“Oh, dear. I can see I’ve ruffled some feathers,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“Not at all,” Julia was quick to reassure the woman she had quickly come to like, and to think she could even be friends with. “I’m only teasing Zayn because it’s my duty, as his wife.” She winked at Amal. “Your brother needs to be kept in line sometimes, don’t you agree?”
Amal’s grin was boyish, and Julia got a sense of what Adina had been referring to. He might be lovely, and intelligent, and loyal, and kind, but he was not remotely kingly. But what did that matter? How much ruling did rulers really do these days? “I doubt he would agree with you.”
“Actually, in some ways, Julia is right.” Zayn surprised them all by saying earnestly. “And I don’t think there’s anyone on earth who could do it but you.”
Julia felt her heart thud painfully. Was he speaking the truth? Or was his compliment just a line, to ease over the awkwardness which Adina had sparked with her straight-talking ways?
“Let’s have lunch,” Zayn announced, signaling to one of the silent staff behind them. His nod was all it took for a hive of activity to take place, but Adina was quick to demur.
“We didn’t mean to intrude, Zayn, we simply wanted to meet your wife and welcome her to Naman, and into our family.”
“Then welcome her over lunch,” Zayn insisted genially, putting his arm around Julia’s waist and stroking her hip in a rhythmically seductive pattern.
“If you’re sure?” Amal asked his brother and Julia forced a welcoming smile to cover her frown. It was immediately clear which of the brothers held the upper hand, and it was not the one destined to be king.
Zayn said something indecipherable in Arabic, earning a small laugh from Adina.
“Your house is your palace, and at the head of your kingdom, is you, Zayn.”
And though she really liked her new sister in law, she felt an unwelcome jab of envy towards the beautiful woman now. Her relationship with Zayn seemed so easy, so relaxed, with none of the fierce undercurrents that were threatening to turn Julia back into a nail-biter.
Zayn was not helping her mental state.
In the company of his brother and sister in law, he was the perfect new husband. He was so attentive, his behavior almost bordered on doting. Except that Zayn was incapable of doting, of course. But slowly, he explained each of the dishes to Julia, using their Arabic name and then translating them into English, describing the ingredients and the history, and making suggestions for combinations she might enjoy.
And she took his suggestions, because for once, he wasn’t bossing her around, nor telling her what she should enjoy, he was simply advising her. Julia scooped some of the amusingly translated “slippery beans” onto her plate – snake beans in a mild coconut and spiced sauce, and added a fragrant yellow rice to it.
“You’re right, Adina,” Julia said to the woman who sat opposite her. “Namani food is exquisite.”
“And you haven’t had our coffee or sweets, yet,” Adina said, clasping her hands to her chest in an exaggerated impersonation of a swoon.
“Darling, not everyone is as big a sweet tooth as you.” Amal said with a laugh. “How she has avoided a run in with diabetes is beyond me.”
“Julia prefers fruit,” Zayn said quietly, catching Julia’s eyes as she was lifting her water glass to her lips. She forced herself to drink, though the passion in his gaze made her hand quiver unevenly. “The day I proposed to her, she was eating just-picked blackberries by the handful.”
“That’s right, I was,” she said with a small frown. It was a detail that reminded her of the day, and the way he’d spoken to her. It was so at odds with the man opposite her now that she felt a jarring sense of confusion.
“And the first time we met, you absconded from your father’s party with a platter of mangoes.”
“Mangoes,” Adina, oblivious to the torrent of tension whirling between Julia and Zayn interjected happily, “are fruit from heaven.”
Julia replaced her water cup on the table top and turned her attention away from Zayn. His gaze was so mesmerizing. If she fell under his spell, she would forget what he was capable of. And she couldn’t forget.
He had brought her father’s company to the brink of bankruptcy, and then paid above the market value, all to secure her as his wife. Why? There had to be any number of women in Naman who would have made excellent marriage prospects to a man such as Zayn.
She expelled a quiet sigh and tried to tune into the conversation that swirled around her. Theirs was such an easy dynamic; it confused her even more that he hadn’t invited his family to their wedding. He had intentionally kept them apart until it was official. Why? It was another question she wasn’t sure she would ever have an answer to.
“Are you close to your parents, Julia?” Adina asked, almost as if she’d read her mind.
Beneath the table, Zayn’s hand caught hers and squeezed it sympathetically. He was the last person in the world she should take comfort from, given that he’d shown up and turned her life on its head in a matter of minutes, but he knew how her mother’s absence in her life had affected her. To his credit, he waited quietly for Julia to respond as she wished.
“I never knew my mother. She passed away shortly after delivering me.”
Adina’s face contorted into a mask of pained understanding. It was one Julia had seen many times in her life, and she’d learned not to let it bother her. But it did. Losing the chance to even know your mother was a cruel deprivation. She didn’t have any memories of the woman who’d cherished her into being. She didn’t know how it felt to be held in her arms, nor what her hair smelled like, or her laugh sounded like. All she had to remember her mother by was a collection of incredibly expensive jewelry and photographs she’d long since stopped looking at, because it upset Colin too greatly.
