The Karawi Sheikhs Series: The Complete Series

by North, Leslie

  Not romance. Concern.

  Yes, concern. He was afraid that he’d dragged an innocent woman into a dangerous political battle. She was concerned about the livelihood of the children she’d left behind.

  He was concerned for her life. It was too late to take her back to the orphanage. If the rebellion caught up to her there, she knew far too much. Besides, Aisha was bonded with her.

  He nodded to himself. It made the transaction easier.

  Once things were safer and Aisha was comfortable with him, he’d pay Amy for her services and let her go. He’d take an interest in the orphanage and let her head out to find her next project to write about. Preferably not in Haamas.

  She shifted against him again, and he groaned. There was no chance he was going to be able to keep his hands off her. They needed to return to the palace, soon.

  10

  Amy woke up alone in bed. The sound of childish laughter drifted in through the cracked door, and she sat up and rubbed her eyes. The sun was glaring through the window, making her feel as though she’d slept well into early afternoon, and the room was hot. She kicked the blanket off and rolled off the mattress.

  She’d never been a morning person. Back in Florida, she set her coffee maker so a cup of joe would be waiting for her when she dragged herself out of bed, and then she’d ready another cup to take with her. At the orphanage, she was lucky to get a cup of coffee at all, with a coffee maker that was as cranky in the morning as she was. Here in a safe house that had no electricity, she knew she was out of luck.

  Yawning, she managed to pull on her jeans and a clean tank top. Since they weren’t in public, she’d abandoned the hijab, but it made her a little uncomfortable to see the way the guards stared at her. Only Bahir seemed unaffected by her hair.

  In the kitchen, the sight of Bahir and Aisha, their heads bent over the table, whispering loudly, made her smile. It comforted her to see the way that Bahir had with his daughter. He had a lot to learn, but he was far better than she’d first assumed he’d be. He was taking an interest in the child. Talking with her. Playing with her. It gave Amy hope that he wasn’t simply going to assign his daughter a nanny back at the palace and forget that the child even existed.

  “Amy!” Aisha held up her stuffed octopus and waved it around. “The Sheikh fixed Kedar!”

  “He did?” Amy peered over the two to study the plush animal. Evidence of a sewing kit was strewn across the tabletop, and horribly uneven jagged stitches connected one of the legs to the octopus. Bahir wouldn’t win any tailoring awards, that was for sure. “What happened to him?”

  “He protected me from a dragon last night!” Aisha’s eyes widened as she spun her story. “It swooped in after you went to sleep and tried to eat me, but Kedar slayed the dragon.” Her tone turned tragic. “But he was injured!”

  Amy met Bahir’s amused expression. “A dragon?”

  He nodded solemnly. “A fairly small one, by the looks of things. It could fit in her room. I thought it might be a baby, but….”

  “Not a baby!” Aisha interrupted loudly.

  “No,” Bahir agreed at once. “Not a baby. A miniature version, I’m sure. I hear they’re rampant in this part of the desert.”

  “Oh, dear!” Amy reached for the bowl of fruit on the table and popped a grape in her mouth. “Should I be worried?”

  “No. Kedar settled things. No more dragon attacks,” the child said, hugging her octopus fiercely.

  “It sounds like Kedar deserves some extra cuddles today.” Amy scrutinized the little face. “Did you take your medicine?”

  Aisha immediately screwed up her face. “Yes. I feel better. Do I have to keep taking it?”

  While the child was apparently fending off dragons last night, she had also been coughing and sniffling. Amy had awakened briefly to the sounds, but then she’d heard Aisha settle quickly, which was a good sign. “Hopefully not too much longer,” Amy assured her. “Why don’t you go get dressed? Since you’re feeling better, we’re going to get some reading done today, okay?”

  Sighing heavily, Aisha slid off the chair and trudged to the bedroom.

  Alone with Bahir, Amy tried to ignore his heated gaze as she reached for a glass of water. “Your surgical skills could use some improvement.”

  “Are you offering to tutor me?” he asked in a husky voice.

