by Annie West
‘That is…’ She looked again at the woman in the car, so patiently awaiting her response. Was she a diplomat, or a friend of the royal family?
Tahir was connected to the King. Perhaps she knew him?
Annalisa took a few diffident steps forward, feeling gauche, yet impelled to follow this opportunity. ‘I’m sorry, I’m a little…’ What? Confused? Upset? Pregnant? She stifled a bubble of hysterical laughter.
‘It’s kind of you to ask,’ she started again, pinning a polite smile on her face. ‘I was hoping to contact someone at the palace. He’s called Tahir. I don’t know his family name. Tall, lean, bright blue eyes? He was injured in a helicopter crash.’
The woman’s expression didn’t alter and Annalisa’s hope waned. It was foolish to expect he’d still be here. ‘But it doesn’t matter. He’s probably not—’
‘You met Tahir after his accident?’ The woman’s voice held a curious inflection.
‘I…Yes. In the desert. I did what I could to nurse him, but—’ Annalisa stiffened, alarm jolting through her at the woman’s arrested expression. She moved up to the car, would have gripped the door if a burly guard hadn’t stepped in front of her.
But she had to know.
She peered round him. ‘He did get better, didn’t he? He’s all right?’ Tahir hadn’t fully recovered. ‘His head wounds—they weren’t…?’
Fatal. She couldn’t say the word, could only stare mutely and hope for reassurance.
For all Tahir had revealed an unpleasant side to his character, she knew there was more to him. He’d been kind, funny, likeable through those days at the oasis. And he’d been an exquisitely tender lover. The idea of him—
‘No, no. Of course he’s not dead.’ A reassuring smile played on the other woman’s lips. ‘He’s recovered now. According to the doctors, he owes his life to you.’
Annalisa’s heart gave a great thump of relief and she lifted a hand to it, surprised at how shaky she felt.
The woman said something Annalisa didn’t hear over the pounding in her blood. The guard moved, taking her elbow and ushering her to the far side of the vehicle. A chauffeur stood to attention, holding open the rear door.
The interior smelt of leather and expensive perfume. Annalisa’s eyes widened as she took in the full impact of the elegant woman inside. She wore indigo silk exquisitely embroidered with silver. High-heeled silver sandals. Pearls at her wrist as well as her throat.
Annalisa froze, suddenly fully aware that this was someone very important indeed. The limo, the guard, her clothes, her air of understated refinement…
‘Don’t be shy,’ she said, gesturing for Annalisa to enter the vehicle. ‘You want to see Tahir, don’t you?’
Mutely Annalisa nodded. She told herself she needed to see him. She had more sense than to want to see him. That madness had passed.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured. ‘But if he’s here I’ll come back later, when I’m tidier.’ She gestured to her clothes. Shoes dusty from hours of wandering. Loose trousers and her favourite green shirt: comfortable, but hardly appropriate for calling at the palace.
‘Nonsense. Tahir will want to see you and thank you personally. I know he’s here at the moment.’ She beckoned, and this time Annalisa complied, gingerly settling herself on the wide seat.
The door clicked shut and she jumped, unable to stifle the notion she’d committed herself to more than she’d intended. The car slid forward and Annalisa turned to her companion, wondering if it was too late to back out. She could talk to Tahir by phone.
‘Your name, my dear?’ The woman forestalled her.
‘I’m Annalisa Hansen.’
‘How do you do, Annalisa? I’m Rihana Al’Ramiz, Tahir’s mother.’
Annalisa opened her mouth to reply, then snapped her jaw shut as she absorbed the name.
Al’Ramiz. It couldn’t be…
Yet, taking in the other woman’s attire, Annalisa realised with a sinking sensation it could very well be. Al’Ramiz was the name of Qusay’s ruling family.
‘How do you do?’ Her voice emerged as a hoarse whisper. She paused, unsure how to proceed. ‘Tahir said he was coming for a coronation.’
Rihana Al’Ramiz nodded, her mouth curving wryly. ‘His brother, Kareef, has just inherited the throne.’