“I’m sorry,” Amal spoke in his quiet voice, and his expression was so somber that he reminded her for the first time of Zayn.
Julia sought to lighten the mood. “I am close to my dad, though. It was just the two of us growing up, and he’s always counted on me.”
“How will he cope with you living in Naman?” Adina asked, genuinely interested.
Julia shrugged. “I expect it will be a difficult adjustment for him initially. He is young, though. He only turned fifty last year. I’m hoping he’ll use his new-found free time to change his routine.”
It was a lovely, cheery speech, and in her usually effortless way, Julia had steered the conversation onto less serious ground. Why did it bother him that she wouldn’t meet his eye? Because she blames you, he thought with a small frown. She has no mother, and you tore her away from the one person she loves in the world. As a small pang of regret formed in his gut, he forced himself to remember her childish cruelty, when she’d sent him those photos four years earlier. That she’d cheated on him was bad enough. But that she’d wanted to flaunt it to him in some juvenile act of spite, perhaps to make him jealous, showed her true character. His sympathy was not warranted on someone like his wife. With a hardening heart, he pulled his hand away under the guise of pouring some wine into his glass. He could not let himself forget what she was capable of, or he would be in danger of falling in love with her all over again.
CHAPTER SIX
Julia followed behind the tall, reed-thin woman, curiosity and nervousness jangling for equal space in her swirling gut. Amal and Adina had left hours earlier, and shortly after their departure, Zayn had taken himself off. He’d said he had to work, but Julia had sensed something more. A concealed annoyance that she couldn’t understand. But she wasn’t going to ask him about it.
He’d manipulated things to get her into his life. And though she knew in her heart of hearts, she’d fallen into line with his plan because she wanted to, she was still too proud to show weakness to him. And so she’d sat stoically in a large study, surrounded by books written in a language she didn’t comprehend, and pretended not to feel bored and lonely.
>
But she was. She missed her friends. She’d lived with Georgie the whole way through university, and Andrew was at their flat so often he might as well have had a room. She typed Time in London into her phone and waited for the response. It was early evening. Perfect. She clicked on Georgie’s number and waited for the call to go through, only it rang out. And so she tried Andrew. No luck there either. Thwarted at every turn, she had been in the process of browsing the books when the servant had appeared and said, in heavily accented English, “The Sheikh will see you now.” As though they were strangers.
Now, as she turned and ascended yet another flight of timber stairs, polished to such a sheen they were almost reflective, nerves were winning the battle. Finally, when she had been about to ask if they’d almost reached the moon, the servant pulled on a door handle and stepped back to allow Julia entry.
What she saw fairly took her breath away.
It was a huge space at roof height of the building that didn’t seem to know if it was a balcony or an outdoor room. On one side, there was gauzy fabric suspended, and the burning candles gave the space a fragrance of orange and cinnamon, and some unknown, more exotic spice. There was a large bed, or mattress rather, on the floor in the center of the room, and though it was obviously basic, it was covered in ornately covered cushions and a woven quilt that almost seemed to shine with gold flecks.
She gulped nervously as she turned her attention away from the bed. But it was Zayn who truly took her breath away. He’d changed into a pair of loose grey pants and a black shirt; an outfit she could only guess was more traditional to the men of Naman, and he looked dark and dangerous, and bone-meltingly sexy.
“You did well today,” Zayn said seriously, his face covered in shadow and therefore unreadable.
“Oh?” Her throat felt tight, too tight to speak. She clasped her hands behind her back. For some reason, they were shaking, and she didn’t want him to see.
“Yes. I think you convinced Adina and Amal that ours is a match of love.”
Julia was glad that the night was dark, because despite the stars shining up above, she knew he wouldn’t be able to see the way her cheeks were blushing. She had loved him once, and she was pretty sure she was only about five minutes away from loving him again. He could never know how close to the surface the emotion was for her. He had shown how willing he was to disregard her feelings to achieve his own ends. What would he do with her heart if he knew he held it? Undoubtedly contort it until she did whatever he wished.
She straightened her spine and forced herself to speak steadily. “I liked Adina very much. I don’t like lying to her.”
Zayn’s eyes narrowed as he slowly took in her appearance. Despite the warm desert night, she was shivering, and she was standing in a stiff pose. He walked stealthily across the floor, like a panther stalking his prey. She didn’t flinch. Good. He liked her strength, always had.
He stood so close that if she swayed just a little they’d be touching. She looked up at him, careful to keep her expression muted. His fragrance was like sandalwood, and it felt like a physical punch in the gut because she remembered it so well. It was a cologne that was specially crafted for him, and he’d given her a vial of it when he’d left her, to come back to Naman, four years earlier. “To remember me by, until next we meet,” he’d promised with the kind of kiss that had curled her toes and made her blood boil with lust.
“Such a tiny bottle,” she’d remarked teasingly, when she was capable of speech once more. “This won’t last long.”
“Then we shall have to meet again soon.” Only they hadn’t. Not for four years. He’d moved on only a month or two later, and she’d been left with the memories and the cologne and the pain of his absence and the sting of betrayal.
Julia pulled herself back in the present. It was dangerous to remember the past, especially the pleasurable parts. What little resolve she had would not last long in the face of such sweet seductions. “What is this place?” She asked, trying her hardest to sound bored.
