Free The Sheik and the Runaway Princess by Susan Mallery Page A

rearranging the bowl of fruit on the table and it was only when she’d heard the splash of him stepping into the water that she dared to turn back.
    But she’d looked too soon. Kardal had not submerged himself in the tub. Instead he stood naked in the water. Facing her.
    Sabrina blinked and tried to turn away, but she couldn’t seem to make her feet obey her. Nor could she tear her gaze from him.
    He stood casually, as if nothing of great import had occurred, arms relaxed, one leg slightly in front of the other. She told herself that if she couldn’t seem to look away, she could at least look at something else, but no. Her attention was firmly fixed on that most male part of him. The part that had, until now at least, been a complete mystery to her.
    His hips were narrow, his legs long and powerful. Dark hair bisected his belly, drawing her attention to that which she most wanted to avoid. His, ah, maleness seemed much as she had observed on various statues and in old paintings, although it looked more threatening in person. And it was getting bigger by the minute.
    So that part of a man was supposed to fit inside of her. Sabrina squinted slightly, hoping to make it look less imposing. She considered herself a modern woman, quite clear on the ways of the world. But there was something about being a virgin and looking at a naked man for the first time. She felt…intimidated.
    “Perhaps I should have specified a cold bath,” Kardal drawled as he lowered himself into the tub. “You may begin bathing me whenever you would like.”
    “That may be never,” she answered before she could stop herself. Bathe him? He had to be kidding. She couldn’t touch him. Not while he was naked and certainly not there.
    “Let me change my instruction. Sabrina, I wish you to bathe me now. Pick up the washcloth and begin immediately.”
    She sighed. He had ordering people around down to an art form. She eyed the distance to the door. She could probably make it out of the room before he could jump out of the tub. However, she didn’t doubt that he would come after her, naked or not, and that he would catch her. There would be trouble after that. Besides, even if she got away from him, no one was going to help her. She would be left wandering the castle, dressed like a stripper sing-o-gram.
    “I wish you’d left me in the desert,” she grumbled. “I would have been fine.”
    “You would have been dead.” He glanced at her. “Tell the truth. You would rather be my slave than dead.”
    “Maybe.”
    She picked up the washcloth and soap Adiva had left on a small table next to the tub, then moved to stand behind his head.
    “Lean forward. I’ll do your back.”
    “But that is not the part that most interests me.”
    “I’ll bet, but it’s the part I’m going to do first.”
    “Ah. Anticipation. How well you play the game.”
    This wasn’t a game to her and she wasn’t playing. Nor could she prevent herself from blushing.
    She dipped her cloth into the warm water, then rubbed on soap. Kardal obliged her by leaning forward and she ran the cloth up and down his back.
    “If you joined me, you would find the job easier,” he told her.
    She had a sudden image of herself as naked as him, stepping into the water. A shiver rippled through her. Something warm and sort of melty filled her chest and made her squirm.
    “If this is your best material, I’m not impressed,” she said, trying to sound calm.
    Kardal surprised her by laughing. When she finished with his back, he leaned against the tub and held out his left arm. “You may not be a well-trained slave, but you do entertain me.”
    “Oh, joy. Because I live to serve.” She ran the washcloth along the length of his strong arm. “While we’re chitchatting about my place in your world, let’s talk about my clothes. Can’t I wear a dress, or even jeans? Where on earth did you find this costume?”
    He turned his head so that their eyes met. They were too close, she thought