Jamal shook his head. And why the sudden rush for a wedding? Why did Sheikh Muhammad feel the urgency to marry his daughter off? Jamal had posed the question to his father, and the only answer he got was that the old sheikh’s health was failing and he wanted to make sure his daughter, as well as his people, were in good hands should anything happen.
Jamal refused to believe Sheikh Muhammad had serious health problems. He had spent three months with the man while negotiating that contract, and Sheikh Muhammad had still been actively bedding his French mistress when Jamal had left to come to America.
He tightened his fists at his side wondering what the hell was going on. He suddenly felt as if he was headed for the gallows and wished there were some other eligible sheikh the princess could marry. For once he did not want to be the sacrificial lamb.
He inhaled a deep breath. There was nothing left to do but to return to Tahran. It seemed that life had landed him a crushing blow. He felt frustrated and shaken. He was about to leave the only woman he truly loved to return home and marry someone he cared nothing about. A part of him died at the thought, but he knew what he had to do.
He also knew he owed it to Delaney to let her know that he was leaving and the reason why. She deserved his honesty. Chances were that news of his engagement would go out over the wire service, and he didn’t want her to find out about it from the newspapers.
It took several moments for him to compose himself, then he left his bedroom to find Delaney.
She was nowhere to be found in the cabin, so he walked toward the lake looking for her. It was a warm, sunny day and birds were flying overhead. A part of him wished he could be that carefree, with no responsibilities and only the commitments that would make him happy. But that wasn’t the case. As his father had not hesitated to remind him a few minutes earlier, he was a prince, a sheikh, and he had responsibilities and obligations.
Jamal stopped walking when he saw Delaney. She was sitting on the dock with her legs dangling over the edge, letting her toes play in the water. A light breeze stirred her hair about her face. She tossed it back in place, then leaned back on her hands to stare up the birds; the same flock he had seen earlier.
Leaning against a tree, he continued to stare at her. He smiled. Seeing her sitting there, peaceful and serene, was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen, and he wanted to keep it in his memory forever. And knew that he would.
A battle was raging within him, love versus responsibility. Deep in his heart he knew which would win. He had been groomed and tutored to take on responsibilities all his life. But this thing called love was new to him. It was something he had never experienced, and for the first time in his life he felt lost, like a fish out of water.
A shiver passed through him. He loved her with a passion he hadn’t known was possible, yet he had to let her go because duty called.
He forced himself to walk toward her, and when he got to the edge of the dock, he whispered her name and she turned and met his gaze. The look in her eyes and the expression on her face told it all. She didn’t know the why of it, but she knew he was leaving.
And from the way her lips were quivering and from the way she was looking at him, she didn’t have to say the words, because he immediately knew how she felt. The silent message in her eyes told him everything, just as he knew the silent message in his was exposing his very soul to her. For the first time it was unguarded…just for her.
They had both played the game and won…but at the same time they had both lost. He hadn’t played fair and she had played to win and in the end they had gotten more than they had bargained for—each other’s hearts. But now they were losing even more—the chance to be together.
“Come here,” he whispered softly, and she stood and came into his arms willingly. He held her like a dying man taking his last drink, pulling her to him and holding her close; so close he could hear the unevenness of her breathing and the feel of her spine trembling. But at the moment all he wanted to do was hold her tight in his arms, close to his aching heart.
They stood that way, for how long he didn’t know. He stepped back and looked at her, wondering how he would survive the days, weeks, months and years, without her. Wondering how a woman he had met only three weeks ago could change his life forever. But she had.
He swallowed the thick lump in his throat and said, “Duty calls.”
She nodded slowly as she studied his features. Then she asked, “It’s more than the business with the sheikh of that other country isn’t it?”
He met her gaze. Deep regret was in his eyes. “Yes. I’ve been summoned home to marry.”
He watched as she took a deep breath, saying nothing for a few moments. Hurt and pain appeared in her features although he could tell she was trying not to let them show. Then she asked in a very quiet voice, “How soon will you be leaving?”
He thought he could feel the ground under his feet crumble when he said, “As soon as Asalum can make the necessary arrangements.”
She tried to smile through the tears he saw wetting her eyes. “Need help packing, Your Highness?”
A surge of heartache and pain jolted through him. This was the first time she had called him Your Highness without the usual haughtiness in her voice. He reached out and clasped her fingers and brought them to his lips. In a voice rough with emotion, tinged with all the love he felt, he whispered, “I would be honored to accept your help, My Princess.”
He pulled her into his arms and covered her mouth with his, zapping her strength as well as his own. The inside of her mouth was sweet, and he kissed her the way he had kissed her so many other times before, putting everything he had into it.
