The Sheikh's Wedding Contract

by Andie Brock

  ‘Nadia, you need to wake up.’ He touched her cheek with his hand and her eyes flew open, unseeing, full of terror.

  ‘No!’ Her fists appeared from beneath the tangle of blankets, punching out at him, uselessly flailing around in the air as she fought to sit up. ‘Go away, get off me.’

  ‘You are having a bad dream, Nadia.’ Catching her hands in his, he pressed them to his chest, moving closer to her to prevent them from escaping. He lowered his head so that it was level with hers, speaking softly. ‘That’s all.’

  He could see recognition slowly dawning now, the wide eyes staring back at him with dazed confusion, but the fear still there, shaking her body.

  ‘Zayed?’

  ‘Yes, it’s me.’

  ‘But you are so cold.’ The panic was beginning to mount again, her hands trying to escape, pull themselves from his grasp, her eyes darting wildly over his face. ‘Why are you so cold?’

  ‘Because I’ve been outside.’

  ‘Outside?’ She stopped struggling as she tried to understand his words.

  ‘Yes. Outside the tent. It’s cold out there.’

  ‘Oh.’ She let out a shuddering breath, her eyes focusing now, steadying. ‘Not because...’ She faltered, confusion and embarrassment lowering her voice. ‘I thought...I thought you were dead.’

  ‘No!’ Zayed laughed sharply. ‘I’m definitely not dead.’

  ‘Thank God.’ With another breath that shuddered the whole length of her she leaned forward into him, lowering her head so that he was breathing into her tangled hair, the intoxicating scene filling his nostrils. ‘It was terrible. Someone was coming to kill me, he had a knife, it was already covered in blood...’

  ‘It’s over, Nadia, forget about it.’

  ‘He said it was your blood, Zayed. He said he had killed you and I was next.’

  ‘It was just a nightmare.’ Feeling her starting to shake again, Zayed released her hands and moved his own round to the back of her head, pulling her closer to him.

  ‘Yes—’ she breathed the hot words against the base of his neck ‘—just a nightmare. But it was so real, Zayed.’ She shivered violently. ‘The blood on the knife, the way it had smeared right up to the hilt... You don’t think...’ She tried to pull back to look into his face, but Zayed held her firm against his chest. ‘Don’t think that it might be a warning of some sort, that it holds a meaning?’

  ‘No, Nadia, I don’t. No warning, no hidden meaning, just your body reacting to what we have to do tomorrow. It’s stress, that’s all, invading your subconscious.’

  He waited for her denial, sure that she wouldn’t accept that her night terrors could be the manifestation of any sort of weakness on her part. Especially if it was being pointed out by him. But it seemed he was wrong. Sinking down against him, Nadia burrowed her head against his chest and in a very quiet voice he heard her say, ‘I’m frightened, Zayed. Frightened about what might happen, that it might go terribly wrong.’

  ‘It won’t.’ Moving one hand round her back, Zayed splayed the other across her skull, threading his fingers through her hair, gently massaging away the tension. ‘Nothing is going to go wrong.’ Despite her obvious distress, he felt a small surge of triumph. To have Nadia finally opening up to him, letting him see the vulnerability beneath her normal haughty disregard, triggered a deeply primal reaction in him. And to have her warm body nestled in his arms like this, to be able to comfort her, felt just plain good.

  With her head pressed against his heart he knew she had to be able to hear its quickening thump, but he couldn’t control it, any more than he could control the warm spread of arousal that was now percolating through his body. In an effort to disguise it he injected a no-nonsense burr into his voice.

  ‘I can handle your brother. You don’t have to worry about anything. We’ll do what has to be done tomorrow and then we’re out of there, straight back to Gazbiyaa.’

  ‘But supposing...’ Nadia stirred in his arms, tipping up her face to look at him, her eyes shining anxiously in the darkness of the tent. ‘Supposing my brother won’t let me go back with you?’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Zayed loosened his hold enough to be able to lean back to look into her face more clearly.

  ‘I mean—’ he heard her constricted swallow ‘—my brother might decide I have to stay in Harith to face the punishment for what I have done.’

