Desert King's Forbidden Temptation (Mills & Boon Modern) (The Long-Lost Cortéz Brothers, Book 2)

CLARE CONNELLY was raised in small-town Australia among a family of avid readers. She spent much of her childhood up a tree, Harlequin book in hand. Clare is married to her own real-life hero, and they live in a bungalow near the sea with their two children. She is frequently found staring into space—a surefire sign she is in the world of her characters. She has a penchant for French food and ice-cold champagne, and Harlequin novels continue to be her favorite-ever books. Writing for Harlequin Presents is a long-held dream. Clare can be contacted via clareconnelly.com or on her Facebook page. Books by Clare Connelly Crowned for His Desert Twins Emergency Marriage to the Greek Pregnant Princess in Manhattan Passionately Ever After... Cinderella in the Billionaire’s Castle The Cinderella Sisters Vows on the Virgin’s Terms Forbidden Nights in Barcelona The Long-Lost Cortéz Brothers The Secret She Must Tell the Spaniard Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk. Desert King’s Forbidden Temptation Clare Connelly www.millsandboon.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-008-92879-7 DESERT KING’S FORBIDDEN TEMPTATION © 2023 by Clare Connelly Published in Great Britain 2023by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises ULC. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental. 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Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries. www.millsandboon.co.uk Note to Readers This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings: Change of font size and line height Change of background and font colours Change of font Change justification Text to speech “I have no second thoughts,” Tariq reiterated with the will of iron for which he was renowned. “The wedding makes sense. It has to happen.” “Yes. And it doesn’t hurt that your intended bride is utterly stunning, I suppose.” Tariq considered that, trying to conjure a mental image of the crown princess. Only there was another pair of eyes that flooded his brain, wide-set and the creamiest almond butter–brown with flecks of gold and thick dark lashes. A heart-shaped face with a dainty ski-jump nose and a swanlike neck that was perfectly in proportion to her fine-boned, dainty body. Eloise. Even just her name had an effect on him, so he ground his teeth together, forcing his legendary focus onto the matter at hand. He hadn’t been with a woman since his father fell ill. His body was craving what he could not have—and it was abundantly clear that the very best friend of his future wife was not a suitable partner. Any and all fantasies from this point on were strictly forbidden. The Long-Lost Cortéz Brothers Two powerful men...and the shocking secret that binds them! In the aftermath of the tragic accident that killed their family, Graciano Cortéz was ripped apart from the younger brother he’d vowed to protect. Graciano has never stopped looking for him, even while he was building his billion-dollar empire from the ground up. Then, his decades-long search leads him to the palace doors of Sheikh Tariq al Hassan of Savisia... Will he finally be reunited with his long-lost sibling? And will the road to their reunion bring both Graciano and Tariq more than they bargained for—life-changing desire? After ten years apart, a shocking reunion will force Graciano to face the woman he never forgot and the secret she keeps that will rock his world... Read Graciano and Alicia’s story inThe Secret She Must Tell the Spaniard Royal advisor Eloise is tasked with approving her queen’s suitor, Sheikh Tariq, which is complicated by the undeniable chemistry erupting between her Contents Cover About the Author Booklist Title Page Copyright Note to Readers Introduction The Long-Lost Cortéz Brothers PROLOGUE CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX CHAPTER SEVEN CHAPTER EIGHT CHAPTER NINE CHAPTER TEN CHAPTER ELEVEN CHAPTER TWELVE Extract Extract1 About the Publisher PROLOGUE THE WATER WAS always darkest near the surface, though that wasn’t how it was meant to be. There, in the inches beneath atmosphere and air, there was supposed to be light, the sun’s warmth permeating the thickness of the sea. Always, the water at the top shimmered. But this wasn’t reality, it was a dream, a nightmare, and the laws of physics need not be obeyed. He sucked inwards, seeking air, finding only water, drowning, reaching out, touching, feeling, remembering. Something foreign yet achingly familiar, close but always, always out of reach. The nearer he came to remembering, to catching the threads that danced on the periphery of his unconscious, the more they