by Lynne Graham
Percy rolled his eyes. ‘Before the day’s out, you might be surprised.’
Ignoring that forecast, Faye asked, ‘How is Adrian and why haven’t I heard from him?’
‘I sent him and Lizzie off to Spain for a fortnight with the kiddies. He still hasn’t a clue you’re out here. Well, I’ll not beat about the bush,’ her stepfather announced with the aspect of a man about to make a weighty announcement and pausing for effect. ‘I’m here to fetch Faye home, Tariq.’
‘I beg your pardon?’ Faye whispered shakily.
Without further ado, Percy slapped down a cheque on the table beside him. ‘I’m sure old Latif has brought you up to speed on my good luck in the lottery. So there you are, everything that’s owed to you, including accrued interest.’
Tariq elevated a level dark brow. ‘You are here to repay me for the settlement of Adrian’s debts?’
‘As well as the five hundred grand you shelled out to keep Faye quiet last year after that clever stunt you pulled in your London embassy.’ Percy gave him an outrageous wink.
Faye could feel the cringe factor growing by the second.
‘You refer, I believe, to our wedding,’ Tariq said quietly.
‘Whatever you want to call it, but I’ll tell you one thing—I couldn’t have done better myself! It’s not often anyone puts one over on me but I have to confess you did all right.’
‘You tried to blackmail me,’ Tariq reminded the older man.
‘No, I didn’t try to do that, now be fair,’ Percy urged with unblemished good humour. ‘I only took you to one side and asked you how it would look if it got out into the newspapers that a man in your privileged position had been carrying on with a kid, Faye’s age!’
‘I was nineteen,’ Faye gritted in disgust.
Blithely ignoring her, Percy continued, ‘It was my job to look out for Faye and you can’t say it wasn’t.’
‘You do have a point.’ Faye was stunned to hear Tariq concede.
Percy beamed. ‘I don’t mind admitting I was gob-smacked when I lifted the phone extension and heard her offering you dinner with bed thrown in. To look at her, you’d think butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth and there she was talking like a right little raver—’
‘I appreciate your frankness,’ Tariq slotted in at speed.
Face red as fire, Faye was staring into the middle distance, mortification looming so large that it did not immediately occur to her that Percy had just carelessly confirmed her own version of events that awful night a year back. But then what did he have to lose by lying now? And what on earth did he mean by slapping down a cheque and saying he was here to fetch her home like an old umbrella that had been left behind?
‘I mean, I knew you were leading her down the old garden path—’
‘How very astute,’ Tariq remarked.
‘You think so? It was dead simple as I saw it. In the long run, I’d be doing Faye a favour if I saw you off—’
‘And you certainly achieved that,’ Faye enunciated with pronounced care, the old bitterness clawing at her for the first time in weeks.
‘By the way, I invested that five hundred grand for Faye in a family business. So if Faye has been suggesting I ripped her off, it’s just sour grapes,’ Percy contended with a decided touch of aggression. ‘Right, Faye…I’m sure His Royal Highness here is a busy man…isn’t it time you were getting your stuff together?’
‘Faye is not a commodity you may buy back,’ Tariq murmured icily.
‘Why would you even want to take me home? You don’t give two hoots what happens to me,’ Faye contended tightly.
‘I wouldn’t leave my worst enemy in this neck of the woods!’ Percy declared in full self-righteous mode. ‘I got robbed of my bottles of whisky just coming through the airport!’
‘Our customs officials are not thieves. Visitors are not allowed to bring alcohol into Jumar but it is available in most hotels,’ Tariq said drily.
‘Look, Faye…I may not always have been a great stepfather,’ Percy conceded with growing impatience. ‘But, let’s face it, you never liked me much either and there’s no point you hanging on here hoping you’re going to hook a wedding ring—’
‘None whatsoever,’ Tariq interposed in a smooth agreement that sent Faye’s startled eyes flying to him in bemusement. ‘My great-grandfather gave his favourite concubine a sapphire anklet which has been worn by the wife of almost every ruling prince since then in place of a ring.’
