The Secret of the Sheikh's Betrothed

by Felicitas Ivey

  Part of his brain was amazed at how fast Ikraam thought on his feet if he gave that as the explanation for what happened, and part of him was ashamed at the assholish way he had left. His slamming the door was the only reason anyone knew he had been there. It was the reason Ikraam was in trouble. If he had left quietly, Ghalib wouldn’t have been stabbed. Wait, he wasn’t sorry about that; he was sorry Ikraam had to stab Ghalib to protect himself.

  “Fathi,” Grandfather said, touching his shoulder. “Stop.”

  “He hurt Ikraam,” Fathi said softly. “He dared…. No means no.”

  “If you don’t let him go, I can’t throw him into the desert,” Grandfather pointed out. “He will be sent back to his people with only a camel and enough water for a day or so.”

  Fathi took a deep breath, bottling his anger back inside, and stood back. “Of course, Grandfather.”

  Ghalib laughed. Before he could say anything, Fathi lashed out and punched him in the face.

  “Truly, grandson, this woman has lighted your passions in a way I never thought was possible,” Grandfather said, even as Fathi stood there and shook out his hand.

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how I felt about Ikraam,” Fathi said softly.

  He turned and walked away before he gave in to the impulse to beat Ghalib to a pulp. What was it about this place that was turning his head into mush? He was acting like some sort of testosterone-poisoned alpha male from a bad romance novel. Ikraam wasn’t a blushing maiden who needed rescuing. For one, he was a man. For another reason, he had pointedly shown Ghalib he wasn’t interested in his attentions. Ikraam hadn’t needed rescuing from Ghalib. However, he and Sabah needed it from Bahiyya, who seemed to be some sort of evil stepsister… and now Fathi was getting his metaphors or something mixed up. Ikraam could defend himself better than Fathi could in a fight, yet Ikraam did need Fathi’s help to protect his niece.

  Fathi sighed. Did he want to marry the man? It wasn’t legal here, but a quick trip to the United States would take care of that small matter. But would Ikraam want to marry him? Should he tell his “bride” he lusted after him? Just because Ikraam had been raised as a woman, it didn’t mean he wanted to have sex with a man.

  But… he wanted to run his hands through Ikraam’s hair. He wanted to bury himself deep in his body, part Ikraam’s legs and plunge deeply into his core after spending hours tasting his skin, smelling his scent, and mapping out his body, coaxing him to pleasure. Fathi wasn’t surprised he was hard just thinking about Ikraam. Wearing a thawb hid his reaction better than Western slacks, fortunately. Even so, he was going to track down Ikraam and talk to him. His betrothed deserved that courtesy, considering the way Fathi had walked out on him.

  Chapter Fifteen

  IKRAAM was tired and lost in this maze of a building, still clutching the knife in his hand. He just wanted to get outside of this place, not that it would be safer for him. He would eventually have to go back and deal with all the trouble he had caused. Ikraam sighed. There was no running away from this, as much as he wanted to take a camel from the stable and ride out of here. And while he knew how to survive in the desert, where would he go?

  He looked around, wondering which side of the inner courtyard the harem was on. The place looked very different at night, and he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going when he arrived here a couple of days ago. He sighed and headed to the garden in the middle. He could find a place to sit and think about what had happened. Ikraam wandered for a couple of minutes before he found a bench near the fountain in the center. The water was still, since the fountain was off, yet the reflection of the moon in the water was beautiful, and he swore he could almost touch it.

  He couldn’t believe he had stabbed Ghalib, but the man had been about to touch him in a manner he didn’t want and he didn’t think the other two would protect him. He needed to go back to the harem, where Bahiyya would find him. He didn’t think Hashim would bother looking for him, leaving Bahiyya to deal with this unpleasantness like he always did. But if Ghalib had torn his thawb, then he would have seen he was a man, and he didn’t think Ghalib would have kept that discovery quiet.

