by Leslie North
A squeak interrupted the kiss, but Skandar lingered until he was properly finished with her, his hands slipping away from her face only at the very last moment. Gina turned to see Shahd, who stood by the curtain with her arms crossed over her chest. “We made Gina perfect,” she scolded. “And now you’ve ruined it, Skandar.”
“She’s still perfect.” Skandar offered Gina his arm, and she took it. “Are you ready?”
Her pulse thrummed quicker and quicker, but there was nothing left to fear. Their future was all that was in front of them. That future would hopefully contain many, many late nights together. Gina couldn’t wait to get to this one. “More than ready.”
Skandar straightened his back and led her out from behind the partition into the throne room.
Gina had been involved with the plans for decorating, but she still gasped. They were at the back of the throne room, with the thrones on the other end of the long walkway. The room had been decked in gold and red and was filled to the brim with people standing shoulder to shoulder. She turned around to thank Shahd for the last-minute makeup fixes, but she wasn’t there.
“I didn’t know those doors could open to the garden,” she told Skandar. They’d gone over the ceremony many times, but this seemed different—it seemed much more intense. There were cameras following every angle, and every important person in the capital city was in attendance.
And tribal elders. And schoolchildren. The royal family, plus Amjad. People she’d met during meetings in the city.
“It’s time,” he told her, and then Shahd was there again, hooking her arm through Gina’s.
“Great entrance,” she whispered. “We’ll sit together in the front while Skandar gets crowned, and then you’ll join him for the recessional.”
“I remember,” whispered Gina. They went down the central aisle, through the sea of people, and she followed Shahd into her place. They’d gone over these details a hundred times. Still…
Gina and Shahd were only the beginning of the procession. Amjad escorted Karima down next, and then the judge from the convocation came down, and Skandar’s council. Music played them along. Gina’s heart swelled with it.
And then Skandar.
He had stepped back to allow everyone else to enter, and though they’d just had a furious make-out session, the sight of him took her breath away. He wore a thoughtful, serious expression and stood so tall and proud that it brought tears to her eyes.
He moved slowly down the aisle, leaving plenty of time for the press to get photos. The world is watching, Gina thought wildly. They’re all watching Skandar at his coronation. She bit her lip to keep her own excitement in check.
Skandar stopped at the steps to the dais, and the chief councilor stood, dipping his head to Skandar. Gina was sure his speech was a good one, but she could hardly follow it. Skandar was too arresting to pay attention to anything else.
“If there is anyone who feels that the Ascendant King should not be crowned, please speak now.”
That got her attention. Gina froze. They hadn’t talked about this part of the ceremony. What if someone came forward now? What if—
“Me,” Skandar said. Everyone in the throne room gasped, but Skandar only smiled. “I won’t be crowned king without my queen.” Her mouth dropped open. He was announcing to the world that he wanted her to be his crowned queen, not just his consort. He wanted her to be royal in her own right. To work as his equal. He met her eyes, and though there was space between them, she’d never felt closer to Skandar. “Only if you’d like,” Skandar said.
She looked thoughtful, pretending to weigh things, and laughter rose around her, relieved and joyful. “Please,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear it.
Applause—early applause—burst out from the crowd, and Shahd took Gina’s hand and led her up to the dais. Somehow, Karima had the official regalia—a hand-sewn wrap that would go over Gina’s shoulders—and the two of them arranged her on the steps next to Skandar to become the queen.
Hamid and Raed, Hamid’s brother, stuck close to Skandar at the party after the ceremony. Guests wandered between the throne room and the garden, sipping champagne and making toast after toast to the new king and queen. His cousins must have known, somehow, that he wanted them there to act as a buffer between him and the rest of the guests. Oh, he was pleased—so pleased. But most of him ached to be alone with Gina.
As king, he had to hold off his personal feelings for a while longer.
“So,” said Raed. “Is it Gina’s father or grandfather who’s going to open a branch of his business in Basran? One of them must be rich, yes?”
“Her family seems so normal,” Hamid mused. “And yet you’ve granted Gina this amazing honor. There must be more to it.” He nudged Skandar. “Tell us the secret, Skandar. You always play things so close to the chest.”
“Ha, ha,” he replied. “Not everything has conditions. A person can do something just to bring happiness.” It surprised him, hearing the words come out of his own mouth. He paused, considering it, and spotted his sister and Amjad in the crowd. Amjad looked beyond proud to be there as her official suitor. She had her hand on his arm and he patted it, over and over.
“Are you bothering him?” Gina appeared at his side, pushing her crown into place. They hadn’t exactly planned for the double coronation. Skandar hadn’t wanted to invite debate. It meant her tiara was slightly ill-fitting. “I know you’re curious about how I became the queen.”
Hamid laughed. “Of course we are. But Skandar is holding out on us.”
