Her Desert Prince
Desert Destiny Series #1
By: Marie Tuhart
Blurb:
Catherine Taylor is no stranger to life’s school of hard knocks. At the tender age of 18, she left her dysfunctional family behind and struck out on her own, finally free to embrace her passion for creating art. After years of hard work, she has achieved some degree of acclaim. When she is offered the opportunity to work in the small middle eastern country of Bashir to create the defining mural for the new children's critical care ward, Catherine embraces the chance to meld her love of children and her love of art. What she doesn’t think she is ready for is the blatant and instant passion she feels the moment she meets the successful country’s crown prince, Malik.
Malik al-Hakim has been raised with the sole purpose of someday becoming the king of his beloved country of Bashir. Years of careful preparation by his loving family has him ready to take the yolk from his father one day, but nothing could prepare him for the instant lust he feels the moment he sees Catherine. Never one to let an opportunity slip by, Malik pursues Catherine convincing her to explore their desire. But when political intrigue places Catherine in danger, Malik soon realizes lust has evolved to love and he’ll do whatever it takes to keep the woman of his dreams safely by his side, no matter how hard she tries to fight their fate.
Excerpt:
She stepped outside, the scent of jasmine filled her senses and her muscles instantly relaxed. The quiet snick of the door closing spurred her into action. She took the first path until she found a nice grassy area beneath a palm tree. She sat down and opened her sketchpad.
Her fingers flew over the pages as she captured the scenes flittering through her mind. She lost all track of time until a husky male voice said, “Hello, beautiful.”
Her head snapped up to see the stranger from the airport.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, pulling the sketchbook to her chest.
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” He slipped closer. “What are you drawing?” He craned his neck but couldn’t see anything.
“Nothing.” She closed the book with a snap, but her cheeks turned pink, making him even more curious about what she’d been drawing.
Then a memory nudged his brain. “You’re the artist commissioned to do the mural at the hospital.” He shook his head, trying to reconcile her with the woman at the airport.
“Yes.” Her chin came up, and he couldn’t help but grin. She was defensive about her work for some reason. No worries; he thought it was great. But part of him wanted to haul her into his arms and kiss her again. Instead, he followed a saner choice and sat down on the grass across from her.
She wiggled an inch or two away, then her gaze met his. She was wary of him, but he caught a hint of curiosity in her gaze.
“I’m Catherine Taylor.” She held a hand out to him.
“Malik.” He grasped her hand, lowered his head, and caressed her knuckles with his lips. A slight shiver moved through her body and transferred to him. So she was affected by him. Good. He squeezed her fingers.
Her Desert Prince is available at:
Bio:
Marie Tuhart lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her muse, Penny, a four pound toy poodle. Marie loves to read and write, when she’s not writing, she spends time with family, traveling and enjoying life.
Marie is a multi-published author with The Wild Rose Press, Trifecta Publishing and does some self-publishing. To be alerted on new releases on Amazon or Book Bub. Also you can join Marie’s newsletter where she gives her group advance information on her books, runs contests and does giveaways just for newsletter readers. Marie can also be found on Goodreads, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook.
Find Marie on the Web:
Goodreads:
Twitter: @marietuhart
