The Sheik & the Princess in Waiting

“Yes, thank you.”

“Dr. Johnson said that your fainting was not likely to reoccur. He decided it was the combination of lack of food and sleep, along with minor dehydration and the shock of seeing me again.” Reyhan’s steady gaze never left her face. “Had I known you would react so strongly, I would have given you some warning. Stunning you into fainting wasn’t my goal.”

“Imagine what you could do if it was,” she said lightly.

She noticed his single raised eyebrow again, but Emma refused to be intimidated, despite the instinct to cringe and apologize. She turned her attention to her breakfast instead and plunged her fork into a piece of mango. Sexual awareness swirled through the room like an erotic mist, but she was determined to ignore it.

Maybe she always had reacted so strongly to Reyhan but wasn’t aware of it, she thought wryly. Maybe when they’d first met there had been this same powerful physical attraction between them but she’d been too young and innocent to recognize it. All she’d known back then was that she loved him and feared him with equal intensity. It was amazing she’d managed to find the strength to leave him.

Then she reminded herself that she hadn’t left him. He’d left her and she’d hid out at her parents’ home. Any additional contact had been through them. She hadn’t even had the courage to tell him she didn’t want to see him again. Not that he’d tried very hard.

“Why the heavy sigh?” he asked.

She looked up. “Did I sigh? I didn’t mean to.”

“You were thinking of the past.”

“It’s a logical place to go.”

He nodded. “We will speak of it.”

A statement or a command? “And if I don’t want to?”

The words were out before she could stop them.

His mouth curved up in amusement. “You defy me?”

“Will that get me fifty lashes or time in the tower?”

“Nothing so boring.” He sipped his coffee. “Why do you not wish to talk about our situation?”

“I do.” She shrugged. “Knee-jerk reaction, I guess. My parents were always so protective. They meant well—they still do. My independence is hard-won and I get my back up when someone gives me orders.”

“I see.”

She had no idea what the silken words meant, nor did she want to ask for an explanation. She doubted whatever contact Reyhan had had with her parents had been especially pleasant.

“You’re right,” she said. “We need to talk about what happened and what’s going to happen.”

He nodded slightly. “If you wish.”

“You’re mocking me.”

“I am terrified by your steely will.”

Emma doubted anything terrified Reyhan. Which meant he was teasing her. Interesting. She wouldn’t have thought royal princes had senses of humor.

“Do you believe our marriage was real?” he asked.

“I don’t want to, but, yes. You have no reason to lie, and my presence here is more than enough proof.” She shifted in her seat. She’d been married for six years and hadn’t known. Talk about being a fool.

“Why did you marry me?” she asked him, knowing it hadn’t been for any of the usual reasons. At the time she’d thought Reyhan had loved her, but his behavior proved otherwise.

He chewed and swallowed. “You were a virgin,” he said calmly. “I would not have defiled you.”

Ten simple words that made her drop her fork, push back her chair and spring to her feet.

“What?” she demanded. “You married me to sleep with me? The whole thing was about sex?”

If love was out of the question, shouldn’t he have at least liked her? Shouldn’t he have pretended to care?

“Sit down, Emma. You’re overreacting.”

She took her seat before she remembered she wasn’t going to let anyone run her life ever again. Once seated, it seemed silly to stand up and make a fuss. She settled on glaring at him.

Reyhan looked at her. “Why are you so outraged? Do you think there are any men who marry without the thought of their wives being a sexual partner?”

“Most men think about more than just doing it.”

That made him get stiff and stern. His gaze narrowed. “I am Prince Reyhan of Bahania. When I married you, I not only gave you my name and protection, but honored you by making you a princess of my country. Had you been willing to continue our relationship, I would have brought you here where you would have lived in this palace. Neither you nor our children would have wanted for anything. I would have been faithful to you until I breathed my last breath. Who and what you are would have been passed along to our children, and through that, you would have joined in the history of my people. I believe that would be defined as more than just doing it.”

“But you never told me any of this,” she reminded him, feeling more than a little embarrassed. “Nor did you ask me if this is what I wanted with my life. What about my plans? My dreams? Marrying you could have changed my world forever.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

She thought of her small apartment and her quiet life. She remembered her conversation with Cleo the previous night and what she’d said about the palace and the princes.