“It’s simple.” Gina rose on tiptoe to kiss Skandar’s cheek. “I wanted this, so I took it. I can put myself first once in a while, you know.”
Skandar’s heart glowed. They’d both come such a long way, and it had ended here, at the beginning of a lifetime together.
He couldn’t ask for anything more.
22
Skandar wiped at his eyes, his emotions overwhelming him. He’d never imagined he could feel this strongly about anyone other than Gina, but he’d been proven wrong. He couldn’t stop looking at the little bundle in the nurse’s arms, tracking her as she was passed from nurse to nurse. Each woman cradled the new royal baby in her arms and performed some measurement or another, and finally his daughter made her way back to him.
He took her from the midwife as if she were the most precious thing ever to exist. And she was.
Skandar leaned down so that Gina could see the baby’s face. She lay back on the pillows in her hospital bed, face red, smile wide. It had been an exhausting labor. He would never stop being in awe of her. Not for the rest of his life. Skandar pressed a kiss to her temple and put the baby in Gina’s arms, then took a cloth from a basin of water and dabbed her face.
“The baby’s fine,” said the midwife from the foot of the bed. “And you all did so well.”
“Thank you,” murmured Gina. “You did well too.” She met Skandar’s eyes. “You were there for me...”
“I wouldn’t have been anywhere else.”
She let her head drop back on the pillow, and the other women came to help, speaking in low voices as they showed Gina how to position the baby at her breast. Skandar’s little girl latched right away, one tiny fist curled up against her mother’s skin. Someone pushed a chair behind him, and he sat down, unable to take his eyes off the miracle happening in front of him.
The loves of his life, right there in the hospital bed.
The nurses moved through the room, putting things back into place and tending to Gina. “Your darling has dark hair,” one of them commented. “I wonder what color her eyes will be.”
Skandar stroked the baby’s skin. It was the softest thing he’d ever felt, and he wanted to drink in the scent of the new baby forever if possible. “Maybe the next one will have red hair, like the Sweetest Flame.”
“Maybe,” said Gina, and then she startled. “Wait. Next one?”
A nurse interrupted. “Sheikh Skandar, your families are next door
and eager for news. I’ll be happy to tell them to come back.”
“No, don’t do that.” Skandar leaned over and kissed the baby’s tuft of hair, then tore himself away from his wife and child. His heart felt too big for his chest. Nothing he had ever done compared to this—it was his life’s greatest achievement.
The waiting room was crowded with loved ones. His family. Amjad, there with Shahd. They’d finally gotten engaged, and Shahd showed off her ring every chance she got. Gina’s parents and her brother. His cousins and Tali.
“It’s a girl,” he burst out, lost for an interesting speech. “Gina’s fine, the baby is healthy, she has my hair and might have Gina’s eyes—“
And then he was interrupted by a cascade of cheers and hugs and whoops. Skandar sent a silent apology to anyone in the hospital who was trying to sleep. They were all asking questions about Gina and how it had gone, and he couldn’t hear a single one.
“Skandar.” Hamid’s son Rafiq tugged at his shirt. “Skandar?”
Skandar grabbed the boy up in a big hug and spun him around. “I’m so glad you’re here to celebrate with us, Rafiq.” He set the boy back on his feet. “What can I do for you?”
Rafiq held up a gift bag, a little shyly, and Skandar took it from him. “She’ll love it,” he promised, and Rafiq lit up. “I have to get back in there,” he told them. “I can’t stay away.”
“Go,” said his mother, shooing him out of the waiting room. “Send us messages later.”
When he returned to the room, it was a far more subdued scene than it had been while Gina was in labor. Oh, he was proud of her. They’d arrived at the hospital almost thirty hours before, and Gina had worked the entire time. The contractions had been fast and furious but slowed after a while, and it had taken a whole team of people to bring his daughter into the world. Now, only the midwife and one nurse were left. The midwife stood off to the side, noting down things on a clipboard, and the nurse was speaking softly to Gina, guiding her hand on the baby’s head.
For a moment, Skandar felt like he should stay back, stay on the outside—but no. This was his wife. This was his daughter. He didn’t have to hold himself back from anything with them. He’d spent a lifetime doing that, and he couldn’t do it now. His soul couldn’t bear it.
He waited until they were done talking before he took his seat at the side of the bed. Gina smiled at him, tired and happy, and the baby turned her face toward her mother’s skin. Skandar watched as her tiny eyelids fluttered closed. He’d never imagined that it would be fascinating to watch a baby fall asleep. How could he have known?
“Rafiq brought a gift.” He held up the gift bag, and Gina chuckled. “Would you like to see what it is?”
“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t want him to think we forgot to open it.” He opened the bag and pulled out a small plush toy. “Oh, that is the cutest dinosaur,” Gina breathed. “He loves dinosaurs, doesn’t he?”
