He was all fired up with his plans for Lucy’s future, but at the back of his mind was the knowledge that he must shower and change into formal attire before the council meeting…
The more he thought about the meeting, the more he thought about what could be if life were shunted onto a different track. And he could do that. He could do anything he wanted to as long as it embraced his vow to Isla de Sinnebar…
Now a plan was forming in his mind. He felt quite cool and certain as he mulled it over. This was right. It was hard to understand why he hadn’t seen it before. ‘I have a meeting,’ he explained to Lucy, ‘and I can’t be late.’ He was becoming more eager to take the action that would irrevocably change his life.
‘Razi, wait,’ Lucy said, picking up on his sense of urgency.
Taking hold of her hands, he pressed his lips to the palm of each of them in turn, and then, cursing softly in Sinnebalese, he shook his head regretfully. ‘There’s never enough time.’
‘No, I can see that,’ she said quietly.
‘I’ll have a maid show you to your room. A bath has been run for you.’ He was already striding away. ‘Food and juices are waiting for you along with your luggage.’ He turned at the door to shoot her a grin. ‘You might want to change your clothes and relax while I’m gone. Take a swim. Ask for a guided tour of the palace. Do anything you want to do.’ He felt exhilarated and sure, though acutely conscious of the clock ticking as he spread his arms wide to bow and back away. ‘Take care, mother of my children. Relax in the knowledge that from this moment on your life is transformed. Oh, and I’ll be back before you know it,’ he added with a wicked grin.
This time when Razi’s lips tugged in the familiar heartstopping smile, Lucy couldn’t return his smile. Her life had been transformed, both by pregnancy and today by the knowledge that two small lives depended on her. She was a woman of purpose now, not a mistress of idleness who needed her days filling with aimless meandering. Was Razi’s offer of creating a restaurant here at the palace a sop to keep her happy? She didn’t know what to believe any more.
As she watched him stride away it was easy to see that Razi’s life was full of purpose, but if he imagined she was going to live to his prescription—wait until he could find time for her, as his mother had waited—or, worse still, that he would be hard-pressed to find space in his packed diary for their children, he had underestimated the woman he had helped to grow in confidence. She loved him and to Lucy love meant working together to build a future. If she could never be his wife, she could at least put her skills at the service of his country. Razi had mentioned an eco-palace in construction, hadn’t he? And a palace would have kitchens…
As she picked up the internal phone to call for transport Lucy realised she was not going to go back to England and consult lawyers, she was going to stay here in Isla de Sinnebar. She would live in some remote part where she could cause Razi no embarrassment, but she would keep her children with her and she would work for the good of Razi’s people. And if that meant being a pioneer, setting a new trend, fine, that was what she’d do. She’d work discreetly so as not to offend anyone, but she’d do it, Lucy concluded, jutting out her chin.
Chapter Seventeen
HE NEVER failed to feel a sense of history when he entered the golden chamber—the vaulted roofs, the jewelled panelled walls, the silent air of majesty. As all the men currently seated around the council table rose to greet him he was conscious of their wise faces turned to him and the trust in so many pairs of eyes. He stood for a moment, feeling the weight of destiny in his hands. He indicated that everyone should sit down, while he remained standing at the head of the table. He was prepared to sacrifice everything for Lucy. He had known this from the moment he had realised that a life of lies and self-deception wasn’t for him.
He greeted his brother sheikhs and then repeated the wonderful news about his twins. Then to absolute silence he explained his proposal before calling on his council to vote on his decision to cede the Phoenix throne in favour of working alongside the woman he loved as a common man for the good of Isla de Sinnebar and his people. He finished by saying, ‘I want you all to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself.’
Now he could only wait for their verdict.
He didn’t have to wait long. The oldest and most trusted advisor spoke for the rest. They supported him wholeheartedly. They believed in his vision of the future. If that vision included a foreign bride, they supported him in that too. He would keep the throne and their trust. Then they raised their fists and hailed him until they were hoarse as their undisputed leader.
‘Stop the cavalcade!’