“You didn’t give me a choice,” she said. “Not about staying or going. You married me without telling me the truth, then you disappeared without a word.”

Reyhan leaned back in his chair. “Our recollection of the events that happened are very different, but that is of no consequence. What matters is our present circumstances. We are married—something neither of us wishes to continue. The king’s permission is required for a prince to divorce, and he has insisted you spend two weeks here until he will grant the decree.”

Countless years of having her life run by her parents had made Emma hypersensitive to being told what to do. Her first instinct was to tell Reyhan that maybe she didn’t want a divorce, thank you very much. Maybe she wanted to stay married.

She stopped herself before she could blurt out the irrational statement. She didn’t know the man. She didn’t want anything to do with him. Of course she wanted to go get a divorce and go back to her life.

“You didn’t need his permission to get married, but you need it for a divorce,” she said. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“I did need his permission to marry. I defied him.”

Simple words, she thought, but stunning. He’d defied the king? To marry her? Which brought her back to her original question—why?

For sex? He was a handsome, wealthy, royal guy. Couldn’t he get any woman he wanted? So why her?

She had a feeling that the earth would stop turning before she found out the answer to that one, so she chose another topic of conversation.

“So after the divorce you’ll marry someone else.” A thought occurred to her. “Have you already chosen your new bride?” Cleo had said he wasn’t engaged, but was he already in love?

Reyhan shook his head. “My marriage will be arranged.”

Emma blinked at him. “You mean she’ll be picked by someone else? What if you don’t like her?”

He shrugged. “That is of little consequence.”

It felt like a really big consequence to her.

“But she could make you crazy.”

“Then we will have little contact. My duty is to produce heirs for the kingdom. I will not turn my back on my responsibility.”

He had a duty? But where had all that duty been when he’d married her? And why would he agree to a wife he might not even like?

“Do you get to spend time with the potential brides in advance? Like The Bachelor for royalty?”

“No.”

“But—”

He rose, cutting her off. “I have a meeting,” he said politely. “Please think of your time here in Bahania as a vacation. In two weeks you can return to Texas as if nothing ever happened. In the meantime, if you need anything, please ask one of the servants. You are an honored guest of the king.”

With that he nodded and left.

Emma stared after him. She might be going home, but she doubted she would ever forget what had happened here. In a matter of hours, her world had turned upside down.

She rose and crossed to the French doors that led to a beautiful balcony. When she stepped outside, she saw the balcony stretched the length of the palace, perhaps even circling around it. A nice place to take a walk, she thought as she moved to the carved railing and leaned down to inspect the wonderful gardens below.

Stone paths meandered through what looked like a formal English garden. A fountain gurgled, while birds sang from nearby trees.

Hardly what she’d expected for a desert nation, she thought, then remembered the desalinization plant Alex had pointed out on their drive from the airport. Bahania created much of the fresh water her people used. Interesting, but hardly what was on her mind.

She turned her attention from the garden to her left hand. Reyhan had placed a simple gold band there after the ceremony. He’d kissed her and promised to replace it with any ring she would like. At the time she’d thought he’d been caught up in the romance of the moment, making promises he could never keep. Now she knew he’d been telling the truth.

But why hadn’t he told her the rest of it? About him being the prince and that he’d always planned to return there? And why hadn’t her parents been able to find out that she was really married? Who had told them the ceremony had been a sham and why hadn’t they questioned the information?

Would it have made a difference? After the fact, she could say yes. But at the time? She’d been hurt and afraid and not that interested in being Reyhan’s wife. Their few days together as husband and wife had been spent in bed. He had wanted her with a passion that had terrified and confused her. While she hadn’t minded him touching her, she hadn’t much liked it, either. He’d been too intense, too hungry, too everything.

Now the thought of those dark eyes gazing at her with unmistakable desire made her breathing quicken. Which so did not make sense. She had no reason to be attracted to Reyhan. She barely knew him. She wasn’t even sure she liked him. So why was she anticipating the next time she saw him?