Without breaking the kiss he gathered her up into his arms and carried her over to the hammock. He wanted and needed her now. And she had the same wants and needs as he did, and began removing her clothes with the same speed he removed his. He then gathered her naked body in his arms and placed her flat on her back in the hammock. Straddling her, he used his legs to keep the hammock steady as he entered her body, almost losing it before he could push all the way inside. His entire body filled with love as he sank deeper and deeper into her. All his thoughts were concentrated on her.
For a moment, like the hammock, he felt his life was hanging by cords, but when she wrapped her legs around his waist and looped her arms around his neck, he knew she was all he would ever need and was the one thing he could never have.
But he would have these lasting memories of the time they had spent together. They were memories that would have to last him a lifetime. He began moving, thrusting in and out of her, his hunger for her at its highest peak, knowing this may very well be the last time he had her this way. Over and over again, he withdrew, then pushed forward again, wanting her and needing her with a passion.
Under the clear blue sky, with the sunshine beaming brightly overhead, he made love to his woman with an urgency that overwhelmed both of them. The muscles inside of her squeezed him, as he pumped into her relentlessly.
In the deep recesses of his mind he heard Delaney cry out as completion ripped through her, once, twice and a third time, before he finally let go, letting wave after wave of sensations swamp his body, and he shuddered deep into her, filling her fully.
He dug his heels into the solid ground to hold the hammock in place as he held her hips in a tight grip, experiencing the ultimate in sexual pleasure with the woman he loved.
Jamal and Delaney heard the sound of Asalum’s car when it pulled up in the driveway. The older man had phoned earlier to say a private plane had arrived to take the prince back to his homeland and was waiting for them at the airport.
After making love outside they had come inside and showered together, only to make love again. She had sat on the bed and watched him dress in his native garb, trying not to think about the fact that one day soon another woman would be the one to be by his side.
When he had finished dressing, looking every bit a dashing Arab prince, a handsome
desert sheikh, she helped him pack without a word being exchanged between them. There was nothing left to say. He had to do what he had to do.
Delaney inhaled deeply. She had known this day would eventually come, but she had counted on another week with him. But that was no longer possible. It was time for him to return to the life he had without her to marry another. She looked up and saw him watching her. She had been determined to make their parting easier but now…
“Will you walk me to the porch, Delaney?”
“Yes.” She felt tears gathering in her throat. Crossing the room to him, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him on his lips. “Take care of yourself, Jamal.”
He reached out and stroked her hair back from her face—a face he would remember forever. “You do the same.” He inhaled deeply and said, “There were times when I wasn’t as careful with you as I should have been, Delaney. If you are carrying my child, I want to know about it. I’ve left Asalum’s number on the nightstand next to your bed. He knows how to reach me at any time, day or night. Promise you will call and let me know if you carry my heir.”
Delaney looked up at Jamal, questions evident in her eyes. He knew what she was asking. “It doesn’t matter,” he said softly. “If you are pregnant, the child is mine and I will recognize it as such. Your child will be our child, and I will love it…just as much as I will always love you, its mother.”
Tears streamed down her face with his admission of love. It had not been his intent to tell her how he felt, but he couldn’t leave without letting her know their time together had meant everything to him, and without letting her know that he had fallen in love with her.
“And I love you, too, Jamal,” she whispered, holding him tight to her.
He nodded. “Yes, but this is one of those times when love is not enough,” he said hoarsely. “Duty comes before love.”
Asalum blew the horn, letting them know it was time for him to leave. Delaney walked him to the door, then stood silently on the porch as she watched his trusted servant help him with his luggage. When that had been done Jamal turned and looked at her after taking a small box Asalum had handed to him.
Walking back to her he presented the box to her. “This is something I had Asalum make sure arrived with the plane. It is something I want you to have, Delaney. Please accept it not as a gift for what has passed between us, because I would never cheapen what we shared that way. But accept it as a token of my undying love and deep affection. And whenever you need to remember just how deeply I love you, just how much I care, take a look at it,” he said, opening the box for her to see.
Delaney released a sharp intake of breath. Sitting on a surface of white velvet was the largest diamond ring she had ever seen. It was all of eight or nine carats. But what really caught her eye was the inscription on the inside of the wide band. It read—“My Princess.” “But…but I can’t take this.”
“Yes, you can, Delaney. It belonged to my mother and is mine to give to the woman I choose.”
“But what about the woman you must marry, and—”
“No, she is the woman being given to me. In my heart you are the woman I love and the woman I would choose if I could. This is mine and I want to give it to you.”
Delaney shook her head as tears began clouding again in her eyes. “This is too much, Jamal. It is so special.”
“Because you are too much, Delaney, and you are so special. And no matter who walks by my side, remember that things aren’t as they seem to be. You are the one who will always have my heart.”
He leaned and tenderly kissed her one last time before turning and walking to the car. He looked over his shoulder before getting inside, and waved goodbye.
She waved back, then stood rooted to the spot, watching the car drive away. She once remembered him saying that he didn’t like leaving anything behind broken.
