The Sheik and the Bought Bride

by Susan Mallery

  He walked around to his desk and sat down. “Which is?”

  There was something about the way he looked at her, she thought, unable to figure out what he was thinking. Almost as if he were angry with her. Yet he’d rescued her. Or had that been about claiming what was his? About his station rather than hers?

  “Victoria?” He sounded impatient.

  She approached the desk. It was large and carved. The room itself had to be at the base of one of the towers—the window walls angled, forming a rough semicircle. There were rugs and low sofas and an air of importance that reminded her of King Mukhtar’s office in the city.

  “I went to the bazaar today,” she began. “There is a small store selling locally made jewelry. I’ve seen it before and bought some.” She fingered her earrings. “The work is beautiful. Original and contemporary but with enough traditional elements to make each piece timeless.”

  He leaned back in his chair and looked bored. “And?”

  “They only sell here and in the city. Some guy takes their stuff to El Bahar and Bahania, but I think he might be ripping them off. Rasha didn’t sound that thrilled with him.” She drew in a deep breath. “I think they could do more. I think they could sell all over the world and be really successful. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but we could start with a Web site. I could even put it together. I’m not great at them, but I’ve taken a few classes and I’m sure I could help. I don’t know about selling to other countries, though. We’d probably need some kind of distribution arrangement or customs would be a nightmare. Maybe a catalog, too. And I don’t know about the money. There are those services that collect it for you. That would be good.”

  She paused for breath and because Kateb was staring past her, as if he wasn’t listening.

  Then his gaze swung back to her, only it wasn’t the least bit friendly. She felt the chill down to her ankle bracelet.

  “Are you on birth control?” he asked.

  “What?”

  He waited, practically glaring at her. “Are you?”

  Birth control. As in…

  Her mouth dropped open. She consciously closed it. Because they’d had sex. He hadn’t used a condom, which meant the whole protection element was up to her.

  Technically she was supposed to wait to be invited to sit, but suddenly that didn’t seem so very important. She sank into one of the chairs in front of the desk.

  “I never thought…” she began.

  “You’re not.” It wasn’t a question.

  “No.”

  “Because you wished to trap Nadim. Had you tried to get him into your bed? Did you hope to get pregnant, forcing him to marry you?”

  She sprang to her feet. “What? Are you crazy? I would never do that.”

  “And I should take your word on that?”

  “He was my boss. I was completely respectful of him and his position the entire time we worked together.”

  “You wanted to marry him.”

  Was he being difficult on purpose? “I already explained that. It wasn’t about him, it was about feeling safe. About not having to worry about what would happen the next time my father showed up. You met him. He offered me in a card game. How would that make you feel?”

  “So if not Nadim, then any rich man would do? You must be very pleased with our deal. Did you plan the whole thing with your father? Did he cheat on purpose?”

  If he’d been closer, she would have slapped him. A serious mistake that could land her in jail, but right now she didn’t care.

  “How dare you?” she demanded. “I told you the truth. You were there when it happened. You may have only known father a few hours, but I am confident you recognized the type. I’m not like him. I gave my word to you because I’d given it to my dying mother. There’s no other reason.”

  She was so angry she wanted to throw something, or cry. But she stood there, not doing either, not giving in to the emotions pouring through her.

  He rose and walked toward her. “You will not win this, Victoria. I am clear on who and what you are and I will never trust you. You chose to play the game and you lost. You will never win me.”

  “I’m not interested in winning you,” she yelled. “Talk about an ego.”

  “When this is done, you will gain your freedom, nothing more.”

  “I don’t want anything else.” She never wanted to see him again. “Do you think I planned all this? Do you think I walked around hoping you would lose control last night and then sleep with me?”

  “It was your ultimate plan.”

  “You’re wrong. I would never do that.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “You’re the one who broke his word,” she snapped. “Nothing was supposed to happen. Do you remember that? You promised.”

  Something flashed across his face. “You released me from my word.”

  “Oh, sure. That’s a very typical male response. Don’t bother taking responsibility. You chose to have sex with me, Kateb. You didn’t bother using a condom. This is just as much your fault. But we’re not going to talk about that, are we? No, let’s just blame the woman. That’s so much easier than the truth.”

  She put her hands on her hips, her anger giving her strength. “And while we’re on the subject of unprotected sex, should I be worried? Did one of your other chickies leave you a nasty gift?”

  His gaze narrowed. “You dare question me?”

  “Someone has to.”

  “There is no reason for concern.” He seemed to speak between clenched teeth.

  “Good to know. So here’s my question—you brought me here to be your mistress. Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t sex implied in the position? Oh, wait. You thought so, too. You told me in the desert that I wouldn’t be in your bed until we got here. So when exactly did you plan to have the birth-control conversation with me? You’re so smart and princelike. Why would you assume? If your damn sperm are so precious, you should protect them from scheming women willing to trick you into bed.”

  He stiffened, then seemed to grow taller. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, she interrupted him.

