Sabrina dropped her gaze to his groin and said in a breathless whisper, "Thank you, my lord."
"Unfortunately, your move isn't good enough," he added.
Sabrina watched him move his bishop and pin down her white knight. Now if she moved it, his bishop would capture her all-powerful queen.
Mobilizing her forces, Sabrina brought her other knight into play. Adam countered by moving his knight to attack her king-bishop's pawn.
Instead of guarding her pawn, Sabrina made a counterattack and threatened to capture his bishop by moving her king-rook's pawn one square forward. Adam captured her knight with his pawn.
"Take something off, sweet, preferably the gown," Adam said, looking at her with a wicked smile.
"Very well, but you'll need to unfasten the buttons," Sabrina said.
"Be certain to stand very carefully," Adam said, rising from his chair. "I do not want this board overturned."
"Would I do that?" Sabrina asked, her expression innocent as she rose from the chair.
Adam stepped closer when she showed him her back. He unfastened the gown's buttons with the practiced ease of a man who'd undressed dozens of women. Lifting her heavy copper mane off her neck, he planted a kiss there and then reached up with both hands to slip the gown off her shoulders. It dropped to the floor.
"Turn around," he whispered close to her ear.
When she did as told, he looked her up and down. She stood only in chemise, stockings, and garters. "You could tempt a priest to sin."
"I'll take that as a compliment," she said pertly, echoing his words.
Resuming her seat, Sabrina moved her bishop to a square on which it threatened his king. "Check," she called, knowing he needed to get his king out of check before attacking her queen.
Adam inclined his head. He advanced his queen-bishop's pawn one square, interposing it between his king and the checking bishop.
Sabrina captured his black pawn with her queen's pawn. She knew he would think her daft because now he could attack her queen. She wanted to win the war, not the battle.
"Take something off, my lord," she ordered.
"The shirt or the trousers?" he asked wickedly.
"The shirt."
Adam pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor. Then he fell neatly into her trap by capturing her powerful queen with his bishop.
"Remove your chemise," Adam said with a smile.
"I think not."
Holding her leg out tantalizingly, Sabrina removed one silk stocking. She left the garter in place on her thigh.
"Garters and stockings come in pairs," Adam said. "Remove the other stocking."
Without a word, Sabrina stood and rested her foot on his chair. Slowly, she rolled the other stocking off her leg and then resumed her seat.
"Your move," Adam said in a choked voice.
Sabrina captured his queen-knight's pawn with her pawn, leaving her bishop open to attack his king. "Check," she called out. "First, remove those trousers."
"With pleasure, my lady." Adam unfastened his trousers and pulled them down. Then he tossed the trousers over his head and got his king out of check by moving him away from her bishop's diagonal attack.
Sabrina smiled sweetly at him and then moved her knight, checking the king.
In a forced move, Adam moved his king one square forward to get out of check.
Sabrina moved her king-bishop's pawn one square forward and announced, "Checkmate." There was no square his king could move to in order to escape her men.
"You are a better player than I thought," Adam said, looking at her in surprise.
"Thank you, my lord." Sabrina sat back in her chair. "Now, stand up."
Barechested and barefoot, Adam winked at her and rose from his chair. He reached to remove his black silk underdrawers, intending to remove them.
"Stop," Sabrina ordered, rising from the chair. "I want to admire you first."
Adam inclined his head.
Sabrina walked around him slowly. She ran a finger down the flesh on his spine and then, standing on tiptoes, planted a kiss on his upper back. "I love the supple strength in those muscles," she whispered.
Sabrina walked in front of him and stepped closer. With both hands, she reached up and drew his head down to hers and kissed him thoroughly. She slid her lips lower, down the column of his throat, while her fingers flicked teasingly across his nipples.
Hearing his sharp intake of breath, Sabrina slid her hand lower. She pushed the black silk underdrawers down.
"Christ, but you've become knowledgeable in less than a week," Adam said thickly.