He sprang out of the lead limousine before it had drawn to a halt. Full of concern for Lucy’s safety, he thanked destiny for urging him to see his new eco-palace in construction before he went on to his next meeting. He was eager to see Lucy too and his plan had been to conclude his business as swiftly as he could before driving straight back to her with his news. It had never occurred to him that he would arrive at the site of his new palace to find a pregnant woman in jeans, sneakers and a high-visibility jacket with a hard hat on her head and clipboard in her hand, conferring with Asif, his site manager.
His first action was to order his security staff to stay with the cavalcade. His second was to stride over to Lucy.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘Working,’ she said, giving him a look he hadn’t seen before.
For once he rued the fact that official limousines had blacked-out windows, but he didn’t need to see inside the vehicles to know that everyone in the official party would be riveted by this unexpected distraction. ‘Do you have to do this? Can’t you see how dangerous it is?’
‘Dangerous?’ She frowned. ‘I’m in no danger. Are you sure it isn’t the idea of a woman working that’s getting to you, Razi?’
Asif faded into the background with a respectful bow.
‘You’re pregnant.’
‘Yes—not ill.’
‘You’re putting yourself in danger on a building site.’
‘Asif was with me and now you’re here. I’m appropriately dressed and I won’t take any risks.’
‘You don’t have to work.’
The scorching look she gave him said Lucy would never subscribe to the world’s view of how a wealthy man’s lover should behave, but would plough her own furrow. Did he like that? Could his vaunted ego take it?
He had the opportunity to start a new page in the history of Isla de Sinnebar, one where opportunity was open to all, and there were no gender divides where jobs were concerned. He could use his vast wealth to change lives and Lucy wanted to be part of that—he wanted her to be part of it. As she stared up at him and firmed her dainty jaw he wondered if he’d left it too late to convince her he wasn’t the tyrant she thought him—too late to explain that she didn’t have to go to extremes to escape his mother’s fate?
‘I thought you were different, but you’re such a dinosaur, Razi.’
‘Am I?’ he said dryly as she turned away.
‘Women shouldn’t do men’s work?’ She tipped her chin as she stopped to confront him. ‘You can probably set it down in law now you’ve got the country at your command.’
‘I can definitely send you back to the palace.’
‘Where I can write my report? Good,’ she said, refusing to be dismayed. ‘I’ll have it ready for you on your return.’ She was standing in the harem by the console table she had turned into a desk when Razi entered. She didn’t need to turn around to know he was there or that he was still dressed in robes. She could hear the swish of the fabric as he walked towards her and inhale its scented folds. She remained standing, with her back turned to him, staring out across the shaded courtyard dreaming of all the things she would like to change in Isla de Sinnebar, given the opportunity. Razi, for one.
‘Lucy…’
The swish of his rob
es, the click of the prayer beads at his waist, the fine, clean scent…
She turned, her heart juddering at the sight of him. She would never, no matter how long she knew him, become accustomed to the sight of Razi. It was more than his astonishing good looks. When he was in western clothes Razi carried the scent of soap and toothpaste and warm clean man, but the robes of state added the spices of the East and the unmistakeable scent of power. He was a formidable sight, an untouchable sight, this man she loved.
‘What do you have to say?’ he said quietly.
She intended to be calm and rational, but in the event it all burst out of her. ‘I want you to be proud of me—I want my children to have a mother who leads from the front—’
‘And you have to work on a building site to do that?’
‘Whatever it takes! I realise it wouldn’t be right for everyone, but I want to work. I want to earn my keep. I don’t want to be your mistress-in-waiting.’ Her voice broke. She had every intention of making a stand, or reminding him of his mother’s plight, but pregnancy had made her so emotional and all she could think about was Razi’s mother waiting in this same room, looking out at the same view as she waited for a ruling Sheikh around whom Helena’s world had revolved. ‘I want to make a difference.’
‘You can do that without working on a building site!’
‘Don’t roar at me.’ She hugged herself. ‘I’m pregnant.’
Now they both almost laughed.