  It was impossible to ignore the memory of the erection that had pressed up against her while they slept, or stop the onslaught of memories of him touching her and kissing her. She’d feigned sleep for hours while fighting the urge to straddle him and finish what they had started.

  “The only time I ever held a needle was when I used it to dig out a splinter,” she said at last with a shrug. “I’d probably be worse than you.”

  “How did you get a splinter?”

  Hesitating as she reached for another grape, she gave him an odd look. “What?”

  “The splinter that you had to dig out with a needle. How did you get it?” he asked patiently.

  “Climbing, actually. One of the foster homes I lived in had this tree that was perfect for climbing, but I was too small to reach the first limb until I climbed up on the patio railing first. The wood was old, and I almost always got splinters when I did it. My foster parents told me that I had to stop. They weren’t going to pull splinters out of my fingers anymore, but I didn’t stop.”

  “So you had to pull out your own splinters?”

  “A little blood isn’t going to keep me from getting what I want,” she replied with a grin. It had been a long time since she’d thought about that.

  “Do you actually know what you want, Amy?” His voice was low and husky, and Amy shivered.

  “There’s a difference between knowing what you want and knowing it’s a good idea,” she whispered. Before he could respond, she grabbed a handful of grapes and escaped to Aisha’s room.

  The girl had dressed and was waiting impatiently with her books. “Can’t I go out to play first? And then read?” Aisha complained. She crossed her arms and pouted.

  It was hard to explain to a child that it was dangerous for her to go outside. Amy didn’t want to scare her, but there was no way that Aisha could run around and blow off steam.

  “Actually,” Bahir interrupted suddenly. “I was thinking that if you sat down and read with Amy today, we could take a trip tomorrow to the palace. Would you like that?”

  Wide-eyed, Amy whirled around. Was he saying what she thought that he was saying? That it was safe for them to go home?

  “Okay! I’ll read now,” Aisha said eagerly. “Do we have to do it in the bed, though? I’m tired of the bed.”

  “What if we built a fort, instead?” Bahir suggested. “A reading fort.”

  Gasping, the child jumped and down and squealed with glee.

  Shaking her head, Amy stepped aside and watched the sheikh go to work. It was obvious from the get-go that he had no idea how to make a fort out of blankets and pillows, but after some trial and error, he designed a fairly crude tent out of the blankets and lined the floor with the pillows. Amy tried not to point out that now they’d need to change the pillow coverings before bedtime. It was too much fun to watch Bahir and Aisha interacting.

  He really was going to be a good father.

  Shatha had been working with Aisha on understanding punctuation and comprehension. Her current reader focused on dialogue, which meant reading in different voices and knowing that questions should be inflected and exclamation points should be read with excitement.

  Bahir settled in one corner of the fort and pulled Aisha into his lap. She settled in comfortably, as if it was perfectly natural for her to be there. Amy sat next to them and handed Aisha the first book.

  “It was a dark night, and the stars…tinkled…”

  “Twinkled,” Amy corrected her gently. “Don’t forget that w. Like Twins. Twist. Twelve. Twirl.”

  Aisha nodded. “The stars twinkled above. Mohammed walked alone in the desert. He saw somethin
g in the sand. Bending down, he pulled it out and gasped. It was a gold lamp.”

  “That’s an exclamation point,” Amy pointed to the symbol on the page. “What does that mean?”

  “Oh, right.” Aisha took a deep breath and shouted, “It was a gold lamp!”

  Bahir laughed as Amy cringed. Excited Aisha was loud Aisha. “Very good,” she chuckled. “Now, without looking back down at the book, can you explain to me what you read?”

  “Yeah. Mohammed was walking alone in the desert at night, which is not a good idea. His mother must not have told him that it was bad. He finds a gold lamp in the sand,” Aisha wrinkled her nose, “but that doesn’t make sense. Why would there be a lamp in the desert? We don’t even have electricity here!”