"I've tasted the forbidden fruit," Sabrina murmured, and flicked her tongue across his nipples.
Adam moved to yank her into his arms, but she pushed his hands away and reminded him, "I won the game, my lord."
Sabrina dropped to her knees in front of him and wrapped her arms around his body, cupping his buttocks in her hands. She pressed her face against his groin, and taking his manhood in her mouth, sucked until it grew too big. Licking the long length of it, she flicked her tongue this way and that.
Suddenly, Adam drew her to her feet. He kissed her slowly, wetly, lingeringly as he reached up and slipped the straps of her chemise off her shoulders.
Then he stepped back and inspected her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. All she wore was her glorious mane of copper hair and a garter on each thigh. The desire in his intense gaze was as tangible as the carpet beneath her feet.
"Touch me," Sabrina breathed, closing the short distance between them.
Adam caressed every inch of her silken flesh and then dipped his head to suckle upon her aroused nipples. He dropped to his knees in front of her and, using his tongue, teased the sensitive jewel of her womanhood, making her moan low in her throat. Without mercy, he slashed his tongue up and down her female crevice.
Surrendering to the exquisite feeling, Sabrina melted against his tongue. She cried out and clung to him as wave after wave of throbbing pleasure surged through her.
Adam stood and scooped her into his arms. He carried her across the chamber and gently laid her on his bed.
And then he gave her what she craved.
Adam plunged deep inside her and sheathed himself to the hilt. He withdrew slowly and then slid forward, piercing her softness, teasing her until she trembled with rekindled need.
With mingling cries, Adam and Sabrina exploded together and then lay still as they floated to earth from their shared paradise. He moved to one side, pulled her with him, and cradled her in his arms until both fell into a sated sleep.
Sabrina swam up from the depths of a deep, dreamless sleep. What had awakened her? Turning her head, she saw that the bed beside her was empty. She sat up and looked around. The bedchamber was deserted.
The dimness within the chamber announced the supper hour was at hand. Sabrina rose from the bed and slipped the chemise over her head. Then she grabbed her husband's shirt and put that on over the chemise.
Sabrina hurried across the chamber to the door and stepped outside. Noiselessly, she glided down the corridor to the east wing. The door had been left slightly ajar. By accident or design? Should she enter or not?
Pushing the door open, Sabrina stepped inside. Holy hemlock and henbane! She'd stepped into another world.
The opulence of the chamber shocked her. Lavishly tiled and luxuriously carpeted, the chamber featured an enormous bronze brazier and opaque glazes on the walls.
On her right was a narrow staircase leading to the second floor. Sabrina started down the stairs. When she reached the second floor, she looked around. The room, as opulent as the one above, was deserted, but an alcove across the chamber caught her attention. She sensed a presence there. On silent feet she crossed the chamber, but then stopped short at the startling sight that greeted her.
Facing the east, Adam knelt on the carpet. His forehead touched the floor, and his lips moved in a silent prayer.
Shock m
ade her momentarily speechless. Then she found her voice, asking in a frightened voice, "What are you doing?"
Adam whirled around. His expression mirrored his surprise.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded in an angry voice. "I told you never to enter the east wing."
"Who are you?" Sabrina asked, backing away from his angry tone.
"I am your husband," Adam said, almost wearily, standing to face her.
"You deceived me. You are not who you said," she accused him. She looked around at the exotically decorated chamber, adding, "You are someone else."
"I am Adam St. Aubyn, the Marquess of Stonehurst, heir to the Duke of Kingston," he said.
"No more lies," Sabrina said, meeting his gaze unwaveringly. "I want the whole truth now."
"Let us sit on the pillows over there," Adam said, inclining his head. He offered her his hand, but she refused to take it.
Instead, Sabrina turned her back, crossed the chamber to sit on the pillow beside a small table, and folded her hands on top of it. If she didn't hold on to herself tightly, he would see her hands trembling.
"What would you like to know?" Adam asked, sitting down across the table from her.