  ‘And you think I would let that happen?’

  ‘I don’t know. Once our secret is revealed and my family knows the truth, you no longer have to be responsible for me.’

  ‘Is that what you really think?’ Incredulity hardened his voice, slamming the brakes on his body’s arousal. ‘That I would hand you over to your brother and walk away, leave you to face whatever barbaric punishment he saw fit?’

  ‘Possibly, yes.’

  ‘Well, thank you for the vote of confidence, Nadia.’ Anger now tainted his voice. ‘I know you have always had a low opinion of me, but this is really plummeting new depths. I’m appalled that you would ever think I would treat you in such a way.’

  ‘Well, can you blame me?’ In a show of defiance Nadia arched her back to push against his arms, but her voice was cracked with anguish. ‘You have never made any secret of the fact that you want to be rid of me.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous.’

  ‘This could be your chance.’

  ‘Nadia, stop!’ Catching her face in his hands, Zayed held it there, his palms under her chin, his fingers framing her jawline. A physical jolt of longing kicked in again at the sight of her captured expression, the wide-eyed challenge, lips slightly parted as if frozen in mid-protest. ‘I would never let anything happen to you. Ever. Do I make myself clear?’

  For a second Nadia didn’t move, just staring at him, obviously weighing up whether that could be true. Then finally she nodded, her eyelids dropping. ‘Yes, thank you. I guess I’m just being stupid.’ She took in a faltering breath. ‘But being back here on Harithian soil... I don’t know... I suppose it has affected me more than I thought.’

  ‘I can see that. But there is no need to be frightened. No harm will come to you, Nadia. I promise you that.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘And you don’t need to keep thanking me. You are my wife after all.’

  ‘Yes. I am, aren’t I?’ Nadia tilted back her head and her eyes darkened, fear now giving way to another, altogether more dangerous, response. ‘Your wife.’

  The words sat softly on her lips, taunting Zayed with their false simplicity. Was it deliberate, that warm, generous pout? Did she know what it did to him? What she did to him? Whatever else, he knew he had to fight it.

  ‘And since you are my wife, it is obviously my duty to protect you.’

  ‘Your duty.’ Her eyes registered his veiled slight. ‘Yes, of course.’

  They stared at one another.

  ‘I should go.’ Zayed rocked back on his heels, intending to stand, walk away, remove himself from temptation.

  ‘Go?’

  ‘Yes. You need to get some more sleep.’ His voice sounded gruff, distant. ‘There are still a couple of hours before dawn.’

  ‘But what about you? Have you had any sleep at all?’

  He hesitated, his throat gripped by silence as he watched Nadia move to one side, start to pull at the rucked-up blankets beneath her. Surely she could see that sleep was the very last thing on his mind. ‘No, not yet.’

  ‘Then why don’t you come and lie down here?’ She indicated the torturously tempting rumpled space she had made on the mattress beside her.

  ‘I don’t think that would be a very good idea.’

  Nadia angled her head to better look into his eyes. ‘I would like you to join me.’

  ‘Nadia...’

  ‘Please.’

  Before he had time to dodge the lure of her seduction she had reached out to touch his face, running the back of her hand down his cheek, trailing her fingers erotically across his lips.

  ‘Ple
ase,’ she repeated, whispering into the darkness between them. ‘I want you to.’

  How the hell was he supposed to resist that? The dam wall of his defence could take no more, caving into the flood of his desire. Catching her hand, he pressed it against his open mouth, dragging his bottom lip against her palm, raising his eyes to hers as he took her thumb and slowly sucked it into his mouth. Nadia moaned gratifyingly. She really did want him.

  In case he needed any further confirmation she leaned forward, hooking her free arm around his shoulder and pulling him towards her until together they fell backwards onto the mattress. Zayed was desperate to feel her mouth against his now. That damned sensuous mouth, which had been taunting him for weeks with its perfect pout and its seductively infuriating curve that he already knew fitted so well against his own. That would fit so well against other parts of his body, too.

