by Leslie North
“That’s my hope,” Kara said. “That’s exactly my hope. I truly believe that the center will provide a springboard for—” Tears sprang to her eyes and she fanned them with one hand. “I’m getting choked up, probably because—” Kara gestured to her belly. “Just thinking about having a child of my own makes me even more determined to make things steadier for the children in Mennah. It could start a new wave of positive growth.”
Salima patted her hand. “You’re right, you’re right. My grandmother considered leaving several times, I can remember. But she was able to make a go of it with her linen business. I think these small investments—not that your center will be small—”
“I know what you mean,” Kara said fervently.
“The people need something to rally around,” said Salima. “It’s easiest to rally around the children. But rallying around someone else makes it easier to cheer yourself on.”
“Exactly.” Kara gave Salima a big smile. “Who knew such like-minded people would be seated together like this?”
Salima winked at her. “I think Laila had something to do with it.”
The two women chatted more about Mennah—its recent history, the artisans who kept coming back despite everything, and the center. Salima was wonderful. Still, a heaviness settled over Kara’s shoulders. It got heavier when Laila introduced her to another couple from the business district in Raihanabad who were interested in similar projects. Somehow, it was far more tiring to lean forward to hear them over the chatter at the table. Had she ever had heavy eyelids like this before? Kara caught herself trying to remember the last time she’d felt this way. It was never. Pregnancy was an adventure.
The dinner ended a while later, and Yaseen reappeared at her side. “Come with me.” He offered his arm. “There are people I need to talk to.”
Kara stood by and listened, trying not to look overawed. Yaseen was really something. She saw no sign of his stiff-necked approach to the Mennah project in his interactions with the dinner guests. Instead, he listened, nodding in agreement or couching his dissent in diplomatic turns of phrase. Men and women holding champagne glasses pressed in, but Yaseen planted his feet and greeted every one of them by name. He asked after their children, their projects, their businesses. He listened carefully to each reply. He gave advice. All of it in pithy language that made people smile and nod and laugh.
They kept coming, one after the other. The upper crust of Raihan was made up of bright-eyed people who never hesitated to seize a moment and shout over the crowd to be heard. Kara fought to keep her back straight and a smile on her face. Mentioning her growing discomfort to Yaseen seemed like giving up, and she wasn’t going to do that. She had limited time here in this position. She had to make the best of it.
But as one man stepped away—a titan of the construction industry in Raihan and someone who always wanted to pitch new projects to the sheikh—she let herself lean a little heavier on his arm.
Yaseen’s eyes snapped to hers. “You’re tired. This is all a bit much, isn’t it?”
“I’m fine.” She kicked her smile up a notch. “Feeling wonderful.”
A sly smile curved the corner of Yaseen’s mouth. “We’re leaving.” He waved off the next person who wanted to talk, then steered her toward the doors. Kara was too tired to fight any more.
Yaseen couldn’t believe he’d taken so long to notice Kara’s fatigue. He’d slipped right into his public-facing mode, and she’d been right alongside him the entire time. They went directly back to the house, the driver going as fast as he safely could. He had to pay better attention. Kara wasn’t the type to look so worn out after only a few minutes.
“Tell me the next time it’s too much,” he said as he whisked her into his suite. “I’ll be watching, but you can always tell me.”
She smiled and shook her head. “I’m not going to interrupt your work like that.”
He took her chin in his hand. “You will.” Yaseen leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “That’s an order.”
Kara breathed a laugh. “Oh, you’re ordering me, now? Very bold of you.”
He let her tease him while he drew her a bath and helped her out of her clothes. He stripped out of his own and climbed into the massive tub behind her, letting her lean her head back against his chest. Her blonde hair dipped into the water, and he smoothed wet palms over it and worked shampoo into her scalp. He could imagine no better feeling than her body relaxing against his. Beneath the heat of the water, he rinsed her hair and took a washcloth made of the smoothest cotton. Kara closed her eyes and let him massage soap against her skin. His breath caught in his throat. Every inch of her was perfect, including the swell of her baby bump.
“This looks good on you,” he said, his body stirring with desire.
Kara smoothed a hand over it. “Does it? It feels strange, sometimes, to know there’s another person in there. But other times, it feels just right.” He caught the hint of a frown on her lips. “I’m a little worried about after he or she is born.”
“You’ll both be perfectly safe and cared for,” he promised. Their divorce wouldn’t affect that.
“I know we’ll be safe. But will we be happy?” She looked at him, cheeks rising with a smile. “The royal family expects so much. I don’t want that to overshadow everything in our baby’s life.”
He brushed a strand of hair over her ear. “I won’t let that happen.” A fervent heat grew until it encompassed his entire core. “I know the pressures of growing up as a prince. Things will be different with our baby.” He’d never felt so raw in his entire life. The words that spilled from him were from the hidden parts of his mind—the parts he never showed anyone. But they came easily for her. Along with a twist of fear. Risk, his mind warned. It’s a risk to let her see you this way. One day, they’d be separated, and she’d have seen him at his most vulnerable.
Well, so what? Kara was the mother of his child. He let his worries dissolve into the bathwater and turned her carefully so that she straddled him.
