Nazem’s voice from outside the tent cut into the spell that held him so entranced. “Your Highness, I require a word with you.”
Malik ignored him for a full five minutes, unable to drag his eyes away from the vision before him. The booming of his heart was audible to his ears. Finally, he yelled over his shoulder, “In the morning!”
Nothing was going to keep him from her tonight. Not a sandstorm, a meteor falling from outer space . . . not even Nazem. She was his for the taking, and take her he would.
“But Your Highness, this is a grave matter requiring your immediate attention.”
Completely ensnared, he didn’t breathe, blink, or shift his body.
He couldn’t.
“In. The. Morning.”
Her beauty resembled the proud and unrivaled allure of Helen of Troy. Certainly, her face could launch a thousand ships. He understood the need to go to battle for such a prize. Personally, he’d kill any other man who dared to touch her.
His eyes traced her body again, taking in the way the teal-colored gossamer fabric clung to her curves. His blood pounding in his veins rivaled the thunder of a thousand horses’ hooves. As his eyes slid down her body, they zoned in on the deep rose-colored nipples that stood erect under his gaze. A shadow of her sex at the apex of her legs compelled him to take a step forward, a step closer to what he so greedily coveted. But her eyes were what completely did him in. Lined with kohl as in ancient times, they drew him in like a siren’s plea.
He felt as though his whole life had come down to this one defining moment. His hands trembled as he fought for a composure he didn’t possess.
“You look like a tasty morsel to be devoured.”
“I am at your command.” A smile spread across her face. Her eyes glistened in the candlelight, beckoning him to her.
“At first I mistook you for a mirage, come to tease me out of my sanity. I’m still not convinced you are real and standing before me. Come here.”
She obeyed, and a quiver of anticipation coursed through him. If she noticed the trembling of his hands as he pulled her into his arms, she kept his secret. He nuzzled her hair, the scent so exotic that he closed his eyes to savor the mandarin bouquet.
“Ahh, you are real, I can feel your heart beating like a frightened deer.”
Lowering his head, he kissed her half-opened cherry lips. Unlike all the great leaders of his kingdom before him, he was conquered by a woman, this woman.
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to the bed, impatient to be naked beside her, in her.
“Malik, make love to me.”
His hands found the two clasps at her shoulders and released them. “My pleasure.”
~ ~ ~
They’d made love all night with the lullaby of the desert wind tapping at the tent canvas. Now Jane was snuggled against his bare chest, asleep. Fingering a lock of her burnished hair, he smoothed it away from her face. For just a second, he felt remorse for exhausting her so completely. A smile curved his lips. He was well sated, more so than he’d ever been in his life. So why was he still awake?
He rubbed a hand over his face. Hell, he knew exactly why. Suspicions were starting to multiply in the back of his brain. His lust for her kept suppressing them, kept making him avoid the inevitable. Well, it was time to face facts. Something strange was going on. First, the Touffian’s had said they’d captured an assassin who had been assigned to kill him. The only person whose hands had been tied in those cars was Jane. Then there had been the profound discovery that she spoke Arabic. American women didn’t go around learning that language unless there was a specific need for it. That whole farce about her friend teaching her was unconvincing as hell. No, he would have to be blind to ignore such coincidences—blind and stupid. His eyes narrowed into slits. Could someone have hired her to seduce him? Well, if so, she’d succeeded masterfully at her mission. But what could be the purpose for such a plan? Did she hope to use something against him, entrap him in some way? His head was spinning with possibilities, none of them pleasant.
Her memory loss was another oddity. She’d recovered at least part of it by now, but why was she keeping it secret? Was she really that clever? Apparently, she had her own agenda, an agenda centering on him. He shook his head. Damn it! The possibility of her treachery left a sour taste in his mouth. He’d have to stick to his wait-and-see policy. Until more information came to light, until she did something condemning, he needed to stay close to her, even if it meant bedding her every night. The corners of his lips tipped into a smile. Not that it would be a hardship. He liked Jane. . . Okay, he loved her. But was he a fool?
As dawn leached its way across the sky, his eyes finally slid shut. He awakened a few moments later by the sound of Jane being sick in the trashcan. He jumped out of bed and rushed to her side, holding back the strands of her hair as she emptied the contents of her stomach. As she heaved again, he strode over to the bureau and grabbed a towel, soaked it in cool water and held it to her head. “Here, use this.”
When she took it from him, he got up and rummaged around until he found his medical bag.
“Has your stomach settled for the moment?” He inquired, his eyes never leaving her face.
“Yes,” she murmured.
Pulling her up, he carried her to the bed. Placing her in a sitting position, he tied a rubber tube around her upper arm and used a needle to draw her blood, filling several test tubes. Pressing a glob of cotton to the incision site, he bent her arm forward.