  He rolled on top of her, claiming those plump, luscious lips, his erection pressing hard and insistent through the tangle of clothes and twisted blankets. Hot and fierce, he plundered his tongue into her open mouth, feeling Nadia surrender to the power, hearing her groan into his need. She squirmed beneath him, her hands around the back of his neck, arching her body, sealing them together, all the proof he needed that she felt this burning, reckless desire too, shared the tumult of sexual hunger.

  His whole body throbbed with it, had to be satisfied, but these wretched clothes were in the way. Prising himself out of her arms, Zayed stumbled to his feet, yanking off his jeans and boxers, pulling his sweatshirt over his head, all in a matter of seconds. He looked down at Nadia, who was kneeling now, fumbling with the buttons of her shirt, still wearing the cargo pants she had travelled in. She stared back at him, her mouth falling open, her eyes glittering in the dim light at the sight of his completely naked, fully aroused body. Yes—he could do this to her. He could make her tremble with yearning for him.

  The clothes had to go. He joined her and they tugged at the buttons together, pulling at her trousers until they came down with her panties still inside them, to be tossed to one side. As the cold air hit the heat of her skin a shower of goosebumps skittered over her, her nipples shrinking to hardened peaks when he unfastened her bra and set free her swollen breasts. God, she was stunning.

  On top of her again, he took each nipple in his mouth in turn, his breath rasping, the hot slick of saliva cooling on her skin as he grazed his teeth against her, tugging at her until she moaned with tortured pleasure. Arching her back, she thrust her hands into his hair, clutching at handfuls of it to pull him even closer. Zayed raised his head. He could go up now, back to her lips. Or down...

  Nadia threw back her head, totally, wantonly giving herself up to this man, to the exquisite way he could make her feel, to everything he could do to her. His rasping tongue had made its way down the clenching muscles of her abdomen and now it was between her opening legs, parting her moist folds, sliding inside, his breath hot and damp, his beard rough against her skin. She gasped as he found her clitoris, tilting her pelvis up to him, desperate for him not to stop this exquisite rubbing, stroking motion. Sensing her need, Zayed relentlessly played his tongue over her throbbing nub, increasing the pressure until she knew she could bear it no more and with a massive, shuddering convulsion she tipped past the point of consciousness and over the edge of oblivion.

  Zayed gazed down at Nadia’s face. She had never looked more beautiful to him: her cheeks hot with the glow of her orgasm, her hair all over the place, her eyes still glazed with desire. His need for her burned like nothing he had ever known before.

  Covering her mouth with his own, he positioned himself between her legs but he felt her twist beneath him. So she wanted to be on top. They rolled over, Nadia bestriding his groin, her hair tumbling wildly over her shoulders, her hands placed firmly on his chest. She looked magnificent. Unable to wait a moment longer, he pulled her down on top of him and with one powerful thrust was deep inside her. Nadia drew in a sharp breath, her body going rigid, but then she pushed back up, straddling him, so he plunged in even deeper, his groan even more feral. In control now, she raised her hips, steadying herself with her hands on his abs as he started to thrust, his slick, heated, swollen member desperate to be satisfied. With Nadia bucking wildly on top of him he knew he couldn’t hold on much longer, but when she arched back with a moan of pleasure then fell forward onto his chest with sated exhaustion he grabbed hold of her buttocks and with a final punishing thrust he felt himself explode inside her. The release was extraordinary—a release of intense pressure, of stifled control, of every damned thing in the world.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  SEVERAL HOURS HAD PASSED since Zayed and Nadia had left Azeed’s encampment to travel to the palace of Harith. Nadia knew they must be nearing their destination.

  It had been another journey with very limited conversation. Apart from a brief discussion about her brother, when she had tried to impress upon Zayed the kind of man Imran was, they had both been virtually silent.

  Instead, Nadia had gazed unseeing at the arid plains of the desert that had flashed past the window, going over in her head what they had done last night. She should never have tempted him into bed with her, she knew that, even before Zayed had extricated himself from her arms at the first light of dawn. But she had craved the intimacy so badly, yearned for him so badly, that lonely, frightening night more than ever. It had been a force she had been powerless to resist.