Kara drew her fingers down the side of his cheek, leaving cool trails in their wake. Her eyes flickered down between his legs, and a pleased smile lit up her face. “What’s this?” She reached into the water and gripped his length in her hand. “Is there something you want?”
“You.” He pulled her down and kissed her again, pulling her closer. Kara rocked her hips forward, but he stopped her with one hand, teasing at her clit with his thumb. “I want you to come first,” he said, and watched as her face reddened and her eyelids fluttered shut. He stroked the silky center folds of her and pushed two fingers inside. “If you’re not too tired.” He pressed his lips to her collarbone. Kara shuddered and clenched around his fingers.
“I’m wide awake, Yaseen. Don’t stop.”
Yaseen did not stop. He made her ride his fingers until she came again, then drew her onto his lap so he could kiss her while she rode him. They moved together until his legs cramped up underneath him on the floor of the tub and he lifted her out in arms, taking her dripping to the bed. Yaseen threw down a towel, spread her out on it, and climbed over her. He filled her, relishing the feel of her velvety passage, keeping an iron grip on his control so he wouldn’t crush that beautiful belly under him. It didn’t help that she pled for more. She came again, fists clenching at the bedsheets. Yaseen lost himself in her—in the sweet sounds of her voice and the tight pulse of the muscles inside her. Her orgasm triggered his own, and he spent himself in a rush of heat and that unnamed emotion that he knew now was more than lust. While she caught her breath, he got up and padded back to the bathroom.
He’d draw them another bath. He didn’t mind starting over—not at all.
10
Kara sat on one side of the big meeting table at the Community Connections office, her PowerPoint slides from the week in Mennah finished. “So,” she continued. “Realistically, the royal family isn’t fully on board with a full partnership because of the profitability issues. There’s some c
oncern that the project won’t earn out in what they would consider a timely fashion. The government isn’t ready to make an investment that might not be in the black for a decade—or a generation.”
One of her colleagues, Michael, narrowed his eyes. “But isn’t the profitability of a center like this a matter of long-term returns, anyway? And what about enriching the community? Isn’t that important?”
“Not important enough,” chimed in Leslie, a woman with striking red hair and a determined expression. “I don’t get it.” Leslie leaned back in her seat, staring at the final slide of the presentation on the wall. “What are we going to do to convince them?”
Kara’s stomach tightened with a new wave of worry. The last few days with Yaseen—the last week, their trip to Mennah, and last night especially—had nearly convinced her that there was something to their unconventional marriage. Something that would make it last. But what if Leslie’s assessment was right? What if the value to the community would never be enough for Yaseen? What if she would never be enough for him?
No. That wasn’t the way to think about it. Things had been different over the past few days. If she and Yaseen could keep connecting on a personal level, there was room for change. Lots of room.
“We’ll get the project funded.” Kara looked Leslie in the eye. “We’ll figure it out. I’m absolutely sure of it.”
Later, in her office, Kara’s assistant Jean breezed in with changes to her schedule. She dropped into a seat on the other side of Kara’s desk. “Got your book?”
Kara shot her a look. “Of course I have my book.” She slipped it from her top desk drawer. Her own mother had always kept a little notebook calendar of all her appointments and dates, even if there was an official calendar at work. Kara felt her close by every time she picked up a pen to do the same thing. “Go ahead, Jean.”
While Jean scanned the paper, Kara let herself linger over the memory of her mother. What would she have said about Kara’s marriage? Her mom had believed in true love and finding the one, which was probably why she’d never remarried after her father passed away. He’d been the only one for her. But Kara wasn’t so sure about that. Her friends had married and gotten divorced, and she herself had gotten married knowing that the end was in sight. Maybe her mother had just gotten lucky.
“Kara?”
“Yes?” She snapped her head up to find Jean looking at her with a curious expression.
“You look like your mind is a million miles away. Should I come back later?”
“No, no.” Kara tapped the pen against the calendar. “I’m ready. Hit me with those changes.”
“Okay.” Jean pressed her lips together in a thin line, then launched in. “The speech you’re giving in Geneva has been moved up to the first day. It’s now the keynote speech.”
“Wow. I—” She let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not sure how to write that in this little box.” Kara flipped a few pages forward—three weeks—and scribbled down Give the keynote speech. “Why did they change it to the keynote?”
“The organizers wanted to highlight your work, since you’re a princess of Raihan now and using your influence to push the projects forward.” Jean flicked her eyes up to meet Kara’s. “I thought you’d approve of the change.”
Normally, Kara would scoff at that kind of thinking. Her work was just as important whether she was a princess or not. But a keynote speech, as opposed to a normal panel? That would give Community Connections a lot of extra publicity. Extra publicity could mean more money, and more money was especially important now. If the royal family ultimately declined to give any financial assistance, Kara wasn’t going to let the project fall by the wayside. Not now, not ever.
“I do approve.” She traced over the date in her book again, noticing for the first time a note at the bottom of the calendar for that date. “Oh, shoot.”
“Everything okay?”
“Yaseen won’t be able to make it. That’s all right. Tell me what else you have on your list.”