“This is my real home,” he said with a curl of his lips.
Julia’s brows drew together as she studied his face. “Do you mean it?”
“Yes. Living in the desert is a great Namani tradition. I know it’s ironic, given the wealth and status of my family, but I like to sleep up here, under the stars, as my kinsmen always did.”
Inside her chest, Julia’s heart thudded painfully. As if he wasn’t already irresistible enough, he started sprouting poetic statements about kinsmen and the desert and starlit sleep. She repressed the wistful sigh that was forming inside her.
“I don’t expect you to understand,” he intoned with something like coldness. “I know you like the finer things and there is a bedroom downstairs that would not look out of place in the palace. I expect it will come up to your standards.”
Anger breathed into her. “Why do you do that?”
“It is the truth. I know you, Julia. Don’t forget who you are speaking to.”
“Oh? Who’s that?” She asked tartly, wishing she could step away from him, but not wanting to at the same time.
“The man who paid six million pounds for you. You can pretend you don’t have a price, but we both know differently.”
She tried to swallow down the pain in her chest but it didn’t go anywhere. She closed her eyes in the hope it would block him and his hateful words out, but he was still there when she opened them a moment or two later.
“How could I forget our marriage contract?” She said with a steely determination that hid the jumble of sad nerves in her gut. “I told you already, you don’t own me. We had a deal. You helped my father out and I agreed to marry you. That does not mean you bought me.”
“Semantics, my bride. We agreed the terms before our happy marriage took place. It’s time for you to go through with your side of the deal.”
Unconsciously, her eyes strayed to the bed. His meaning was clear, and she had two choices. She could either lose her virginity here and now to a man who clearly thought her to be the worst of the worst, or she could renege on their deal and run the risk that he might back out on his promise to buy her father’s company.
She blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes, and dropped her gaze. In the end, her treacherous body was making the decision for her. Rational though could argue the toss for all eternity, but her body was aching for the promise of sexual satisfaction that it had craved for years and years.
“Fine,” she whispered, so quietly that her word was carried away into the night.
Zayn pressed a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face, so that her eyes had to meet his.
“Don’t look like that,” he muttered.
“Like what?”
“Like your world is ending.”
It wasn’t. Julia knew it was all just beginning; that her life until this moment had been a preparation for this. But the knowledge that this man really did own her, body and soul, was making her uncertain. After all, he saw this as a necessary completion of their contract, and she was burning with desire.
And so she tried to remember to be brave, and to keep her feelings secret and safe. “We had a deal, Zayn, and I’m prepared to honor it.”
His eyes flared at her meaning, but there was a kernel of frustration inside of him that just wouldn’t go away. What did he expect? For her to fall into his bed and declare her love for him? She’d never loved him, and she’d certainly found a replacement for him in double quick time, so why did he expect her to fall at his feet now?
She would be screaming his name soon. That had to be enough.
He surprised them both when he scooped down and lifted her against his chest, so that he could carry her to the matrah. As soon as her body connected with his, he felt an instant stirring of need.
“I have waited a long time for you,” he said gruffly as he placed her down. “Longer than I’ve ever waited for anyone.”
Julia’s bobby pins dug into her hair and she lifted a hand t
o pull them loose but Zayn stilled her.
“Allow me,” he said, straddling her and then reaching towards her hair so that he could slowly ease each metal binding from its place. There were several, but eventually he had eased her hair from its confines and arranged it so that it floated like a cloud around her face.
Her hair had always made him ache. It was so dark it was almost like ebony, but silky and smooth, so that he wanted to run his hands through it endlessly.
“You were wrong about me,” she said, and because she needed him to understand her, she put her hands on either side of his face, and rubbed her fingertips along his stubbled jaw.
“How so?”
“I think this is one of the most beautiful rooms I’ve ever seen. If you honestly think I’d prefer luxury to this, then you don’t know me at all.”
Something dangerous sparked inside of him. He resolutely ignored it. He had one objective and one thought. Deliberately, he brushed her comment aside, “Perhaps now. It’s still a novelty. I’m sure you’ll be running for five star comfort before too long.”
She ground her teeth in annoyance. He was obviously resolved to think the worst of her.
Zayn ran his hands along her smooth, shapely legs, until he grazed the flimsy cotton briefs she wore. He slid them down swiftly, not allowing himself time to think, nor to second guess what he was about to do. He had been raised to respect women. He had enjoyed a bachelor’s life, and enjoyed the company of many women in his bed, but he had never forced nor bullied nor contracted any of them. But anger towards Julia and her betrayal of him made him forget all that. He had wanted her for a long time, and waited patiently for his moment. This was it.
She was very still and watchful beneath him, as he eased himself away for just long enough to undress.
Julia gasped when she saw his naked body for the first time. He was stunningly fit; all broad muscles and dark, supple skin. His erection was enormous, and it scared the heck out of her, but she couldn’t look away. Her complete absorption earned a chuckle from Zayn, as he returned to lay on top of her. “That’s positive,” he drawled, “but there will be time for looking later. For now, I want you to feel.”
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