Page 14 of Hot & Heavy

"Are you saying I talk too much?"

"If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it must be a duck."

"Is that another proverb? If so, it is lackwitted."

"I like proverbs, and that's a very good one. By the way, how long have you been living in this cozy cave?"

"Since this morn," she answered.

"Are you alone?"

"Dost see anyone else here?"

He bared his teeth at her sarcasm. "Does anyone else know about this cave?"

"I hope not."

"Why are you here?"

"I am running away." Now, why did I tell him that? Why am I telling him anything?

"From whom?"

"That bloody Arab who calls himself my master." My tongue must have a mind of its own.

"Really? That's interesting. So, you're not with him by choice?"

"Of course not. Do I look like a harem houri?"

"Not like any whore I've ever seen." He gave her a sweeping head-to-toe scrutiny, and it was not complimentary. Her grimy feet and exposed calves got special attention.

"I do not appreciate your insult." She put a hand to her head. Her hair must look like a haystack.

"What insult?"

"Calling me a whore."

"Hey! I'm not the one who mentioned a whore first."

She tilted her head before understanding came to her. "You halfbrain! I said houri, not whore."

He grinned then. "Someone tried to make you into a harem girl?"

The oaf! Apparently he'd known what a houri was all along.

"Pfff! Nine men tried these past three years. None succeeded. I have developed a knack for making a sultan's manpart wilt. So, best you not try any of that bedplay with me." If I had a needle and thread, I would sew my mouth shut. Be quiet, Madrene. He is quite possibly an enemy. Stop giving him information.

His jaw went slack with astonishment. "This is the most incredible conversation I've ever had with a woman. Let me get this straight. You escaped from some Arab sultan, and—"

"The last one was a sheikh." It was a flaw in her personality that she always needed to correct mistakes.

"You escaped from an Arab sheikh, in fact nine different Arab sheikhs—"

"Three were sultans, two were caliphs."

"Stop interrupting."

"Interrupting is one of my talents, or so the men in my family always complained."