  Or he could find Fathi or the amir and throw himself on their mercy. He should do that even with what he just told Fathi. He sighed again and closed his eyes, leaning against the bench. He was tired and just wanted to curl up in a ball for the rest of his life. He didn’t even care his family must be looking for him for what he had done. He should be horrified he had stabbed a man, but he had been defending himself. It wasn’t his fault. He was still dithering about what to do when Saumer slunk out of the shadows and joined him on the bench. With a whirring growl, Saumer put his head on his lap, trapping Ikraam where he was.

  It was too hard to move once Saumer had made him his personal pillow, so he didn’t. He was tired and just didn’t want to think anymore. He wanted to be someone who didn’t have to worry about hiding his true sex. What he had done even made him forget he was outdoors without a veil and only in a tattered indoor thawb. He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there, when he heard someone approach him.

  “Ikraam?” a man called out. Saumer growled at the sound, but he didn’t tense up.

  Ikraam opened his eyes and looked over at the intruder. It wasn’t Fathi, even though it sounded like him. It must be his twin, Rayyan. But why was he looking for him?

  “Fathi ran into Ghalib,” Rayyan explained, keeping his distance and looking at the ground.

  Ikraam thought it was very kind of him, to respect him with that gesture.

  “And your cat is never going to fit into Fathi’s condo.”

  “Why should he allow that?” Ikraam asked before adding quietly, “It’s not like he’s going to marry me.”

  “Grandfather wants this marriage to happen, and so it will, whether or not Fathi is interested in getting married,” Rayyan said. “May I sit down?”

  “You may,” Ikraam said. “Behave yourself, Saumer.”

  Saumer opened his eyes to glare at him for that order for a moment but didn’t move otherwise.

  Rayyan sat down, a little closer than Ikraam was comfortable with, but Saumer was stretched out on most of the bench.

  “Why don’t you think Fathi is going to marry you?” Rayyan asked. “Because you stabbed Ghalib?”

  “Not that,” Ikraam said slowly. “We… your brother and I talked this evening. I lied when I told Bahiyya Fathi had left the harem when I asked. We had quarreled. I had told him something I should have informed your family of as soon as my family arrived here. It was dishonorable to hide it from you.”

  “He can’t be too upset about what you said, because he hit Ghalib for trying to threaten you,” Rayyan said. “Not that he thought you needed defending, since he admitted you did more damage to Ghalib than he did. But Ghalib trying to hurt you made him angry. I hadn’t seen him that mad since before we went to college.”

  “Sheikh Fathi is modest,” Ikraam murmured. “He is a good man. A man who would defend someone who is weaker than him, if he needed to.”

  “He just punched the man. You did more damage since you stabbed him,” Rayyan protested. “Do you still have the knife with you?”

  “Of course,” Ikraam said. “I need it for my weaving. It’s the knife I use to trim threads and cut the rug out of the loom.”

  “Isn’t your knife a little big for that?” Rayyan asked.

  “I’d show it to you, but I cleaned it and put it back in my pocket,” Ikraam said in confusion. He thought for a second. “Oh! You think I used my sikeena when I cut him. I didn’t have a chance to take it when Bahiyya told me to gather all the wonderful food Fathi brought with him for us tonight and carry it to her rooms with Hashim.”

  “Us?” Rayyan asked. “You and Bahiyya?”

  “Sabah and I,” Ikraam corrected him.

  It was strange. He could talk to Sheikh Rayyan as easily as if he was a woman. With Fathi, there had been the same strange comfortableness, bu
t he had never been unaware Fathi was a man. A man he desired. In addition, he didn’t feel the same for his twin, one who was alike enough to his intended as to be him. Now he was talking to Sheikh Rayyan as if he was Saumer, freely and without having to weigh his words.

  Ikraam sighed. “And that has been the beginning of the trouble. I asked Fathi to marry Sabah instead. It would keep her safe from that monster Ghalib. I also told him something else. He left in anger.”

  “There must be more than that to the story,” Rayyan prodded.

  “That would be something to ask your brother, Sheikh Rayyan,” Ikraam said icily.

  He nudged Saumer to get up. The leopard grumbled, but slid off his lap and padded off into the shadows, blending with them easily. Ikraam lost sight of the cat after a couple of meters, even with the full moon.

  Ikraam stood up. “And now I should go back to the harem. Sabah will be worried about what has happened. I have been gone a long time.”

