by Leslie North
“I'll stay and work alongside Marina,” Saja said.
“What? Work with Marina for what?”
“As your servant,” Saja watched his face change from calm to confusion to shock. She smiled internally. She knew she'd always have the ability to surprise him and throw him off his game.
“My servant?” Basil did not expect her to offer herself up as his servant.
“Yes or your bed-maid.”
Basil furrowed his brow, “What is happening right now?”
“You did say I could stay and be your bed-maid.”
Basil raised his eyebrows. “As you please,” he said. He recalled the last time they discussed her being his bed-maid. Her reaction was explosive, and now she was offering herself up to him as his bed-maid. He wanted to call her bluff and see how far she was willing to take it. Saja stood up and bowed her head.
“I am glad you agree because I have already moved my stuff in here and will be staying in the spare room.” She turned around and left. Basil sat there speechless. He laughed softly. She did not cease to surprise him. He knew she was not going to give up. She was too hotheaded and short-tempered.
It was nearing dinnertime when Mona and Amber walked into Saja's new room. They were apprehensive about the whole thing. They had tried to talk her out of it but she was not listening. She had her mind already set.
“Miss Saja, I feel uncomfortable about this,” Mona said to Saja.
“Well, Basil agreed to it. So you don't have to worry about anything,” Saja replied.
“But the Prince is scary,” Amber said.
Saja laughed. She was not afraid of him. She took Amber and Mona's hands in hers. “Don't worry. I'll cut you guys loose since I am a servant now. So you don't have to worry about watching over me or getting in trouble because of me,” she said to them. Mona and Amber both refused to leave her. The Prince would not approve of it and they had grown attached to her.
Saja joined the Prince for dinner. She made sure she was appropriately dressed. For once, the Prince was dressed in slacks and a vest. She realised how muscular his arms and his chest were. From his vest, she could see the top of his pecks. His hair was a little messy.
“I have never seen you in anything other than a suit,” Saja said to him before she started eating. His servants had already set the table.
“You've seen me in a towel,” Basil replied. Saja laughed. She felt awkward remembering the whole incident.
“Where are your maids?” Basil hadn't seen Mona and Amber the whole day. He rarely saw Saja by herself.
“I had to let them go,” Saja replied.
Basil sipped his drink without taking his eyes off Saja. “Why?” he asked her.
“I am a servant like them. We are of equal status, so I do not need servants any longer,” she said. He could not help but laugh. The whole thing was funny to him. He could not take her seriously. He knew she was up to something.
“I was the one who hired them. Therefore I am the only one who can fire them.”
“There is not much use for them now.”
Basil narrowed his gaze. He was not pleased that they would up and leave without his say so. He did not want Saja to take part in manual labour. If she were to serve anyone or do anything, it would only be him. He did not want her doing any chores. Saja could tell he was not pleased.
“Okay, relax Basil. They refused to stop serving me. They said they will continue to be my personal maids as long as I am here,” Saja said reassuringly. She laughed softly.
“I see,” Basil replied.
“I had lunch with the King today.”
Basil frowned and looked up from his plate. “Why?” he did not understand why she was spending time with his brother.
“He summoned me to join him for lunch. So I did so.”
Basil grunted. He did not like the idea of her spending time with him. She did not really know how to behave. He was definitely going to ask his brother about her later. He could not understand why he was so fascinated by her. There was no reason for him to summon her.
After dinner, the maids cleared the table. Basil stood up and headed to his chambers. “Follow me,” he said to Saja. She got up and followed him to his chambers. “Stop dragging your feet,” he said to her. He could hear her dragging her sandals.
“Why do I need to come to your bedroom?” Saja asked.
“You are my bed-maid aren't you?”
Saja's eyes flew open. He was going to call her bluff. She told herself to stay calm and not back down. She would let him have the victory. They walked into his bedroom and there was a thin-strapped red silk nightdress.
“Put that on,” Basil said to her. Saja tilted her head and looked at it. She had never worn anything like it. She was used to sleeping in her shorts or a loose fitting t-shirt. She picked the nightdress up and looked at it.
“So, I must dress up for you,” she said.
“Well, you're not going to sleep in that dress are you?”
“I have my own night wear.”
“Which I find appalling.”
Saja went to the bathroom to change. She gasped when she walked in. His bathroom was large, clean and simply beautiful. She immediately wanted to take a shower. His shower was big enough to fit ten people. She wore the nightdress and rinsed her mouth with some mouthwash. She re-entered the room. Basil was already in bed, shirtless. He gestured for her to join him.