"The truth would be nice for once."
"Sarcasm does not become you," Adam said. "My real name is Karim Osmanli. I am a Moslem prince of the Ottoman Empire."
"A heathen?" she exclaimed.
"In my land, you are heathen," he said.
"You made me your wife under false pretenses," Sabrina accused him. "You lied when you promised never to lie to me again."
"Forgive me, Princess. Lying to you was wrong," Adam said with anguish in his voice and his eyes. He reached across the table to place his hand on top of hers, but she dropped her hands to her lap.
"Your apology means nothing, merely empty words," Sabrina said, steeling herself against the unmasked pain in his gaze.
"Will you listen to my explanation?" he asked.
She answered with a nod. No matter what he said, though, she would never forgive him for this. If she absolved him of these lies, tomorrow there would be more.
"First of all, Princess, I feared that you would never accept me as your husband, and I didn't want to lose you," Adam began. "You British are not generally known for your tolerance of other cultures."
"You are British," she countered. "Or are you?"
"Yes, but my Britishness is tempered by the fact that I also have ingrained in me the beliefs of another culture," he replied. "I follow the practices of both Islam and Christianity. I worship in my Islamic religion whenever I enjoy the privacy of Stonehurst, but I follow the Church of England because I am an English aristocrat and expected to adhere to that religion."
"I wouldn't have cared if you were druid if only you had refrained from lying about it," Sabrina said coldly, insulted that he didn't trust her.
"Princess, I apologize for not trusting you to accept this aspect of me," Adam said. "However, I had other factors to consider. If my real identity became common knowledge, my life would be endangered."
"Before you tell me what that means," Sabrina said, holding her hand up in a gesture for him to stop speaking, "I need to know if my father knew your real identity."
"Yes, Princess, both your adoptive father and your natural father knew about my origins," he answered.
That piece of information surprised her. She would never have thought that her wonderful father could give her in marriage to a stranger from a strange land. What had possessed him to do it?
Sabrina stared him straight in the eye and asked, "Does Aunt Tess know who you are?"
"As I said a moment ago, my life could be forfeit if my identity became known," he answered. "Your aunt knows me only as the Marquess of Stonehurst."
"You may continue with your explanations," she said.
"My mother is Charles St. Aubyn's sister—"
"Is or was?"
"Is ... My mother was the second wife of the Grand Turk himself, who happens to be my late father," Adam told her. "Twenty-seven years ago, my mother became betrothed to an aristocrat from the south of France. On her ocean voyage to his home in order to be married, she was abducted by pirates and ultimately given as a gift to Sultan Abdul Hamid, my father. Upon his passing, my older brother became sultan. My mother sent me to England, and I assumed a new identity because the custom in my country placed me in danger."
"What custom?"
"When a new sultan begins his reign, he locks his brothers up in the Golden Cage," Adam explained.
Horrified, Sabrina could only stare at him.
"It is not actually a cage," he added. "It is simply house arrest, which is kind when compared with what they used to do. The new sultan's brothers, potential political rivals, were executed."
"One brother kills another brother?" Sabrina exclaimed in horror.
"We Ottomans believe there can be only one sultan," Adam told her. "To ascend to the sultanate without restraining the other male heirs can only lead to civil war. Look at your own country, for example. Many wars have been fought and lives lost because one prince coveted another prince's right to wear the crown."
"I see," Sabrina said. Now she understood the reasons for so many lies, but she wasn't certain those reasons made a difference in how she felt.
He had lied too many times, Sabrina thought. How could she ever trust him again? She should have had the right to know in advance the identity of the man she was supposed to marry. This whole situation was almost too much for her to endure. She didn't give a fig where he came from, but if she forgave him this lie, two months from now she would catch him in another.
"I am leaving in the morning for London," Sabrina said, steeling herself against the pain in his blue eyes. "I need time alone to think."
"You cannot leave," Adam told her.
"Am I your prisoner?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Then I am leaving you in the morning," she said.
