Page 21 of At the Sheikh's Command
She swung her legs off the cushions but remained seated, her hands spreading sensuously over the luxurious textiles. She shrugged.
“You don’t need love to make a dynasty or to rule a country.”
“No, but you need it to live a full life.”
She looked away. “I don’t believe so. Love is over-rated. It only leads to disappointment and distrust.”
He’d been correct. She was harboring pain that he didn’t understand. “Only if love is not reciprocated.”
She looked at him with a defiant expression. “And there’s no guarantee of that, is there? One minute a person might declare love, the next they marry someone else.” She shook her head. “There’s no trusting love.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I don’t believe so.”
“And yet you made love to me last night.”
Her expression hardened. “That was sex.”
He smiled at her lack of self-knowledge. He knew, instinctively, deep down, that she was wrong. And he would prove it to her.
“I think an experiment is in order.”
She raised an eyebrow in query. “What kind?”
“The kind that you are accustomed to. The kind that requires rigorous academic inquiry.”
She gave a dismissive sound.
“I’d have thought you’d approve. Or maybe your heart isn’t really that of an academic.”
She shone the full force of her glare on him. “Challenge accepted. What experiment do you have in mind?”
He loved it when she was fierce. He smiled. “One in which you are the subject.”
“Me,” she repeated, unable to control the slight quaver in her voice.
“Yes, you.”
“And what, exactly, is required of me in thisexperiment?”
“Not to move, and to look at me. Can you do that?”
“Of course. But I need to know the aim of this research. What do you seek to prove?”
“That beneath your defenses is a heart that beats for love.”
She made another dismissive sound, but this time it had an edge of fear to it.
“And how do you intend to prove that?”
“How? That’s easy. You will admit it to me.”
“That will never happen. The only thing I love is my work.”
“We’ll see.”
He took a step towards her, and she looked away.