  “Don’t even bother with the whole ‘I’m Prince Kateb’ blah, blah, blah. I’m not the bad guy here. I didn’t do anything wrong. You never asked if I was on birth control. You should have found out before we did it.”

  “Return to the harem,” he growled.

  “So it’s a prison now? I won’t be allowed out? Are you breaking your word on that, too?” She was shaking, both from fury and fear. He was a powerful man and they were in the middle of the desert. If she disappeared, who would know? Who would bother to come looking for her?

  But she couldn’t let the fear win. She’d learned that a long time ago. She had to be strong, to stand up for herself. No one else was going to do it.

  “Return to the harem,” he repeated. “You will stay here, in the village, until I know if you are pregnant or not.”

  She didn’t like the sound of that. “If I’m not?”

  “You will be returned to the city.”

  She didn’t bother asking what would happen if she was. She knew enough of El Deharian law to know a royal child would never be allowed to be taken away. That if she wanted any contact with her child, she would be trapped here forever.

  There was so much she wanted to say, so much he didn’t understand. But what was the point? He’d made up his mind about her long before he met her. Nothing would change it now.

  She turned and left.

  Victoria almost wasn’t surprised to find Yusra in the harem.

  “Do you know about this?” she asked the other woman. “Did he tell you?”

  The older woman’s expression remained calm. “Kateb is concerned.”

  “He’s a jackass,” Victoria muttered. “I wish I’d thought to tell him that. He blames me. Did he mention that? It’s all my fault, because I tricked him. Oh, yeah, my whole plan finally worked out.” She sank onto one of the cushioned sofas and cover
ed her face with her hands. “I didn’t do this on purpose. Why can’t he see that?”

  Yusra sat next to her. “He will. In time.”

  “Want to bet?”

  What was worse than all the things he said was how dirty she felt inside. As if she’d done something wrong.

  “Kateb isn’t like other men,” Yusra told her.

  “He’s just as stupid as they are.”

  “That is true,” the other woman said, then smiled when Victoria looked at her. “Men see what they want to see.”

  “He thinks I’m only after what I can get. That I’m tricking him.”

  “For now. He will calm down and see reason.”

  “Want to give me a date when that’s going to happen?”

  “Soon.”

  “Now you’re just saying things to make me feel better.” Victoria dropped her hands to her lap and sagged back against the sofa.

  “Come with me,” Yusra said as she stood.

  Victoria hesitated. “You’re not taking me to the dungeon, are you?”

  “No. There is something you should see.”

  Yusra stood, waiting patiently until Victoria stood and followed her. They walked down several hallways before walking into a large room that was totally empty. There were big windows, but no furniture. Before she could ask the point of their visit, she turned and saw a massive tapestry on the wall.

  It was perhaps twenty square feet and had to have taken dozens of women several generations to complete it.

  Victoria approached it slowly, taking in the detail of the huge family tree. Up close she could see the tiny stitches, the intricate and perfect work.

  “This is Kateb,” Yusra said simply. “He can trace his family back over a thousand years. Their blood has been spilled on the sand, their sons and daughters have lived and died here. To be one with the royal family is to have a place in history.”

  Victoria had grown up in a small Texas town where she’d hated that everyone knew her past. That everyone knew her father was useless and a gambler and that they were poor. She’d wanted to go somewhere else and start over, without that horrible legacy following her everywhere.

  But this was different, she thought, wishing she could touch the tapestry but knowing better. This was living history. This wasn’t about one generation or one king. This was about a dynasty that had survived longer than many governments.

  A stab of longing cut through her. Not to be royal but to be a part of something bigger than herself. Something more important.

  “If you have his child, your name will be added,” Yusra told her.

  “That’s a big if. And if I have his child, I’m trapped here forever.”

  “Life is not a trap.”

  “Sometimes it feels like it.” Like now.

  A baby? She didn’t think it was possible.

  She considered Kateb’s words—that she would have trapped Nadim with a pregnancy. Honestly, she couldn’t imagine going on a date with him, let alone sleeping with him. No, Nadim had represented a kind of security she’d never experienced. Nothing more. Not that she would ever convince Kateb of that.

  If she was pregnant, everything would change. Did she want that? Her name on the tapestry? A child with Kateb?

  The answer came quickly. No. Not like this. Not with him believing she’d tricked him. Not with them angry and accusing each other. That was no way to bring a child into the world.

  “If I’m not pregnant, he said I could go,” she told Yusra.

  “Is that what you want?”

  She thought about how he had been the previous night. The passion that had consumed them. She thought about the man who had brought her electricity for her curling iron, despite the fact that they were in the desert.

  There was kindness there—perhaps a good and gentle man. But she wasn’t interested in giving her heart and he would never see her as anything but a woman out for what she could get.

  “Yes,” Victoria said. “I want to leave. I guess it will take a couple of weeks to know if that’s going to happen.”

  Yusra stared at her. “You would go so easily?”

  “I’ve barely known Kateb a week.”

  “Still, he is the prince.”

  “You sound disappointed.”