“They’re the current craze.” Skandar nestled the plush toy next to Gina in the bed. “We’ll have to write him a top-notch thank-you note.” He leaned in and kissed her.
“What’s going on?” she said. “That was a distracted kiss.”
He put a hand on her face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I’m just thinking about what needs to be done.”
Gina gazed down at her daughter in her arms. “Nothing, I’d say, other than feeding the baby.”
“Well, the family announcement was only the first layer,” he mused. “We have to announce this to the people. Once we’re home, everyone will be visiting and bringing gifts in order of precedence.”
“Mmm,” Gina said. “I have another proposal.”
“What’s that?”
“This dinosaur from Rafiq is already my favorite toy,” she said with a laugh. “And we don’t need other gifts.” She caught his eye. “I happen to have made a list...”
He kissed her again. What had he ever done to deserve a woman like this? “Tell me about your list.”
“It’s a list of places in need of donations. Worthy causes. I’d rather have all those things go to the people who need them. We live in a palace, Skandar. We don’t need more things.”
An old instinct pressed at him. Uphold the old traditions, it said. People will be upset if you don’t do everything according to the established protocol. But he fought back against that line of thinking. For one thing, he’d made Gina his crowned queen. For another—
There was nothing else. That was where things began and ended. If she didn’t want a parade of people coming through the palace to offer tributes that they didn’t need, then so be it.
“Of course we can do that.” Skandar smoothed her hair back from her face. “Your needs come first. And I’ll be making sure that everything in the palace goes according to plan. I will be sure you’re attended to, morning, noon, and night. Especially night.”
Gina laughed, curling toward him, and he pulled her into his arms.
Outside, the moon rose over the capital city. It was his daughter’s first night on the planet, and Skandar wanted to be there for every moment of it, no matter how tired he was. He stayed close while Gina nursed her, but eventually her eyes got heavy, and the baby slept again. He lifted his daughter carefully out of Gina’s arms and took her with him to dim the room’s lights.
Gina turned over right away and fell asleep, her breathing soft and even.
Skandar walked softly back toward the wide picture window. From here, he could see most of the city, and in the far distance the shadow of a mountain blocked out some of the stars. His daughter stirred in his arms but did not wake. He looked down at her tiny face and found himself swaying side to side, side to side, unable to put her down in the bassinet.
“Let’s see,” he told her, keeping his voice low. “We’ll have to think of a name for you in the morning. Your mother has her favorites, and I have mine, and since you’re a little early we hadn’t made a final decision.” His throat went tight with emotion. “But here’s what I can tell you. A little story. Your first bedtime story. I know it’s a bit strange, because you’re already asleep, but maybe you’ll stay asleep for a while and let your mother rest if I tell you.”
He thought for a long while about where to begin.
“Not very long ago,” Skandar told the bundle in his arms, who slept on. “I was out in the desert on a night like this one. The moon was full in the sky, bathing everything in her pale light, and a ceremony was underway. Everyone’s voices rose around me, but there was only one thing that held my attention—a woman, falling down the side of a sand dune. That was your mother, sweet baby. And that’s how everything started.”
End of The Sheikh’s Pregnant Foreigner
The Blooming Desert Series Book Two
The Sheikh’s Fake Engagement, 5 November 2020
The Sheikh’s Pregnant Foreigner, 12 November 2020
The Sheikh’s Unexpected Son, 19 November 2020
PS: Do you love passionate Sheikhs? Then keep reading for exclusive extracts from The Sheikh’s Unexpected Son and The Sheikh’s American Lover.
Thank you!
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About Leslie
Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.
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BLURB
Annalise “Lise” Danbury spent a
wonderful, whirlwind two weeks with Bahir Al-Masri, a gorgeous and sexy man she met at the London university where she teaches languages. Then he went home, with only an “it’s been fun.” But he left more than just an angry woman behind—he left her pregnant. Traveling on business to Qasha two years later, she sees Bahir again. Only “Bahir” is really billionaire sheikh Raed Al-Qasha. And he’s just as stunned to find out he’s a father. Making matters worse, Lise is finding it impossible to ignore their attraction, even though she’s still steaming mad.
Raed never forgot Lise and his guilt at leaving her nagged him long after he returned home. But he pushed thoughts of her away, knowing nothing could ever come of their relationship. If he married, it would be for strategic reasons, someone who could help him build his philanthropic foundation on an international scale. Which is why seeing Lise again has him torn. Having an old fling and an illegitimate child around might create a scandal that could destroy his efforts, yet he can’t deny the attraction they still have. Thinking to keep Lise and his secret son out of the spotlight, he requests they live in the royal palace and lures her by saying she can use his staff in her language-teaching pilot. Big mistake. It isn’t long before the two give in to their desire, complicating all his plans. Lise is nothing like the woman he envisioned marrying. But she just might be the woman he needs…
Grab your copy of
The Sheikh’s Unexpected Son
Available 12 November 2020