by Diana Fraser
His arms were still crossed. He felt his frown was a permanent fixture. “That was quite some speech.”
“Xander, don’t you see? You’re single, I’m single, we… like each other, and I enjoyed making love with you. So…”
“So, you think we should marry based on those things.”
“Yes, that’s right. You would, of course, remain King of Sharq Havilah, and I would—”
“Of course—” he interjected.
She nodded in agreement. “Of course, remain Queen of Tawazun. We would spend half the time in each country, but in this day and age there’s nothing to prevent us from continuing to work away from our countries.”
He put his hands on his hips. “You appear to have it all worked out.”
The nerves vanished and she smiled. “Yes, I’ve been giving it some thought.”
“Excellent,” he said between gritted teeth. “Sounds like you arrived here with an agenda. You’ve at least got one item ticked off it. Sex. Sorry, making love. Any action points I need to know about?”
She licked her lips. “Only…”
“Only?”
“Only when our next meeting will be.”
“Our next meeting. Our wedding, perhaps?”
Her face brightened. “Yes, it could be.”
His face grew darker. “No, it couldn’t,” he growled.
“But, Xander! Just think about it. It all makes sense.”
“Not to me it doesn’t. You’re thinking of marriage as you used to think of sex. Simple, uncomplicated copulating. You don’t believe that any more, do you?”
“No, of course not. You’ve shown me it’s much more.”
He took a step closer to her. “Then use that fierce, logical mind of yours, Ela, to explain to me what it is that makes it much more.”
She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Then she took a deep breath and tilted her chin stubbornly upward. “It’s how we feel, of course. Our feelings. If you need to know, Xander, then I’ll tell you. I love you. There, I said it. I didn’t mention it before because I thought it might be unacceptable to you.”
It was his turn to be silent. That one word could always shut him up. Love. He hadn’t, for one minute, imagined she’d say she loved him, because he didn’t believe she did. But he didn’t doubt her because one thing about Ela, she rarely lied and she always said what she truly believed, even if it sometimes sounded cold and bizarre.
“You love me,” he managed to whisper, as if he’d been winded by her declaration.
“Yes,” she said, her brow creased as if she were about to cry.
Images flashed through his mind of all those people he’d loved and lost. Especially his parents and Selya. Losing them had changed his life. It had cut out his heart and Ela had replaced it. He was suddenly so full of emotion, he could do nothing but shake his head.
She took a step away. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s just that, slowly, bit by bit, you healed me, made me realize I could trust a man, and that I wasn’t my mother, and would never be. Just as you are nothing like any man I’ve ever known before. I trust you, Xander.”
“How much?”
She frowned. “How much do I trust you?”
He nodded.
“Completely.”
“Right.” He walked up to her, put his hands firmly around her waist, lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder. She shrieked and made an oomph sound as if winded. At least the talking would stop.
He took her over to the bed and dropped her onto the silk covers which were already in disarray.
She struggled to sit up. He shook his head and lifted her robes. “You didn’t have time to dress completely then.”
“No, I—” She shrieked again as his fingers made contact with her sex, and she fell back onto the bed of her own volition. “I… was in a rush.”
He didn’t let up his exploration, lingering where he knew it would have effect. “Rushing is never a good thing, Ela.”
“No.” She sucked in air between her teeth, scrunched up her eyes and gripped the bedclothes. “No, you’re right. It’s not.”
She was trembling now, and wetter than he’d ever made her. “Now, you said you trusted me?”
She swallowed and nodded.
“Good.” He dipped and kissed her before rolling her over onto her stomach. She went easily. He got the feeling he could do anything to her at that point and she’d enjoy it.
He played with her breasts for a moment, before lifting her hips into position, then he thrust into her from behind. She cried out his name in a breathless rush, just as he’d dreamed her doing so many times. It seemed a dream didn’t hold a candle to the real thing.
She was everything he needed, everything that obliterated the past and made him only want to move from the present because he knew the future would be twice as good.
She cried out not once, but twice in orgasm as he thrust repeatedly into her, before he pulsed his seed deep inside of her, claiming her for his own. She might be in doubt as to his response, but he would never have had unprotected sex with someone who he wasn’t going to marry. He’d tell her, in time. No rush, he told himself.
* * *
Elaheh lay on her back, waiting for her heart to calm down, and for her breathing to settle enough to talk. She pressed her palm against her thudding chest and wondered, again, how it was possible for Xander to create such exquisite pleasure in her body. She had no idea, she just wanted to make sure that he never stopped.
She rolled her head around to face him. She opened her mouth to speak but his face took her breath away. He was so handsome, so strong. She traced his cheekbone, highlighted in the light which streamed through the open window, and then slowly pushed her fingers through his hair and rolled on top of him and kissed him. Eventually she pulled away from the kiss, even as her hips wriggled lightly against his.
“We need to talk, Xander,” she said.
He grunted, a very sexual grunt which made her wonder if talking wasn’t over-rated. “We won’t be doing much talking if you keep lying on top of me like that.”