‘I didn’t mean to embarrass you, Razi. I just thought if I could talk to Asif and the architects on site before they put the kitchen walls in place I could come up with a really good working plan…’ Her voice tailed away. Razi’s expression was inscrutable.
Seconds ticked by tensely and then his gaze flicked over the papers she had laid out on the table. ‘And are these your notes?’
‘Yes…’
He walked past her and stood, staring down, and then he picked up her clipboard. Having scanned her bulletpointed notes and the scheme she had sketched out, he admitted, ‘This is good.’
She had to tamp down the excitement inside her. If she was going to stay here she had to prove herself effective.
‘I thought if the kitchens could cater for the largest event—or just a family meal—and you have sections that can be brought into play, or shut off—’
‘Yes, I see,’ Razi said thoughtfully. ‘We’ll sit down with the architects tomorrow and discuss this in detail.’
‘We will?’
‘Unless you don’t want to be part of the discussions?’
‘Of course I do.’ Her head was immediately full of more ideas.
‘Well? What did you think of the site I chose for the ecopalace?’ he probed, acting nonchalant as if it didn’t matter hugely to him.
Did love at first sight work with a building site? It just had, Lucy concluded. Yes, there were cranes and diggers and portable buildings and containers, not to mention squads of men in hard hats and high-visibility vests swarming over the scaffolding, but the site itself, framed by mountains and bordered by a sparkling river of the same ice-cold water she had bathed in back at the oasis, was nothing short of fabulous. She’d stood in silence, breathing the warm, spicy air, knowing it was where she wanted to be.
And could never be, because one day Razi must take a wife.
‘Well?’ he demanded. ‘First impressions?’
She refocused on Razi’s project—his palace, his life—and, with the utmost reluctance, her reality. ‘You’re very lucky.’ She remembered the wise old site manager, Asif, wearing a bright yellow hard hat over his headdress waving to her as she was driven away. She’d waved back, wondering if she’d ever see the building site again. ‘It’s absolutely beautiful,’ she confessed wistfully, ‘and the possibilities are endless.’ Unfortunately, the possibilities open to her were not.
‘You know I’d never keep you here against your will?’ Razi demanded softly, running a fingertip down her cheek. ‘With your talents you have so much to offer the world.’ He pulled away to look around. ‘Seeing you here in this place that was almost a prison for my mother—’ His mouth clamped shut and she knew what he was feeling. ‘The bird in the gilded cage.’ He laughed, but there was no humour in his voice. ‘There’ll never be another,’ he vowed, almost as if speaking to himself.
He ran his fingers across her makeshift desk, which Lucy suddenly realised was almost certainly made of solid gold. ‘All this excess brought my mother nothing but misery.’ Razi’s angry gesture at something he couldn’t change ripped her heart out. ‘All this extravagant glitter is tainted with sadness, which is why I could never live here.’ His eyes were fierce with the need for her to understand. ‘I just hope that when I turn it over to the public—’
‘It will be a wonderful and happy place,’ Lucy exclaimed, unable to keep quiet a moment longer. ‘I can see it now—facilities for culture and education…and for fun, Razi.’ She smiled with encouragement as ideas for the palace bombarded her. She couldn’t have been happier that Razi intended preserving the old palace so people could see how previous generations had lived. Whatever the history behind it, the workmanship was astonishing—the mosaics, the gold work, the mirrors, framed with carved gilt figures and tumbling ribbons so finely worked. ‘I promise you,’ she exclaimed with passion, ‘this is going to be a great attraction. I can see it now. This old palace will come alive for all sorts of people and will become a talking point in the worldwide tourist industry. I doubt anyone could come up with a better competitive differential, if they tried.’
‘A competitive differential?’ Razi interrupted.
Was that humour on his face?
‘Are you intending to become a businesswoman now?’
‘I do have dreams,’ she admitted.
‘Some people—and I am one of them—would call that vision. They would go on to say that certain people are blessed with the determination to make that vision concrete, and that those people make a real difference in the world.’ Picking up the scheme she’d drawn, he added, ‘It seems to me like you’ve taken the first step towards doing that with this plan of yours.’
