by Susanna Carr
He had come to reclaim his bride.
“Nadir!” She stared into his eyes, unable to look away, to move. He looked menacing in a black designer suit. He sat quietly, but there was nothing casual about him. He was alert. Watchful. Ready to pounce.
“Who’s loverboy?” he asked in a low growl.
“What are you doing here?” All of her nerve-endings had sparked to life. Emotions swirled inside her, threatening to burst. One moment she felt comatose, and now she felt violently alive. “How did you get in?”
“I’ve come to take you home.”
Home? No—more like prison. He wanted to send her to the remote regions of Jazaar. She knew she should dash outside and get away as fast as she could. But it would be of no use. Nadir wouldn’t lose her twice.
“How did you find me?” Her voice croaked.
Nadir slowly stood. “Your e-book reader has Wi-Fi. My security team was able to triangulate your coordinates the first day you disappeared.”
A humorless smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. She had left all of Nadir’s gifts behind but she had forgotten that the e-reader was in her purse. She had eventually hocked it, along with everything else she had. It had hurt giving up that one gift.
“You’ve always known where I’ve been?” Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I don’t believe you.”
“I let you go because I thought I finally knew the real reason you married The Beast,” Nadir said softly, almost nonchalantly. “Getting out of your uncle’s house was only the first phase in your plans.”
She didn’t say anything. There was no point; it was true. Nadir had figured it all out.
“But you couldn’t leave Jazaar unless you were accompanied by a male relative,” he continued as he took a step closer. “Your Uncle Tareef wanted to keep you under lock and key. You didn’t have anyone in your family who would cross your uncle. Fortunately, a husband would do.”
Zoe gritted her teeth. She would not feel guilty. She would not. Nadir had had his reasons for marrying her. It pushed along his goals. She had the same right to go after her dreams.
“I thought you wanted to go to America for sentimental reasons.” A muscle bunched in his jaw. “It was only while we were in Mexico City that I suspected the truth.”
Of course. That was when she had attended the medical conference. Nadir had realized she wouldn’t give up her dreams. “And yet we still traveled to America?”
Nadir shrugged his shoulder but she saw a glimpse of stark pain in his eyes. “I guess I was arrogant enough to believe that you would choose me.”
She had chosen him—up to the moment when she’d heard of his plans. But she did not want to let him know she had been so weak. Zoe pressed her lips together. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
Nadir gave a deep sigh. “But my sacrifice was for nothing. You didn’t meet with him. You didn’t make any contact, didn’t even try.”
Zoe frowned. “Meet with whom?”
“Musad Ali,” he said in an angry hiss. “Your first love.”
Zoe stared at him and comprehension slowly dawned on her. “You think I did all this to get out of the country so I could rendezvous with … Musad?”
He nodded sharply.
“This is unbelievable. You think I went through all this to reunite with a man who treated me like dirt?” Zoe placed her hands on her hips. “What kind of woman do you think I am? Do you really believe that I would want to be with someone who abandoned me and exposed me to dangerous gossip?”
“What was I supposed to think?”
She glared at Nadir. “The only reason I would hunt Musad down is to kick his ass. But, honestly, he isn’t worth the effort.”
“You say that now because he stood you up.”
“Let me make it clear,” she said as anger flushed her cheeks. “Musad is my ex-lover. Emphasis on ex. I am not in love with him and I was never in love with him.”
“Then why did you escape from your security detail that day?” Nadir asked. “Why did you leave me?”
“Because I was ready to sacrifice every dream I had to be with you.” She had been too caught up in the make-believe. It had felt real. Strong. Lasting. But it had been just a fantasy that had almost cost her her dreams. Her freedom. “I didn’t know about your plans,” she accused. “You had no intention of having a relationship with me once the honeymoon was over.”
Nadir took a step back. “I never said that.”
Zoe’s mouth twisted with disgust. He was still lying to her. “I heard you, Nadir. I heard you talking to Rashid on our last night together. You planned on dumping me in the mountains of Jazaar.”
Nadir muttered a savage oath and speared his fingers into his hair. “That was before I met you.”
“You mean that was before you discovered there was sexual chemistry between us.” Zoe crossed her arms. “That’s why you allowed me to go on your business trip. Otherwise I would be trapped.”
