The Sheik's Beautiful Intruder Page 0,1

to Bri!

The person at the podium cleared his throat and the room instantly quieted. “Good afternoon, everyone,” he said with a very strong accent that made some of his words difficult to decipher. The man went into the various issues that would be discussed between this sheik guy and the president. While he droned on, Nikki thought she might just fall asleep. The issues were so tedious and dry. Was the man trying to bore the room?

Suddenly, there was a wave of energy that hit her full force. She looked around, not sure what was going on. She watched the other reporters but none of them seemed to have noticed.

How was that possible? Couldn’t they feel the tension? The spark?

Apparently not. The woman beside Nikki was doodling and the man on the other side of her was texting a message to someone. No one felt the change in the atmosphere, but she couldn’t deny that something had changed.

She looked up, her eyes somehow drawn to the right side of the low stage. And that’s where she saw him! She almost felt like she was falling off of her chair, his eyes looking straight at her tipped her world sideways. The man wasn’t just handsome, he was gorgeous! But in a scary, dark and dangerous way that titillated the secret part of her that she was always trying to suppress. The part of her she was ashamed of.

His black hair and black eyes looked out at her, capturing her attention and the rest of the world faded away. She no longer felt the uncomfortable chair, heard the tedious words of the speaker, or the heat caused by so many bodies and bright lights in one room. There were only those dark, intense eyes capturing her gaze, not releasing her. She wanted to inhale, but there was a problem with that. It simply wasn’t possible!

Her tongue slipped out and she licked her dry lips. She tried swallowing, but that was apparently another bodily function that refused to happen while this man continued to control her. She wanted to turn away, to stand up and run out of the room, but something kept her still, in her chair. Was it those eyes? Was he able to control her simply with his eyes?

And then he moved! Nikki felt as if she had been released, but her body betrayed her by feeling…wrong! She wanted his eyes back, wanted that crazy, spiraling intensity back!

The rest of the reporters sat up straighter in their chairs. The man glanced around the ballroom filled with strangers, his eyes coming back to her twice before he was standing at the podium. Nikki took deep, gulping breaths of air and wiggled in the chair, trying to figure out how she could stand up and speed out of this room. She didn’t like the way he’d just controlled her and was shivering in reaction. The thought occurred to her that he was about to speak and she tensed, worried about what was to come. Something inside of her instinctively knew that his voice would have the same, or even more powerful impact on her senses that his eyes had.

She had to run, to get out of here before he spoke. She didn’t want to hear his voice, didn’t want to be controlled by this man again. She looked right and left, her eyes latching onto the exit door on the side wall, then back to him. And that was her mistake. The man stood there staring at her, daring her to leave. How had he known what she was thinking? How could he read her mind and her actions so clearly?

The shivering increased and she leaned back against the chair, wanting to hide behind the person next to her. Wanting a break from those eyes and that look that told her he could read her thoughts.

And then he started speaking.

Her whole body immediately began trembling. And that horrible man smiled when he caught her eyes again, as if he knew exactly what kind of an impact he had on her.

That voice! The deep, baritone voice spoke with an accent that sent additional thrills throughout her body. How was this possible? Men simply didn’t affect her in this way. She’d been around handsome men in college, and there were several teachers in her school who were physically attractive. But none of them compared to this man. None of them warranted even a second look, unlike this man whom she couldn’t look away from.

He