Evidently, it didn’t include her heart.
She stood until the vehicle was no longer in sight. It was then that she allowed the floodgates to open, and she gave in to the rest of her tears.
The sun was low on the horizon by the time Delaney finished her walk. The cabin held too many memories, and she hadn’t been ready to go there after Jamal left, so she’d taken a stroll around the cabin. But she had found no peace in doing that, either.
Every path she took held some memory of Jamal.
Already every cell in her body missed him, longed for him and wanted him. There was so much she’d wanted to say and wished she had said, but none of it would have mattered.
He had chosen duty over love.
Delaney’s heart sank, yet a part of her both understood and accepted. She had known all along that things would end this way. There had been no other way for them to end. Jamal had been totally honest with her from the very beginning. He had not given her false hope or empty promises.
He was who he was. A man of honor. A man whose life was not his own, so it could never be hers.
She sighed when she reached the porch, remembering how they had often eaten breakfast while sitting on the steps enjoying the sun. She also remembered a particular time when he had said something to make her laugh just moments before claiming her mouth and kissing her in a way that had melted her insides.
Inhaling deeply, Delaney knew there was no way she could stay at the cabin any longer. She walked up the steps after making the decision to pack up her things and leave.
Delaney had just closed the last of her luggage when she heard a car door slam outside. Thinking, hoping, wishing, that Jamal had returned for some reason, she raced out of the bedroom to the front door. When she opened it, she swallowed deeply, recognizing her visitors.
Five men were leaning against a sports utility vehicle, and each man had his arms crossed over his chest and a very serious look on his face. Delaney sighed as she studied them.
Dare stood every bit of six-four and was the most conservative of the five. As a sheriff he demanded respect for the law, and those who knew him knew he meant business and not to call his bluff. Thorn stood an inch or so taller than Dare and was considered the prickliest of the five. He was moody and temperamental when it suited him. And he was the daredevil in the family, the one who took risks by racing the motorcycles he built. Chase was basically easygoing when the others weren’t around. He stood six-two and relished in the success of his soul-food restaurant that had recently been named one of the best eating places in the Atlanta area. Stone was the most serious of the five, or at least he tried to be. His height fell somewhere between Chase’s and Dare’s. He enjoyed taking trips to different places, doing research for his books. So far all ten novels had appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Last, but not least, was Storm, Chase’s twin. He was as tall as Chase and had dimples to die for. It had always been his dream to become a fireman, and now because of a recent promotion, he was a proud lieutenant in the Atlanta Fire Department.
Even Delaney had to admit they were a handsome group, but at the moment she wasn’t in the mood to be intimidated by the likes of the Westmoreland brothers. “You guys are a long way from home, aren’t you?” she asked, moving her gaze from one to the other.
Of course it had to be the prickly Thorn who spoke up by saying, “What the hell are you doing out here by yourself in the middle of nowhere, Laney?”
Before she could answer, Dare chimed in. “I see another set of tire tracks, you guys. It looks like Laney wasn’t here by herself, or she had a visitor.”
Delaney raised her eyes heavenward. “Always the cop aren’t you, Dare?” She sighed. “Why the show of force? Didn’t Mom and Dad tell you I was okay and wanted to be left in seclusion for a while?”
“Yes, they told us,” Stone said easily, but eyed her suspiciously as if she would be the perfect villain for his next book. “But we had to check things out for ourselves. And who did that other car belong to?”
Delaney refused to answer. In fact, she had a question of her own. “How did you find me?”
Storm laughe
d. “Dare put your picture out over the FBI wire service as a most wanted fugitive and we got a tip.”
At her frown, Storm held up his hand and said, “I was just kidding, Laney, for goodness sakes, cut the ‘I will kill you dead if that’s true’ look. Chase took a peek at the folks’ caller ID and got your new cell number. The telephone company was able to trace where the roaming fees were being charged. Once we had that pinpointed the rest was a piece of cake.”
Delaney shook her head. “Yeah, I bet it was, like none of you have anything better to do with your time than to hunt me down. I am twenty-five you know.”
Stone rolled his eyes. “Yeah, and the cost of milk was two-fifty a gallon yesterday, so what’s your point?”
Delaney glared at the five of them as she came down off the porch. “My point is this. I can take care of myself, and if you start trying to get into my business, I will do the same for yours.”
Four of the men looked uneasy. Of course it was Thorn who took her threat in stride. “You’re welcome to mess things up with me and the woman I’m presently seeing. She’s the clingy type, and I’ve been trying to get rid of her for weeks.”
Delaney glared at him. “If your mood hasn’t run her off then nothing will.” She inhaled deeply knowing her brothers were hopeless. They would never treat her like the adult she was. “Well, since you’re all here, you may as well help carry my stuff to the car.”
Chase lifted a brow. “You’re leaving?”
Delaney's Desert Sheikh Page 11