Nadir clenched his jaw. “I’d like to think that what we have is more than sexual chemistry.”
“It was. It was a lot more for me,” she confessed, and she felt tears threatening to spill over her lashes. “I learned how to trust you even when I was risking everything to be at your side. I was ready to give up my dreams for you. I was prepared to follow you back to Jazaar because I love you.”
Shock chased across his face. Hadn’t he known how she felt? How could he not have known? Wasn’t it obvious in the way she lit up when he entered a room or in the way she kissed him? She had placed her trust in him again and again. She didn’t do that for just anyone.
“I actually thought I could return to Jazaar, the one place I swore I would never visit again.” She felt a teardrop trail down her cheek and angrily brushed it away. “I knew that you didn’t love me back, but when I was with you I felt loved and cared for. And it all turned out to be a lie.”
“It’s not a lie.” Nadir reached for her, but she backed away, her spine hitting the door. “I love you, Zoe. I want you to come back.”
Her breath hitched in her throat. He loved her? No, she wouldn’t believe it. He was up to something. “I’m never coming back. Do you really think I can trust you after I found out about your plans?”
“I want to be with you. Every day. Every night.” He took another step closer. “I want you at my side.”
She shook her head. “Why? Why now after all these months?”
“I thought I was doing what was best for you. Letting you go was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he confessed.
“But you didn’t let go. Not really. You were tracking me all this time.”
“I had to make sure you were safe. I stayed away so you could live the way you wanted. But I can’t let you go,” he said rawly. “I need you in my life.”
“No, you don’t. You need to find another wife. I’m the worst sheikha in history. I’m not a proper Jazaari woman.” Her voice rose as he kept advancing. “I’m a liability.”
“That’s not true.” He placed his hands against the door, effectively caging her. He surrounded her but was careful not to touch her. As if he didn’t trust his restraint. “You are the wife I want. You are the advisor I need. We make a great team.”
“No.” She didn’t want to remember those times. The moments when she had felt connected with Nadir. When she had believed they belonged together.
“Zoe,” he said in a low, pleading tone. He rested his forehead against hers. “I make sacrifices every day to perform my duty. I’ve given up a lot to fulfill my destiny. But I won’t give up you.”
He brushed his lips against hers. The faint touch sent shockwaves through her body. It took all of Zoe’s willpower to remain still.
“Please, Zoe,” Nadir’s voice cracked with emotion. “Please give our marriage a chance. I can’t live without you.”
“And I can’t live with you,” Zoe whispered. She flattened her hands against his chest and tried to push him away. “Not in Jazaar. Not in a royal life that
keeps me from what I’m meant to do.”
“I will do everything in my power to protect you and your dreams,” he promised, clasping his hands around hers.
She noticed how his hands shook.
“You will have the best tutors so you can get your medical degree.”
She froze. “The palace won’t allow that.”
“The two of us will fight for it. As a team. And we’ll fight for your right to practice medicine.”
“That’s going to be a battle.” An ugly, bitter fight that could weaken his position in the kingdom.
“It’ll be worth the fight.” He lifted her hand and pressed his mouth against her palm. “And you can travel whenever you want. Without a male relative’s permission.”
Hope flared inside her. “Wouldn’t you worry that I would run away?”
“I trust you.”
She looked in his eyes and knew he spoke the truth. Even if she ran away, he trusted that she would return to him again and again.
Zoe wished she was brave. She wanted to go with him, but she was too afraid. “Nadir … I just don’t know if I can return to Jazaar. I always felt trapped there.”
“I know.”
“I want to be with you,” she admitted, “but I don’t know if I can take that risk.”
“Which is why we’ll stay here.”
Zoe’s eyes widened. Had she heard him correctly? “Here? In Texas? But you have to be in Jazaar. You said so yourself.”
“We will have a home here and one in Jazaar. I will make trips to my homeland when it’s necessary. You can return to Jazaar when you’re ready.”
His homeland was important to him. She couldn’t allow him to give that up. As cosmopolitan as Nadir was, he thrived in the desert. “But Jazaar …”
“Is going through many changes,” Nadir insisted. “When I returned to Jazaar I saw the kingdom through your eyes. I’ve been making it a place where you can feel safe and free.”