"You are my wife, my princess," Adam told her, his gaze holding hers captive. "There can be no annulment, and there will be no divorce. You made the choice when you came here. Our fates are sealed together."
"The devil fiddle your fate," Sabrina cried, rising from the pillow. "Either I leave in the morning, or you will need to lock me in that chamber for the rest of my life."
Adam stood and stared at her for a long time. Finally, he inclined his head and said, "I will make the necessary arrangements."
"I wish to travel by land this time to delay seeing my relatives," Sabrina said, uncertain if she felt relieved or disappointed. "I will leave you to ... whatever you were doing." At that, she turned away and marched across the chamber toward the stairs.
"Sabrina?"
She turned around. "Yes?"
"Where are you going now?" he asked.
"To the kitchens."
A ghost of his devastating smile appeared on his lips. "I thought so," he said.
Without bothering to reply, Sabrina turned away and climbed the stairs. She suffered the heart-wrenching feeling that the "French sunshine" in her life had been blocked by the clouds of distrust.
Chapter 15
"Winston, we're home." Sabrina reached out to pat the wolfhound, asleep on the seat opposite her.
For the past six days, Sabrina had ridden alone in the coach on their journey to London because Tilly preferred Abdul's company to Winston's. She couldn't imagine why the silly girl feared so gentle a creature as Winston, but in the end she'd been glad the girl preferred riding up above. The heaviness in her heart precluded polite conversation. Winston, on the other hand, seemed indifferent to the long, pregnant silences and the deep, heartfelt sighs.
For the hundredth time, Sabrina wondered if she'd taken the right action in leaving Adam. She loved him with all of her heart, but how could she live with a man who'd lied to her at every turn. That he was a foreigner with a different religion and customs didn't trouble her in the least. What mattered was his constant lack of hones
ty. Annulment and divorce were out of the question. If they separated for a time, perhaps Adam would—
The coach door swung open. "Princess, we have arrived," Abdul informed her.
Sabrina nodded. "You must remember to call me my lady."
"Yes, Princess." Abdul helped her down from the coach.
"Come, Winston," Sabrina called.
The wolfhound leaped out of the coach and bounded up the stairs to the Grosvenor Square town house. Tilly followed behind them.
"Welcome home, my lady," Baxter greeted her.
"Thank you, Baxter," Sabrina said, walking into the foyer. "Forbes, this is Tilly, my maid. Please show her to my chamber so she can settle in and unpack my belongings."
Both majordomos hesitated. Sabrina was unable to read the look that passed between them.
"We'll take care of everything," Forbes assured her.
"The other ladies are in the drawing room," Baxter added.
"Come, Winston," Sabrina called, and started up the stairs to the second-floor drawing room. Barging into the room, she startled them by announcing in a loud voice, "I've separated from my husband."
"Darling, I'm so sorry to hear that," Belladonna drawled. "Sit here and let us commiserate with you."
Sabrina crossed the drawing room toward them. They didn't seem the least surprised that she'd abandoned her husband. Now, why was that? she wondered, beginning to become suspicious.
"Courtney, go upstairs to your chamber," Aunt Tess ordered, turning to her sister. "Belladonna and I want to advise your sister."
A mulish expression appeared on Courtney's face. "I am old enough to—"
"You are an innocent maiden," Aunt Tess interrupted in a voice that brooked no disobedience.
Courtney rose from her chair. She left the drawing room, mumbling to herself, "I always have to leave the room at the most interesting times."
"Now, darling, what is the problem with your husband?" Belladonna asked.
"Adam lied to me about our betrothal and our marriage," Sabrina said. "No sooner had he promised never to lie again when I caught him in a lie about his—" She stopped speaking, unwilling to betray her husband's secret in front of her aunt.
"Darling, don't worry about Tess," Belladonna said with a smile. "I had to whisper the truth about your husband in her ear, but she's vowed to take his secret to the grave. Now then, Adam is who he said he is."
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