“I'm meant to sleep here? With you?” Saja asked with a frown on her face. This was not going the way she had hoped it would. Basil nodded. She reluctantly got into bed with him. She knew he was testing her to see how far she would go but she was not giving him the satisfaction. She was simply glad it was sleeping and nothing else. Luckily for her, the bed was really large. She made sure to sleep at the far end. There was at least two metres of distance between them.
Chapter 12
Basil was already awake and reading through some paper work. He looked down at Saja. She had rolled to the middle of the bed during the night. She was lying so peacefully. Her features were so soft. It was hard to believe that this angelic creature could be so argumentative and challenging. He felt like touching her face.
Saja adjusted herself to be more comfortable. She opened her eyes and found Basil looking down at her. It took her a moment to register where she was. When the thought sank in, she frowned. She yawned.
“Draw me a bath,” Basil said to her.
“Why should I?” Saja yawned and rubbed her eyes.
“Because you are my servant and you will do as I wish.”
Saja got out of bed and dragged her feet all the way to the bathroom. She opened the taps and left the bathroom. As she was walking, Basil was staring at her sculpted olive coloured legs. She had nicely shaped legs. For the first time, he questioned why he was keeping her. Clearly, she was unhappy and she was not backing down from him. He was losing. He never lost.
“Where are you going?” he asked her.
“To my room,” she answered and carried on walking away.
“And who is going to bathe me?”
“You are!”
Saja slammed the door behind her. There was no way that she was going to bathe him. He was out of his mind if he thought that she would do that. She could not help but imagine what he'd look like undressed. She had already seen the top part and it was impressive. It was his bottom part that she had not seen. She blushed at the thought. From his clothes, she could tell that he would look good naked. She cussed herself for even thinking about him like that.
She walked into her new room and shut the door. She took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. She flipped open her laptop and started browsing the internet. She was not going to join Basil for breakfast.
***
It had been a week since Saja had been living in Basil's quarters. Surprisingly, they had not been arguing. It was strange to Basil. He was used to her disputing everything he said or did. He also hadn't made an effort to anger her since he was so busy l
ooking into El-Tamar's life. He made sure to check everything about him from the moment he was born, his financial details, his businesses and his children's affairs. He discovered that El-Tamar had many secrets. He had lost his wealth. His eldest son, Aman, had been embezzling money from the funds generated from the treaty. Basil immediately summoned both of them to his palace. He did not like being deceived.
Basil was sitting in his courtyard with Badir whilst waiting for El-Tamar. The Prince had brought Badir up to speed with the whole situation. The King had already returned to his palace. He could not be away from it for too long as much he had wanted to do so. He had bid Saja farewell before he left. He was rooting for her. He liked that she was smart and beautiful and especially because she challenged his brother so much. Even though Basil mostly complained about her, he had a certain spark in his eyes when he spoke about her.
“I am shocked that you and Miss Saja are living together harmoniously,” Badir said to Basil.
“So am I,” he replied. It made him wonder if she was plotting something again.
“How will you handle her father?”
“That is another issue. I suspect he only wants me to wed his daughter for money. He needs money and this was his last option,” Basil sighed. This man was truly disgraceful. Marina walked out into the courtyard and announced El-Tamar's arrival. El-Tamar and his eldest son, Aman, walked out into the courtyard. They bowed their heads to the Prince before sitting down.
The maids served them cool beverages and snacks. Basil watched El-Tamar as he spoke. The man tried too hard to impress him. His son was a spitting image of his father. Moments later Saja walked out into the courtyard. She came to a halt when she saw El-Tamar there. She felt sickened by his sight.
“Come,” the Prince said to Saja when she tried to leave.
“It's fine, I'll talk to you later,” Saja replied.
“You won't say hello?” El-Tamar said to Saja. She looked at him.
“Should I?” Saja said to him.
“I am your father, show some respect!”
“Please do not shout at my wife in my home,” the Prince said with a warning tone. Everyone turned to look at him. No one had expected him to defend her or refer to her as his wife. Especially Saja, she was really surprised.
“She needs to respect her father,” Aman said.
“That is amusing because since she arrived here he has never called to ask about her well-being nor did he make any attempts to communicate with her.”
Saja felt pleased watching the Prince defend her. She did not like him or her father, but if she had to pick whom she hated the least; it would be Basil. El-Tamar's faced dropped. He felt humiliated that the Prince was telling him off in front of Aman.
“I assumed that she was in capable hands,” El-Tamar said.
“That is a poor excuse.”
El-Tamar and Aman sat in silence. Saja smiled at Basil and left. Mona and Amber had been waiting for her inside. They giggled when Saja walked back into the house. They were positively surprised that the Prince came to her defence.
Immediately after Saja left, the Prince confronted El-Tamar about his reason for arranging the marriage with Saja. It was clear that he only did it because of his lack of funds. El-Tamar's face turned red as the Prince told him everything that he had discovered about him and how disappointed he was.
