The Black Sheep Sheik

by Dana Marton

  She spotted Amir on the main patio with Saida and Wade, the three deep in conversation. The pleasure of having his family together was visible on Amir’s face even from this distance. Saida had her arm linked through Wade’s. She was making up for lost time, getting to know her half-brother. Isabelle heard plenty of stories, since Saida was quickly becoming her best friend, advising her on the wedding and stopping in several times a day to play with the baby. She was the best aunt ever.

  Jake Wolf leaned against the balustrade a few yards back, waiting patiently for his future bride to finish saying good-night to her brothers so he could take her up to their suite. The two were made for each other, Isabelle thought, and grinned. She was happier than she’d ever been and sharing that happiness with others made everything even better.

  She caught sight of Sebastian dancing with Jessica as if she were the only woman in the world. The heat between those two was palpable. Not far from them, Efraim was through dancing, swept Callie into his arms and carried her off the dance floor, heading toward the palace like a caravan bandit carrying his prize. Callie threw her arms around his neck as she laughed with pleasure.

  Isabelle went back inside her lavish room, crossed the floor to one of the side doors and checked in on Akif, the best little baby in the world, who slept peacefully in the nursery. They had named him after Amir’s grandfather, a popular decision that was celebrated by the whole country.

  The guards were giving formal greetings outside in the hallway, their voices drawing her attention. Amir was coming.

  As always, he came straight to their son, wrapping his arms around Isabelle from behind, kissing the top of her head as they looked together at their softly sleeping baby.

  “I just got news that the last of Darek’s men has been rounded up,” Amir said after a long moment. “Even the Russian connection.”

  She knew Amir could protect their family, but knowing for sure that all danger had ended erased even her last few worries.

  Then he turned her in his arms. “Did the ceremony tire you out?” Flames of desire burned in his gaze.

  Muscles clenched low in her belly. “It was amazing.” Thousands of years of tradition. A hundred thousand people cheering her name. Now that it was over, it seemed even more unreal, as if she’d dreamt the whole thing.

  “You are amazing.” Amir lowered his head, settling his lips over hers softly.

  Her body didn’t even try to fight the onslaught of sensations; it capitulated immediately. She put a hand on his chest and gave herself over to the kiss.

  She heated through to the core, got lost in pleasure, still amazed at how easy this was, after all, how right it felt. Now that her life had been tied to his twice, she didn’t feel powerless, as she had feared. She didn’t feel lost or diminished. She felt exactly right, content and deliriously happy.

  She gave a reluctant moan when he stepped away, then frowned when she saw that his lips were pressed together tightly, his hands slipping away from her.

  “I wish…” He paused. “I apologize for my impatience. When you’re ready.”

  And she figured out at last what he was talking about. “The royal physician stopped by to see me yesterday.”

  Immediately he frowned. “Are you sick?”

  “I’m…” She cleared her throat. “I’m fully recovered from childbirth.”

  “Excellent.” His frown lines eased. Then hope replaced worry in his eyes as realization dawned on him. “Are you recovered all the way?”

  She smiled and bit her lower lip, feeling ridiculously shy all of a sudden. She couldn’t even say the word. She simply nodded.

  “And do you feel…” Now he seemed at a loss for words.

  “Yes.” She wanted him so much she was going to die if he didn’t touch her in the next five seconds.

  “Yes as in…”

  She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his.

  That was all the hint he needed.

  The next second she was in his arms and he was striding back to their suite with her, to the sprawling bed where they had spent every single night together since arriving in Jamala, sleeping in each other’s arms.

  Something told her the innocence of mere sleep was officially over. Every cell in her body thrilled.

  He lowered her to her feet and reached for the top button of the richly embroidered golden gown she had worn for the wedding, according to Jalaman tradition. Their second wedding had been a fairy-tale fantasy. And it only kept getting better.

  She sighed when the material finally gave and Amir cupped her breast. She tugged to get completely out of the gown, but Amir’s free hand stayed in hers.

  “There is no hurry.”

  Right. She relaxed into his embrace. They had their whole lives together. She barely dared thinking about that, unsure if she deserved this much happiness.

  His hot lips trailed from her lips to her neck, sending delicious shivers through her.

