Tarif: A Desert Sheikh Romance
Page 18
In the moments before she had lost consciousness, she had entrusted herself to a man who could make her smile and cry, a man who could excite and anger her, a man who made mistakes but learned from it –
That man she had imagined loved and trusted her unconditionally.
And now she saw in Tarif’s eyes –
Anisah started to cry.
Tarif was not that man.
“Oh, s-sheikh.”
Because he was more.
The sheikh slowly gathered her into his arms, she wept against his chest, and no words had to be spoken.
His shaking lips brushed against the top of her head, and her arms, wrapped around his waist, moved up to clutch his back like she would never let him go.
An alarm bell went off at the nurse station when the heart monitor still connected to Anisah’s body registered her rapid heartbeat; doctors, nurses, and bodyguards all came barging in, noisy and chaotic, but one look at the couple, and silence descended upon them.
They, too, needed no words to hear what the sheikh was saying, and how the woman still sobbing in his arms answered him.
I love you.
I love you.
Epilogue
The sheikh’s cool gaze followed her as she swung her legs off the bed and walked away, all silken limbs and unconscious grace. It reminded him of how Botticelli had envisioned Venus rising from the sea in his painting. It was said that the Greek goddess of love had been a full-fledged woman at birth, one so assured of her beauty and her worth that she had not minded at all people’s first glimpse of her was of her nude body.
His lips twisted in a caustic smile as he glanced back at the petite woman who had just walked away from him. The indifference she displayed to her own nudity would have done the goddess proud. In fact, the sheikh wouldn’t even be surprised if she turned out to be Aphrodite reincarnate, and truth be known, he almost wished she was.
That at least could explain his extraordinary obsession with her, and why he felt so damn empty watching her start to dress.
“You have made up your mind then?”
She turned to him, her smile cheeky, her voice challenging. “Are you going to stop me?”
But her eyes –
Her fucking eyes were too damn sad, and it was this that made the sheikh slowly shake his head. “No.” He cared for her too much to lie to her. “I will not stop you.”
A tremulous smile formed on her lips. “Is it weird that I dreaded hearing you say it – but I also love you even more for saying it?”
He only looked at her, saying nothing, and her smile grew a bit wobblier. How like him to do that, too – the sheikh did so despise wasting words when the situation already spoke for itself.
Smoothing one shaking hand over her abaya, she took her time lifting her gaze to his, knowing that it could be the last time they might see each other again this way.
“Goodbye, Rayyan.”
“Goodbye, Hyacinth.”
And as she turned away, she heard him say, “After this, you are forbidden from calling me by my first name again.”
Hyacinth’s grip tightened on the door knob, but she managed to keep her voice steady as she answered, “Yes, Your Highness.”
The End
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for your patience, and I hope Tarif and Anisah had you laughing and crying the way I did while writing their story. Some of you may have noticed that the ending of their story is a lot more serious compared to how I end my other books (i.e. no laugh-out-loud sex scene). I thought about this hard and long, and in the end I felt that ending on that note would help highlight how much the characters grew and how their own feelings evolved throughout the book.
In any case, I really hope that their ending didn’t disappoint you or made you love Tarif & Anisah any less.
And as for Rayyan and Anisah…I hope that little teaser was a pleasant surprise to you guys! I hope to have their story out next month (November 2017).
Meanwhile, please keep an eye out on my next book, which is the start of an all-new series and has ruggedly handsome American ranchers and mail-order brides (are you intrigued?).
Until our next journey,
Marian Tee
P.S. Most of my books are interconnected so if you are new to my work or you wish to know more about the characters you’ve met in this book, you might want to click on this link, which contains a regularly updated character database and a list of my books arranged according to reading order.
P.P.S. If you enjoy my work but have never reviewed a book of mine, pretty please consider making an exception and write a review for TARIF? I would truly appreciate hearing your thoughts, and while I do not as a rule reply to reviews, please do know that I read each and every one of them. Of course, you are also more than welcome to share your personal review with me, and you may do so by emailing me or using any of the social media links below to drop me a message.
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About the Author
Marian Tee is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of steamy romantic comedies. She is Filipino-Chinese, has lived all her life in the Philippines, and is a frustrated mangaka. She is addicted to horror flicks, misses hip-hop dancing, and loves all things Japanese.
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