Reyhan walked from the residential wing of the palace toward the business wing, moving quickly but with his thoughts still outpacing his steps.

There wasn’t a part of him that was not on fire with desire for Emma. He needed her as he needed the wide spaces of the desert. She was as much a part of him, and yet as out of reach as the stars.

If only he’d been able to keep her from coming to Bahania. But his father had insisted on meeting the woman Reyhan had married and then left behind. Royal pronouncements could only be avoided for so long, and in the end he had run out of excuses. So Emma was here—haunting him. He wanted her with a grim desperation that threatened his world, and he could not have her. Not before and not now. She was, he acknowledged, the one woman on earth who could bring him to his knees. Him—a prince. A man of power and action. If she knew how he really felt…

He reminded himself she did not know, nor would she be affected if she did. She’d made her feelings clear six years ago and there was no reason to think they would have changed.

Only twelve more days, he told himself. He could survive that, especially if he avoided her.

He reached the business wing and asked his assistant to come into his office. When the young man was seated, Reyhan pulled out his schedule. He was about to find himself very, very busy.

Emma restlessly wandered around the suite. She might be an honored guest of the king, but she wasn’t sure what that meant in terms of what she could and could not do. Were there self-guided tours of the palace? The maid had disappeared and she didn’t know who else to ask. The last thing she wanted was to wander into some forbidden room and find herself at the wrong end of a pointy sword.

She stared at the phone and wondered what would happen if she picked it up. Did the palace have an operator? In movies, the White House always did, and the palace was at least twice as big. Wasn’t an operator required?

A knock on the suite’s main door saved her from finding out. For a split second, her heart fluttered in anticipation. Reyhan? Had his meeting ended early and had he decided to return to speak with her? Had…

She pulled open the door and tried not to look disappointed when she saw Cleo standing there. The petite blonde had a baby in her arms.

“Remember me?” Cleo asked. “We met last night.”

“Of course,” Emma said with a smile. “You came to rescue me.”

Cleo grinned. “Someone had to. These princes,” she said, shaking her head. “They have no idea how intimidating they can be, and between you and me, we can’t ever let them know.”

She walked into the suite and held out her daughter. “This is Calah. I’m going to say ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’ and I really need you to agree with me. I know, I know. Every mother thinks her baby is beautiful. I hate being a cliché, but there it is.”

Emma glanced at the sleeping baby. “She is beautiful. You and your husband are going to have to beat boys off with a stick.”

“I suspect Sadik will just glare menacingly and that will be enough.” Cleo plopped down on the sofa and held out the baby. “Are you a cuddler or do infants make you uneasy?”

Emma sat next to her and took Calah in her arms. “I love holding babies. I’m a delivery room nurse so I’m around newborns all the time. It’s a great specialty and I love it, but every now and then I get the urge to move to pediatrics.”

Cleo’s eyebrows arched. “Ah, so you love children. Does Reyhan know?”

“I don’t think so.” The information would hardly matter. He might want heirs but not with her.

“Interesting. So tell me everything about your life.”

Emma gently rocked the baby and breathed in the sweet scent of her. “There’s not much to tell. I’m a nurse, I live in Dallas and now I’m here. But what about you? How did you come to be here, and married to a prince?”

Cleo drew her feet up and leaned back against the sofa. “Well, I already told you I’m from Spokane. I grew up dirt-poor and without much family. Eventually I went into the foster care system, which turned out to be a good thing because I got to meet Zara. She was the daughter of the woman who took me in. Anyway, we became good friends, then practically sisters. Years after her mother had died, Zara went through her things and found these letters to her mother from the king of Bahania.”

Emma stared at her. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. He’d met her when she’d been a dancer and he’d fallen for her big-time. Apparently theirs was a great love, but Zara’s mom knew it would never last so she bailed without telling him.”

“How sad,” Emma said.

“I agree. I mean she could have tried to make it work. Anyway, Zara found the letters and the two of us headed over here to see if the king really was her father. And he was.”

“That must have been a shock for both of them.”

“It was. I mean viola`, instant princess. She also met Rafe, who is American but also a sheik, and she married him—but that is a more complicated story.”