‘You see what I mean?’ Percy rolled his eyes in speaking appeal at Faye. ‘There’s nothing normal about that, is there?’
Faye tilted her head over to one side and stared down at the beautiful anklet with very wide eyes. Knowing that Tariq found the very sight of it adorning her slim ankle incredibly sexy, she had become rather attached to the anklet once he had shown her how to undo it.
‘What’s that on your leg?’ Percy suddenly demanded of his stepdaughter.
‘Faye is my wife,’ Tariq breathed wearily.
‘Bloody hell…how did you manage that, Faye?’ Percy studied her with beady eyes practically out on stalks.
‘We’ve been married for over a year,’ Tariq said.
‘You mean—?’
‘Our wedding was perfectly legal,’ Faye informed her stepfather thinly.
‘Well, fancy that…’ In an apparent daze Percy gaped at Tariq, thunderstruck by their revelation. ‘And there I was thinking you were a real sharp operator! You could have had her for nothing but you actually went and married her?’
Faye saw Tariq stiffen with outrage but as he took a sudden threatening step forward she grabbed the hand he had curled into a clenched fist. But Percy had already taken fright at what he had seen in Tariq’s lean, strong face and he went into retreat so fast he went backwards into the table and hit the floor with a tremendous crash. Soaked by the vase of flowers he had sent flying, he lay there like a felled log, before sitting up with a groan.
‘If you value your own safety, you will not attempt to enter Jumar again,’ Tariq delivered stonily.
‘Goodbye, Percy,’ Faye said without regret.
Tariq led her back out to the hall. ‘Clean out the drawing room, Latif. Have him conveyed straight to the airport and escorted onto his flight.’
‘I wanted to hit him,’ Tariq growled, curving a protective arm round her taut shoulders as they went upstairs together. ‘My one chance and you interfered. Why?’
‘He said one thing that made me feel bad. He said I never liked him either.’ Faye sighed that reminder. ‘He was right and that’s probably why he never took to me.’
‘Even at five years old, you were a lady with good taste. He is a very crude man.’
‘Never mind, he won’t be back. I wonder if I will ever see Adrian again—’
‘Of course you will. If necessary, I will extract your brother and his family from your stepfather’s clutches,’ Tariq told her soothingly.
‘Percy is much more embarrassing than Majida,’ she groaned.
‘He asked Latif what the going rate was for a woman in Jumar,’ Tariq said not quite steadily.
‘He did…what?’
‘Latif believed he was referring to either slaves or prostitutes and was offended to the extent that he could not bear to remain in the same room, but it was you that Percy was talking about!’ Beneath her arrested gaze, Tariq threw back his head and laughed with helpless appreciation. ‘You whom I would not surrender at any price!’
‘I think you could have mentioned before now that the anklet was more than just a piece of jewellery,’ Faye remarked.
‘Ah, but I was playing it cool and there is no cool way of telling a contemporary woman that every possessive bone in your body thrills to seeing a chain round her ankle,’ Tariq pointed out with a slight grimace.
She smiled. ‘A chain with special family significance.’
‘I must give you your ring back. It belonged to my mother.’
That he had still given her that wedding rin
g on that long-ago day when so much strife and misunderstanding had lain between them touched her.
‘The anklet was also supposed to provide the luck of the something blue on our wedding night,’ Tariq admitted.
Her eyes widened. ‘You know, you’re much more thoughtful than I ever give you credit for.’
‘I owe you a profound apology for ever doubting your word on the score of Percy’s blackmail attempt.’
Faye flushed. ‘I did give you the wrong impression with that phone call I made and I suppose I ought to explain that now. You see, I hadn’t the faintest idea that you were serious about me and I knew your father was dying…and I thought you were just going to vanish out of my life—’
‘There was never any chance of that until my stubborn pride undermined my intelligence,’ Tariq informed her darkly.
