The Playboy Sheikh's Virgin Stable-Girl by Sharon Kendrick Read Free Book Online

approached him softly and calmly and after a few moments he started to nuzzle her in an impatient and friendly manner.
    ‘Hello, my lovely,’ she said softly as she ran her fingers appreciatively over his neck. ‘You are so beautiful. Nearly as beautiful as Nabat—though we shall never allow him to hear me say that!’
    But a soft sound in the yard disturbed her and Eleni turned round to see the sheikh standing very still, just watching her, and she swallowed, her heart beginning to race in an erratic, unsteady beat. It was the face from her dreams—which had kept sleep so tantalisingly at bay all night. The face which had flitted in and out of her mind when she had lain naked in her bath. Which had made her body feel so restless.
    She swallowed as she drank in his dark beauty. Those black eyes. That ebony hair. Her eyes flickered downwards. And a lean body dressed in clothes which were unmistakably western today.
    Eleni was so taken aback that she simply stared at the vision he made. He was wearing a tight, tight pair of trousers, a white silk shirt and long, leather boots. Never in her life had she seen a man dressed so…so inappropriately. Why, you could almost see the hard definition of his thighs and their powerful, curving muscles.
    Her heart was beating wildly now—so wildly that for a moment Eleni felt quite light-headed. She could feel the colour flaming in her cheeks as she went to curtsey to him, but he waved his hand impatiently.
    ‘You like my horse, lizard?’ he questioned silkily.
    Horses were her passion—her reason for being here—so she must drive from her mind the terrible fascination of seeing the sheikh in these distracting garments. Concentrate on the question, she told herself fiercely. ‘He is magnificent, Highness.’
    ‘Yes. But temperamental, too. It is unusual for him to let a stranger so close. Very unusual.’ His black eyes were hooded, and watchful. ‘Think you can ride him?’ he suggested silkily.
    Eleni wasn’t sure how to respond. Was this a challenge? A test to see whether she was intimidated by mounting such a mighty and valuable animal? But it seemed that he meant it, for he was interlocking his fingers together for her to use as a stirrup and nodding, she swung up on the horse’s bare back without another word.
    For a few seconds, she sank against the animal’s powerful warm flesh, almost letting herself melt into it—to give both horse and rider confidence. Briefly, she saw the sheikh’s black eyes narrow in astonishment as she began to trot the stallion around the yard as if she had spent her life riding him. But that was something which seemed to happen to her around horses—something magical and inexplicable which went some way to making up for the fact that it was always humans who seemed to let you down.
    Eleni put the horse through its paces as she took him round, knowing that she was showing off a little—but who could blame her when Kaliq’s critical gaze was searing over her like black fire? When had she last felt this good? This confident?
    As Kaliq stood and watched her braided hair streaming behind her he felt the stir of recognition which was even fiercer then the sharp stir of desire. Because he recognised that he was witnessing something rare—the potent combination of talent, instinct and sheer bravado. And executed by a woman, too! His mouth flickered into a fleeting smile as she brought the horse to a halt beside him, bending down over the horse’s neck and smiling straight into his face.
    ‘Want me to jump him for you?’ she questioned, exhilaration momentarily making her forget just who she was speaking to.
    ‘Think you can?’ he challenged as the spark of genuine excitement in her green eyes made him respond with equal candour.
    ‘Oh, yes!’
    The sound of a distant shout reluctantly brought Kaliq back into real time. Why, for a second then he had been so dazzled by her horsemanship that he had forgotten that she was nothing but a humble