  “Actually, it’s an oil lamp,” Bahir explained. “It doesn’t have a lightbulb. It holds oil and a wick, like a candle. Why are you reading a book about Mohammed?” Sorting through Aisha’s other books, he frowned. “None of these books features a female.”

  “That’s because there aren’t very many of those available,” Amy muttered. “I guess you’ll have to write one for Aisha to read.”

  The child immediately gasped. “Can you? Can you write one about me? Me and Kedar? Having our own adventure?”

  “I’ll see if I can’t find someone to help out with that,” Bahir said, smiling.

  Amy couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It was ridiculous to think he’d write it himself, but she didn’t want him to start delegating the tasks that would make his daughter happy.

  “Quit using the Sheikh to avoid your lesson,” Amy chastised gently. “Finish your reading.”

  Aisha grumbled but continued. She was a proficient reader and went quickly through the book. Bahir jumped in a few times to help out with different voices, while Amy made sure the child was paying attention to the punctuation and the content. They got through part of a writing lesson as well before Aisha yawned. It was obvious that while she was feeling much better, the illness had taken a lot out of her.

  “How about some lunch and then a nap?” Amy suggested as she gathered the school things.

  “Okay. Can we play Taq Taqieh afterward?”

  “I’m not sure that we have enough people for that,” Amy pointed out gently.

  “Nonsense. We’ll get some of the guards to play,” Bahir said immediately. Apparently reading Amy’s alarmed expression, he smiled. “It’s okay. The danger has passed.”

  Still, Amy wasn’t sure that it was okay for a child to play with men who were trained to kill, and she suppressed a grin at the image of grown men sitting in a circle chanting taq taqieh. “We’ll talk about it afterward, okay?” she finally compromised.

  While Bahir got some lunch together, Amy switched out Aisha’s bedding and made the bed up fresh. After feeding the child and tucking her back in, she quietly closed the door and turned, only to run smack into Bahir.

  “She’s going to miss you,” he said quietly. “Maybe I could persuade you to come with us and act as her tutor?”

  “I’m sure you have more qualified people to tutor her,” Amy said and forced a laugh. She was going to miss Aisha, but she was starting to realize that the girl was going to be very happy.

  “A nanny, then?”

  “You don’t have to be afraid of taking care of your daughter, Bahir. I’ve watched you with her. It’s obvious that you love her. Just make sure you play an active role in her life, and you’ll be fine.” Seeing the troubled look in his eyes, she sighed. “How about if I spend a week or two at the palace to help get her settled. You’ll need to tell her soon that you’re her father. It’ll give her time to adjust.”

  “A week or two?” A strange look crossed his face. “I suppose if that’s all I can get out of you, I’ll have to take it.”

  It was a strange sentiment, but Amy let it pass. She was doing this for Aisha, but deep down, if she really admitted it, she was also doing it so she could spend a little more time with Bahir.

  11

  Despite Amy’s obvious discomfort, Bahir rounded up a few guards he said had children of their own, which only made her feel marginally better, and played Aisha’s game until the little girl was good and tired. She had to admit that she wished for a video camera because the sight of grown men chasing each other around in a circle made her laugh far more than she’d expected. She doubted the people of Haamas would appreciate seeing how their sheikh spent his time, but then again, maybe they would.

  After ordering one of the guards to draw more water from the well in town, Bahir asked Amy to give Aisha a bath before bed.

  Amy eagerly agreed. She was dying for a bath herself.

  After playing with Aisha in the tub and scrubbing her down, Amy administered more cough medicine and tucked her in the bed. The child was exhausted after her afternoon of games, and Amy knew that she would sleep through the night with no problem.

  Her own muscles ached after leaning over the tub, and she was so ready for bed. Rolling her shoulders to ease some of the tension, she walked into the bedroom and froze at the sight that awaited her.

  Apparently, Bahir hadn’t intended that only his daughter was to have a bath. Bare-chested, he leaned back in an oversized copper tub that hadn’t been there earlier and splashed the water invitingly.

  Unable to look away, she gaped. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking a bath,” he said with a lazy grin. “Care to join me? It’s a long drive back to the palace tomorrow.”

