frown, stepped over to the carpet and folded it in two, sat down. “I don’t like this. I just woke up after a month of rest. How can I be this tired?”
    “A little thing called muscle atrophy. It’s a miracle that you’re even out of bed. Believe me, this is not your usual coma recovery. Some people need weeks just to get on their feet. You should sleep.”
    “And you?” He held out his hand again.
    She couldn’t say she wasn’t tempted. Her back ached. Lying down for a while, curled up against Amir, sounded like heaven. Which was reason enough not to do it. So instead of stepping forward, she stepped away.
    “You’re mad at me,” he said.
    “No.” The response came on reflex. She was a doctor and she’d been taking care of him. Technically, he was her patient. A doctor didn’t get mad at her patient. Period. It would have been unprofessional. But the unqualified no was a lie. She drew a deep breath. “I don’t want to be.”
    “Are you mad because I left the country without finding you, or because I came back? Or because I’m putting your life in danger?”
    “Do you have an easier question?”
    “Are you not the least bit happy that we’re together again?”
    “We’re not together together.”
    “Are you not happy that I survived the explosion and came out of the coma?”
    “Very happy.”
    A pleased smile stretched on his face. He held his hands out for her once again.
    She took another step back. She wasn’t going to fall into some idiotic fantasy that he needed her, that he wanted her for anything but his precious heir. Whatever attraction there was between them, she was perfectly capable of ignoring.
    “I’ll look around and see what I can find to make us more comfortable. We should stay put until morning. Whoever is after you, they know we no longer have a car to get away in. They’re probably watching the streets.”
    He lay down and folded his hands under his head, stared up at the ceiling, his jaw tight with tension. “I should be fighting my enemies, not taking a nap.”
    He wasn’t the easiest patient she’d ever seen. “I hope for the royal physician’s sake that you’re not often sick.”
    “Never,” he said, as if that was a matter of pride. Then he turned to her. “How seriously was I injured in the explosion?”
    She headed into her father’s office. “Bad enough to keep me worried, but not life threatening. Started with a pretty high GSC score and kept getting better. I didn’t think you’d take this long to wake. Respiratory functions were normal from the beginning, steady heartbeat, good BP. Some eye movement, muscle response to pain.”
    She opened the desk drawers one by one and found them empty. “A light coma, all things considered. I couldn’t have kept you out of the hospital if you were any worse. I really shouldn’t have, anyway. Could have ended up being a huge mistake.”
    Basically, she’d gambled with his life. She hated that, even if it was per his request. Providing less than the absolute best possible care went against her training as well as her personal moral code. But she had believed that he might be in even bigger danger if he wasn’t in hiding. That explosion had been pretty convincing. And now those men chasing them and