Taken by the Sheikh

by Mel Teshco

  “The rebels?”

  He nodded. “Yes. They’re against any ruling made by the royal family.” He sighed heavily, his features turning grim. “I’d hoped things might tone down after my parents…”

  He didn’t need to finish his sentence. She could sense the grief stirring deep inside him with his parents’ deaths still so recent. She put a hand over his. “Things are worse?”

  He looked down at her hand, evidently startled by her empathy, her caring. She dug her teeth into her bottom lip and withdrew her hand. Madness! She was supposed to despise the man, not reveal her growing feelings toward him.

  “Don’t pull away from me.” He looked up, his eyes intense. “I love that you’re so open and easy to read. Don’t put your walls up on me now.”

  “I’m open to people who’ve done nothing to deserve my walls.” She shook her head. “I should have a fortress around my feelings when it comes to you!”

  His nostrils flared. “Because I snatched you from your insipid life or because I’m the one man you have strong feelings for?”

  She sucked in a breath at his audacity. “You dare to imagine my feelings for you are strong after everything you’ve done?”

  “Everything I’ve done?” he echoed. “You should be thanking me. I saved you from the monotony that was your life.”

  “You took me away from the only life I’ve ever known. Taken me from my family, my friends! My mother will be worried sick about me!”

  “Your life was tedious, don’t pretend otherwise. As for your mother, she needs never to lift a finger again in her life. And your friends—Harley will continue bedding your so called girlfriends, while your professor will continue to dream dirty thoughts.”

  The hand she’d used to cover his lifted and swung. But the stinging slap across his face wasn’t anywhere near as satisfying as she hoped, nor did it quell the burning anger within. “How dare you!”

  His eyes glittered. “No one has ever dared strike me before. And believe me Habibi, no one will dare to ever again.”

  She shivered. It was a warning, and one she’d heed well. She had no doubt what she’d done was an offense of the highest order. But she wasn’t about to apologize. Striking him didn’t come close to the crime he’d committed.

  He drew in a breath and his tight jaw relaxed a little as then he explained, “Sometimes being daring and acting on instinct alone is the only way to get the prize.”

  She understood acting on instinct, but not when it was an excuse for something despicable…something like kidnapping. “Yet you had a whole week in which to sweep me off my feet. Didn’t you even wonder if you could charm me into leaving my country?”

  His brows pulled in. “Of course I weighed the options. But once I saw you only one thing was clear in my mind. I wanted to see you without the layers of artifice women like to practice in front of men. I wanted to peel you back and see the real you.”

  Her hands squeezed into fists. “And then after all that, you decided kidnapping me was the best solution?”

  He sighed, but there was no guilt in his stare. “You fascinated me. I wanted to discover you slowly, in my own sweet time.”

  Despite herself, her nipples budded and a different kind of heat moved through her body, dissolving her fury. She was only glad her jacket hid the effects he had on her.

  His heavy-lidded smile was as unrepentant as his husky voice. “It was like unwrapping a present that’d been hidden from me for twenty-one years.”

  Yearning throbbed between them, thicker than any number of sand dunes. But she told herself she was glad when Shahzad didn’t act upon it and instead cut through the tension with a smile and murmured, “Let’s eat.”

  Chapter Seven

  The conversation soon turned to less personal topics, and Lexi found herself slowly unwinding and even enjoying herself as she ate the tabouli salad with flat bread and spiced lamb with yoghurt.

  After Shahzad had packed the food away, they shared a bottle of red wine produced by Rafi’s vineyard. He spoke a little about his country, his affection for it and his people shining through. She asked some questions and he answered honestly, without hesitation, in effect completely disarming her.

  But there was no need for small talk when he pulled her against him, his arms encircling her front while she leaned her head against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat, unconsciously inhaling his masculine spiced scent.

  Crimson smeared the sky with the setting sun and turned the sand below a dazzling shade of dark gold, a ragged line of desiccated trees in the distance glowing as if on fire. It was by far the most beautiful, wondrous thing she’d ever seen—until the dark shape of a majestic eagle, soaring high above, captured their attention.