  “Surely she saw you leave with her mother,” Rayyan said.

  “I told her to lock herself in our room until I came back,” Ikraam said flatly.

  Rayyan turned and stared at him. Ikraam instinctively put his hands up in front of his face to hide it. They would never be family, and his reactions were those of a woman, for all he wasn’t one. The ease he had felt with this man seemed to have fled.

  “What did you…?” Rayyan’s voice trailed off, and then it hardened. “Marriage or not, you’re staying with us.”

  “Sheikh Rayyan?” Was the other angered because Ikraam didn’t trust the safety of his grandfather’s word? As much as the amir was to be respected, Ikraam had found common sense was a much better protection. “Has—”

  “Let’s go reassure your niece that you are still in one piece,” Rayyan said as they started to walk to the harem. “After that, let me handle Grandfather.” He paused. “Nothing against Fathi, but he and Grandfather usually end up shouting at each other on matters like this.”

  “I do need to talk to the amir,” Ikraam said firmly. “This entire marriage contract is a lie.”

  Rayyan stopped and stared at him. “What has Fathi told you?”

  Ikraam looked back in confusion, not bothering with maidenly modesty, because of the tone of Rayyan’s voice. Was there something Fathi needed to tell him? But he wasn’t going to hope that he could actually have the man he desired.

  “The fault doesn’t lie with your brother, Sheikh.” Ikraam sighed. “My sister brought all of us here on a falsehood. I need to fix that.”

  Rayyan frowned at him. “I thought…. Never mind. We figured out something was wrong when the tribe didn’t accompany you.”

  “They are unaware of this marriage,” Ikraam admitted. “My sister did nothing to inform them of it.”

  He didn’t know why that still stung. It wasn’t like Bahiyya had ever cared, or that she thought he was even going to survive his wedding night. Yet it would have eased his heart to be treated for once as someone who wasn’t a burden to her. He hadn’t even gotten a new dress to be married in!

  “She must have told them something,” Rayyan said.

  “Sabah was being sent to Ghalib’s tribe, since that was where Bahiyya and Hashim would be going after they leave here. She would be married a few years after that,” Ikraam spat. “If she survived. Most of the tribe thought I was going since I would be alone and none of her sons wished to take the burden of me.”

  Not that he was a burden, but too-close contact with the rest of his family might have led them to figure out he wasn’t what he appeared to be. Bahiyya had needed to carry on this lie, for her own power, if for nothing else.

  They were outside the harem now. Ikraam was still trying to decide if this was a sanctuary or as much a prison as his own had been.

  “It will be better if I am alone when I talk to Sabah,” Ikraam murmured. “She doesn’t know what happened.”

  “And I won’t be there to hear whatever secrets you’re hiding,” Rayyan observed. “If you want, I will return in the morning to escort you to talk to Grandfather. Or Fathi could do it.”

  “I fear your brother would try to talk me out of it,” Ikraam said. “He is kind. And wishes to obey his grandfather’s will. So he will insist on this marriage, even at the cost of his own happiness.”

  “You don’t have a problem with that?” Rayyan asked.

  Ikraam laughed. “There is no love in the beginning in a marriage. It grows when one gets to learn of the other. Or it doesn’t, but there might be respect and goodwill there. In some cases, there is nothing and the couple just adapts.” He paused. “Sheikh Fathi understands this better than you.”

  Rayyan opened his mouth to protest, but Ikraam talked over him.

  “Your brother did me the kindness of defying his grandfather and tried to be my friend before the wedding. It’s a gesture I treasure, since it shows the good heart he has. He will be a good husband.” Ikraam sighed. “I doubt if he will be mine, though.”

  “And why is that?” Rayyan asked, sounding like the words were choking him.

  “I have told your brother of the falsehood my sister was telling your family. That was the reason he left the harem in anger. I will tell your grandfather the same truth. Hopefully he will insist your brother marry Sabah instead. She would make him happy.”

  Ikraam opened the door, even as he was worried about Rayyan, since he seemed to be choking on laughter or something.

  “Is there an issue, Sheikh Rayyan?”