  “I am. Kateb must marry soon. If he does not pick a bride, one will be found for him.”

  An arranged marriage? “I wouldn’t think he would allow that,” she said. “He’s too stubborn to let someone else influence his life that way.”

  “Yet he will let it happen.” Yusra looked as if she had more to say, but she was silent.

  “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  “No, you will not. You will be gone.”

  She was right, something that should have made Victoria happy. But it didn’t. Talk about trapped, she thought sadly. She didn’t want to stay and maybe, just maybe, she didn’t want to go. Which left her nowhere.

  Kateb found himself so distracted during his late-afternoon meetings that he had to reschedule them for the next day so the points in question could be addressed. He resented his inability to focus on the concerns of the elders and knew there was only one cause.

  Victoria.

  Tomorrow would be better, he told himself as he made his way back to his rooms, only to find the cause of his inattention waiting for him there.

  Victoria sat on a sofa, reading a fashion magazine. She hadn’t heard him approach, so she didn’t look up. He was able to study her without being observed.

  Her long, curly blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. The soft gold color made his fingers ache to feel the silkiness. Her lush curves threatened to spill from the sleeveless top she wore and the long, layered skirt seem to call to him to explore what was hidden.

  How could he want her? Knowing what he did, he should resent her, or at least not think of her. But she had haunted him all day. Even through his anger, he wanted her and that offended him most of all.

  He must have made a sound because she looked up, then dropped the magazine onto the cushion before standing.

  “They’re saying navy is going to be big this fall,” she told him. “It’s the new black. Have you noticed they’re always saying this or that color is the new black? There actually isn’t a new black, no matter what they want us to believe. There’s just the old black.” She paused, then sighed. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, nor do you care.”

  His voice was rough. “Why are you here?”

  “To talk to you about Rasha and the other women making jewelry. We were so busy with your overwrought accusations that we never got to talk about that.”

  For some reason, he couldn’t seem to summon the anger. It should have been there—she had earned it—yet it was nowhere to be found.

  “I am not overwrought,” he told her sternly.

  “Want to take a vote on that?” She held up her hands. “Never mind. I’ll stay on topic. The women should be selling in places other than the city marketplace and to the camel guy.”

  “That is their decision, not mine.”

  “Au contraire, great prince. You’re the man, or at least you will be when the elders pick you. Everyone knows it’s going to happen, so they’re acting as if it already has. Rasha got all quivery when I mentioned talking to you about them selling elsewhere. They need your permission. And as I don’t have a computer of my own to get started on this…I do, too.”

  She didn’t sound happy about the fact.

  “You are very persistent.”

  “Someone has to be. They deserve a chance at this. A chance to make a living.” Her blue eyes flashed with annoyance. “And while we’re on the subject of making a living, I’m going to need access to my savings account while I’m here.”

  “Why?”

  “To buy things.”

  “Whatever you want will be provided.”

  “Does a little man with a bucket of gold follow me everywhere I go? What if I want to go into the bazaar and buy a dress or s
omething?”

  “They’ll bill me.”

  “I don’t think so.” She glared at him. “I have money, I just need access to it.”

  “While you are here, you are my responsibility.”

  “Not really. I’m just the money-hungry tramp who tricked you into sleeping with her. Isn’t that the story you’re telling yourself?”

  He crossed to the armoire in the corner, opened the doors and poured himself a drink. “You want anything?” he asked, before picking up his glass.

  “No, thank you.”

  He swallowed the scotch, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough to help. He turned back to her.

  “It wasn’t what you think,” she said. “Nadim was very much more a theory than a man. I didn’t want to be that little girl in the charity clothes. I didn’t want to have to stand in line to get a special meal. I don’t expect you to believe me, but it’s the truth.”

  She spoke defiantly, as if she did expect him to believe her but knew he would never take the time.

  What was the truth? It would be relatively easy to investigate her past and determine what had actually happened. And as soon as he had the thought, he realized he did believe her. At least about that.

  “I was going back to the States,” she continued. “I was going to figure out what to do with my life and open my own business. You can ask Maggie. That’s Qadir’s fiancée.”

  “I know who Maggie is.”

  “She’s my friend. She knows what I was thinking.”

  “Nadim would not have made you happy.”

  “You mean because he’s lacking a personality?”

  He did his best not to laugh. “That is part of the problem.”

  “Let me guess. The other part is he’s male. Your gender has some real issues.”

  He stared at her. “Must I remind you who I am?”

  “No, but I have a feeling you will anyway.” She shook her head. “I didn’t try to trick either of you. I didn’t even want to fall in love. I saw what it did to my mom. Love is for suckers.”

  He sensed she believed the words. “You’re too young to be so cynical.”

  “And yet, here I stand.” She moved toward him. “Kateb, I’m not pregnant. It was one time and the odds are seriously against it. At the risk of providing you with too much information, I just finished my period last week. That makes it even more unlikely. I understand you want to be sure. So do I. But I’m not playing you. I never was.”