‘It was a mad impulse and I thought I was being incredibly romantic and mature—’
‘Well, you were certainly a lot more romantic than I was that night. I was in a rage with you because I was…gutted by the idea that you seemed to regard sex as something casual,’ Tariq admitted, poised in the centre of their bedroom, lean, powerful face taut. ‘That you might not, after all, be feeling the same special bond that I was feeling for you. That you were probably thinking of me as just another boyfriend when I was head over heels in love with you.’
‘Were you really?’ Faye whispered unevenly. ‘Honestly?’
‘And I have never been in love before. Lust, yes, but not love and it was not a grounding experience for me,’ Tariq revealed with rueful dark eyes. ‘Every other Western woman I had been with was only interested in fun, sex and what I could buy. But then, before I met you, fun and sex was all I wanted too, so no doubt I was only attracted to that type of woman.’
‘Probably.’ Faye did not really want to hear about his past.
As if he knew he had erred in being that frank, Tariq closed the distance between them and reached for her hands. ‘What I am trying to explain is that, having had affairs that were nothing to be proud of…I then went on to idealise you as if you were an angel—’
‘I’m not that—’
‘I shouldn’t have liked living with one anyway.’ His breathtaking smile of innate self-mocking charm banished her tension and warmed her like the sunlight. ‘I wanted to get to know you really well before I mentioned love or marriage.’
‘I can understand that—’
‘My father’s appalling second marriage had a powerful effect on me. He was not a foolish man but he was fooled into making a big mistake.’
‘That must have made you feel very wary—’
Dropping her hands, he raised his own to frame her cheekbones with spread fingers and a look of deep regret in his tawny eyes. ‘Faye…I made an even bigger mistake. I married you still wanting you, still loving you, but my terrible pride, my even worse temper and my sheer obstinacy drove you away. I did not know a single moment of happiness last year but an army tank could not have dragged me back to you…’
‘Percy did a lot of damage. It’s not your fault—’
‘It was,’ Tariq contradicted heavily. ‘Never dreaming that you believed our marriage was not a real marriage, I waited for twenty-four hours at the embassy for you to return—’
‘Oh, no,’ Faye mumbled tearfully.
‘And then I flew home in an absolute fury and I told nobody that I had married for I had no wife to produce! Stop crying…I don’t deserve your tears.’ He groaned. ‘I believed that to make the smallest approach to you would be an act of shocking weakness. Then my father died and I thought you might use his death as an excuse to contact me—’
‘And I didn’t do that either,’ Faye muttered guiltily.
‘And, for the first time, it struck me that you might really be gone, quite content to have only that money to live on—’
‘I was so miserable—’
‘You were left on your own without even my financial support and that shames me. I made it possible for your family to take advantage of your good nature. But I did initially believe that you cared for me and then I had to face that you did not care in any way,’ Tariq related. ‘When there was not even a word from you after the plane crash, I became very bitter.’
Faye rested her brow against his shirtfront and linked her arms round him. ‘And then you started wanting revenge.’
‘What I wanted was any excuse to get you back without having to admit I wanted you back. That day at the Haja, I was astonished when you informed me that you believed either that I had already divorced you or that our marriage was a sham, but it was welcome news—’
‘I can’t credit now that I was stupid enough to just accept that—’
‘You are excused. After all, I was stupid enough to persuade myself that I could somehow have you without ever letting on to you that you were in truth my wife…and you can’t get much stupider than that!’ Tariq pointed out without hesitation. ‘Poor Latif had to stand back aghast as I sunk deeper into this madness to have you at any cost.’
Faye spread appreciative fingers against his taut spine beneath the jacket of his suit and turned up her face. ‘It’s the kind of madness I like—’
‘And then you frightened me out of my wits by taking off with Omeir and sanity began to return. I was so afraid that I wouldn’t find you before the storm closed in that I finally admitted to myself that I was still in love with you—’
‘Still in love with me…?’ Relief and joy washed over her.