As much as she desired him, she desired to ensure her future with him more. So she rolled off him and rose from the bed. She adjusted her dress and stood at the foot of the bed, looking down on him. He really was magnificent in every way. Now all she had to do was make sure he was hers.
“I’d like—”
“No, Ela. You’re not getting your way on this occasion.”
Suddenly, he jumped out of bed and walked into the adjoining dressing room.
She stood, speechless and aghast. “Xander!” She stumbled after him, filled with a desperate fear that she’d gone too far, and frightened him off. She stood by the door, gripping it for all it was worth to stop herself from flinging herself onto him and begging him to stay. He had his back to her and was rummaging through his desk, tossing things aside.
“Xander!” she repeated. “I’m sorry!”
He frowned at her briefly before continuing to search.
“Xander!” She had no idea what he was looking for but whatever it was, it was obviously something more important than her. Panic filled her. What if she’d overstepped the mark? What if by being her true self, he didn’t like what he saw? What if… She couldn’t bear to imagine what if… Because if he left her now, she didn’t know what she would do without him. Tears sprung into her eyes, teetered on their surface and then rolled in thick drops down her cheek. “Xander,” she croaked, her voice full of emotion, leaning heavily against the wall.
He turned around. “Ela! What the hell?” He came and lifted her chin to his. He was distorted through her tears, everything was, her whole world would shatter without him.
“Please, Xander, I need you, I want you, please don’t tell me to go.”
He brought her hard against his body, his arms wrapped around her, and kissed her face. “Ela, what the hell made you think I wanted you to go?”
She pulled away, her h
air mussed, the tears still distorting her vision. “Because you said I wouldn’t be getting my way. And what I wanted was for you to marry me. If you don’t want that, then we have no future. And”—another onslaught of tears made her sob—“and, I don’t think I could bear that.”
“Just as well,” he said.
She shook her head in confusion as he pulled away from her, and was suddenly on his knees before her.
“What are you doing?”
“Elaheh, what I am doing is getting on my knees to ask you to marry me.”
She choked a laugh through her tears as she suddenly saw what her obscured vision had failed to see earlier. He held in his hands a small velvet box, which he flipped open to reveal the largest diamond ring she’d ever seen in her life—and she’d seen a lot.
Still laughing, she fingered the diamond and looked into his eyes, which suddenly looked unsure.
“Why are you laughing?” he asked. “Don’t you think I’m serious?”
“I’m laughing,” said Ela, “because I’m so relieved. I thought you were going to tell me to go.”
“After what we’ve done here today? After all that we’ve gone through these past months?”
She nodded, all laughter vanished now. “What we’ve been through has changed me. But not all of me. You’ve helped me get rid of my fears around men, and you’ve helped break down the barrier of pride I put before me and everyone else. I’ve surrendered those things, but some things I can’t change and won’t surrender to anyone, not even you.”
“And those things are?”
“Me. All those aspects of me, that are me. I can’t change, Xander. And I won’t change. I am who I am. The lessons I learned from my mother’s life and death remain with me. I have to be myself and stand up for myself—always. Those things I will never surrender.”
“And nor, my love, would I want you to.”
“I will always be bossy, argumentative, possibly even irritating sometimes…” She trailed off. “You said ‘love’.”
“I did. I called you ‘my love’, because you are just that.” His gaze roved around her face. “My only love, the one person in this world with whom I want to live my life, side by side, country alongside country.” He pushed his fingers through her hair, and cupped her face. “I have no wish for anyone to surrender themselves to me, least of all someone as special, as beautiful, as wonderful, as you.”
“Wonderful? Truly? But I can be prickly sometimes, and sometimes I talk too much.”
“I wouldn’t want you any other way. And, I, no doubt, have qualities which may grate on you.”
“A few.” She grinned. “It doesn’t sound like a recipe for a quiet marriage.”
“Good,” he said, kissing her again. “Because a quiet marriage is the last thing I want. You’ll keep me interested like no one has ever done before. And our coming together will always be more explosive and passionate because of it. Without you, I may get silence, but I won’t get peace, because I’ll be yearning for you, wanting you, dreaming about you. Ela, I can’t live without you, and I can’t love without you. It’s that simple, and it’s that complicated. Please, will you marry me?”
All she could do was nod because the tears welled up again. But, it seemed the nod was sufficient because he pushed the ring onto her finger and then he took the words right out of her mouth with yet another kiss.
Epilogue
The air was warm and sultry, and the only sound was the shifting of the leaves which grew above the wall and caught the sea breeze, and the whirr of an overhead fan which cooled them on the terrace below. She normally didn’t feel the heat but then, she wasn’t normally pregnant.
Elaheh drew in a deep breath of fragrant, jasmine-scented air. She must have fallen pregnant that first night. It could have been the first time, or second, or third—it all happened that first night. She wasn’t at all surprised. She and Xander just fitted together—not dominating each other or consuming each other, but like puzzle pieces clicking together to form a whole which was far better, far stronger, than the individual piece she was without him. Complete.