“Keep some pressure on this,” he advised, before turning away. Scribbling out his notes, he wrapped his orders around the tube. Picking up his satellite phone, he called for a helicopter.
“I should have the results from the tests by this afternoon.”
“I’ll get you some more crackers, but I want you to take it easy today and stay in bed, okay?” He shook out a couple of Tylenol and handed them to her with a glass of water. She stared up into his eyes. The question of what is wrong with me was clearly etched on her face, yet she said nothing.
Tucking her in, he shrugged back into his robes and headed for the opening of the tent. “I’ll be back in a little while to check on you, and I’ll send in a woman to care for you. Remember, I want you to stay in bed until we get the lab results back. Okay?”
She nodded.
Chapter 11
Malik adjusted the phone closer to his ear. “Could you repeat the results again? I’m having a hard time hearing you.”
“Certainly, Your Highness. You have nothing to worry about, the patient is just pregnant.”
Pregnant! The word ricocheted around in his brain like an Olympic ping–pong match. Pregnant! As hard as he tried, he couldn’t get past the word. Him . . . a father. The kingdom was going to have an heir. His first reaction was to smile, but the smile soon drifted into a sneer—an illegitimate heir. A baseborn heir like his uncle. No, he wasn’t going to let that happen, no matter what he had to do. But what could he do? His options were pretty slim. His worries from the previous night replayed in his brain, only now he knew her goal. He’d fallen for the oldest female trick in the book. What a stupid ass he’d been for not using a condom . . .
She was carrying his heir. The realization sent a shiver racing down his spine.
Pacing around the cooking fire that burned the whole day in the desert camp, his mind struggled to formulate a plan. He’d confront her with the news. See how she wormed her way out of this situation. But not yet, right now he was too angry. A sneer pulled his lip up. And then he let loose. He cursed a blue streak, using words that had never crossed his lips before as he kicked at the sand, sending it over his robes in a shower. He didn’t care. He was angry, he was trapped. The fact of the matter was that he didn’t have any options. He would have to marry her to keep his heir legitimate. Well, she might be getting wha
t she wanted, but she wasn’t going to like it. She’d rue the way she’d tricked him . . .
Flipping the tent flap out of his way, he stormed inside. There his nemesis was, sitting on the bed brushing her hair He didn’t wait until she turned around to fire the words at her.
“You’re pregnant!”
She didn’t move, throw something at him, or smack his face. No, only her small gasp of surprise gave away her betrayal.
Enlightenment flooded him. “You knew!” he bellowed.
She turned to face him, a sweet innocent smile planted on her lips. Oh, she was good. “I had my suspicions.”
It took all of his restraint to keep from grabbing her by her forearms and shaking the hell out of her. Her treachery knotted his gut.
Smile gone, she confronted him with her hands on her hips. “You ran a pregnancy test without my knowledge, Doctor.”
Her emphasis on the word doctor should have shamed him, but it didn’t. She wasn’t going to point an accusatory finger in his face. Not after her mountain of deceit.
“You could have tipped me off. Don’t you think?”
“I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure,” she managed, but the blush staining her cheeks gave her away.
“Well, we’re sure now. Start talking.”
“You think I did this on purpose?” She crossed her hands over her chest.
“I know you did this on purpose.”
She walked toward him, but he stubbornly held his ground. When she was right in front of him, she slapped him hard across the face. The blow had enough force behind it to knock his head to the side. “How dare you accuse me of such trickery? What would I gain by becoming pregnant?”
“Ha! You know exactly what you would gain. Me. The ruler of this country.”
She crossed her arms as she stared at him. “And you know what, right now that doesn’t sound like such a great prize.”
Her words made his blood boil. This situation would have catastrophic repercussions stretching into the next generation and beyond.
“I think you’ve forgotten that I’m not just an ordinary man who can be taken advantage of with a stunt like this.”
He knew the minute he spoke the words they were a mistake. A big mistake. Her chin rose in defiance and sparks seemed to shoot from her eyes. “You might rule a country, but here is a news flash for you, Your Royal Highness, you don’t rule me. And—” she flipped her hair over her shoulder, “—you didn’t think to use precautions. Yet I did. I was on the pill. Don’t lay this entire situation at my feet . . . It took the two of us to make this baby.” Walking toward him, she pointed a finger at him. “I don’t need anything from you. Your Neanderthal actions just convinced me to go back to the United States and raise this baby on my own.”
He ground his teeth so violently he thought they’d shatter. “Over my dead body.”
“What are you so afraid of?”