“That is not the case your highness,” El-Tamar said.
“You calling me a liar?” the Prince asked.
“No! I dare not.”
The Prince stood up. “My marriage to Saja will not benefit you in any way. You do not treat her well and that is an offence to me. You do not want to offend me,” the Prince's voice was deep and dangerous. Aman sat there shaking. He knew he had messed up when he started embezzling money. Now that the Prince knew, there was no way out. They had to face the repercussions. Basil slid his hands in his pockets and stared at the two men.
“Leave my house,” he said as he walked away.
Basil returned to his quarters. He wanted to check on Saja. He walked into her room and found her sitting on her bed with her laptop. He shut the door behind him and sat on the bed next to her.
“Are you alright?” he asked her. Saja raised an eyebrow. Not once had this man shown her any type of concern. She put her laptop on the nightstand and leaned closer to him. She touched his forehead to check his temperature. “What are you doing?” he asked her.
“You must be unwell if you are checking up on me,” Saja said. Basil rolled his eyes and took her hand off his forehead but did not let it go.
“I am serious. Seeing El-Tamar must bring up a lot of negative feelings for you.”
“It doesn't. I do not need him in my life,” Saja sighed. “I was pleasantly surprised to see you come to my aid,” she added. Basil grunted. He was not quite sure how to respond to her.
“Even if I am not your wife,” she joked. Basil narrowed his gaze.
“You would be blessed to be my wife,” he replied. Saja laughed at him. He was so conceited, it was unbelievable. Basil liked the sound of her laughter. For once she was genuinely laughing. Usually it was a sardonic laugh. It was nice to see her smile.
Suddenly he moved closer to Saja. He held her face in his palm and stroked her face with his thumb. He jerked his head forward and kissed her. Before Saja realised what was happening, Basil's lips were on hers. Then his tongue was in her mouth. There was no time to think. All she could do was feel and it felt good.
Chapter 13
Basil pulled Saja closer into his arms. He kept kissing her and caressing her back. Saja felt numb with pleasure. She could not even think or do anything. His touch felt so good. His lips felt so good. Before she knew it, Basil had his hand up her dress touching her thighs. She wanted to tell him to stop but instead she let out a moan. She tilted her head back as he kissed her neck, giving him further access. He found a spot that made her almost go crazy with pleasure. His kiss sent ripples of pleasure up and down her spine, as Saja continued to moan.
Basil caressed her thighs and kissed her breasts. He groaned as he kissed her. He wanted to rip her dress off. The feel of her silky soft skin aroused him. He wanted to take her right here and now. He was trying to control himself. He had never been so aroused, so quickly. Her soft moans fuelled his desire even more. He laid her on her back and pulled up her dress. He groaned deeply at the site of her bare, beautifully-toned thighs. He pulled her underwear off in one movement.
Saja's eyes flew open. No man had ever seen her, not there. She felt a little comfort knowing that she always groomed herself for hygiene purposes. She gasped when Basil touched her. He caressed her and gently slipped his finger in. The movement of his finger going in and out made her thighs tremble. Her muscles clenched around his finger, as she spread her legs farther apart. Saja held onto the bed. The pleasure was too much for her. All of it was foreign to her.
“We have to stop,” Saja said quietly as realisation sank in. Finally, her brain had started functioning once again. Even though she did not want to stop. She was enjoying him.
“Are you okay?” Basil asked her. His voice was filled with genuine concern. She nodded and sat up.
“I'm not ready.” She was looking down and covering her thighs with her dress. Basil studied her. She seemed timid. It made sense. She had not been touching him much; she only kissed him back and held onto his arms. And she was so tight, like one that was untouched.
“You are a virgin,” Basil said and looked away. He ran his hand through his hair.
Saja hesitated, “Yes,” she replied quietly.
“You should have told me.”
“Would you have believed me?”
Saja was right Basil thought to himself. He had already assumed that she wasn't. He was disappointed in himself for how he had acted. Just because of how she dressed and where she lived, he had concluded that she was promiscuous.
“I apologise,” he said quietly. It was unlike him to apologise. He never apologised to
anyone for anything. He kissed her on the forehead and began to walk out the room. For the first time, Saja could see sincerity in his eyes. He had always been so arrogant and harsh with her. Today, he had told her father off for her. He had stood up for her. When he found out that she was a virgin, he obeyed her wishes and stopped. He did not seem angry about it. In the past, her relationships had broken because of it. The men wanted to bed her and she had refused. As result, she did not bother with relationships and focused on her education. It astonished her that the one person she disliked so much was the one who respected her virtue.