“You did all that? For me?” She cupped his face with her hands and stared at him in wonder. “But what if I’m never ready to return?”
“Then we will make our home elsewhere,” he promised. “I will live where you want. Tell me you’re willing to give us another chance.”
She stared into his eyes, her heart pounding fiercely as she took the leap of faith. “Yes, Nadir. I want to share my life with you. I want another chance.”
Triumph shone in his dark eyes. “You won’t regret it, Zoe. I promise.”
“I believe you,” she said with a tremulous smile, before Nadir captured her mouth with his in a hard kiss.
EPILOGUE
Two years later
ZOE sat in front of Nadir on his powerful Arabian horse as they watched the sun dip behind the sand dunes of Jazaar. A cooling breeze tugged against her caftan, but she felt warm and secure in his arms. She smiled as the colors of saffron and gold streaked the sky.
“You’re right,” she said softly as she leaned her head against Nadir’s shoulder. “A Jazaari sunset is one of the most beautiful sights of the world.”
“I believe I said nothing can compare with it,” Nadir murmured as he stroked her hair.
Zoe’s skin tingled from his gentle touch. “I don’t know if that’s true. I haven’t traveled as much as you. Yet,” she clarified.
She had made several international trips alone in the past year to attend public health conferences. As much as she enjoyed the trips, and learned valuable information, she didn’t like staying away from home for too long.
The gold streaks faded and the sky turned to sapphire. A sigh of satisfaction rumbled in Nadir’s chest. “Jazaar is becoming more and more beautiful.”
“I agree.” He was the reason for that. He wasn’t the Sultan, but through his power and connections her husband was slowly modernizing the kingdom. Zoe no longer saw Jazaar as a prison but rather as a burgeoning paradise. The desert was her home, her haven.
Nadir looked down at her. “You do?”
“Yes, I thought the dedication for the women’s clinic today was a sight to behold.” It had been a struggle getting the health ministry to listen to her, but she had made her voice heard.
“Your parents would have been honored at having the clinic named after them.”
She nodded. “I can’t wait to open more around the kingdom.”
“And one day you’ll work in those clinics.”
Zoe heard the pride in his voice. “One day,” she agreed. “It’s probably a good thing I’m not going to any more conferences,” she said as she patted her rounded stomach hidden under the folds of her caftan. “I’m staying close to home for the next year or two.”
“Good idea.” Nadir covered her hands with his. Zoe swallowed the lump in her throat at the sight of them cradling her pregnant belly. “Sure you won’t get bored?”
She scoffed at the idea. “Are you kidding? My schedule is packed before this baby arrives.”
She had so many dreams, and Nadir was making sure she had every opportunity to make them come true. Her life was so full that her world was only limited by her imagination.
“We should get back to the camp,” Nadir said with a tinge of regret as he lightly tugged the horse’s reins. “Your Arabic tutor will be waiting.”
Okay, she loved almost every minute of her life. Reading and writing Arabic was more difficult than she had ever imagined. “Can I skip the lesson tonight?” she asked.
“Don’t you want to read Jazaari folk tales to our baby?”
“At this rate our baby will have to read them to me.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps you need another incentive. Wouldn’t you like to read our marriage contract? Don’t you want to know what I had to promise you?”
“No need.” He supported her with her studies and encouraged her to make changes in the health ministry. He protected her and made sure she felt safe and loved. She had more than she had dared to dream. “You’ve given me everything I need.”
Nadir curled his fingers under her chin and tilted her head so she could see his face. Her pulse quickened when she saw the love and devotion in his eyes.
“I love you, Zoe,” he said as he reverently brushed his lips against hers.
Zoe reached up and cupped her hand against his cheek as she deepened the kiss. She knew he loved her, but she liked hearing it every day. Nadir wasn’t going to let her down. He was the man she could trust and love. He was the man she could rely on.
“I love you, Nadir,” Zoe said. “Let’s go home.”
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All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all the incidents are pure invention.
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First pu
blished in Great Britain 2012
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited.
Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road,
Richmond, Surrey TW9 1SR
© Susanna Carr 2012
ISBN: 978-1-408-97425-4