And with those words his anger vanished in a puff of smoke. Afraid, he was very afraid. Afraid that both she and the baby would be hunted just like him. His heart sank in his chest. How much more of this could he take? His family had been killed pointlessly, and the attempts on his life were unceasing. How was he going to protect his wife and child when he couldn’t even protect himself? For the first time in his life, he was truly terrified. If he lost her and the baby, he wouldn’t survive. He turned away from her and silently stood with his back to her. “This is just what my enemies have been waiting for.”
“No, this is about a baby.”
“A royal baby. And this baby has made me vulnerable. What if they target the two of you?”
He heard the soft footfalls as she came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. Using the pressure of her fingers, she turned him around to face her. “I’m not following. You have around-the-clock protection.”
“So did my family.” He reached out and took hold of her shoulders, anchoring her. “They know that I will protect you and this baby with my life. They will use that vulnerability to lure me to my death. And they are right. I will give up my life for the two of you. You hold my heart in your hands.”
Reaching up, she kissed his cheek. “Malik, I know the loss of your family has taken a great toll on you. But nobody has any type of guarantee in life. Not the king of a country, and not a woman who doesn’t even know her own name.”
He stroked her hair off her cheek and fed it behind her ear. “I’m sorry I blew up at you. I take full responsibility. I should have protected you.” He leaned into her, his lips pressing a kiss to her forehead. Then, he dropped to one knee. “Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
She jerked him up and flew into his arms. “Yes, dear God, yes.”
His lips took hers again, her soft flesh underneath his as heat mingled with desire sparked up his spine. He took a step back. “We will make this work, but you have to realize I’m nervous about the whole situation.”
She laid her hand against his chest. “Well, that makes two of us.”
~ ~ ~
“The sheik is leaving!” the man yelled before he even had a chance to dismount from his horse.
The robed man threw open the flap of his tent and ran to the horseman’s side. “What are you talking about? He just got here. He was supposed to stay for at least a couple more days!”
“Lesha told me that the king’s lady is expecting his child.”
“Allah, be merciful!” the man shouted, raising his arms toward heaven. “With his bodyguard on his heels every moment of the day . . . we have once again lost our chance to end this tyranny. He also guards the woman well. His men surrounding her here in the desert like a prized stallion. We will need to devise another plan. Something that gets under the layers of his security. We must call together another meeting. Ride to the other compounds and spread the word that tonight we meet to discuss our next course of action.”
Without another word, the man spun his horse around and rode off into the desert.
~ ~ ~
“Nazem!” Malik called over his shoulder as he made his way to his vehicle caravan.
“I’m at your service, my lord,” Nazem replied, out of breath from trying to keep up with Malik’s pace.
“It appears you are finally going to get your wish.”
Nazem frowned, confusion drawing his eyebrows together. “And what wish is that, sire?”
“I’m going to be getting married.”
Nazem grabbed a hold of Malik’s robe, bringing him to a halt. “What did you say?”
Malik smiled at his friend’s bewildered expression. “I’m getting married. Jane is pregnant. I told you she wasn’t involved in these attempts on my life.”
“Your Highness, I don’t know what to say . . .”
“Congratulations would be a good place to start.”
Nazem bowed his head. “Of course, please excuse my lapse in manners. Congratulations, I wish you every happiness in the world.” He extended a hand, and Malik shook it.
Malik started to walk away, but then turned back. “What was that important matter you needed to address with me yesterday?”
Nazem’s eyes locked on his. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the importance of what he had been about to tell his sheik. “It’s about the revolutionaries, but it can wait until later. Right now, go and meet your bride.”
~ ~ ~
They had only been back at the palace a few moments when Malik strode into her bedroom, his optic white robes with the gold embroidery swirling around his muscular body.
“I’ve made you an appointment with Doctor Helen Fareed for tomorrow morning. We were in the same medical class at Harvard, so I know she’s fantastic and very knowledgeable. I trust her to take excellent care of you and the baby.”
Somethin
g was wrong.
There was a new tenseness in the way he walked. Deep lines of worry dotted his forehead. He was keeping something from her. She swallowed the words forming in her mouth about trust. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and this relationship wouldn’t be, either. She’d wait for him to trust her enough to tell her what had put those worried lines on his oh-so-handsome face. She sighed. She knew every inch of his face, had studied every succulent curve and angle while they made love, from the strength in his jaw to the white lines in his bluer-than-blue eyes that reminded her of frosted panes of glass on a winter morning. This wolf of a man, who loved her with a ferocity that bordered on obsession. Her heart leaped into her throat at the very sight of him.
His gaze roved over her camisole and panties, lingering on her erect nipples. Heat flooded her face as she looked down at her attire. Approaching the bed, he sunk one knee into the mattress and then leaned over to kiss her.
“I’ve also brought something else for you.” Reaching beneath his robes, he extracted a red velvet jewelry box. She let the rest of the covers slide off her, and she came to a kneeling position in front of him. When he popped the top of the box open, all she could do was gasp.
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