Free Heart Craving by Sandra Hill

on the sand. She immediately squirmed upright and tried to stand, but one of the brutes shoved her to her knees in front of the sheik.
    “Mrffmfh!” She looked back over her shoulder to glare at the two of them, and her eyes almost popped out with disbelief.
    Skip winked at her and grinned with wicked appreciation at her situation. Lee Chin was laughing so hard that silent tears ran down his face. Then they both bowed low in dramatic obeisance before the sheik and salaamed, placing their right palms to their foreheads.
    “Master Raschid, we bring you the slave girl, Zara. Will you accept her for your harem?”
    The sheik—rather, Nick—studied her insolently, as if he wasn’t sure. Paula thought about whacking him with a piece of nearby driftwood, but one of the “guards” still held a hand on her shoulder in restraint.
    “We shall see,” Nick said, rubbing a forefinger thoughtfully over his upper lip, “if she pleases me.”
    Me please him? Hah! “Mrffmfh!”
    She heard Skip and Lee chuckle behind her, but they stopped immediately at Nick’s imperious glare. With a curt nod, he dismissed them, stating, with a hand over his heart, “Peace be to you.” And she thought she heard him murmur in an aside, “Now, get lost!”
    They returned the hand-over-heart gesture. “And peace to you, master. ”
    Master? Hah! “Mrffmfh!”
    Skip remarked to Lee as they walked off, “I’d like to be a fly on that camel’s butt when Paula gets her hands free.”
    “I think Nick’s goin’ stark ravin’ bonkers, myself,” Lee opined. “No woman’s worth makin’ a fool of yourself like that.”
    “Do you think he’s makin’ a fool of himself? No way! Women eat this romance fantasy stuff up like candy. You really oughtta watch more The Woman’s Edge with Dr. Sheila .”
    “I got better things to do than—”
    “Betcha didn’t know what some couples do on top of a washing machine.”
    “Huh?”
    Skip gave a short, graphic account of laundry room sexual activity, most of it revolving around vibrating washing machines.
    Impressed, Lee asked, “And you learned that from Dr. Sheila? Wow!”
    Paula’s face flamed with embarrassment. Good Lord! By tomorrow morning, everyone in New Jersey was going to know about this latest stunt of Nick’s. And it would be linked right up there with vibrating washing machines.
    She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and counted to ten for patience. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at Nick.
    He still sat cross-legged in front of her with his arms folded across his chest. He stared at her with blatant sexual interest, not even trying to hide his intentions.
    “Mrffmfh!”
    “Would you like me to remove the gag, Zara?” he asked in a soft voice.
    She nodded vigorously.
    “Do you promise not to scream?”
    “Mrffmfh!” Her eyes flashed sparks of defiance. Oh, she intended to scream all right. And slap some sense into his silly head.
    He laughed, a low, throaty sound. “Ah, then, we cannot allow that. It appears you need to understand your role, my dear. I will, of course, enjoy teaching you.”
    Her eyebrows shot up at that.
    And little tingles of unwanted pleasure rippled across Paula’s skin at the erotic promise in his voice.
    A slow, knowing grin tugged at Nick’s beautiful lips. “I wonder what kind of pupil you will be, Zara.”
    I wonder, too. Oh, Lord!
    “Will you be defiant and resist me, like a proud desert princess? Or will you be compliant and seductive, like an experienced houri ?”
    Every nerve ending in her body leaped to attention at those vivid mind pictures.
    He stood and walked behind her, so close that she could feel the soft caress of his robe against her bare leg, the whisper of his breath against her hair. Abruptly, before she could react, he lifted her by both upper arms and propelled her inside the tent, closing the flap behind him.
    And the fantasy began.

Chapter Seven
    On a scale of one to ten, this sexual fantasy was a