  And now she found herself reliving that amazing intimacy, minute by minute, in all its gloriously erotic pleasure. She was just remembering when Zayed had brought her to orgasm that first time when the SUV jolted over a large boulder in their path and she had to stifle the shaft of arousal that shot through her, biting down hard on her lip before nervously glancing across at Zayed to see if he had noticed.

  But she needn’t have worried. Zayed continued to stare straight ahead, lost in his own thoughts, his dark hands gripping the wheel. And Nadia was under no illusions that those thoughts included her.

  For while everything about the memory of last night still consumed her, right down to the feel of the rough blankets that had scratched their entwined bodies as they had finally fallen asleep, for Zayed they were already gone, forgotten.

  Daylight had seen him revert to his old self. Brisk, formal, businesslike, all vestiges of passion and tenderness gone.

  Which just served to remind Nadia of her foolishness. What was it Zayed had said to her after their wedding night? It was just sex. His words had scarred her then, and now they weighted her down with their punishing truth.

  Because for her it was far more than just sex. Far, far more. With the sickening dread of reality Nadia now realised that it was not just her virginity she had lost to this man. She had lost her heart. And that was something she didn’t know how to begin to come to terms with.

  The palace of Harith loomed before them, cold and forbidding, despite the searing midday heat. Zayed slanted a look at Nadia as they swung through the arched entranceway into the wide cobbled courtyard, the security gates closing behind them. She looked very pale, her hands gripping the seat, her knuckles white.

  ‘Are you okay?’ He pulled up the car and turned off the engine.

  ‘Yes, yes. It’s just being back here...you know.’

  Zayed turned to look at her, wanting to comfort her but knowing she would never let him. They had briefly stopped at a coffee shop on the outskirts of the city so that he could check in with his security team and to give them both a chance to change out of their dusty clothes. Now he was wearing a sombre suit and tie, Nadia a traditional abaya in a deep shade of blue. She looked beautiful, delicate, fragile.

  ‘You know there is nothing to be frightened of?’

  From the brief conversation they had had on the journey he had discovered that, despite the facade of bravado, Nadia feared her brother almost as much as her father. She hadn’t said it in so many words, but the way she had turned to look at him, clasping the seat belt against her c
hest, her eyes wide with alarm, had said it for her.

  ‘You need to be careful with Imran, Zayed. He can be sly, nasty, vicious.’

  ‘Sounds like quite a charmer.’

  ‘I mean it, Zayed.’ He had felt her gaze intensify as she had focused on his profile, willing him to understand.

  ‘Frankly, I don’t give a damn what he’s like.’ The fact was he already hated this guy because of the way he had treated Nadia. For the way he made her feel. ‘It’s not as if I’m planning on watching baseball with him. But if this is my one chance to talk some sense into Imran Amani then I am going to make it count.’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Her eyes had returned to the track in front of them but the disquiet had still been in her voice. ‘But you will need to be on your guard. Imran is not an honourable man. Not like your brother.’

  Honourable. That was the word to describe Azeed, Zayed realised that now. Their talk the previous night had opened his eyes to the changed man his brother had become, the brother he had never really known. And he was so grateful for the bond they now had.

  As he had swung the SUV between the towering dunes, deeper and deeper into this enemy territory, he had hoped that being honourable was one quality they had in common.

  Now, here in the heart of Harith, he watched as Nadia collected herself, fighting off his concern. She pulled down the sun visor and looked at herself in the mirror, smoothing her hands over her hair, running a fingertip over her eyebrows. Zayed waited until she had finished.

  ‘Nadia?’ She turned to look at him and he caught her raised chin with his finger, holding it still. He watched her pupils dilate, the thick dark lashes fluttering.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Do you trust me, Nadia?’

  He wanted a truthful answer, refusing to let her look away until he’d got one. There were dangers attached to this plan—he knew that. But he also knew that he would protect Nadia with his life. He was prepared to raze the kingdom of Harith to the ground, himself along with it, before he would let anything happen to her.