  His fingers kept on working the gown, finishing with the buttons at last and pushing the brocade all the way to her hips. All she wore under that was a traditional pure white silk shift, and the breast-feeding bra under that, which under different circumstances would not be very sexy, but this bra was a dream, studded with precious jewels around the edges, made specifically for this occasion, specifically for her.

  And Amir showed special appreciation for it.

  She sighed his name as his lips found the clasp. Then he laid her gently on the bed, and the bra, along with the rest of her attire, was history.

  Every ounce of focus she had left was needed to help him with his ceremonial robe and the rest of his clothes. It was like opening a Christmas present. Then his glorious body was finally bare and all hers to take.

  His long fingers caressed her hips. Then moved lower. A delicious shiver zinged through her. Every part of her body responded to this man, had responded to him from the beginning.

  He entered her in one long slide, claiming her lips in a searing kiss at the same time. She felt as if her nerve endings were exploding.

  Nothing he did was rushed, as if he’d been planning this for a very long time. She ran her hands down his muscled back as desire burned through her. They rocked against each other, exquisitely slow at first, then building speed. A haze of sensual passion enveloped them, the tension growing, expanding, until together they flew into space.

  Afterward, still twined together, her head on his shoulder, she looked at the flower-patterned ceiling, listened to the murmur of the celebrating crowd outside, the steady beat of Amir’s heart in her ear.

  She was a queen, the well-loved wife of Sheik Amir Khalid, her son his cherished heir, the hope of the country. Life was a thousand times stranger than fiction. She grinned against his warm skin.

  This might not be how she had planned things when she’d first found out that she was pregnant, but she sure didn’t mind the change.

  “Remind me to run through a couple of things with you in the morning, before we leave for that honeymoon,” he murmured into her hair, his voice thick with satisfaction and the need for sleep.

  “Like what?”

  “Not now.”

  “If you don’t tell me now, I’ll be up all night worrying that you want to buy me another palace or something.” Receiving the keys on a velvet pillow had been quite a shock to her system at the end of the wedding ceremony.

  He cracked open an eye.

  “I didn’t buy you a palace. The summer palace has been in my family for centuries.”

  “Fine. You gave it to me.”

  “Traditionally, it belongs to the queen.”

  “You know I don’t like being given things.” She was going to be teaching at the Royal University Medical School at the start of the next semester. Partially to encourage more women to enter the medical field, but also to make sure that she retained some of her independence, a plan that Amir wholeheartedly supported.

  “Duly noted.”

  “So what?�
��

  “So what what?”

  “What do we need to talk about?”

  He came up on an elbow and looked at her with a wary expression on his handsome face.

  “I knew it! You are planning to give me something.”

  “All right. The supervisor of the royal nursery wants to know when to expect the second child. The finance minister wants to commission a picture of you for engraving on a set of commemorative silver coins he’s issuing.”

  “Is that all?” She felt the blood drain from her face. She wasn’t ready for the whole being-on-money-and-stamps thing.

  “We’ll have a ceremonial breakfast in the morning with the full court attending. You will be receiving my mother’s jewels as your morning gift.”

  “Morning gift?” She hated how weak she sounded.

  “The queen receives jewels from her husband the morning after the wedding night. Old tradition. Pay no mind to it.”

  She stared at him.

  “Say something.”

  “Blazing buzzards.”

  A slow grin split his handsome face. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you. Now you’ll be up thinking and won’t be able to sleep.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “There’s only one thing to do.” He drew his index finger slowly down the valley of her breasts.

  Her skin tingled; her nipples puckered. “What?” She sounded a lot more breathless than she’d intended.

  “I’m going to have to take your mind off all this,” he said, then took her lips in a searing kiss.

  Which felt just like what the doctor ordered. “There’s a boatload on my mind, actually.” She pulled her forehead into an exaggerated frown.

  “That could mean that we’ll be at this all night,” he warned her and grinned.

  With many thanks to Allison Lyons and Cindy Whitesel.

  Special thanks and acknowledgment to Dana Marton for her contribution to the Cowboys Royale series.

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1251-0

  THE BLACK SHEEP SHEIK

  Copyright © 2011 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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  *Mission: Redemption

  **Defending the Crown