The Sheikh's Reward. Lucy Gordon

it was something else that saved her. A buzzer on the wall sounded faintly but persistently. Ali drew back with a small sound of annoyance, picked up a telephone nearby, and snapped something into it.

      Almost at once his voice changed. Obviously the message was urgent, for he sighed and rose.

      ‘Forgive me,’ he said courteously. ‘Important business calls me away.’ He indicated the table. ‘Please, pour yourself some wine. I shall be with you as soon as possible.’

      He hurried from the room.

      Still in a daze, Fran couldn’t, at first, understand what had happened. At the height of a sensual experience such as she had never known before, he had simply brushed her aside. Business called and she had ceased to matter, or even to exist.

      But when he returned he would expect her to be instantly available, she realised.

      Well, now I know, she thought, seething. I came here to learn about Ali Ben Saleem, and I’ve already learned his priorities. Oil wells, one. Women, nil.

      As her pulses slowed and she came out of the erotic dream he had induced with such infuriating ease, her anger grew.

      ‘Who does he think I am?’ she muttered.

      No, not who? What? A doll to be put back on the shelf until he was ready to take her down again. And, as with a doll, he would expect to find her lying in the same position.

      It would teach him a lesson not to find her at all.

      She was on her feet in an instant, groping around for her sandals and trying to remember when and how she’d lost them. It brought home to her how far this man had lured her, how easily he’d made her lose control. She must escape.

      She looked cautiously out into the hall.

      A man, evidently a porter, sat by the front door. Fran wondered nervously if he had instructions to prevent her leaving. There was only one way to find out.

      Taking a deep breath, she strolled across the marble floor, a picture of supreme confidence. The porter rose to his feet, uncertainty written all over his face. But, as Fran had hoped, none of his orders covered this unprecedented situation. Her heart thumping, she made an imperious gesture, and he bowed low as he opened the door for her to sail out into the night.