She sighed, focused once more on the chess game before her and pushed her queen across the board. Then she hesitated and sat back to think again, her finger remaining on the queen.
“You can always surrender,” said Xander.
She shot him a black look. “I never surrender.”
Xander grinned, a very sexual grin. “Sometimes you do.”
She lifted her chin, in a haughty movement. “Only if I benefit by it.”
“You’ll benefit by it now.” He glanced at his watch. “You’ll have time to prepare for Ashley’s visit.”
Elaheh didn’t look up from the board. Despite the fact she now knew for sure that Xander and Ashley felt nothing but friendship for each other, she preferred it if the beautiful American scholar didn’t hang out with Xander too often. Particularly while she was feeling so large and ungainly. Elaheh cleared her throat and pretended to look with renewed concentration at the chess pieces.
“Won’t you, Ela?” said Xander slowly.
He knew. She could tell by his tone. She looked up and he shook his head.
“There was no reason to send her away, you know,” he continued.
“It’s just that I thought our mysterious neighbor might benefit by her expertise.”
“I’m sure he will. Ashley knows her stuff.”
“And she was keen.”
“I’m not surprised. Few people are allowed into his country to view its architectural treasures since the borders were closed after the last war. And Sheikh Zyir is notoriously difficult. It’s a wonder you were able to persuade him to allow her entry.”
She blinked lightly, trying, very ineffectively, to hide her response.
“Ela, what did you do?”
“Ah, well, I may have let slip what her other expertise is.”
Xander went still. “You didn’t!”
Ela looked up at him briefly from behind lowered lashes. “Well, it is her other specialty.”
“She’s a feminist historian with interests in middle eastern architecture—”
“Especially with regard to the accommodation of women,” Elaheh finished.
“I like the way you omit the one word which would have piqued Sheikh Zyir’s interest, no doubt.”
“Harem?”
“Exactly, harem. Ashley’s interest is purely academic, purely feminist. And Zyir’s interest is purely practical. It’s rumored he’s particularly fond of the old ways, particularly when it comes to keeping a harem of women.
Elaheh dismissed his words with her hand. “I doubt that’s true.” She really hoped it wasn’t true. She was beginning to feel guilty now. But she’d met Ashley a few times and she was one very independent, strong women, who, Elaheh was sure, could easily deal with a macho sheikh, no matter how fierce his reputation. “Anyway, I told her to get in touch with me if she needed anything.”
“Get in touch with you, not me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because…” She shrugged. “I worry that you might think you made the wrong decision, that you should have asked Ashley to marry you.”
“True. Maybe I should. After all, we would have had far fewer arguments.”
Elaheh scowled, and stared at the board, determined to find a winning move, but her mind was filled with visions of Ashley and Xander.
“And she would have let me do whatever I wish.”
Elaheh pushed her queen across the board. “Checkmate,” she said, sitting back with a grin and taking a sip of her rose water sharbat. The ice cubes clinked as she set it back on the marquetry table and looked across at her opponent.
Xander eyes were focused on the board. Then he shot her the kind of glance which made her heart race, before pushing a piece—she hadn’t a clue which, her mind was suddenly off the game—across the board. He settled back. “I think not.”
“Not?” she asked weakly.
/>
He shook his head, and his smile was plainly sexual. “Not checkmate.”
She frowned and looked back at the board, and realized he was correct. “You got me riled up with all that talk of Ashley. She’s so beautiful.”
“True.” He smiled, and she could see he’d decided to stop teasing her. “But not as beautiful as you—no one is. And I want no one else in my bed, by my side, mother of my children… the list goes on… except you.”
She gave a satisfied noise and looked back at the board. “I thought I’d won for a moment.”
“No. But I have.” Xander got up and stretched.
Elaheh’s frown deepened. She couldn’t figure out how someone as apparently laid-back as Xander had a brain which worked with such unerring accuracy. She sighed and began to set the pieces up again. “Let’s have another game.”
“No.”
She looked up at him. “Yes, let’s have another game.” She continued to replace the pieces back on the board.
“No.” He leaned over the board, his hands gripping the side of the table, his gaze boring into her. “I have a better idea.”
“But I’d really like to—”
With one clean sweep of his hand, the chess pieces went flying.
“Xander!” She was shocked by the abrupt movement.
His eyes narrowed and he extended a hand to her. She didn’t hesitate. Sometimes, she’d found it was in her interests to surrender to her sheikh.
They walked quickly into the sitting room where Xander then proceeded to undress Elaheh until she stood naked in front of him. She suddenly felt self-conscious and cradled her pregnant stomach, as she stood beside the chaise.
He dropped to his knees and kissed her stomach, trailing further kisses down until he found his target. She sat on the chaise and he pushed open her legs, made himself comfortable between them and proceeded to give her the most explosive orgasm, making it absolutely clear to her that there was no one else in the world he adored more than Elaheh. And, Elaheh thought, as her body rippled with the aftermath of the explosion, the feeling was entirely mutual.