Jean ran through a few more items with her and headed back out to the main office. Kara pursed her lips. She’d wanted Yaseen to be there, but his schedule in three weeks was tight. His flight to Geneva would land a few hours before her original appearance as a panelist. It mattered, though. It mattered that he wouldn’t get to see her talk in a way that sent a shock through her. Her heart felt heavy with disappointment.
Maybe they had more than a marriage of convenience after all.
Kara only hesitated a moment before she picked up the phone and called his palace office. Yaseen’s cell was an option, of course, but Kara wanted his secretary if he wasn’t available himself. The woman answered on the first ring.
“Sheikh Yaseen’s office,” she said smoothly. “Shall I put you through, Kara?”
“Is he busy?” Nothing had ever felt stranger than this, right now. Calling for her husband, who was also a prince, and suddenly feeling a little shy about the whole business. Shy! She was pregnant with his baby, and they’d done things in the bathtub last night that had not been the work of a woman who felt shy about anything at all. And yet somehow... “I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s in an important meeting.”
Yaseen’s secretary gave a light chuckle. “No such thing. He’s given me instructions to put all your calls through if you don’t call him directly on his cell. It’ll just be a moment.”
“Thank you. I didn’t—” Before she could finish speaking, a click sounded over the line.
“Do you miss me already?” Yaseen’s low, rich voice came over the line like a physical thing, brushing possessive fingertips down the back of her neck. “I’m surprised at you, Kara. It’s only been a few hours.”
She laughed out loud, heat painting her cheeks. “I am missing you. I got to spend so much time in your presence over the last week that I must’ve gotten used to it.”
Who was this version of Yaseen, who teased and played and clicked his tongue? “If you miss me so much, then why are you still at work?”
“Because there’s a lot of work to be done.” He must know, somehow, that Kara wanted to get the first car back to the house and throw herself into his arms. Maybe he wanted the same thing. “I’m calling because I got some news that I wanted to share.”
“News about the baby, or about work?” A note of caution crept into Yaseen’s voice. She could practically see him leaning forward over his desk, mouth turned down with concern.
“It’s not bad news,” Kara said quickly. “Well—bad in one way, great in another way. My speech at the conference has been moved up to be the keynote on the opening day. So you don’t have to fly in. I know you could just barely make the original date.”
“Could you hold on for a moment?”
She blinked. “Yeah, of course I can.”
The call clicked off, and Kara wrapped the phone cord around one finger. Hopefully, he’d come back soon, and then they could go back to the delicious flirting. She wouldn’t say no to more of that from him. Maybe she could say something saucy about how he could make it up to her later. So many options.
“I’ll be there.” Yaseen’s return to the call cut into her thoughts. “My schedule’s been rearranged.”
“What?” A burst of excitement flashed through her veins. “You already rearranged it?”
“Barring an emergency, I should be able to make it. I don’t want to miss your first major speech as my wife.”
Kara thought she might burst with this emotion. Joy? Pride? Joy and pride mixed together in what felt like an explosion of light? “I’m so happy,” she managed. “I’m so glad you’re going to be there.”
“Do you know what I’m glad for?”
“What?”
“That you’re coming home to me tonight.” Yaseen dropped his voice. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to do.”
Kara squeezed her thighs together under her desk. “Like what?”
“It involves a bed, my hands, and you, utterly naked.” Yaseen kept goin
g, and Kara sank into the sound of his voice, wearing the biggest grin of her life.
11
Yaseen watched Kara across the dining table, her face glowing in the candlelight. She could hardly look at him without her cheeks going pink, and Yaseen loved it. He wanted more of that with a desperation that knocked him off guard. Did every husband look at his wife across the table and want to sweep the dishes to the floor with one hand, lift her up onto that polished wood, and have his way with her? Maybe not, but Yaseen certainly did.
So he didn’t relish having to break the news to her instead of following his heart. Oh, not his heart—the lust at the core of him. That’s what he wanted to follow now, but it was all bound up in other feelings for her. So many feelings that he couldn’t quite sort them out.
An easy one to pinpoint was that he did not want to disappoint her. She’d been so happy the other night about the fact that he was going to be there for her speech in Geneva. Yaseen wasn’t about to break that promise, but something else had come up.
“I’ve had a change in my schedule,” he said, jumping in with both feet.
Kara put down her fork, eyes going wide. “Is it about the conference? Because if you can’t make it, I know that’s not totally under your control, and I don’t—”
“It’s not the conference.” He put on a smile that he hoped reflected more confidence than he felt. “One of the royal family’s business partners is having an urgent situation in Germany. I’m needed on the ground.”
She folded her hands over her belly. “Do you have to leave tonight? Is it that kind of urgent?”
“Tomorrow morning, after the OB appointment.” Her face fell a little, and Yaseen wanted badly to say that the Germans could figure things out for themselves. But Kara rearranged her expression in a heartbeat.
“I understand. How long will you be gone?”
“A few days.” A few days was far longer than he wanted to spend away from her, but being married didn’t exempt him from carrying out his duties as a prince of Raihan. “When I’m back, we can return to business as usual.”