  “I…” Her voice shook. “I would love a bath, but I can wait until you’re finished.” Suddenly remembering herself, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her back to him. The temptation to join him was so great, she was actually shaking.

  “The water will be cold if you wait for me to finish,” he pointed out. “There’s plenty of room in here.”

  After a few seconds, she blew out her breath. What was the harm in joining him? Her time with him had an expiration date, and she already knew that there was no hope for a future together. Why not spend the night with him, enjoy his touch, and lose herself in passion and desire?

  His voice seemed to wrap around her in a velvety caress. “You can walk away. Go to bed. Pretend you don’t want me. Or you can admit that I heat your blood and give in. I promise that you won’t regret a night with me, Amy,” he coaxed in a low and seductive voice.

  Slowly, she opened her eyes, turned, and reached for the hem of her shirt. “Close your eyes,” she whispered. There was no way she was going to strip in front of him. “And don’t open them until I tell you to.”

  A crooked smile slid across his handsome face, and for a moment, she thought he might refuse. Instead, he closed his eyes without a word. Hurriedly, she stripped off her clothes and walked closer to the tub.

  Her heart jumped in her throat. No bubbles hid her view, and she could see that he was completely naked beneath the water.

  Of course he was. What did she expect? That he’d packed a bathing suit?

  Her eyes traveled over the lines of his well-muscled thighs to his erect and impressive cock. If she got in that water, there was no turning back.

  Timidly, she eased her foot in and braced herself against the tub. The water was lukewarm, somehow refreshing against her flushed skin. Before she could change her mind, she stepped in and quickly sat down facing him. As she drew her knees up to her chest to hide her figure, water splashed against the side of the tub and out onto the floor. “Okay,” she whispered.

  His eyes fluttered open, and his pupils dilated and darkened. Hunger was written all over his face. Lifting his hand, he held up the sponge and bar of soap. “Stretch out your legs, and I’ll wash you.”

  Hypnotized, she slowly straightened her legs around him. The waterline stopped right below her nipples, and she was too modest to relax, so she wrapped her arms around her chest. His eyebrows rose at the gesture, but he didn’t chastise her.

  “Tell me something you like about my kingdom.” Running his hand along the sole of her f
oot, he pressed his thumb against the ball and massaged. Under his expert touch, she slowly relaxed.

  “I wasn’t looking for romance. I wanted to get as far away from romance as possible, and I thought a small kingdom in the middle of the desert was a good choice. Haamas is progressive. As progressive as Dubai but without the draw of big-city crowds. I didn’t want crowds. I wanted peace of mind, and your kingdom has been great for that. It’s peaceful. Well, up until there was threat of a rebel uprising, and I was forced to hide in a safe house.”

  Bahir chuckled. “I think you’re getting distracted.”

  She was getting distracted. He had started washing her feet with the sponge. For some reason, it felt far more intimate than when his lips had been wrapped around her nipples. “Right. I was…um…talking about what I liked about your kingdom. Ah…” she moaned as he caressed her ankles.

  “I believe you were about to say something about romance.”

  She was? She wasn’t thinking about romance. She was all about pleasure. Bliss. Desire. “Amy?” he prompted.

  “Right.” She blinked. “Um, Haamas is full of wonder and romance. It’s probably a feeling that’s left over from my days of reading heady Arabian romances filled with mysticism. The artwork that comes out of your kingdom….” She sighed as his hands moved up to her knees. “Beautiful. Nothing else in the world is like it.”

  “There is certainly beauty,” he murmured. He was staring at her, and she blushed and dipped a little deeper beneath the water, as if that would hide her away from him.

  “You’re probably used to it. Growing up here. I get it. People would come from all over to vacation in Miami. To enjoy the Cuban-American culture. Sunbathe on the beach. See the attractions during the day and party at night, but it was all wasted on me. I stayed holed up in my apartment, too busy studying and finishing up my master’s degree. Everything people loved about Miami, I hated.”

  “Then I suppose it is a good time for you to explore a place of romance,” he teased.