‘But…’ Annalisa shook her head, unable to take it in. Tahir was a member of the royal family! He’d said he was related to the King, but she’d thought he meant a distant connection. She was sharing a seat with the dowager Queen of Qusay! ‘I had no idea…’ she blurted out.
Her skin prickled and tightened and her vision blurred around the edges. Annalisa gripped the seat with shaking fingers as the world pitched and heaved out of focus. This was one shock too many.
‘It’s all right.’ A gentle hand on hers tugged her back to reality. ‘You’ll feel better when you’ve had some refreshment. Come.’ Her tone grew brisk as the door opened and a servant gestured for Annalisa to get out.
Shakily Annalisa stood, concentrating on staying upright. Her legs were like jelly and her bones felt hollow, as if a breeze might blow her away.
She watched Rihana Al’Ramiz gesture towards the beautiful old palace. Sunlight glinted off semi-precious gems set in decorative patterns around the entrance and servants stood to attention, waiting to usher them inside.
The sense of unreality grew. And with it the worrying suspicion that life was about to get even more complicated.
‘Thank you for your advice, Akmal. The views of the Council are always of interest to me.’ Tahir prowled to the huge window facing the sea and reminded himself for the hundredth time that patience was required.
Patience wasn’t his style.
Ruling a country wasn’t his style!
He couldn’t believe after all these weeks he hadn’t found a way out of this bind. Or that the Qusanis wanted him, the reprobate son of a vicious father, to succeed to the throne. But despite his best efforts he’d yet to uncover a distant relative who could take the royal role off his hands. As far as the Council of Elders was concerned he was King, and they expected him to rule.
He couldn’t begrudge his brothers their decision to give up the throne. He’d do the same himself if he could. But he was trapped till he found a viable alternative.
‘A suitable marriage would be timely, sire,’ his vizier said in a measured tone. ‘After the…turmoil of the last months it would be a perfect way of demonstrating the stability of the royal lineage.’
Tahir’s mouth kicked up at one side. ‘Turmoil’ was Akmal’s diplomatic way of saying the Al’Ramiz brothers had caused enough sensation for several lifetimes.
After his cousin Zafir had discovered he wasn’t the legitimate ruler and stepped aside, Tahir’s eldest brother had inherited. But as both Kareef and then Rafiq had since renounced the throne, the country now lay in Tahir’s hands.
A man who’d been exiled at eighteen. The brother with the wildest reputation. Who hadn’t set foot here for eleven years. He clenched his fists.
Hell! He couldn’t stay as King. He wasn’t into responsibility, or settling in one place long-term.
No wonder they wanted him to marry. They hoped it would make him settled and stable. Tied down.
‘The Princess is—’
‘Thank you, Akmal.’ He spun around to face his advisor. ‘I’m sure she’s a paragon of virtue and would make a perfect queen.’ He clasped his hands behind his back, remembering the old man was only doing his job in pressing for a wedding. ‘However, it’s too soon to consider marriage.’
‘But, sire—’
Akmal broke off as a knock sounded and a servant entered, apologising. He was sorry to intrude, he knew the importance of the King’s private meeting, but he—
‘What is it?’ Tahir was only too grateful for the interruption.
‘The Lady Rihana asks if you would join her for tea, Highness.’
Tahir froze in mid-step.
His mother had invited him to te
a?
It was unprecedented. Since he’d been back he’d seen her, of course. She’d expressed relief that he was safe. She’d welcomed him and offered her support. All with a distant courtesy that spoke of good breeding and duty.
Not a trace of maternal love.
He’d shattered that by the time he got kicked out of the country, after being found with his father’s naked mistress.
It didn’t matter that it had been the mistress trying to seduce him. Nor that Tahir had an ingrained distaste for the notion of sharing his father’s women. But he hadn’t protested his innocence. His father’s fury had been worth the price.
Tahir had become a son no parent could be proud of. His mother’s distance made it clear he’d long ago destroyed any vestige of parental devotion.
And now? Perhaps she needed something.