  “My brother, the man whose passion is for a well-written ledger or a well-negotiated deal, tried to punch out Ghalib, simply because he had done something to you that caused you to knife him. He wouldn’t marry Sabah after that.”

  “Ghalib is a monster who abuses those he thinks are lesser than him,” Ikraam said stiffly. “He attempted to take liberties with my person, in front of my sister and her husband, simply because I was unveiled. I just defended myself. It was as much my fault that I was in that condition.”

  Rayyan straightened up and looked at Ikraam. “Your family was there when he tried to do something? And they didn’t do anything?”

  “I was immodest and unveiled,” Ikraam repeated. “Even if Bahiyya hadn’t allowed me to have another veil when she tore mine off of me, the fault was mine.” He paused and said sarcastically, “I tempted him with my beauty.”

  “Your face is bruised,” Rayyan blurted out. “I just noticed it.”

  “That was part of the disagreement I had with your brother.”

  “He has a name,” Rayyan teased. “And you can use it.”

  Ikraam sighed. “He is my intended, but I doubt we will marry. Regardless, it was nice that he defended me from Ghalib, even if he doesn’t think he did it well. There have been few who have bothered to do so in my life.”

  His throat felt tight when he said that. He wanted Fathi in ways that weren’t acceptable. While he had noticed men and had felt stirrings in his loins over them, Fathi was the first one he had truly desired. And Fathi was going to marry Sabah, because that was best for him. No man should be interested in another man the way he wanted Fathi. It was wrong. It was also right, and he felt a small twist of jealousy that Sabah would be in Fathi’s bed and not him. It was for the best, but for once he wanted to get what he wanted and not what was proper and right.

  “Now let me reassure Sabah that I am well.”

  Ikraam thought he sounded strange, but it wasn’t like Rayyan knew him. He would let go of the man of his dreams to keep his niece safe.

  Rayyan nodded, staring at him in a way that was really uncomfortable. There was no lust in his gaze. It was thoughtful and considering, like Ikraam were a camel he wanted to buy. There was a measuring quality about it. Ikraam felt exposed for the first time with him, as if Rayyan could see through his thawb to the manhood underneath it.

  “You and Sabah aren’t going to have to worry about Ghalib,” Rayyan assured him gently. “I think he’s going to be gone from here as soon as he’s be
en looked at.” He paused. “Unless Fathi tries beating him up again. But Grandfather isn’t going to let him stay as soon as he hears the whole story. I’m willing to say Ghalib’s going to be turned out into the night so fast his head won’t even know what was going on.”

  “I was unveiled in front of one who wasn’t family,” Ikraam pointed out. “I was at fault.”

  “You aren’t veiled now, and you haven’t had to use your knife or your leopard on me so I wouldn’t touch you,” Rayyan snapped. “So Ghalib was at fault here. And your family for putting you in a position that you had to do something like that is their fault also. While stabbing someone to get him to stop is a little extreme, I don’t think he would have stopped without you doing that.”

  “But….”

  “Fathi left when you asked him the first night he was here,” Rayyan said. At Ikraam’s shocked look, he added, “I knew about his trip here that night. He liked you, though he wouldn’t admit it. But it wasn’t Saumer or Sabah keeping him in line. Fathi respected you, like any normal man would, so he kept his hands to himself. If that wasn’t something that happened in your life before this, you’re going to have to get used to it.”

  “And that is why I would like him to marry Sabah,” Ikraam said quietly.

  Rayyan shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. He’s almost twice her age. He’d adopt her instead, no matter what Grandfather said. There is a limit to what even Fathi will do for family.”

  “Your brother knows what is needed and will do it,” Ikraam said.

  Rayyan sighed. “This marriage is because your father saved Grandfather’s life.”

  “Your grandfather is an honorable man,” Ikraam said. “He honors my family by repaying the debt in this manner. The tribe has prospered from the gifts he had given us. I am ashamed my sister and I have lied to him.”

  “He thinks marrying someone is a way to pay back as big a debt of honor,” Rayyan said. “But…. Let me talk to him. He isn’t happy with either Ghalib or Hashim. So maybe I can talk him into an alternative arrangement. One that protects you and your niece without anyone needing to get married.”