She reached out to take the drawing from him, but he wouldn’t let it go. ‘First a cake tin,’ he murmured dryly, his green eyes so warm with humour she thought her heart would burst with happiness, ‘and now a kitchen design.’ He smiled the slow, sexy smile she realised in that moment she had been desperately starved of.
‘Perhaps it’s time to inject a little romance into this relationship?’ he suggested darkly.
‘I thought we were going to sit down and talk?’
‘I do have something to tell you,’ he admitted, ‘but it can wait.’
Somehow, Razi’s hand had enclosed hers and the drawings he’d been holding were back on the table.
Am I dreaming? Lucy wondered as he drew her into his arms. Should she pinch herself? ‘Razi…?’ Her eyes searched his. ‘Where do we go from here?’
‘Speaking for myself,’ he said dryly, ‘I’m finding it hard to get past the sight of you in your hard hat—though I’d make a few changes,’ he admitted, his expression growing serious.
‘You would?’ she said anxiously.
‘Yes…’ He touched her arms lightly, which was enough for her body to respond with indecent eagerness to nothing more than the brush of his fingertips. ‘I’d cancel the jeans, and dress you in a pair of very short shorts. The heavy boots could stay—they set off your fabulous legs.’ He shrugged. ‘The clipboard and pen could stay too—though I’d add a pair of really heavy specs so you look incredibly stern and enormously severe.’
‘Razi…I don’t know what to say.’
‘There’s no need to talk at all—unless you have some suggestions of your own to make?’
Chapter Eighteen
‘SUGGESTIONS of my own?’ Thoroughly caught up in Razi’s mood, Lucy forced a frown as she pretended to think about it. ‘I’m happy to leave it all up to you—but just remember one thing.’
>
‘Which is?’ Heat radiated from him as he eased onto one hip.
‘You’re mine. And I’ll never let you go.’
His face creased in the familiar grin. ‘It’s about time we agreed on something.’
Passion scorched through her like a lava stream as he dragged her into his arms. ‘Well?’ she managed to fire back as he stared down at her. ‘I need you.’ She writhed against him with frustration to prove how much.
‘You think I don’t know that?’ His laugh was low and husky and amused.
It was Mac’s voice—Razi’s voice—the voice she loved. It was the tone of voice she had missed and adored—the voice of the man she loved.
And the wall—with its lurid depictions of lovemaking in every form—was the best friend she’d ever had, Lucy registered wildly, consumed by savage heat as Razi stripped her naked before proving how fast a desert king could lose his robe.
He had her at the first thrust. He was everything she wanted, and if there was a way for them all to be together, she felt that now they stood a chance of finding it.
Throwing back her head, she urged him on, while Razi loved her with an insatiable hunger that matched her own. He was her man, her mate. She loved him and she would fight for him with everything she’d got. She wailed convulsively as the first climax hit her, but instead of releasing him she dug her fingers into his shoulders and wrapped her legs even more tightly around his waist, daring him to let her go.
‘Let you go?’ Razi’s lips tugged with amusement as he briefly paused. ‘I would sooner join a monastery than consider life without you.’
‘Don’t you dare lie to me,’ she warned him, sinking her teeth into his shoulder, before gasping with surprise and pleasure when he pounded into her again. ‘And don’t you dare stop until I tell you to stop,’ she added fiercely, shrieking with pleasure as he bounced her hips against the wall.
But when she felt the tidal wave of pleasure was close it was time to bring some plans of her own into play. ‘Now slowly,’ she ordered him, relishing every deep, lingering thrust. And when his guard was down in those few last moments before she too would lose control, she took him to the hilt, and, using her muscles, worked him in a way she knew he loved until it was Razi who broke first and she who soothed him down in triumph. ‘You’re mine,’ she told him fiercely as his heartbeat steadied. ‘Mine—and I won’t share you with anyone.’
Ruling Sheikh, Unruly Mistress Page 14