‘Yet you only value me for my athletic performance in bed.’ Tariq gazed down at her with adoring eyes full of playful reproach and swept her off her feet into his arms. ‘My mistress-wife, who can insult with a compliment.’
‘I’m mad about you and you know it—’
‘So I had hoped, until you found out you might be tied to me for life and threw a fit.’ He set her down on the bed and eased her out of her jacket.
‘I was awful—’
‘No, I was worse. I did not foresee how much hurt my reckless games would cause. Nor am I very good at being shouted at…I expect I’ll improve with practice. I really thought you were planning to leave—’
‘So you just took off and left me to it?’ she complained.
‘Not before ensuring that your passport was in my safe. I could not have stood by and allowed you to walk out on what we had found together…I am so incredibly happy with you.’
In receipt of that charged confession, Faye arranged herself on the bed like a very willing woman. Tariq gave her a highly appreciative perusal. ‘You were made for me—’
‘You were made for me first. Tell me…’ Faye leant up on one elbow with newly found confidence ‘…when are we going to try for a baby?’
‘Perhaps in a few years,’ Tariq suggested. ‘I am painfully conscious that I have already landed you with three children at the age of twenty.’
‘I love them and I wouldn’t mind having a baby—’
‘But I care most about what is best for you.’ Tariq leant over her and kissed her breathless. ‘We have Rafi in reserve and no need to think further on the subject at present. I am selfish. Those first weeks when we lived only for each other and I had no idea you were seeing the children, I just didn’t want to share you—’
‘Is that why you never mentioned them?’ Faye grinned.
‘I was also afraid you would take total fright if I rolled them all out as an unavoidable extra to living with me,’ Tariq admitted ruefully. ‘While I am very grateful that you have room in your heart for them, that could not have made me love you or made me want to stay married to you. The night I flew home from the tribal talks because I couldn’t stand to be separated from you, I knew I never wanted to let you go.’
‘I love you so much,’ she whispered dreamily, letting her fingers slide possessively into his silky hair and mess it up.
“‘A frog of little faith?’” Tariq teased, sliding her out of her dress with the most deft of manoeuvres and folding her ba
ck into his arms.
‘Very occasionally frogs turn into princes. I’ll be sure to let you know if it ever happens.’
Eighteen months later, Faye settled her baby son into his pram in the shade of the trees.
Little Prince Asif had been something of a surprise package to his parents. They honestly had planned to wait another year but a Caribbean cruise on a private yacht the previous year had resulted in a certain recklessness. Asif stretched sleepily, big dark blue eyes flickering and then slowly sinking shut. He was a very laid-back baby.
Basma and Hayat, clad in shorts and T-shirts, were paddling in the basin of the fountain and giggling. Lifting them out at the same time as she listened to Rafi chatter about his day at school, Faye could only think how contented she was. With so many willing hands to help and acres of space, parenting four children was not the burden which Tariq had feared.
Adrian and Lizzie and their children had stayed with them for a week only the previous month. Her brother now worked for Tariq in London in a job which had literally been tailormade for him. According to Adrian, Percy was doing very well in the field of property speculation.
Leaving the staff to preside over the nursery evening meal, Faye went for a shower. When she emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in a fleecy towel, Tariq was in the bedroom.
‘You’ve got perfect timing.’ Faye studied her tall, dark and sensationally attractive husband with bright eyes.
His tawny gaze whipped over her slim figure with molten appreciation. ‘You think this is coincidence?’
Her cheeks warmed. ‘Not when it happens for the third time in a week.’
As Tariq drew her close, he murmured huskily, ‘Are you complaining?’
‘What do you think?’ Faye said breathlessly.
‘I think, as always, we are of one mind.’ He tasted her mouth with smouldering hunger and as she pushed into his hard, muscular frame he scooped her up into his arms. ‘Happy?’
‘Totally,’ she whispered blissfully.
‘You know, you never did mention when I made it out of frogdom—’
‘Oh, you went from frog to prince faster than the speed of light!’