Emma laughed. “Oh, right. Because this one isn’t. So you stayed with Zara and then married Prince Sadik?”

“Not exactly. He and I—well, it was sort of spontaneous combustion. But he was a prince and I worked at a copy store. I mean until I’d come to Bahania I’d never been anywhere. I knew I wasn’t princess material. So I went home. But I had to come back for Zara’s wedding to Rafe, and I was pregnant and I didn’t want anyone to know. The king found out, then Sadik, then we got married, but he wouldn’t admit he loved me and it was horrible, but he came to his senses and now we’re blissfully happy.”

Emma didn’t know what to say. “That’s an amazing story.”

Cleo grinned. “I know. I can’t wait until Calah is old enough to hear the romantic bits. I won’t tell her about getting pregnant or anything.” Her eyes widened. “Oh, I should warn you. Both Zara and Sabrina are pregnant. I think there’s something in the water, so don’t drink anything but bottled.” She glanced at her daughter. “Unless you want one of your own.”

Emma was dealing with enough changes right now, although a child…She shook off the thought. No point in going there. Not now.

“I don’t think this is a good time for me,” she said. “Plus there’s the whole needing-a-man thing.”

“Is this where I point out that you have a husband?”

One who had made it plain he’d found her anything but interesting in bed? “No, thanks.”

Cleo nodded. “I understand. But that doesn’t mean I won’t think it. So how did you and Reyhan meet?”

“It was at college. My first semester.” Those days felt like a lifetime ago. “I was a brand-new freshman—technically an adult, but not emotionally. Not even close.” She shrugged. “I’m the only child of older parents. They’d given up on ever having children when I came along. I was a surprise, but a happy one. My parents were so thrilled, they were determined to keep me safe no matter what. Which meant keeping me sheltered. It took my entire senior year of high school to convince them to let me go to a college that required me living a couple hundred miles away.”

“Reyhan’s older, right?” Cleo asked. “You couldn’t have had a class together.”

“We didn’t. I was socially backward, and I would never have had the courage to talk to an actual man. I was walking home from the library when a couple of drunk guys started hassling me. I’m sure it was harmless, but I was too inexperienced to know what to do. I panicked and started pleading with them, which they found pretty funny. I was terrified and took off running. I ran smack into Reyhan. My books went flying, I’m sure I screamed and it was a mess. By the time it was sorted out, the guys were long gone and I was convinced Reyhan had rescued me from certain death.”

Cleo sighed. “That sounds romantic.”

Emma hadn’t thought of it in that way. “I thought he was handsome and mysterious. Very attractive, of course. I was stunned when he asked me out.” She shifted the baby, taking more of her weight on her lap.

“But you said yes.”

“Would you have said anything else?”

“Probably not. The rescue would be really tough to ignore. It’s very princely.” She laughed. “I say that so calmly, but I’m used to Sadik being royal now. At the beginning it was a big deal to me.”

“Do you miss your old life?”

“Not even for a minute. Not just because this is so much nicer—which it is. But because of Sadik. I love him.” Her dark blue eyes glowed with affection. “He makes me insane, but that’s okay. I drive him crazy, too. Besides, being different keeps things interesting. And he loves me.” She glanced at Emma. “Handsome, arrogant prince types may be hard to tame, but when they love, it’s with every part of themselves.”

Emma fought against a surge of envy. She had always wanted to be loved like that by a man. It wasn’t that her parents hadn’t cared for her, they had. But their love had been about protecting her from a difficult and frightening world. She’d always wanted just to be loved for herself.

Cleo shrugged. “Okay, I get carried away. That’s part of my charm. So enough about me and my past. Are you excited about living in the palace?”

“It should be an interesting vacation. At least that’s how I’m trying to look at it.”

“Your one chance to be a princess?”

“Something like that.”

Cleo grinned. “What if you find you like it so much, you want to stay?”

“Not an option. As soon as my two weeks are up, I’m heading back to Dallas.” And her regularly scheduled life. There was nothing for her here in Bahania. She ignored the little voice inside that whispered there wasn’t much for her back in Dallas, either.

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