That was why people got close: for what he could provide. Money, sex, publicity, the excitement of walking on the wild side with a man whose reputation was notorious.
‘I’d be delighted to join her.’ Tahir turned to his vizier. ‘If you’ll excuse me?’
Akmal was already bowing. ‘Of course, sire.’
He pulled up short in the doorway. Afternoon sunlight slanted through the deep-set windows. It caught golden highlights in a woman’s rich brown hair.
His stomach clenched as memories stirred. Long silken tresses tangling round him as he shivered in pleasure and release. Smiling dark eyes looking shyly up at him. Lush red lips tentatively kissing his flesh. His heart had leapt at that gentle caress.
She turned and his heart ricocheted against his ribs, beating out of kilter.
‘Annalisa!’ He was halfway across the room before he remembered himself and took note of the situation.
Annalisa, the girl he’d left angry and hurt but well, looked far too pale. Her face was thinner, and her brow puckered as if she were in pain. Her lips were compressed in a nervous line and her eyes skittered from his.
He started forward again.
‘Tahir. I’m glad you could join us.’ His mother rose from a nearby divan and he slammed to a halt.
Swiftly he bowed. ‘Mother.’
He sent her a searching stare, but she met his regard blandly. What was going on?
‘Ms Hansen.’
Annalisa looked up, eyes wide with surprise. Last time they’d been together the circumstances hadn’t been so formal.
Curling heat in his belly testified to just how informal they’d been. Blood pooled low in his body, a precursor to the heavy weight of arousal.
He stood straighter, stunned by his reaction. For months his sex drive had been absent. Till Annalisa. Since recuperating he’d felt not a twinge of interest in any of the local beauties. Yet one glance at her and…
Quickly he took the seat his mother indicated.
An antique tea service was laid out on a low table. A gold salver held syrupy cakes and figs. A laden plate sat before Annalisa, untouched.
‘Ms Hansen has come to see you, Tahir. I met her at the palace gates.’ His mother regarded him steadily, her look now razor-sharp.
His skin tightened. What had Annalisa said?
‘I knew you’d want to thank her for what she did in the desert.’ She turned, smiling at her guest. ‘We owe you an enormous debt of gratitude, Annalisa.’
Tahir accepted a glass in a filigree holder and murmured his thanks, his gaze straying to Annalisa’s silent form.
Despite the Queen’s hospitality, she was uncomfortable, her shoulders hunched defensively. He knew a burning need to reach out and gentle her, as he would a nervous filly. Instead he curled his fingers around his tea.
Where was the confident woman who’d nursed him? Who camped alone so self-sufficiently?
‘How are you?’ he asked, willing her to meet his gaze. She stared at a point near his left ear.
‘I’m fine, thank you.’
The husky edge to her voice caught at his midriff, drawing muscles tight.
Something was wrong. He knew it with a gut-deep certainty even this stifling formality couldn’t quell. He put the tea down with a click on the inlaid table. Had someone hurt her? The hairs rose on the back of his neck as unfamiliar waves of emotion washed through him.
The shrill ring of a phone intruded and Tahir got to his feet, eager for an excuse to move.
‘It’s for you, Mother,’ he said moments later. ‘Some crisis with the reception you’re planning.’
His mother rose gracefully. ‘If you’ll excuse me, I’d better take this.’ She paused, turning to Annalisa. ‘If you’ll be all right, my dear?’
Fiery colour flared in Annalisa’s cheeks, yet her hands clenched so tight her knuckles shone white. ‘Of course, ma’am. Thank you.’
Tahir waited till his mother took the phone into the next room. Then he turned, every sense on alert as foreboding chilled his blood.
She should never have come.
Afternoon sun highlighted the strong contours of Tahir’s face, gifting his glossy hair with a luxurious blue-black sheen. His eyes were vivid and probing under straight brows.
He was more imposing than she remembered. She thought she’d imagined that potent allure, that heady male strength and the lazy sexuality of his smile. But one look, just the sound of her name on his lips, and she was in danger of falling for him all over again.
Even knowing how cold and callous he really was!
