“Yes.”
“I know she wishes to stay with you.” He brushed Melisande’s cheek with his fingers. “I suspect you wish that as well. Otherwise, you would have sent me a request for her ransom.”
Melisande smiled as she was caught in the sweet fires of Gabriel’s eyes. Her heart tried to escape from her chest to dance with joy when he said, “I could not send for her ransom when I was her captive from the moment I saw her. I knew I must have her as a part of my life.”
“Then I shall give her to you.”
Gabriel smiled and swung Melisande into his arms. “You have no choice, az-Zahra.”
“No choice?”
“When a man offers his most precious one to another man, she must become his zoga.” He smiled at her bafflement at the word she had never heard. “His wife. My wife, az-Zahra.”
“You wish to marry me?”
“I have wanted to marry you since you first stood up to me and refused to obey my orders. You are beautiful and headstrong and sensual and stubborn, and I love you.”
“But you said we would not marry, that—”
He curved his hands around her face. “I know how precious your vows were to you. How could I hold you here when you had to do as you had vowed? You respected my vows. I could do no less for you. But now I ask you. Be my first wife, my only wife.”
“Your only wife?”
“What need will I have for another wife when I have you, az-Zahra?”
She threw her arms around him and answered him with a kiss. As he drew her deeper into his embrace, he opened the doors to his room, and she savored this rapture that would be hers for the rest of her life. She heard the whispers of the wind from the gardens and finally understood their sibilant message. It was of love.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1999 by Jo Ann Ferguson
Cover design by Neil Alexander Heacox
ISBN: 978-1-5040-0895-2
Distributed in 2015 by Open Road Distribution
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New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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