  They didn’t move until long after the winged predator had drifted away and the sun fell fully behind the far horizon. Stars peppered the endless vista above them and a full moon shone brightly. She sighed. “I’m not sure which is more beautiful, the sunset or the night sky.”

  She felt his eyes on her, even as he murmured, “Nature in all its breathtaking beauty. A sight many city dwellers won’t ever have the privilege of seeing.” He kissed the top of her head, his big hands remaining interlinked at her front. “I have a particular fondness for the fiery colors of the sunset. It reminds me of your hair.”

  She tipped her head back and caught the glint of his eyes. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “As it was intended to be,” he murmured huskily, his head moving down a little so that he could catch her lips with his own.

  She sighed against his mouth, enjoying the slow, dreamy kiss that set her nerve endings to life and all her fears to rest. When she was in his arms everything felt right; everything bad in the world made good. Her lashes fluttered closed and she centered on the kiss that drugged her senses and made her abandon all the reasons she shouldn’t want the sheikh.

  Eblis nickered and Shahzad drew back. His voice was strained. “I guess that’s the signal we should be getting back.”

  She sighed, somehow reluctant to leave. “And here I thought you were about to have your wicked way with me.”

  “I’m trying to be a gentleman,” he said huskily.

  She arched a brow. “So you’re telling me even a kidnapper can have manners?”

  He nodded. “I guess I am.” He cupped her face, tracing his thumbs across her jawline. “I’ll prove I’m generally a likeable man and not a savage.”

  She exhaled carefully. It was all kinds of wrong, but she was attracted to everything about Shahzad, savagery included. Could that have been why her mother ran away and never dated again? If all Arab men were as charismatic as Shahzad, it would be all too easy to be consumed by everything about them.

  The return ride to camp was even more awe-inspiring at night, the universe somehow magnified in the endless desert, with the air sharp and crisp, and the bright stars close enough to touch, the silence hanging around them like a thick curtain.

  The only sound was the stallion’s hooves thudding rhythmically, his mane feathering up and down with every long stride. Lexi closed her eyes, once again half-convinced they were flying over the sand. She could imagine being the eagle they’d admired.

  Shahzad’s arms tightened around her and she settled against the hardness of his torso even as she gloried in his body heat that warded off the chill in the night air. It could have just been just the two of them in the whole world right then—until the approaching whop-whop of helicopter rotors broke the silence.

  Her eyes opened to the flashing lights of the helicopter far ahead. Shahzad stiffened behind her, but only once the helicopter began its descent near the oasis, did he urge the stallion into a gallop.

  With the sheikh’s arm around her waist like a steel band, she surrendered to the exhilaration of speed and power, reveled in it. It wasn’t everyday a woman could say she’d ridden the Arabian desert in the arms of a sheikh.

  Steam was rising from Eblis’ coat in the desert’s chi
lly night air when Shahzad reined the stallion to a stop, close to the helicopter and their encampment.

  The familiar bald-headed bodyguard stepped toward them. “Your Highness. I’m sorry for the early return.”

  “What is it Jahmal?” he asked the bodyguard curtly, holding the reins one-handedly to keep his snorting, impatient mount under control. “Is it the rebels?”

  “No, Your Highness. Prince Rafi seems to have them under control for the moment.”

  The tension in Shahzad’s shoulders visibly eased. “Some good news, then?”

  “I’m afraid not, Your Highness. The people grow restless with your disappearance, and are aggrieved at the photos of their future Sheikha arriving in Omana without any official announcement.”

  Shahzad blew out a heavy breath. “I see.”

  Jahmal seemed reluctant to add, “We broke up a riot at the palace gates a few hours ago.”

  The sheikh uttered an expletive under his breath. “Then it is past time we return.”