Had she lost her grip on reality as she struggled with one shock after another?
She stumbled to her feet when he approached and he stopped. Her heart pattered an unfamiliar rhythm.
‘It’s good to see you, Annalisa.’
She wished she could say the same. The traditional robe he wore emphasised his height and rangy power. He was too big, too confronting, too attractive.
Her breath expelled in a silent hiss as she realised her weakness for this man hadn’t ended.
‘Are you all right?’ Her body came alive under his roving gaze. How did he do that?
‘Yes,’ she lied. ‘I’m okay. And you?’ The words were stilted but she had to know.
‘Fighting fit.’ His lopsided smile squeezed her heart and she looked away, frightened by the intensity of her feelings. She should be over him. He wasn’t the man she’d first thought him. Besides, he came from a different world. He was royalty.
‘I didn’t expect to see you here.’ He paced closer and she forced herself to stand her ground.
‘I got to Shafar last night. I’m booked on a flight to Europe tomorrow.’ But should she go? This morning’s news changed everything. She bit her lip, wondering what to do for the best. A doctor’s appointment was her first priority now.
‘Something’s wrong. What is it?’
His concern drew her gaze to his. If she didn’t know better she’d think he cared.
She shut her eyes for a moment, willing herself to be strong. To snap the curious hold he had over her. When she opened them he was closer, a pace away. She swallowed at the illusion of warmth she read in his eyes.
Annalisa darted a look at the closed door the Queen had used. How long would they have in private?
‘I needed to see you.’ Only to herself did she admit she’d wanted to see him, craved it. She couldn’t drag her eyes from him.
His brows tilted down. ‘So this isn’t a social call.’ He paused. ‘And it’s obviously important. Not about the care of our stray goat?’
‘It’s gone to a good home. The youngest daughter of one of my cousins has made a pet of it.’ Annalisa paused, aghast at her nervous babbling.
She shook her head, feeling her hair swirl from her ponytail, wishing she’d put it up so she looked more in control.
‘You said…’ She swallowed and made herself go on, lifting her chin to meet his gaze head-on. ‘You said if there were…consequences I should let you know.’ Something inside shattered as his expression remained cool and aloof.
‘Well, there are consequences. I’m pregnant.’
Her words echoed in growing silence. His brilliant blue gaze grew laser-sharp but no warmer.
If she’d needed proof she meant nothing to him it was there in his shuttered expression and tightening jaw. The only sign of life was his throbbing pulse. Otherwise he might have been carved from stone.
She told herself it was what she’d expected.
Abruptly she turned, blinking at the view of a manicured courtyard bathed in the glow of afternoon sun.
‘What are your plans?’ His voice was harsh, grating her frayed nerves.
No talk of our plans or his involvement. What had she expected? For him to sweep her close and say he’d missed her? That leaving her was the biggest mistake of his life?
Bile rose in her throat as she realised some forlorn part of her had wanted just that. Had clung to the mirage of the man she’d fallen for before he’d shown his true self. As if it was possible to fall in love like that!
Annalisa shrugged, anger surging at her foolishness. ‘I don’t know. But I am having this baby.’ Her hand inched protectively across her abdomen.
Silence.
Her lips twisted as she imagined his horror. He wouldn’t want this complication. Unless he already had a trail of illegitimate children. The things he’d said that last morning made it possible.
She hunched as pain battered her.
‘How convenient you found me here.’ Something in his tone made her swing round. He looked more commanding than ever. Daunting.
‘You told me to contact you.’
‘And how could you pass up the opportunity when you found out who I was?’ His lips thinned.
‘Opportunity?’ Annalisa groped for understanding.
He shrugged. ‘To cash in on my position.’
For a full thirty seconds Annalisa stared into a face grown harsh with suspicion. Then his meaning registered and fire exploded in her bloodstream, rippling through every artery and vein.
She drew herself up straight.
‘That doesn’t deserve an answer.’ Yet an outraged response bubbled up. ‘You have some ego! A woman comes to tell you you’ve fathered a child and it’s all about you?’