Free The Sheik's Secret Bride by Susan Mallery

sorry,” Liana said quickly. “I didn’t mean to say anything offensive about Malik’s late wife.”
    “You did not. You could not, as you are unaware of what happened.” Fatima smiled tightly. “Do not trouble yourself, child. While Iman will never be dead enough to suit me, she is out of our lives and we are the better for having her gone. I have trespassed on your hospitality long enough. I bid you goodnight.”
    With that, Fatima departed, leaving a very bemused Liana staring after her. The rich and royal truly were different, she thought, feeling slightly bemused and very confused by all that had happened.

Chapter 5
    The girl caught on quickly, Malik thought with some pleasure. After three days, Bethany was fearless on horseback, which meant their riding lessons had been successful. He wanted her to learn the mechanics of a good seat and a combination of gentle firmness with which to guide her mount rather than have to overcome any terror at being on top of such a large animal. She was a natural, taking to the saddle with the balance of someone born to the sport.
    “I want to gallop across the desert,” she said with a small pout as they circled the large training ring. “This is boring.”
    “This is practice,” he told her patiently. “You would not like falling and breaking a bone. Casts are uncomfortable and itchy.”
    The pout turned into a grin. “What did you break?”
    “My arm. Twice.”
    Blue eyes gazed at him. “Mommy says that to make a mistake once is good. It means we’re stretching ourselves and learning something new. But to make the same mistake again is really…” Bethany pressed her lips together and didn’t finish her sentence.
    Malik wondered if her reticence was good manners on her part, or a sudden realization that he was a prince and it didn’t do to call him stupid. He hoped it was the former because he liked being with Bethany . The majority of her charm came from her intelligence and her artlessness. She didn’t know the first thing about having a conversation with a member of the royal family. To her, he was just an adult who had agreed to grant her wish of learning to ride.
    “My father told me the same thing,” he said solemnly. “He also forbade me to jump my horse again.”
    She frowned at him. “But if you broke your arm twice, that means you didn’t listen to him.”
    “You’re right. And I paid the price.”
    She mulled that over. “I think I’ll listen to my mom and to you. I don’t want to break anything.” She eyed the gate of the training corral, then sighed. “If we can’t go out, can we at least go faster?”
    “Of course.”
    She flashed him a grin of pure pleasure, then urged her horse into a trot. The patient gelding did as she requested, bouncing her along in a bone-jarring gait that made her thick, blond braid dance up and down on her back.
    “Try cantering,” Malik called. “It’s more comfortable.”
    Bethany ’s expression changed to one of concentration. She leaned over the horse’s neck and squeezed her thighs for all she was worth. Malik doubted the horse felt the pressure, but he sensed her intent and switched to the smoother stride. Bethany circled him around the ring, then executed a perfect figure 8 before slowing to a walk and moving next to Malik on his horse in the center of the ring.
    “Can we go out of the ring tomorrow?” she asked.
    “Yes,” he said. “I think you are ready.”
    She beamed at him and together they turned toward the stable. The groom on duty opened the gate to let them through.
    “I’m having the best time in El Bahar ,” Bethany confessed. “I thought I’d miss home a bunch, but I don’t. I mean, I miss my friends and all, but I’m making new ones. Mommy promised I would and she was right.”
    “What about your father?” Malik asked before he could stop himself. “Do you miss him?”
    Bethany reined in her mount. They were on the tree-lined path between the corrals and the barn. Malik