  A robed man appeared from one of the smaller tents to hold the stallion’s reins. Shahzad dismounted and Lexi followed him, sliding into his arms and against his hard body like she belonged there. But the feel good vibes dissipated somewhere between him escorting her into the helicopter and the flight toward his palace as insecurities reared their ugly head.

  She stared out the window, feeling as distant to the herd of wild camels galloping across the sand below them, as she did to the man sitting just inches away.

  She’d never been one to worry about other people’s opinions of her. But she’d also never in a million years dreamed she’d be queen…or sheikh, to a nation of people who would no doubt judge her and find her lacking. And she stupidly only wanted to do Shahzad proud.

  Her anxieties rose as the helicopter began to lose altitude and the palace’s central dome with surrounding fortified walls came into view. Holy crap. The whole palace gleamed with subdued, golden lights, showcasing the flowing lines of the architecture. The sheikh’s place of residence made Buckingham Palace look like a gray and morbid prison.

  Shahzad’s hand reached out once again and squeezed hers. “Are you okay?”

  She turned to him and nodded, though he was probably aware she lied. “Fine.”

  His head cocked to the side, his gaze assessing. “My people will love you. Just be yourself.”

  Was he kidding? Being herself was probably the worst thing he could ask from her. She didn’t know how to put on airs and graces and doubted she could start doing so now. But could she live with ‘being herself’ if she shamed him as his sheikha?

  She grimaced. How things had changed. It wasn’t all that long ago she’d have done anything to shame him.

  She looked back out the window, glimpsing the sparkling blue water of a massive, freeform pool with lots of surrounding greenery, before the helicopter landed on its helipad to one side of the huge, sprawling building.

  She accepted Shahzad’s proffered hand, before they alighted from the helicopter and stooped under the rotors to move clear. Only when she straightened fully did she realize they weren’t alone.

  A woman in Omana’s far more sexy attire of see-through pants and beaded bra-top waited in the shadows on a raised pathway that led through the palace grounds. Even from a distance Lexi sensed the high emotion that thrummed from the beautiful, dark-haired woman.

  Lexi frowned and pulled free from the Shahzad’s grasp when the other woman ran forward and then threw her arms around him.

  The sheikh stepped back with a stiff posture and a look of irritation. “Enough Kaela,” he said harshly. “That is not appropriate clothing or behavior in front of your future Sheikha.”

  But it was appropriate when Lexi wasn’t around?

  She was hard-pressed not to clap a hand against her belly as jealousy stabbed deep. Who was this woman who obviously had such deep feelings for Shahzad, she thought it was her right to maul him?

  Kaela lifted her tear-stained face, and spoke fretfully in the Omanan language.

  Lexi hid a frown and instead concentrated on the words she could make sense of. She didn’t need an interpreter to get the gist of it. The other woman—Kaela—begged Shahzad not to go ahead with the marriage.

  Even under the muted lights around them, Lexi would have had to be blind not to notice Shahzad’s intensity when he bit out, “You will show your respect and speak English. And yes, the wedding is going ahead. Everything is in place.”

  No declarations of love or vows of adoration?

  With a small sigh, Shahzad placed a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “Kaela, you knew what you were getting into. I promised you nothing.”

  Lexi blinked back what must surely be a red haze at the knowledge the scantily-clad woman with her glistening, black-rimmed kohl eyes had been his lover. Probably the same woman he would have married had it not been for the nuptial contract enforced by her own father.

  Kaela’s words were directed at Shahzad even as she flashed blazing hatred Lexi’s way. “But you don’t love her!”

  Shahzad tensed, his whole frame appearing even more forbidding. “Why would you think that?”

  Lexi’s breath caught even as Kaela whispered, “Because you’re marrying her out of duty.”

  The sheikh’s mouth tightened. “Whoever filled your head with the ‘happily ever after’ delusion needs to stop now. You were never going to be my wife or Omana’s Sheikha.”

  Kaela stumbled back, wide-eyed and clearly hurting. When she wheeled away, scooping up her eastern outerwear before running off holding the clothes to her chest, Shahzad bit out another expletive before he turned toward Lexi. “I’m sorry. You didn’t need to see that.”

  Of course she didn’t. Kaela was an obstacle the great sheikh probably hoped would be out of sight before his return. Her chin kicked up a notch. “How long ago were you lovers?”

  His lips compressed and whitened. “She spent the last night with me before I left Omana to get you.”

  Lexi closed her eyes, her belly shuddering with rejection. “Oh my god.” She forced her eyes open, forced herself to stare at the face she’d come to worship in such a short time. “She’s in love with you,” she whispered, “and you betrayed her.”

  Would he betray her too?

  “I was a fool,” he said harshly. “I assumed I’d continue my liaison with Kaela and whoever else I desired after I married you.” His shrug wasn’t a casual gesture, it was stiff and heavy with self-reproach. “I never imagined I’d feel differently until the moment I saw you.”

  Lexi inwardly reeled with the bombardment of emotions hitting her front and center. “You might have sorted out your feelings, but I sure as hell haven’t. I don’t even know what to think right now let alone how I feel.”

  He stepped toward her and she stepped back, hands raised. “Don’t,” she croaked. She cleared her throat, her chest aching. “I’d like to be alone tonight.”

  Shahzad’s nostrils flared, his set jaw indicating he wanted to argue his case. Instead he nodded and bit out, “Of course. Follow me.”

  Though meeting Shahzad’s lover—ex-lover?—was worse than a toxin going through her system, she would have had to be dead not to be awed by the interior of the palace.

  Etched columns supported a domed ceiling, where chandeliers glittered from up high, splashing light across the marble floors that were softened by huge colorful rugs. Water features and fountains tinkled from every corner they passed, as though the great sheikh mocked the desert outside. Paintings in gold-etched frames showcased the stark Arab desert and its people.

  Servants scurried to and fro like well-oiled machinery, while pairs of dark-robed men stood in watchful, silent guard.

  She followed the sheikh through what appeared to be a huge sitting room. He swept a hand toward a staircase with shining teak balustrades and treads that led high into the next level. “Our living quarters are on the top floor.”

  Though something too close to arousal throbbed a heavy be
at in her womb, his assumption their union was a sure thing caused a prickle of resentment to surface. Did he think she’d roll over so easily and play nice?

  If he noticed her silence, he didn’t mention it. Instead he continued to give commentary, his cultured and whiskey-smooth voice casting a sensual web over her, until he mentioned his residence would soon become hers too.

  Her teeth caught her bottom lip. Is that really what she wanted? To be under public scrutiny for the rest of her life? To be under Shahzad for the rest of her life?

  Moisture rushed to the most intimate place between her thighs. She couldn’t deny it. No matter how arrogant and assuming, the sheikh was hers and she was his. It was the only explanation for why she was eaten up with jealousy the moment Kaela had thrown herself into his arms…the moment she’d realized the beautiful Arab woman and Shahzad had been lovers.

  If nothing else, it made one thing real. She couldn’t share her sheikh with another woman. Not ever. Perhaps another reason her mother had left the Arab world far behind?

  She pursed her lips. She had to talk to her mother, not just to reassure her, but to uncover the past. Lexi had asked very little about her biological father, and not because she’d been told he was a deadbeat who’d abandoned them, but because the subject had carried a whole lot of hurt for her mother and Lexi had been happy enough in her life without another parent.

  Or so she’d thought. The sheikh had dragged her kicking and screaming into his life and opened her eyes not only to other possibilities, but to the truth of her parentage.

  As if aware of her decision, Shahzad snaked an arm around her waist and brought her snug against all his hard heat. His voice turned husky, “The palace has four levels. The ground level wings accommodate the servants and guards, while the central area of the ground floor is reserved for entertainment and ceremonies.”

  “And the other three levels?”

  “Are for guests and our own personal space.” He headed toward a hidden niche and keyed in a code. “This elevator is mostly so we can save time and energy, although I imagine that’s the last thing I’ll want saved when I’m in it with you.”